There was not much Alexis could do for Shanae and her brother once they slipped away from the block party to catch a cross-town bus. He did not have their names. He did not have their addresses. The city is a massive place full of hundreds of thousands of young men and women, and he is mostly-a-stranger, with no more than the barest sketch of a personal story and a pair of first names to go on.
He makes a few inquiries specific to the siblings, and most come up short. Some of the people he questions are concerned about his intensions. Others, well. Others are bored or indifferent or incredulous or concerned-but-dispassionate or or or -
- so, time passes. Life resumes. He gets some information from Josie, his contact at the shelter. She doesn't know much. They make plans to go and volunteer, to dig in, to disappear into the organization, but there doesn't seem to be a way to penetrate it just by volunteering.
The only volunteers are church members.
If you go there, you'd best be the praying sort.
But: in mid-August, just as school is starting to resume, Alexis gets a series of calls from a series of strange numbers. The first three or four are hangups, but then, at last, a girl's voice on the other end. "You said you'd help. Will you still?"
--
He gets in touch with Josie. They spirit battered women and children away from their abusers, particularly when their abusers are granted custody by the state against all evidence to the contrary. They can help Shanae and Antoine disappear, slip out of the hands of authorities. Find them a place where they can be safe, and she can go to school and he can go to pre-school and they can eat real food sometimes.
They cannot do anything for the mother, though.
Not unless there's proof that her presence there is not volitional. And everything says it is.
And initiating some sort of official inquiry would only bring scrutiny down on Shanae and Antoine: so.
--
It is perhaps a week later that Alexis receives a call from Josie. Says she was contacted by a journalist with the Denver City Paper. Soliciting sources for a story about rEEntry. She didn't have anything to offer the woman, but remembered Alexis' interest in the place.
Passes on the woman's contact information, if he wants to meet.
Alexis Theron LambrosAlexis has been busy on a lot of fronts; summer is always busy for his work, what with kids out of school and plenty of extra classes as a result. Then there's the whole "making sure Park Theurge Power doesn't collapse from exhaustion" thing he's working on recently. But Antoine and Shanae have always been in the back of his mind, pressing concern there. There had to be something; had to.
He was glad to get a response from Shanae, and he promises to do what he can. The constant dead ends frustrate him to no end and he tells the girl not to give up hope, because he's not. And then...a chance for a new lead. Journalists aren't people he trusts as a rule; they have an agenda as much as anyone, and it's rarely that of the victim if an extra byline can be had at said victims' expense. He's seen that one too many times (okay, forty too many times). But it's worth a shot and its all they have right now.
And thus he rings up Sam, who he's been passing information back and forth, to see if she wants to meet this woman with him.
Sam Evans[oh right nightmares]
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (6, 7, 8, 8, 8, 10, 10) ( success x 7 )
Sam EvansIt's a busy summer for everyone this year. The city wolves are busy trying to figure out where and when and why the Beloved Horror try so hard not to wipe them out - which they could apparently do quite easily - but corrupt them thoroughly. Alexis has classes and training and working and still searches on the side. And Sam? Sam has a son, a tiny, chubby little infant that is usually pretty happy but sometimes just cries and cries and cries oh god please stop I'm going to go outside for a minute ack! She doesn't let herself think about what baby Jake might grow up to be, if she'll do a good enough job smothering him with love and he'll turn out okay, or if he'll grow up and turn to the dark side. So, basically every parents worry ever.
Between telecommuting and finding a renter for her condo and looking for a new house that's close but not too close to downtown and trying to find a good nanny or babysitter or something, Sam hasn't had much time to continue her own research. But when Alexis gets in touch and says something about a journalist she's skeptical, as well. Especially with this place, this center that seems to only ever bask in good publicity, which is odd considering the sort of activities it harbors.
Never the less, she agrees to meet this person with the other kinfolk. She finds a babysitter - kin, a Gnawer with a Garou sibling who can be there in a second if the Spiral Sam stole a baby from decides to pay a visit - and she prepares for her first night out in what feels like ages.
Be cool, Samantha, only seventeen-ish more years to go (that's misleading, Sam loves her new son and dotes on him constantly when his crying isn't threatening to blast her ear drums).
Alexis Theron LambrosHe sounds relieved when Sam says she'll go with him. He's not as nervous with the idea of going out or putting himself in the crosshairs of a potential Wyrm-influenced organization as he should be (see also: walking through Chinatown late last week) but it's still good to have some backup. Alexis is--not trusting, but also not the best at picking out liars either. He could definitely use an extra pair of ears and eyes on this one when they go to talk to the woman, and hopefully gain a new lead into finding out more about rEEntry.
So he calls the woman in order to set up a meeting with both himself and Sam.
