Fishing for information. (Open)

[Hoch Kreatur]

Hoch made a motion over to his driver - who had been standing diligently by the car waiting Hoch - to which he moved his jacket aside to reveal a weapon. "I have a revolver for myself in the car."

Hoch brought his hand to his chin as he thought about what Morgan had said, "Will the rest of your family be okay?"

[Morgan Flynn]

"I've no clue, but all the more reason to go now," Morgan answered as he balled his fists, "if there is a problem Gill would find a way to let me know. Tanya is my biggest concern, though. I'll look after the others."

He liked to assume that the rest of his family would be overlooked, though depending on what these people wanted would greatly determine if Gillian and the other two kids were safe at all. Tanya was very valuable to Morgan and his operations, and he couldn't afford to let her fall into the wrong hands. It might not have been very obvious but he was fairly concerned about his whole family, he couldn't really remember the last time he was hit this close to home.

Morgan didn't want to think or talk about it anymore. He marched past Hoch and towards his own vehicle and gave the shorter man a wave to get to his own.

"Meet you there, don't be late!"

[Hoch Kreatur]

"I'll be right behind you!" Hoch said before quickly hurrying over and climbing into the back of his car. "Take me to Morgan's place, and be ready for things to get really dangerous."

The driver made a glance at Hoch with a bit of surprise, out of the three years driving the Dwarv Minor he had never heard the words 'Morgan's place' and 'really dangerous' in the same sentence. The driver wouldn't question the orders though, he quickly shut the door and got into the drivers side, twisting the key in the ignition and speeding off after Morgan's car.

[Morgan Flynn]

Morgan's vehicle tore off quickly, and where he took shortcuts his driving remained still fairly casual as he made his way to his home. For as serious as he figured the situation was he didn't accept it as an emergency as more as it was a big inconvenience. His phone stayed quiet the whole time they drove, he wouldn't make assumptions over it.

What confused him most was when his vehicle turned down the street to his home and there were no suspicious vehicles to be seen. Narrowing his eyes and parking his car a few blocks prematurely, Morgan readied one of his pistols before exiting the driver's side and felt it best to approach on foot. By this time in the evening most people were tucked away safely in their homes and either glued to their televisions or going to bed so he worried very little about being seen as he snuck around their yards and made his way ever closer to his own house. He saw half of the lights on in his own home, a bit of a reassurance that his wife and kids must have been okay but god damn maybe he should make them pay the power bill this month they'd been over this a million times and yet there were no signs of anyone else or any kind of strange activity going on around his home.

He wasn't too late, was he? Hiding from around the east corner of the house he peered over and there sat Gillian's red van, from this angle untouched and he hoped for that alone to be a good sign. Morgan took a moment to ready himself before he scurried over to the front and looked around, again no real activity but Gill's back passenger door sat wide open. He crept closer, peering in for only a moment before he took a look behind him and saw nothing--or no one--waiting for him inside.

"Tanya?" he spoke quietly, struggling to keep a watch over what could be inside the vehicle and what could sneak up on him at the same time from outside, and yet he was met with nothing. Morgan gave his front door a quick glance too, wondering if he should check inside. It seemed strange that Tanya would have disappeared from the front of their home without even Gillian knowing that something was amiss outside of the house, which could either have meant that something really did happen to Gillian or the people he was dealing with were a lot sneakier than he was anticipating. Normally something that "goes down" in a neighbourhood where Periot did his business was done by men who couldn't even count the toes on their own feet properly and lacked greatly in physical grace--dumb and clumsy, they were easy to spot.

Morgan paused with his left hand on the frame of Gill's vehicle door and his other with gun in hand loosely resting on the top of the open door itself as he stared ahead and tried to go through the different possibilities and come to a proper course of action. As he waited for Hoch he pushed himself off of the vehicle and took a careful stroll past the front of his home and around the left corner. The area was quiet this evening and to Morgan that meant too quiet, and yet nothing jumped out at him.

He looked to his right as if it were an odd calling to him, and as if it were on cue as he looked up he stood face to face with Gillian, through the window in the kitchen at the sink. Judging by the puzzled look on her face, and then the overly shocked reaction she gave when she noticed he carried a gun in his hand he concluded that the night for his family had apparently been undisturbed. Giving a really exaggerated shaking of disbelief and anger, Gillian turned her back on Morgan and took off into the other room.

