Robert Howell
Selene is going to kill me.
Robert is still walking back to his apartment come noon. He found his personal effects along with his gun in a little box outside the room he was kidnapped to. He was rather grateful for that, though can’t help but wonder what they want from him.
Hen clutched the folder he was given very closely. He went through hell to get it, he couldn’t give up now.
The Gaudios were a family of criminals, in constant war for control of illegal imports. Despite their power and influence, prohibition has reduced drinking in the city. Now it’s just reserved for those with enough cush to payoff the mayor.
I’d love nothing more than to go after them. But I don’t have the support.
This ‘Arcadia’ though is different. It’s supposed to be the place anyone in the neighborhood can get a drink. It’s not just bringing the booze back to the little people, but it might be the place Robert can bring down to get more resources from the city.
He stomped up the stairs of his complex, wondering what he’s going to tell Selene.
She’ll be happy I’m still alive, but I don’t know if I can tell her everything.
So what would he tell her?
He got to his door and held his hand up in a fist, ready to knock. Then it softens and he pulls out his key to unlock the door.
He enters and calls out,
“Selene! I’m home.”
No one answered.
“Selene?”
Robert looked through the apartment, checking their bedroom and bathroom, looking behind the doors, in the tub, anywhere he could.
She wasn’t home.
The blood in him began to burn, as his face flushed with emotion.
I swear to god, if they’ve touched her I’ll-
“Robert?”
Selene entered the door, eyes locked on her husband. Robert turned and immediately rushed over to her. She dropped the grocery bags she was carrying as they caught each other in a deep embrace.
“Where were you all night?!” Selene sobs.
Robert is silent and holds his wife closer.
Ryan Shane
They were back at the Arcadia, in Vash’s side office. Ryan was standing watch next to the door, listening to the two women. Vash practically pulled them into the office and made two drinks, one for herself and one for Bella. Ryan noticed she added a little more shine to Bella’s dink.
“Here, it’ll settle your nerves,” Vash says.
Bella sheepishly takes the drink. She was a far cry from the confident aristocrat that entered the restaurant.
“Thank you.”
Vash sits at her desk, sipping her cocktail. Though she was friendly and polite, her eyes were sharp on our guest.
“Now Bella, I need you to tell me everything. Start from the beginning.”
The girl took her own unsure sip from her drink and sighed.
“Raphael and I had been seeing each other. We met at one of the Belrose family’s parties.”
“How? How could you just show up there?”
“I didn’t! I was snuck in.”
Vash takes another swig and eyes Bella up and down. If she was still trying to pretend to be polite, she wasn’t showing it.
Bella downs the rest of her drink. The poor girl looks like she just drank gasoline, which considering the shine she got in there, might not be too far off.
“I owed money to Lenny. I couldn’t pay him back at the time, and he offered a way to work it off.”
Vash scoffs.
“You could have easily paid him back. What could you owe that creep?”
“Ten grand.”
Vash nearly spit out her drink.
“What in the hell were you doing owin’ that dough?”
Bella looks sheepish again, eyes unwilling to meet Vash.
“Cards. Dice. …Dames.”
“You’re supposed to do that for a weekend, hon. Not a year.” Vash follows suit and downs her drink, though she handles it much better than Bella.
She continues.
“So Lenny says you can work it off by being a twirl? For the Belroses?”
“It was more like a deposit until I could get some cash from my father. I had no idea it would be for them.”
“This is why you shouldn’t have lied to Lenny. Hell, he probably knew exactly who you were and that’s why he did it.”
“I met Raph there. We got to talking and then one thing led to another…”
Vash waves away her words.
“Yeah yeah. Fine. So what happened?”
Bella looks around the room, her eyes catching Ryan. They looked like they were pleading. Ryan was about to speak when Vash spoke.
“Bella, I need to know what happened if I’m going to help you.”
“We were going to run away.”
As surprised as Vash has been in all this, nothing has worried her more than this statement.
“The two heirs? Disappearing in the night? That’s not very smart, Bella.”
“I know. But we knew our families wouldn’t understand. The morning we were going to leave, Raph caught a bullet through the window.”
The window? Who’s a good enough shot to hit him there?
Vash looked down, as if she was searching her desk for answers. Thousands of scenarios ran through her head as she thought about what she’d need in each one.
“Who else knows about this?”
Bella gives a very weak smile.
“Rupert.”
“Why in gods name did you tell him?!” Vash nearly screamed.
“I needed someone to clean out my apartment! I don’t know how to dispose of bodies!”
“The body is disposed of?”
“…No. The Belroses found it before Rupert could get to it.”
Vash is silent for whole minutes.
“Mr. Shane, do you know how to pour a drink?”
Ryan takes his queue and walks over to the bar. He pulls out a glass and some rocks from the ice box. He pours a good three fingers into the glass and walks it to Vash.
“Leave the bottle.” She says.