TwilightSo, Alexis proposes and Sam accepts and Alexis contacts the woman: Jennifer Waterhouse. She has a byline with the city paper and a degree in journalism from Columbia circa 2002 and she's been in Denver since she was 'downsized' from the Philadelphia Inquirer in 2008 and she lives in a small apartment and doesn't make much money and is still paying off her goddamned student loans because Columbia but: at the very least she can expense meals when she is courting sources.
So, she proposes that they meet at Cabaret, which is not a Cabaret but rather a coffee shop with an excellent bakery and artisan bread and sandwiches and the world's most delicious soup-of-the-day and a flotilla of various grilled cheese sandwiches on the menu.
There's nothing particularly cloak-and-dagger about the proposed meeting, wary as the pair of them are. If Waterhouse is concerned about their credentials, their interest, their information: well, perhaps she has already checked them out.
Or, perhaps, as they fear, she is an agent of the church, looking enemies, reverse engineering a way to defear the opposition.
But: she gives them a brief description and they can look her up on the paper's website. A brief bio and a slightly out of date picture shows an ordinary, modestly pretty, round-faced young woman, hair color indeterminate as the picture is black and white, blinking back at them from behind owlish glasses.
She's already at Cabaret, already seated with a mug of coffee and a laptop at a booth in the far corner. Hasn't ordered a meal yet although it is dinnertime / past dinnertime.
Alexis Theron LambrosInt+Investigations
Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (1, 2, 6, 8) ( success x 2 )
Sam EvansThe Kinfolk arrive together to be both a united front and also for support of each other. Sam has made sure that Alexis is aware of the things Tamsin said, that the church is looking for people who dig a little too deep or get a little too close, and Sam, she's dug herself pretty deep. She's a Glass Walker for one and tenacious as hell for another.
A search on her would show that she's something of a job hopper. Graduated from a Vermont school with a degree in Psychology then dropped off the radar for a year or two before showing up again on the lowest run of a corporation based out of DC. Within a few months she worked her way up one step on the corporate ladder before she climbed off it completely to go manage a bakery in the middle of BFE. Now she's here, in Denver, working for a tech company out of DTC. Sam Evans has gotten around in the last few years.
And now she's here, in a cafe that is not a good place to catch a show. She stands almost a full foot shorter than the man at her side but she appears no less athletic. Her hair is down and her dark blue eyes are lined in dark eyeliner and there are piercings all up the outsides of her ears, including on amazingly scary black ear spike driven through the right lobe. She's dressed for the incredible heat of the day in a white tee with AS FAST AS YOU CAN. in big bold letters, all black except for FAST which is red. Her shorts are not as short as they would be on a taller woman and her boots are brown and ankle-high with rivets all around her heel.
She nudges Alexis' forearm when she sees the woman seated at the back, recognizing her from her picture.
Alexis Theron LambrosAlexis does all the research that he can to give him that available information. He isn't exactly a computer expert but he's no Luddite either; he can Google as well as anyone else and find her information on the Denver city paper. He looks up all her details, what kind of a reporter she is and such so he's forearmed with what he needs to know.
On the way there, he lets Sam know what he found about the woman; it would seem that she's all about local politics and takes on both sides of the political spectrum. She may just be legit, though they should probably still be careful.
The Fury kin doesn't dress formally as a rule, or even business casual. Alexis prefers T-Shirts, jeans, light jackets, loose-fitting clothes that are more for ease of motion than style. But that isn't to say that he doesn't have some clothing of that style in his closet, and he's going business casual for this meeting. A grey button-down short-sleeved shirt and simple black slacks make up his outfit today.
He steps into the coffee shop with Sam, the two of them seeming quite different in style. That will work to their advantage hopefully; harder to get a fix on them. He looks over where Sam indicates when she nudges his arm and nods, walking that way with her and giving Jennifer a polite smile as they come up.
"Miss Waterhouse?"
Twilight"Call me Jen," returns Miss Waterhouse, shutting the laptop and rising from the bench seat in a rather awkward curl and leaning forward to offer her hand to shake. First to whomever is closest. Then to the other. She already has business cards in hand and hands them out. A quick smile does not really banish her intent look at the both of them, then she nods toward the bench opposite her. "Grab a seat. And if you want dinner or something, it's on me.
"Well, my editor, really, but same difference for your purposes, right?"
Her glasses are different than those in her profile picture. Sleeker and more modern and square, and her clothing is pretty neutral. Jeans and a white shell and a blazer slung off to one side. Sandals on her feet if they sneak a look beneath the table.
"Really glad you guys could make it. My editor's really hot on these folks, you know? I was hoping that you guys had been involved with one of their programs but I'm guessing," glancing from one to the other, " - not?"
