Network Zero Calling: ATTN Chris

Chris's life had returned to normalcy, for the first part. Despite the conspiratorial tone of Kimberly's warnings when she had left his apartment, he had found no threats to his person or odd happenings.

That all changed today. As he sat down for his normal log into Network Zero, he spotted a private message from his contact, Cypher. Clicking on it revealed a link to a mainstream news site. There was a report dated today of a young woman who was attacked on the street two days ago - only a few blocks from Chris's apartment. The police state that the young woman was Colleen Yates, a thirty year old elementary school teacher. She was abducted on the belief that she fit the type of a man suspected of abducting other women. Two more names - Ashley Kent and Beth Harringer- are disclosed, both abducted within the last two months, both still missing.
Chris noticed that the date was when Colleen and Kimberly had departed, two days ago. The time in the paper was approximately when they had parted company.

Cypher commented:
I knew Colleen. We used to be friends. But to be honest, I suspect this report isn't accurate. The Colleen I knew couldn't be thirty, she was much younger, immature. I can't believe that she had graduated college and held a job as a teacher. My Colleen waited tables at the Fly Trap on Plum Street. I haven't seen her in a month until yesterday. This is going to sound crazy, but I saw her- at her old work place. She looked bad, all disheveled - but she took off on me. I have an idea of what could have happened to her, but we need to talk to her first. Before the police. You know that they don't get this sort of thing.
~Cypher

Downtown Detroit
Plum Street
The Fly Trap
3: 32 P.M.


The street is largely devoid of people. Checking your watch, you wonder if that is the norm in a late afternoon amidst a normally populated shopping district. The shopping areas are to the east, barely within sight. This street leads towards the attractions of downtown, most of the traffic flows in that direction.
Standing in the center of this street is the 'Fly Trap', a beige box style family diner dating towards the seventies. You spot two waitresses - young women in their twenties- straightening up the outside cafe dining area.

One waitress kneels by the chair, a scrub brush in hand. She appears concerned, staring off towards the wraparound parking lot.
You see the other working on a reddish, circular stain on the top of the table. Both waitresses wear white gloves and seem displeased.

"- blood. Who does a prank these days with real blood?" The one scrubbing the table complains. "Haven't they heard of HIV?"

The second waitress doesn't appear interested in the question. She continues to stare towards the parking lot.
"I swear I heard something-"
"A car backfiring. The first waitress interjects quickly.

As Chris lifted his can of soda for another drink, he recieved an alert that he had another private message from Cypher.

What do you mean by 'threaten'? Did Colleen seem O.K.? Colleen asks. I can get the file to you tonight. See what you can find out about 'Uncle Carson'. A blogger a few years ago published a few things about the Harper family, mostly about some odd disappearances a few years ago. Odd thing though, all of the articles he wrote were erased - can't even find them in back links.

Hang onto your info.
~C

Chris sends out his reply and notes a new post entitled ' Emergency Room - Detroit'.
If he checks it, he sees this entry made by ward70:

Spoiler:

Cypher does not immediately reply to Chris.

Hunter Chris

Storyteller:

At 2 P.M. the next day, a Thursday, Chris finds the audio file in his private messages from Cypher. She includes only a cryptic question. 'Have you worked with Steve Adler?' ~ C


Chris checks the audio file quickly before banging out a quick response. "No." He checks his watch. It was very distressing to be waiting on a call that might not come. If Kim slipped away again...


Storyteller:
There is no response from Cypher. As Chris verifies the file is of the transcript that he heard, he wondered how Kim would respond. When they last spoke, she acted as though she was going off the grid- yet Sara seemed to think that Kim was with someone that Sara knew. Were these people possibly going to help with Chris's investigation?

As he pondered that, his yahoo messenger ticker showed an updated news alert: The body of one of the missing woman, Beth, had been found in the elite night club district. The news said little about cause of death more than 'excessive blood loss'.


Chris ponders his next move...
He felt overwhelmed. A lot was going on and he was reacting. Still he felt like this would be worth looking into. Using phone and email, he reaches out to his contacts in the bar and club scene of Detroit. Bartenders, club owners. He tries to find out at least which club it was at, and if anyone knew anything more about this woman.

Spoiler:

Storyteller
"Hey Chris, sorry about the wait." Chris had gotten ahold of Brian Elliot at the Old Settler who had to put him on hold while he dealt with something.

"The chick that got found, Beth? She was hanging out at the Rhapsody. From what I hear, she was one of the orchestra- you know, the chicks with the gold charm bracelets that get into the VIP of every single club around here. I know she came around here one night - one of my bouncers made her wait in line? Not an hour later, these punks come and throw my bouncers a beating.

I don't make those chicks wait, let me tell you. Why you asking?"

"I didn't know if you realized, but murder is still news in this town. Not big news, but I take what I can get. So, what happened? You said some people came and beat your bouncers up? Did they kidnap Beth or something?"


Storyteller

"Yeah, they sure did. Lost Dan for two weeks while his hand was all bandaged up. These guys were nasty... but they were clever about it. You know those guys with the scary ass voice on SVU who say they could do you without leaving a mark? Those guys were like that. They breeze in, declare 'the orchestra goes where it wants' and then lay my guys out. Didn't touch Beth. I hear she was crowing around for about an hour, ordering drinks by the twos. Paid on a Gold card and slipped out before 2. A.M. That was about five days ago."
Storyteller: "... the hell...?" You hear the phone being set down for a minute.