'At least she's not dead, I guess' he thought to himself, and would have allowed himself to chuckle aloud if he wasn't still concerned about Tanya's whereabouts. He waited for Hoch and began to search around the yard for anything that would give him an idea.

[Hoch Kreatur]

Hoch wasn't sure what he was expecting... the idea of violence involving Morgan always brought incredible explosions and a fury of bullets flying in the air to mind. So it was understandable that Hoch was getting a bit nervous as they got closer to his house, only to be somewhat disappointed by the lack of anything violent going on at all.

Hoch climbed out of the car, giving a brief motion to his driver to 'stay put' as he looked around. Hoch was able to see Morgan cut into his neighbor's yard in an attempt to make his way to his own house - Hoch followed a little bit behind. He came up close behind Morgan, slipping his gun away and hissing out. "Not that I'm complaining... but where are the explosions, gunfire and gut wrenching screams of agony?"

The area was silent... Hoch hoped it would stay that way.

[Morgan Flynn]

Morgan looked heavily puzzled.

"I...don't know. This really isn't what I expected," he said quickly as he pulled his phone out, risking giving Tanya's number a quick ring to find out where she ended up. The person who picked up the phone, however, wasn't his daughter.

"H-hi, Boss. I take it you're home now?" came a familiar man's voice on the other end and Morgan immediately narrowed his eyes.

"Parker...what the hell is going on?" he spoke, forcing a smile on his face and trying to sound moderately pleasant about the whole ordeal. He gave Hoch a quick look before he put Parker on the speaker, allowing him any kind of information now would have been useful. He wouldn't force the Dwarv Minor's participation any further but would allow it to be a choice of his own.

"Okay, just...see the jogger's path there? The one leading down into the park? Just follow that."

"Parker--"

"I don't know about Tanya, I sent you those messages. Just follow the path."

Morgan didn't respond but he kept the phone on the line anyway, holding it out to his side with one hand and his gun in the other as he walked far along off of the property and found the cement footpath that he'd been instructed to follow. He gave Hoch a shrug and then walked along it through a very scenic walking and jogging route that spiralled down into the beach areas.

"There you go. I can see you now....hi, Boss. You see me waving?"

A few ways down the path came a fork that divided itself one way to the beach and the other to a large park, in front of him a sitting area with tables and outdoor cooking appliances and a few ways behind it a very large playground. Before him stood a group of what he figured to be ten men, definitely ragged-dressed from the dirtier parts of the city and a van that sat off to the side. Parker stood with his grey, hooded sweater covering him and he held Tanya's phone in his hand, giving him a weak wave as he hung it up. Morgan hung his own up as well, stashing it into his pocket but keeping his gun out to his side. He gave them all a big smile.

"Well then. Welcome, my most esteemed guests..." he spoke loudly, cheerfully, oddly so given the circumstances.

"Shut it, Flynn! Things between you and Ty have gotten personal, we're here to settle a few things for him one bullet at a time," one gentleman spoke out for the group, tanned skin, shaved head, a scar down his right cheek. Morgan settled on giving him the most 'original' nickname 'Scarface'. With the raise of a red-gloved hand, Scarface and his gang went to raise their own weapons when Morgan held out his hand quickly to try to settle them down.

"The bullets can come after! What's the hurry? Especially if Ty won't grace me with his presence at my own death, this can't be as personal as you say it is--"

"You murdered his sister!"

"He killed my men!" Morgan placed the one free hand he had to his heart and gave Scarface an appalled stare, "sure, an army can be replaced but good help is so hard to find these days...

Okay, so maybe it was a little drastic for me to bring his sister into it. Really, it was only because I believed he would tuck his tail between his legs and hide if I did it but as I see I guess he's a bit angry about it--is my daughter in there, by the way? I would like to have her back."

He gestured to the van, closed up with one of the armed fellows guarding it. Before anyone could even argue he immediately went into his pocket and started pulling out large denominations of thelos and throwing them to the ground in front of them.