Sam Evans[percept+emp]
Dice: 7 d10 TN6 (3, 4, 4, 4, 6, 8, 10) ( success x 3 )
Sam EvansSam takes the offered hand and shakes it firmly. There is a thick leather cuff on her right wrist, and a few random cords on the left. "Sam," she says by way of greeting, her smile wary but charming. She's not good at hiding things, but while she's wary she's not overly suspicious. In fact, when she takes her seat and she folds her hands on the table in front of her, her head angles a little as she watches the woman, and she seems to relax a touch. Not completely, but a little.
And she is genuinely remorseful when she says, "No, well," a quick glance to the side, double-checking before she continues, "I haven't. For an organization that runs on volunteers it's amazingly difficult to volunteer."
She remembers Winona's offer to help pave the way for them to get in, but as she'd never heard of it again assumed it had been impossible.
Alexis Theron LambrosHe extends his hand to the reporter, giving a warm, friendly shake. "Jen, then. Nice to meet you." He doesn't give his name right away; after all, he doesn't need it going on the record and he isn't exactly up on his journalism law to know when that applies. And he's a shitty liar (no really, he seriously is) so tossing out a fake one would be a bad idea.
"I'm good, thank you. An iced tea, maybe." He lets Sam slide onto the bench and then follows suit, taking a seat and leaning back. "Yeah, I haven't worked with them either. I sort of run in the same circles though; I do volunteer work at other places. What makes your editors so interested in them?" He shoots a quick look at Sam, then back at the reporter.
Twilight"He has a source, some homeless guy who had a bit of a run-in with these folks. Sounded super shady," Jen gives them both a bit of a quick shrug, a subtle curl of her shoulders. Waves the waitress over and gives them both a chance to put in their orders, then asks for a grilled manchego-and-fig sandwich for herself, in addition to a refill on her coffee, " - but also a bit like something out of a movie.
"Not All the President's Men, either. Something maybe with a little more suspense and a little less gravitas. So I cover the planning commission, I've done some stories on the fight over the Healing Place and I get assigned to cover this one. I've got all kinds of rumors but not alot of facts and not a single person with tangible proof of anything, or anyone willing to go on record.
"Still, he wants me to come up with something, so here I am again, chasing my tail. Hoping that you can help."
Sam Evans"We'll do what we can to help, but, uh. What exactly is the story you're going for?"
This from Sam, who has a guess on the latter but tries to play it down a bit, still. Could mean gunfights, could mean, well. Alexis did say that this woman covered more political aspects.
Alexis Theron LambrosHe orders just a regular iced tea, nothing special to it, not flavored, and leaves at that. Once the waitress is gone he rests his forearms on the table, watching Jen a moment, considering. "Well, that depends on what you need." He takes in a deep breathe and lets it out slowly. His attention slips to Sam when she asks what the reporter is going for, story-wise. He nods, agreeing, and looks back to offer some explanation.
"Here's the thing, Jen. What I will tell you know is that I've run across them, and in far from the most positive manner. That being said, a lot of what I know involves people who I can't speak for and who are at very serious risk if their names are brought into this. That's not a risk I'm willing to put them through, certainly not without their advance consent. I'm also looking to find out everything that I can so that I can help these people. So, that's my agenda. Like my friend, I'd like to know where you're coming from."
Twilight"First of all, like I said. I'm looking to keep my boss off my back. So I need to figure out if this source of his is blowing smoke, or if there's something more to what he's saying. Second of all," and their drinks arrive and the young woman who is turning into a middle aged woman without quite recognizing the point of departure, the place where things change, glances up and gives her this blank but moving little smile of thanks, and settles down to her goodness-knows-what-number cup of coffee for the day. Still waiting for her manchego and fig sandwich, mind.
"I'm looking for the story that's there. The story I can prove. Or hell, even if it's all background, I'm interested in being there in the right place and at the right time when the shit goes. Believe it or not my boss is a badass and we still actually report the news and not celebrity-baby number seventy-seven at the City Paper.
"But if this is all bullshit, some background interagency turf war over city block grants and not-in-my-backyardism, well. I'd like to know that too." All of that is to Sam. Jen's eyes are steady on her.
Then shift with a steady glint to Alexis.
"I don't use names without direct permission. Mind, some of this shit I can't print without someone willing to go on record, so I'll be clear there too. So I'll stipulate right now that everything we say is off the record and confidential, until that changes and that changes with your say-so. Meantime, if you're open and honest with me, I'll be open and honest with you. That's what I can promise. Can't promise that the NSA isn't reading my e-mail, you know.
"But, I don't think that they care a whit about a bunch of weird Christian fundamentalists.
"Really, I'm just getting oriented. Trying to figure out the first angle of approach. Because what I have right now isn't much. Reverend gets a hot new wife and attendance skyrockets? Social service agency with tiny and self-selected population reports incredible self-congratulatory results? How's that any different than Scientology? Not even poor people want a drug treatment facility in their neighborhood? Corporate America still runs ramshackle over them?"
