"Ouch."..
Tommy nodded as Rosalie spoke. The car didn't look well at all. Why hadn't Leo mentioned it on the phone? Feeling vulnerable without Moretti the reporter glanced anxiously in his mirrors and over his shoulder.
As Rosalie started to get out of the car he found himself anxious. Maybe this whole thing was getting to him.
"Tell them we have a better place to talk. A safe house. Not far from here.".

ooc - if only because we can meet the Moretti player there and not miss him out.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:29, Tue 18 Apr 2017.

Leo's limbs suddenly felt extraordinarily heavy as he had to get himself out of the car to share the bad news. Giving voice to an event always made it seem more final, and the weight of being the to give it voice visibly weighed on Leo. He was slightly hunched over when he stood, and his movements lacked both grace and speed.

When eventually they did meet halfway, Leo wondered at Vincent's absence, but his news shouldn't be allowed to get stale, so he spoke to his niece without delay. "I'm glad to see you and Tommy are doing well." He paused a moment. "Unfortunately, there's no way to make this easier or better, Rosie. Stan's dead." His studies seemed to suggest that drawing out the telling of something like this only made things worse. The physician opened his arms to offer an embrace to his niece, who likely needed some comfort right about now.

Leaving Leo to break the news to Rosalie, Bo comes up to the driver's window of the other car.

"Where's Vince?" he asks with a cold foreboding stealing up his spine.

Tommy nodded as Walter approached, winding down his window and let the cold night air creep into the vehicle.
"Don't worry, Moretti is mostly fine. Took a bullet; he's gone to get fixed up and will meet us as the safe house.

Why was Leo being so evasive on the phone? What happened at your end?".

Rosalie stared at her uncle in shock, unable to process what he'd said.  For a brief moment, she thought he was joking, that it was all a terrible gag they'd decided to pull, that Stanley would pop out of the back seat to give them all a laugh.  But in her heart, she knew that Leo would never joke about something so tragic, especially not after Jackson.  His tone, his gesture of comfort, his serious expression all told her that he was, in fact, not joking in the slightest.  Stanley Bishop was dead.

"B-but... how?"  She could no more control the quiver in her voice than she could control the tears that streamed down her cheeks.  "You... you were all together!  Safety in numbers..." 

Logically, of course, it wasn't an argument that could hold water.  Her own trio had almost been reduced by one by a single bullet.  Just a few inches higher and she'd be giving Leo the news of Vincent's death.  But Rosalie wasn't thinking logically.  She could only think of the strong, handsome man that had held her in his arms as they swept across the dance floor.

"As crazy as it may sound at this moment, I am the happiest I have been in years," Stanley said with a smile.

His smile was infectious.  She rested her cheek on his shoulder again, thinking of happier times and happier things.  Just for a moment, she could almost forget why they were in London and their reason for leaving home in the first place.  Almost.

The blood drained from her faced, leaving her deathly pale.  She shook her head in disbelief and backed away a step, one hand pressed to her chest, feeling as though her heart might explode.

"No... no, it can't be..."  She stumbled into the car as her vision narrowed, leaning upon it for support as the darkness pressed in from all sides.  Her breath came in soft, sobbing gasps that wracked her trembling body.  For the second time that evening, the quiet reserve, that normally kept her together so neatly, quickly unraveled and Rosalie came undone.

How many more will die before this is through?

In reply to Thomas Cotton (msg # 7):

Walter's voice is low, toneless, his eyes unfocussed.

"Stan's dead. We got separated and he... Somehow he got suffocated, Leo says. We found him behind the warehouse. He's back at the hotel in his bed now, waiting for the cops to find him."

He turns narrowed eyes on Tommy, boring into him. His voice takes on an edge.

"What's this about Vince? Where'd you leave him?"

Leo frowned briefly at his own memories of losing Stan. Rosie's tears elicited some from Leo, causing him to grab the bridge of his nose to keep them from flowing freely. The physician's head hung for a moment, but he forced himself to look at his niece. He sighed. "We started out in groups of two, with Bo and Stan together, Millie and I together. Stan and Bo were planning to sneak into the warehouse, but only Bo managed to get close enough without getting spotted. When they saw Stan and saw through the show that Millie and I were putting on, the three of us all retreated."

