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zoe_torres ([info]zoe_torres) wrote in [info]dc_nextgen,
@ 2011-06-01 09:53:00


Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend!  Next Entry
Entry tags:gk, zoe torres

It isn't my birthday...
A brown paper package was just inside the door on a side table when Zoe returned home after an afternoon at the Star City library researching old newspaper archives. It bore her name and address, but no return address and no postage stamps.

Michelle wasn't home from the office yet, so she had no audience to ask her what it was or who had sent it. Suspicious nature taking over, Zoe hid it under her bed and ignored it until late that night. She carried it up to the roof and carefully opened it under the tiny beam of a penlight.

Inside she found a locked leather case. A plain white envelope contained a key on a chain. If this was Angie's idea of giving her more guns, it was too public. Zoe's condition was that none of the Suicide Squad dealings ever touch her mother or her home life. She didn't think Angela was so careless when she could have called Zoe to her office for a delivery.

All thought was gone when she opened the case and found a pair of wrist mounted guns. With the new weapons were boxes of ammo. Even in the low light, she could tell they were not an off-the-rack item. They were sized to fit her and she had an idea they would feel natural in her hands. Someone had gone to the trouble of arming her with a specially made item of the sort she wouldn't have thought to ask for, and provided ammunition to use them right away.

She'd talk to Angela about it tomorrow. Maybe.



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[info]veryperceptive
2011-06-19 05:12 am UTC (link)
"Definitely not enough to make me lose my appetite... enough that I'm surprised I didn't scream like a little bitch, maybe, but not to lose my appetite."

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]zoe_torres
2011-06-19 08:04 pm UTC (link)
"You're not a little bitch," Zoe said automatically. "Screaming or otherwise." She pushed the menu aside and motioned to the waitress to take their order.

"Waffles, bacon, make it crispy, extra butter and syrup, more coffee."

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]veryperceptive
2011-06-19 08:11 pm UTC (link)
"I appreciate that," GK tells Zoe cheerfully, then, to the waitress, "Likewise."

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]zoe_torres
2011-06-19 09:45 pm UTC (link)
The waitress sashayed off in her support shoes and Zoe tried the coffee she had. Not only was it cold but it was way too sweet.

She stared at GK for a moment. "You ever wear a wig or dye your hair? I blend in, but your hair is pretty out there. Maybe a hat. At least until we know this is blown over."

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]veryperceptive
2011-06-19 09:55 pm UTC (link)
"I have things I can wear. My hair does not take color well without using the damaging stuff, but I have things I can wear."

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]zoe_torres
2011-06-19 10:21 pm UTC (link)
"Just until we know we got away without anybody seeing us. You just don't see a lot of blond hair down here."

The waitress was back to refill GK's juice and freshen Zoe's coffee. She was cheerful for that time of night, though it couldn't be the safest place to be working at night. Maybe a couple of steps up from a Stop-n-Rob.

She pulled a white card out of another apron pocket and set it on the table next to Zoe's cup. "He said you'd know what he's talking about, dear," she trilled to Zoe and walked away.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]veryperceptive
2011-06-20 01:40 am UTC (link)
"Okay. I'll grab them from my place next chance I get."

And then...that happens.
"He?" GK looks to Zoe. "He who?"

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]zoe_torres
2011-06-20 01:59 am UTC (link)
Zoe didn't respond. Instead, she slid the card away from her cup to get a look at it. She recognized the telephone number printed across the pristine surface. It was the same card she'd been given by a stranger in this very same diner.

She turned it over and her face drained of color at the scrawl across the back.

NEXT TIME CHECK THE ROOF BEHIND YOU.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]veryperceptive
2011-06-20 02:02 am UTC (link)
There's a long pause.

"...Well, 'he' definitely isn't the one who went thump, so that only leaves one option," GK says very quietly.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]zoe_torres
2011-06-20 02:14 am UTC (link)
"He tried to hire me once," she said quietly. "Creepy guy. I thought he was perving on me. Gave me one of these cards and then said to tell my mom an old friend said hello. Never got a name."

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]veryperceptive
2011-06-20 02:17 am UTC (link)
"Sounds like he was more interested in your aim. Wanted to say hi to your mom.... Old client?"

