Safe Houses and Speakeasies - Complete -- Law & Order triumphs!

[Stattick]

Having heard enough now from the back room, Stattick walked in from the shadows, puffing a stogie that cast an angry orange pall across his face.

Giving an angry glare at Kaz, Stattick said, "Talkin' behind my back eh? Givin me the finger when yous think I ain't even 'ere to say nuthin about it? I'll remember that Kaz. Mark my words, I'll remember that..."

Stattick walked past in a puff of billowing smoke and an angry orange glow. He came to stand beside Aiden, and spoke low to him... but he noticed that the others seemed to quiet down and evesdrop even though they pretended not to. "Buddy... it seems you've got a problem. Seems folks around these parts are muttering that you're the bloke dat got poor ol' Jack. But I might be able to convince 'em otherwise, see? Jus you don't forget who pulled your tail outta the fire now, ya 'ere?"

Stattick turned to face the crowd. His eye caught that vamp Marguerite. "Sorry darlin... But I never could get that outta my head, that time you said I was too ugly to dance with. 'Sides, you just look guilty, you sound guilty, and if half of what I hear about you do behind closed doors is true, you're definitely guilty of lots of stuff..." Stattick shrugged, "So I gotta put the finger on you Margarite. Mighta been different if we'd danced though."

[Aiden]

Aiden alcohol glazed eyes looked over as Stattick approached him, listening to him as he honed in his gaze on the broads who plotted his demise.
"I don't forget..."
With a smile he looks over to Margarite and shrugged.
"Sorry Doll, but looks like it is time for you to take a ride."

[Valerian]

Final Voting:

Marguerite (4) - Aiden, Caeli, Stattick, Trieste
Aiden (3) - Marguerite, Saffron, Saku
Saffron (1) - Maeven
Stattick (1) - Kaz the Beast
Trieste (1) - LadySky
Caeli (0)
Kaz (0)
LadySky (0)
Maeven (0)
Saku (0)



And without even giving the poor dame a chance to finish her drink (though considering the quality of the hooch around here, that might not have been such a bad thing after all), Marguerite's fate was decided.  Before she realized that her 'friends' were really hard-boiled enough to do her in, she found herself swept into a waiting car, never to be seen alive again.  Headlines the next day reported her as the victim of a mugging gone tragically awry.

Unfortunately, the papers did get one thing right: Marguerite was, in fact, an innocent victim -- one of the Townsfolk, and not a villain at all.

• Aiden
• Caeli
• Kaz
• LadySky
• Maeven
• Marguerite - victim of vigilante justice
• Saffron
• Saku
• Stattick
• Trieste

There are 3 Bootleggers, 1 Undercover Cop, 1 Stool Pigeon, and 4 Townsfolk.

[Stattick]

Stattick smoked his stogie, anxiously waiting for someone to say something... He stared down into his drink, and swirled it around, the little ice cubes clinking against the side of the glass.

"I... can't believe we got the wrong dame," he muttered. Well, at least he wouldn't have the spectre of having that one's rejection hanging over his head any longer.

He then looked over at Kaz... "Honestly, I don't know if you're one of the boot leggers or not. But I can't forgive or forget. Never been able to... So you get my next vote. 'Sides, you been strutten around like you know something. So I think that this time, I'm fingering the right goon."

Stattick glances around the room, wondering if they're gonna get him next, like they did when Marguerite spoke first last time. Wether they do or not, they can surely see that he has a legitimate beef with that one, right? Afterall, before Stattick was even in the room, Kaz had him fingered for no reason. That just can't stand. Stattick quickly quaffs the rest of his drink, and signals the bartender to come over for a refill.

[LadySky]

LadySky had watched it all with a quiet frown. She did not believe for a moment Marg was one of those bootleggers. A small grin slid across her face however when she realized she no longer had to lovely Marg to compete with! "More swell's for me" she snikered.

Struttin to the bar she slid into a stool and ordered a drink.

[Caeli]

"Well, it's tough, but... we're none of us mind-readers," Caeli murmured. She was sitting in the same place she'd been sitting in the day before - sipping a glass of sparkling water at the bar, idly waiting until night fell.

She let her gaze linger over the men in the room, but she didn't move or indicate that she was interested in going anywhere yet.

"Do you think the bootleggers will strike again tonight?"

[Autumn Sativus]

Saffron watched the room quietly, staying mostly to herself, unaware of who to trust, if anyone. "I think we should be expectin' it. Heard that's wha happen'd in the next town over." she took a sip from her glass, obviously a little done in.

"Sad thing tha' happen'd ta Mar... and Jackie... we're gonna get our revenge man."

[Aiden]

Aiden had arrived late that night to the local watering hole, his normally pressed coat was thrown on sloppily. A dark shadow crept along his chin and jawline, stepping up to the bar he ordered a drink and drank quickly to make up for lost time.

[Valerian]

The little group drinks long into the night, musing on Marguerite's fate, and wondering what might happen next under cover of darkness.  When the last of them finally slips off to bed, the moon is high in the sky, turning the whole world black and white.

The next morning is almost equally grey, with rainclouds hanging low over the city.  Everyone expects the news on Marguerite in the papers, but there's a shock in store, too -- Maeven has been killed during the night!  It was a hit and run, which the police are calling an accident -- but they don't seem too concerned with looking for clues, either.  But another innocent has been lost, one of the Townsfolk.

• Aiden
• Caeli
• Kaz
• LadySky
• Maeven - killed by bootleggers
• Marguerite - victim of vigilante justice
• Saffron
• Saku
• Stattick
• Trieste

There are 3 Bootleggers, 1 Undercover Cop, 1 Stool Pigeon, and 3 Townsfolk.

[Caeli]

It was the next day.