Leo frowned. "Bo was discovered soon after, and he retreated as well. Near as we can tell, Stan tried again on his own. We heard shots and then went to see what happened, only to find Stan's body." Leo kept what few details he know of Stan's death to himself for the moment. Rosie didn't need to hear about anything clinical right now. It wasn't anything he had ever seen, either. Not that he spent a lot of time in the morgue, but he had seen death before.

Leo followed his niece over to the car and gently rubbed her shoulder as she sobbed. She was a very strong woman, but this sort of thing...it hurt. It hurt so very much.

She folded into her uncle's arms, sobbing against his chest.  The loss of Jackson had been a shock, especially given the brutality involved in his death and the closeness of their kinship.  The loss of Stanley hit her just as hard, though for entirely different reasons.  Rosalie's romantic attachments were very few.  She had loved, even been engaged, but he'd broken her heart and bruised her pride.  Falling in love had never been easy, not then and certainly not now.  It made the short time she'd had with Stanley all too brief and bittersweet.  She'd always have the memory of his kiss, but all she would ever have would be a memory.

After several minutes, she'd managed to catch her breath and pulled back from Leo, wiping at her cheeks.  Her eyes were puffy and her nose red, but she cared not at all.  "Where is he?" she asked Leo in a whisper.  "I need to see him." 

Leo held Rosie for as long as she needed, trying to provide what comfort he could. However...he knew nothing could help fill the hole in her heart. When she asked about where Stan was, Leo looked over to Bo briefly, then back to Rosalie. "We left him in his room at the hotel. I..."

Leo rubbed at his mouth for a moment, then slid his hand over the mostly gray stubble that now covered his cheeks. "I think it's dangerous to go back there. Whoever did this may have marked us. They could have followed us back there. We really need to decide what to do about Stan, then make it happen, and possibly disappear as well as we can."

"Bishop is dead?".
There was no quip, no joke, as Tommy felt himself slump.
"Shit.".
What else could he say?

The reporter looked across the road, saw Leo's sadness, Rosalie wilt-now he knew what they were talking about.
He spoke with grim certainty. "Gavigan did it. We found a note. Well Rosalie did-Gavigan was on to us somehow.". Cotton felt helpless, cursing himself for saying it. "We tried to warn you. Through Avery. But none of us could contact you until you finished at the docks...".
Too late.

He swore again, louder, wanting to punch something.
"That's why Moretti arranged a safe house. That's why we need to get off these streets. Now.". He looked back toward the others. "We need to get the others safe. I can tell you what we found at the Foundation in detail later, but trust me when I say this; Gavigan is part of the cult-and whatever they got planned is going down tomorrow.

Vincent is hurt but ok. He's meeting us at the safe house after he's been patched up. That man wants to make himself a sodding martyr-we can talk about that more later-but we had to try and meet you first.".

Little good that had done-Bishop was already dead.

"The longer we stay out here the more danger we are in.".
Grimly he turned the key to fire the engine back to life.

OOC:

Sodding? Your English is showing ;) Tommy's an American!

"Tommy," his voice is low, gritty, "Where is he? Where did you leave Vince?"

Her chin trembled and tears spilled over, but she didn't start sobbing again.  She couldn't.  He was right, it was dangerous to be on the street.  "Vincent set up a safehouse for us.  We should go there now and plan in safety.  Gavigan marked us the day we visited, knowing that we were tied up with Jackson.  He, or his men, will be looking for us, if they aren't already." She threw a glance back at the car.  "Vincent was hurt during our investigation.  He took a bullet, but I stopped the bleeding as best I could.  He has underground connections that he's used to find himself a patch man.  He said he'd meet us there when he was done."

"We went toward the pyramid to see if we could find you there until we managed to speak to Avery. Vincent spoke to some of his people-the Sabini's right? They had someone nearby who could fix up his wound. We didn't have time to do both and had to get over to you to warn you if we could.". He held up a hand to stay Bo's concern.
"Yeah I know-if we could've stuck together it would'a been better but you know what that man is like. And we found something at the Foundation which suggests nothing is going down there until tomorrow-or more precisely-at some place called Misr House.".

"So you left him at a doctor's? What's the address?" Bo grabs the man's collar and lifts him partway out of his seat. He's beginning to lose control: "Goddamit! Just tell me where you left Vince!"