Why yes, GK's ignorance of law extends to knowing that Michelle does not practice criminal law.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]zoe_torres
2011-06-20 02:22 am UTC (link)
"No!" Zoe said it louder than she intended and the few people in the diner all looked around. Mom left that life when Zoe was born. She'd explained it to Zoe so she would make other choices.

She continued in fierce undertone, leaning over her side of the table. "He followed us! From the rooftop! He was in here! This is almost a threat!"

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]veryperceptive
2011-06-20 02:24 am UTC (link)
GK blinked, totally unsure about what brought that on. "Sorry," he said quietly. "You know I don't know anything about lawyering. So...what do we do? Call him and see what he wants?"

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]zoe_torres
2011-06-20 02:33 am UTC (link)
That derailed Zoe's rising rage. "I'm not talking about law."

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]veryperceptive
2011-06-20 02:35 am UTC (link)
"Oh. I was. Like, if she'd helped some Professional file for bail once or something. But, um...so what do we do?"

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]zoe_torres
2011-06-20 02:40 am UTC (link)
She backed up a few mental steps. GK and his family didn't need to know Michelle was a hooker at one time. "I need to find out what's going on with this guy, but I can't do it with Mom around. I don't want her to be a target."

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]veryperceptive
2011-06-20 02:42 am UTC (link)
GK thinks. "...Do you think your mom would like Maine?"

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]zoe_torres
2011-06-20 02:44 am UTC (link)
It was her turn to show off her misconceptions. "She's seen Main Street before. It's not far enough."

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]veryperceptive
2011-06-20 02:48 am UTC (link)
"I mean Maine. With an E. East of New Hampshire and Quebec. One call to Grandma and she'll insist on booking tickets for Uncle Jed and a guest on another taking-pictures-of-eagles-and-birch-trees-and-the-ocean-hitting-the-rocks trip."

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]zoe_torres
2011-06-20 02:55 am UTC (link)
"My mom would never agree to run off to Maine with an e because your grandma wants to send your Uncle Jed on a trip. She pays her way, always has."

The food arrived and her appetite hadn't returned. She pushed the plate toward the center and leaned on an elbow. "Mom doesn't...go away... with guys for the weekend. She never has. Telling her that somebody's picking up the tab won't work."

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]veryperceptive
2011-06-20 03:01 am UTC (link)
"Darn ...If she could pay for her hotel room herself, would she maybe not want a perfectly nice plane ticket to go to waste? Maine's fun. Nice breezes over the water and all that, and the birch trees are really pretty for the first day or two." GK cuts his waffle meticulously.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]zoe_torres
2011-06-20 03:18 am UTC (link)
"That's just it, her law practice doesn't make much money. She does it to help people. What money we have she's saving to send me to school."

She tapped on the table with a short, unpainted fingernail. There /was/ money, but it was a secret from everyone, including GK. "I could put my hands on some, but I'd need a reason to have it. Maybe win the lottery. A few thousand would make her feel like she's paying her own way."

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]veryperceptive
2011-06-20 03:20 am UTC (link)
GK does not ask how Zoe could get her hands on money. He wasn't brought up to ask that kind of question. Instead, he just says, "Raffle. You won a raffle. You're not old enough to buy an actual lottery ticket. And that sounds great to me."

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]zoe_torres
2011-06-20 03:26 am UTC (link)
"But am I old enough to buy a raffle ticket? It doesn't matter, really. I just show up with the money and say I won it. Get her to go on vacation with your uncle, if he can say he has a job to do in Maine and she can carry the camera bag or something." Her brain ticked everything into place while her appetite returned. With a plan in the works she was getting hungry again.

She pulled the plate back and reached for the butter and syrup. "There's only one problem left."

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)


[info]veryperceptive
2011-06-20 03:52 am UTC (link)
"Sounds good. What's left?"

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

(no subject) - [info]zoe_torres, 2011-06-20 04:02 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]veryperceptive, 2011-06-20 04:03 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]zoe_torres, 2011-06-20 04:11 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]veryperceptive, 2011-06-20 04:13 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]zoe_torres, 2011-06-20 04:23 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]veryperceptive, 2011-06-20 04:27 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]zoe_torres, 2011-06-20 04:31 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]veryperceptive, 2011-06-20 04:34 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]zoe_torres, 2011-06-20 04:45 am UTC
(no subject) - [info]veryperceptive, 2011-06-20 04:49 am UTC

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