"It wasn't specified of course, but I'll pay a ransom. What do you want? I've got plastic, too...here, have my car keys. Little things," he mumbled and some of the weapons lowered, mostly out of confusion. Scarface kept his gun pointed at Morgan, though his eyebrows rose in bewilderment as he watched the man empty his pockets.

"Is this guy for real?" one of the larger guys asked Scarface, who shrugged and shook his head and spoke up finally.

"I don't know--what the hell are you playing at, Flynn? You think we'll oblige you if you throw enough money our way?"

"Yes!" Morgan answered automatically, a stupid grin appearing on his face, "is that not what makes this city go round? Any man or woman can be convinced with money, it's how good girls turn into prostitutes and officers become corrupt, afterall. Any madman with enough money can buy himself influence, and with that influence buy his way into politics--yes, your government is run by criminals! All it takes in the world is money, you just need enough and when you don't have enough, you just get more and give until you do."

He studied them as they traded many puzzled glances with each other. Morgan smirked.

"What's the matter, gentlemen? I don't have enough or are you not used to seeing this much? I think the reason why Ty would have tried to rob me to begin with says a lot there, doesn't it? Something that I must have that clearly he doesn't and that brings me to my big question: why work for a man like that?"

"Loyalty, don't be stupid. You all know that," Scarface immediately chimed in.

"Loyalty indeed! Loyalty is just as good as money, it buys you all sorts of things. Money can only buy you cars, houses, women, drugs, power, and the list goes on. Let's list a few things that loyalty can buy you..." he paused, waving a finger around in thought, "well, I can't think of a single thing. Can you, Scarface? I see loyalty as more of a tool, one that you'd use when you work for someone who has a lot of money because when you prove you're useful, you'll get paid more. And when you get paid more, you can use your money to buy things...because you were loyal to the man with a lot of money.

Now really, gentlemen...I have a lot of money. Ty clearly doesn't. Why kill the man who can offer you more? Doesn't that just sound absurd?"

"Don't listen to him, he's lying," Scarface growled, giving the others a warning look.

"Money doesn't lie, it just changes people. It's not an issue of it being promised, it's an issue of seeing that it's there and taking the opportunity to take ahold of it. I have many means of bringing in money while Ty sits on his little 'lab' I guess you'd call it in the low-income district, and I'm sure he has his affiliates but what I say is that that's a good little chunk of power to grab ahold of and when you have someone more powerful with stronger, larger span of connections hovering over you, that little business can grow bigger. Ty isn't moving it anywhere but if we could put it into the right hands, I can..."

Morgan smiled something devious as he pointed a finger out to Scarface.

"Why kill me when one bullet to his head instead can put cases of thelos in your hands? Scarface here is loyal to Ty, and the removal of both of them clears up space for two of you to move in--keep the lab, I'll throw Periot's in as well. You pay me portions of your sales, I have you connections, eager customers and distributors all throughout the city and we're a growing, happy business. Effective immediately, all of you can have a promotion with a hefty pay raise. The first one to get theirs is the one who shoots him."

He was prepared for a long wait as they mulled it over, he was even prepared for Scarface to put up a desperate fight to further convince them to not listen to Morgan. And yet not sooner than Morgan had finally finished his long-winded negotiations that a gunshot was fired, half of the bodies around them jumped and Scarface's hit the ground. The weapons lowered, a shriek was heard from in the inside of the van, and Morgan smiled as his eyes scanned the gentlemen before him and pointed out to the one who stepped forward with the smoking gun.

"Welcome to the team, chief," he said with a smile, "can we open the van now?"

[Hoch Kreatur]

Hoch could barely hold himself still as this entire thing went down. Things were going to end with blood being spilled, but how much and from who was the question. Hoch's hand gripped the handle of his weapon as things grew more and more tense; this Scarface seemed intent on avenging those Morgan killed, while Hoch always knew that all their misdeeds would catch up with them someday, he honestly thought he had more time! 

Then things started to get interesting... whatever diplomatic tactic Morgan was playing at was working splendidly. Morgan exploited the loyalty with the promise of money and power, creating doubt among Scarface's own men until somebody finally took the bait...

Hoch leaped a bit when the bullet was fired, his eyes darted around the area, briefly looking over at Morgan and himself to make sure they weren't hit. He took a great sigh of relief once Scarface fell, giving a small smirk over at Morgan. A fuckin' genius that man is, Hoch thought, Crazy too. I'm glad I'm on his side!