TwilightBRB!
Alexis Theron LambrosHe listens quietly as Jen explains her stance, where she's coming from; what kind of story she's trying to dig up. What she says seems to be backed up by what her past writing says...not that he expected different, but still, it always pays to play things safe. They have a lot of risk here; this is a journalist who is poking around something that could bring in Garou involvement. That is just about the worst idea ever, to say the least.
So he listens. She's a skeptic it seems, and Alexis nods a little to himself at that. That's good. And he smiles slightly at the idea that she doesn't use names without direct permission.
Another look over to Sam, and he looks back to the reporter, leaning back once more. He reaches tout and rotates the iced tea glass on its napkin, thinking. "Okay. Well...I don't know about my friend here, but if she's okay with it than I am. What did the homeless person say?"
Sam EvansSam leans her shoulders forward a little, listening intently. There's a tiny little shadow forming between her brows, something that might deepen with age and time and life on their side of the Garou's conflict. It adds gravity to her expression that breaks apart like sunshine breaking through rain clouds when the waitress arrives. Sam looks up past Alexis at the woman, holds out her hand for her glass of water, and smiles brightly.
She lowers her hand to wipe the already-forming condensation from her hand onto the thigh of her shorts, and about that time Jen is switching her attention to Alexis. Sam's shifts that way, too, dark eyes sliding to the side before her head angles a little in that direction. She knows a bit about the story that's there, Alexis, too. But there are somethings that just can't be told to ordinary people. They have to play this very carefully. They have to protect the Veil in the way that their kind do.
Sam nods her assent, "Yeah, to a point. I'll tell you anything I can."
Twilight"That this rEEntry group offered a friend of his a place to stay, no strings attached. Turns out, according to him, they had loads of strings. Nondisclosure agreements and medical power of attorney, and on and on. Of course, he didn't get copies of any of the agreements she was asked to sign, and I don't know that he's right about what they were. Hell, when I go in to the Apple Bar to get my iPhone serviced they ask me to sign a seventeen page form just to update the OS.
"Then, it gets weird. Claims they sent some thugs looking for him. Asking around for him. Which seems, you know, a little extreme for a shelter. Tracking down someone who refused to sign up.
"Now," a faint tip of her head. "One of their employees disappeared recently. Skipped town, apparently, which means, skipped out on the conditions of his parole, which puts the lie to what they're saying about their recidivism rate, right? But not in any way that's substantial.
"Director even got picked up for violation of her own parole, for falsifying documents or something, which has them on the backfoot but again, that's a page seventeen police blotter piece.
"So, those are my cards on the table. What can you offer me?"
Alexis Theron LambrosHe raises an eyebrow when he hears all of Jen's information. There are a couple of things in there that are of interest to him, to be certain. He would love to know what kind of falsification was done, which employee disappeared and when. And the idea that thugs went looking for this source...that seems not at all surprising to him.
This is when Alexis speaks up. He's being very careful about what information he gives out, for obvious reason. But he needs to give something before asking for more.
"Just for starters, there was a young man. Dmitri Halloran. He went to the Citadel, that camp for troubled youth, and he escaped. Now he's been treated as dangerous by the police based on what the rEEntry people told them when he was previously a non-violent drug offender. That's not very rehabilitative. Again, on its own that isn't much. But you can see a pattern coming up here, I'm sure."
Sam Evans"Well," she says, "their recidivism stats aren't based on anything public, anyway, they're just saying things and people are believing them. Or not, which could be why Eastland's trying to push them out."
She pauses for Alexis, and she nods. "I'm not surprised they'd try to wrap people up in as much red tape as possible. They're not really known for letting people out once they're in. Or at least, if someone's been released, I haven't been able to find them."
Twilight"Yeah," Jen agrees, with this quick flashing sort of look. "It's not much. It's not anything, really. Anecdotes, you know? And all their counselors are graduates, so they're clearly letting someone go, somewhere, somewhen.
"There I've got a few rumors that Christina Black was supposedly hot and heavy with Crenshaw back when she was working for - shit, I don't have my notes that company he sold - but seriously, those are rumors and so what. Even George W. Bush basically admitted to being a sinner and an alcoholic until he turned 40 and came clean. What does that do except add to her conversion story, you know?"
In the middle of this discussion, her phone starts to buzz. It's an alarm, not an incoming call and she grimaces. Her manchego and fig grilled cheese has yet to arrive.
"Shit, I've got to go," she says, fishing out a couple more business cards and offering one each to them. "Listen, you get anything you think I can run with, or find someone who can talk to me, or get some information - something solid, something concrete - give me a call. Cool? Help me keep my boss off my back."
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