Leo clenched his jaw when he heard the reason for Vicent's absence, though he nodded at the suggestion by Rosie that they get off the street. "Should we leave the damaged car here? It seems terribly easy to follow if someone were keen to do so." Unfortunately it would leave them down to one vehicle at the moment. And the hotel was unlikely to give them any more.

Leo frowned at Bo's rough handling of Tommy. "Bo, you know it wasn't Tommy's idea to have Vince go to that doctor." He sighed, hoping everyone could avoid coming unhinged. This was another wound that would likely never heal. Like Jackson's murder.

Bo turns to Leo, his face twitching, though he doesn't relinquish his hold on Tommy collar, "I don't care whose idea it was, I want a straight answer. Where did they leave Vince?"

OOC:

Walter, make a Grapple roll.
Tommy, if Walter's roll succeeds, make a Dodge roll to attempt to avoid it.

After that's resolved, it's really your choice as to what to do next.

Walter 'Bo' Brandon rolled 46 for Grapple 25%.

Turning to look at Bo and Tommy, she frowned.  "We didn't leave him, Bo.  He left us!  We tried to stop him from going off on his own, but he's proud and stubborn.   We couldn't stop him any more than you could have stopped Sta..."  She didn't quite get his name out before the realization overwhelmed her again and the emotion closed her throat.  She sobbed into her hand and turned away, unable to say anything further.

OOC:

If so determined to do so, Tommy can easily wriggle away from Bo's grief-crazed attempts to grab him by the collar and shake information out of him.

He saw the frustration in his friend's eyes and spoke to him directly, trying to calm him.

"I'm not trying to hide anything from you 'Bo. I told you; we split up at the Blue Pyramid. I rang the Sabini's 'dentist' myself to make Vincent an appointment - its a little North of here near Tottenham Court Road. He's headed there next - hell, should be there now even.

I'll drive you to pick him up later okay?".
Cotton paused for a moment, glancing toward Rosalie and Leo.

"I'm worried about him too. And we both tried to get that headstrong bloody hero to stay with us. He insisted on heading out himself so we could get to you and if he saw Zubaida alone ask her where this Misr House place is. That's where the root of this thing is at.

But when we split up we had to make a call; try and get you guys safe or stick with Vincent. We didn't know we were already too late for Bishop. But I do know that Moretti is a tough nut and we're following his plan, his call.".
He shrugged.
"Maybe it was the wrong call. But Rosalie and I aint been in this sort of situation before and the core plan still stacks up:

Right now we have to get off the streets. Get Leo and the others safe. Then we can go knock some sense into Vincent.".
This message was last edited by the player at 15:36, Fri 21 Apr 2017.

In reply to Thomas Cotton (msg # 25):

Bo's hand falls away from Tommy's collar. He closes his eyes.

"The Blue Pyramid," he mutters, "The place where this group snatches its victims. Aw, Vince...

"What's this 'dentist's' address, Tommy? No stalling."

When he has the address, he starts walking toward the other car.

"I'm gonna try to catch up with Vince, Leo. I'll cruise by the Pyramid first, but I won't go in. Then I'll see if he showed up at the bonesetter. If he didn't..." He shakes his head and gets behind the wheel of the damaged car.

"If I can't get the hideout address from Vince, I'll go back to the hotel and wait for a call. You guys collect Avery and Milly and beat it."

He throws the car into gear and heads for the Blue Pyramid.

Leo walked toward the other car as Bo moved toward it as well. "Bo, the best thing for you to do is head with us to rendezvous with Vincent. Or at least let me come with you. There's a reason I've been trying to keep everyone in pairs and threes, you know."

Leo frowned. "You do recall that I'm a doctor, right? And Vincent is apparently wounded?" That Vincent didn't trust Leo to patch him up rankled a bit. He had extensive medical training in things besides just the brain.

She turned away from Bo and Leo, focusing on Tommy.  "Give them the address so they can find the safe house if they leave.  I can't... I just can't..."  Rosalie was suddenly very weary of life.  Her reality was spiraling out of control, had started unraveling the moment they found Jackson's body in the hotel.  She leaned against the back door of the car for a moment, head bowed.  Though she'd never been particularly religious, she said a silent prayer for Stanley, for Jackson, for all of them.