"Well," Hoch finally said, not yet willing to put away his weapon, "What about all the other men?" He asked Morgan in a harsh whisper.

[Morgan Flynn]

"We work with them for now, we don't give orders until we have the 'boot above their heads' to stomp on them if we have to," Morgan answered Hoch quietly as the men went about cleaning up the mess. As the back of the van opened, Tanya had a very graceless fall to the ground from within it. She crawled frantically out of the way as the dead body was thrown in in her place. Parker was the first one by her side to offer her a hand up, once she was back on her feet with her phone back in her hands she sucked in a quick breath and an echoing 'crack' was heard as the palm of her hand slapped across his cheek.

"Ack! I guess I might have deserved that...no no, Tanya, listen...!" Parker practically begged as the dark-haired girl immediately dove behind Morgan after, hugging onto his free arm. Parker was a bit of a bumbling man in his mid-twenties though his demeanour was a lot more like a child, and normally could be trusted to get anything done. He paled the moment he took two steps after the girl and realized he was marching into Morgan's personal circle. Parker's lips quivered and he put up two unarmed hands in a surrender to Morgan.

"B-boss, I..."

"Ah yes. You," Morgan narrowed his eyes at Parker, "You'll stay with me, I'll deal with you personally afterwards. These gentlemen will be invited to attend a little get together outside of Periot's place--we do this well, that lab will belong to them."

Morgan gestured to the remaining guys, half of which had now piled into the van and were ready to move on. Now that he'd promised it, it was best that he took care of it now. Whoever was at Periot's, whether that was also a set-up or not--he was sure he'd find out from Parker now that he had him on the leash--they could secure it. Once they had it, all he had to do was move in with a wild sweep on Ty and for now, this mess should be cleaned up.

His arm wrenched itself from Tanya's grasp only to put it around her shoulders in a brief, comforting hug before he gave her a gentle shove towards Hoch.

"Go with him, Tanya. Daddy has some business to take care of that he'd rather something like this not happen again so soon after," as he spoke he eyed Hoch carefully, "if you're still willing that is, Hoch. I'm heading out soon to settle this mess in Periot's neighbourhood, you just keep in touch with me if you feel like joining me."

Morgan's hand grabbed Parker's left shoulder tightly, and a little more so than he probably should have as the younger man winced as he did so.

"If you leak this to anyone," Morgan gestured to Hoch and Tanya, "your fate's undecided but I assure you you'll be begging for me to slit your throat and be done with it."

Parker looked like he was going to vomit as he responded with a nod and a, "Y-y-yes sir..."

[Hoch Kreatur]

"Of course," Hoch said as he gave a small gesture for Tanya to follow him. "I'll call you once I get her somewhere safe." He wasn't sure how useful he'd be to Morgan on taking down Periots men, but if Morgan needed him Hoch would be there.

Hoch was about to step back when he felt that he needed to give his boss a good heads up. "You should be careful, though. Authorities are going to be hyper aware of anything going on after, well, you know..." Normally he'd advise to put it off for another night, but given everything that was happening it might be wise to move right now. "Given the proximity of our recent action to the Ellusian navy base it's likely Thelotia has the military deployed now. Last thing you want is running into any army convoy, they certainly aren't your typical police man."

Anything that could attract attention would. Morgan would have to move very carefully.

"Anyway," Hoch nodded, "We should get moving Tanya. Can't be holding your dad up any longer."

[Morgan Flynn]

Morgan waved off both Hoch and Tanya, deliberately turning an eye more so he wouldn't have to look into his daughter's 'lost puppy' expression that she gave him every time he shooed her away. He looked like he didn't care about the military, he had a plan for everything, and really he didn't. Hoch was right, the military was a problem. But this would be more of a problem if they didn't deal with it right away. As crazy as it sounded, Morgan felt like having a rapid string of events this evening to keep the law enforcement on their toes might be exactly what the city needed, and then sit low for a few days afterward.

Explosives were required as an emergency precaution, but might also prove useful for the events to come. Morgan smiled as he ushered Parker along. It was time to get to work.