"Brian, are you there?" Chris asks, confused by the sudden disruption in the conversation.

You wait for nearly three minutes before Brian comes back on. "You wern't kidding about news in this town. Butch lady was just asking about Beth. You know how I mentioned the orchestra?" Brian lowers his voice an octave. "This chicks is wearing one of those bracelets with a little violin on it. I'm guessing she's not with you...?"


"The only Orchestra I've heard of is the one that plays downtown. But I get the feeling that these guys aren't much for music. What are they like a gang or something?"


Storyteller: "No... more like groupies, I'd guess. They wear fancy ass clothes, get a car sent out for them and hang with these really... impressive people. I haven't been to the Rhapsody, but I hear local celebrities go there. The orchestra could be the groupies, now that I think about it."



"Thanks for the info Brian. I think I might have to stop by Rhapsody sometime in the near future. If they're asking about Beth, they might just know something."

Storyteller
"You going to the Rhapsody?" Brian sounded surprised. "Make sure you clean up. Thier security is pretty tight."


"What, a trench coat isn't decent enough?" Chris remarks sarcastically.

Storyteller

"Decent enough to get you an introduction to Danny's best friends." Brian retorts back. "You take care, man. Going to go see what this chicks up to."

"Later." Chris hangs up the phone. He marks down in his calender to check out the club when it got dark out.


Thursday 3:10 P.M.
It'd take Chris about fifteen minutes and two back and forth calls to get ahold of Dr. Hollandale's number, a local residence.


"Alright, next on the agenda is..." Chris dials the number.
Storyteller: "Darren speaking." A man answers.
Kevin Lacey: "Darren, this is Chris Williams, freelance reporter. I'm also an aquaitance of Doctor Hollandale. Do you know if she is available?"
Storyteller: "Yes, she's in. Just a moment." The phone is set down. "Honey, phone's for you." You hear a muffled short sentence- perhaps repeating what you had just said. "This is Dr. Hollandale." A woman comes on the line. "A reporter? From which newsgroup?"
Kevin Lacey: "The one that you won't ever see on TV." Chris replies calmly. "You might remember me from the Doubletree Hotel a while back."
Storyteller: There is a brief pause before she replies with an exclaimation. "Oh, yes. Can't say that I was expecting your call. Is every thing all right?"
Kevin Lacey: "Yesterday, one of your associates was kidnapped right off the street. He was a big man. I think Liam was his name?"
Storyteller: "Liam?" The doctor's voice becomes more shrill with alarm. "I assume that the police were alerted. Were you present?"
Kevin Lacey: "Yeah I saw it with my own eyes. The Police are out looking for him right now, but I don't know how hard they're trying. From what I gather, Liam has made some very dangerous enemies."
Storyteller: "How was he taken?" The doctor asked. "He was handling a very important assignment... I know that he shouldn't have been trying it alone.
Storyteller: [done]
Kevin Lacey: "I saw about three or four men grab him off the street and stuff him into a van. My sources tell me that these men work for a man called Ben Carson. I don't know much about him, except that he's rich, powerful, and extremely dangerous."
Storyteller:
"Chris, right now I need to focus on Liam right now." She stated briskly. "I don't need to tell you the danger he's in." There is a brief pause before she curses. "I don't even have any one to call. I only encouraged Liam to look into the pendant because every one else is tied up!"
Kevin Lacey: "Ok, look. I'm supposed to meet with a contact tomorrow. This person might know where they are likely holding your friend. If you want to be there, I'll cut you in."
Storyteller: "Tomorrow?" The doctor scoffed. "Tomorrow isn't going to work. The longer they have him, the worse it is. Were you working with Liam?"


Kevin Lacey: He shakes his head. "No. It was pure coincidance that saw him when I did. I figure he must have been looking into the same thing I was, though I never heard anything about a pendant..."


Storyteller: "Get ahold of your contact as soon as you can. Please." Doctor Hollandale stressed. "Liam's a good man, but they employ terrible tactics. I hate to worry you, but the first line of questioning could be who else could be a threat in town. Liam would remember your name."


"The pendant that could make our biggest ally against vampires- our relative safety during the daylight hours - completely irrevelent. I've become fairly certain that it could be the reason for all of the attacks around the bars over the last few days- frequent, quick feedings-" Doctor Hollandale cut herself off. "-which doesn't matter if they have Liam."

Chris nods his head. "Vampires." He mutters. "Now that -is- trouble." He purses his lips. "I'll keep you in the loop as to what is happening. My cell number is *&^%$. Stay safe."

"Thank you.I need to go knock on some doors. See if theres any one in town at all who can help. Here's my mobile. Call me as soon as you get ahold of your contact, set up a meeting - or if your contact doesn't respond... " She trails off with a somber tone.

"Don't worry. We'll get him back, one way or another." He says, trying to sound convincing. "Good luck." Chris hangs up the phone.
Across town, Chrissy Hollandale stares down at the phone in her hand with growing horror. One way or another could be very bad in a hunter's world. "Darren..." She calls as she rises, reaching for her coat.