As everyone filtered into the speakeasy again, Caeli noticed that someone felt... missing. She ordered her usual, though this time, she added a copy of the daily news sheet so she could glance through it while everyone was still getting settled.

There was only a low hum of conversation going on when she suddenly jumped up, and the black and white sheets dropped from her fingers and to the ground. "Maeven was in a hit and run accident last night!" She exclaimed, quickly retrieving the stack of thin papers and pointing at the small blurb in the police reports section.

[LadySky]

LadySky was just entering the speakeasy when Caeli exclaimed Maeven had been killed. She rushed over to peer at the news blurb with Caeli in shock. LadySky was not much for makin friends with dames but Maeven had been a nice gal!

"Dammit, something has to be done about these goons!" she hissed with anger.

[Trieste]

For the love of Christ, this is terrible. Ladysky's right, ain't nobody that can hit miss Mae in the caboose like that worth nothing. Stattick, you crazy criminal, what do you know about this?

[Caeli]

She handed off the news sheet to LadySky, then grabbed her glass of wine, missing the first time before simply holding it in her hands. She took a quick drink to steady herself, then glanced at Saffron. Caeli swallowed nervously, wondering if she should speak up at all.

Speaking up meant you might be taken for a ride at any moment, like Callahan and Maeven.

But staying silent meant they might all die.

"Why would the Bootleggers go for Maeven?" She finally piped up. Caeli just managed to hide her wince - her voice squeaked a little. "It doesn't make any sense, unless the first time around, she voted for a Bootlegger... and she was the only person who voted for Saffron."

[Autumn Sativus]

Saffron looked around sadly, disappointed that they'd lost Maeven during the night. That doll never liked her, but even if Maeven wanted her dead, Saffron still cared about her.

"Caeli, come on, dollface. I ain't doin' no bootleggin', I wouldn't even have a clue on how." she shrugged a bit as she downed her drink. "The things dats goin' on in dis town gots ta change, y'know... I dun wanna keep wakin' up to another dead one, sooner or later it's gonna be me that wakes up dead." she looked around and sighed, shaking her head.

[Saku]

Saku looked over at Caeli and thought about her words which did seem to make a lot of sense. Maeven had been the only one who had voted for Saffron last time around and the next day Maeven had been taken out by the bootleggers, it seemed too much like a coincidence. So Saku sided with Caeli this time around and voted for Saffron as well.

[Kazyth]

Kaz wanders in the next day, a look of resignation and sadness on his face as he hears the commotion... and what was causing it.  Absently he adjusts his hat and plops down on a barstool, muttering softly to himself, "Lost annuder pair'a sweet pins las' night.  Dis can't stand, see?  Yous mooks let one hot tomata get taken fer da long ride, an dem bootleg bastids off another in the night?"

Those dark, hooded eyes turn to Stattick once more, baleful and sharp.  "You's a goon, Stattick, and yah always was.  Jumpin' onna bandwagon for ta save yah own skin, an lettin' poor Margie-baby get offed?  Feh.  It's curtains fer yahs, if I has my say, see?"

[Valerian]

Current Voting:

Saffron (2) - Caeli, Saku
Caeli (1) - Trieste
Kaz (1) - Stattick
Stattick (1) - Kaz the Beast
Aiden (0)
LadySky (0)
Saku (0)
Trieste (0)

Yet to vote: Aiden, LadySky, Saffron

There are 3 Bootleggers, 1 Undercover Cop, 1 Stool Pigeon, and 3 Townsfolk.

[Caeli]

Hearing Kaz speak, Caeli glanced over at Stattick, wondering if he was going to respond with any kind of retort.

"Well, the 'jumpin' on the bandwagon' argument might work, if you'd said that about Aiden," she said out loud, slowly. Why was she doing this? She really was going to get herself killed. "But you were the only one who voted for Stattick last round. How do we know you're not just tryin' to get even?"

[Trieste]

* Trieste peers at Caeli, nonplussed.

I'm not sure I follow you, doll.

[Caeli]

Caeli waved in Stattick's direction. "Jumping on the bandwagon... over half of us in the room did that. If jumping on the bandwagon makes everyone a bootlegger, then wouldn't we all be crooks in this room?" She shrugged one shoulder and took a sip of wine.

"Kaz, though, he's been after Stattick from the start. What does he know that we don't? Or is he just using this opportunity to pursue a secret agenda?"

Another sip. Wetting her lips, she continued. "The way I see it, Saffron's a more likely target. She voted different from all of us - and look where that got her."

[Trieste]

What you say makes sense, in an odd way, but I'm not sure it points to Saffron.

You've sure put a lot more thought in this than someone who just found out this morning, Miss Caeli.

[Caeli]

She blinked, but didn't avert her gaze, not wanting to back down from what her gut was telling her. "Just trying to be logical. Anything else, and we'll all be dead before we know it."

[LadySky]

LadySky had sat listening to everyone's beefs and bunk as she read the news blurb over and over in shock. She needed to let loose some of this building tension quickly she realized as her eyes burned with tears.

Standing from the table she shook her bum all the way to the bar and ordered a drink. Turning to observe the room she sipped quietly trying to get a read on who was a piker in this joint.

[Aiden]

Aiden was sitting in the corner with his drink, swirling it in the glass as he heard all the commotion and finger pointing. The last few days had been rather depressing for the club, this was a sanctuary to drink and good times, not a courtroom. Sighing deeply, he eyed each person and tried to see who made the most sense.

[Stattick]

Stattick came in and sat down next to Aiden, and said, "I heard Kaz was out for my blood still. I'm not quite sure why that is... but a goon like me with a sordid history - he probably thinks I done him wrong at some point, and now wants revenge. He's gettin my vote, no doubt. You up to helping me bury that piker?"