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May-10-2009 02:22

Place: Docks
Time: 11:30 p.m.
Weather: Freezing cold

"What the heck am I doing here?", the woman muttered under her breath. She let out a deep sigh, seeing something similar to fog coming out of her lips. It was a very cold night, indeed. The dark-haired, Italian-looking woman looked at her pocket watch.

"Late, as usual", she stated to herself, since she was alone. She had the habit of talking to herself. It helped her put ideas on the right places. And, as a bonus, helped her feel less lonely.

"You know, girl, you should never have agreed to meet him. But yet you did. Why? Because you're stupid."

She shook her head. No. It had nothing to do with stupidity. Or the feelings she had to admit she still had, partially. It was the box. The box with some of her things he still held with him. He had it, she needed it. That sounds like a pretty good reason for an encounter. An encounter, not a date, by the way. Dating time was over.

"You should be resting, Tina", she told herself. She usually gave herself pretty good advice. She never followed it, though. Another look at the watch. It reminded her. It had been a gift from him. She'd better return it. She let out a tired sigh. "I'll be here by ten. Yeah, right. When hell freezes over."

She was considering the idea of leaving when she heard footsteps. HIS footsteps, unmistakeable. She had to fight the temptation to jump on his neck with a tight hug, like before. She simply held out her hand and nodded. She didn't trust herself to speak right at the moment.

[P.S.: I don't have a big plan, and I know it's not perfect, but I'd love if someone joined. I promise I won't forget to check it out. lol]

May-23-2009 01:27

The young woman brushed some dark, wavy hair away from her face and let out a relieved sigh. Good, he still had the box. Unopened, as she immagined. There was only one person in the world who could open it, and this person went by the name of Valentina Angeli.

"Thanks, Joe. I owe you big time." She held out her hand to receive the box and smiled.

"I didn't hear you asking me how I am. And you should, since it's freezing out here and I don't have a trench coat on me". She sighed again. "See, that was always your tragic flaw, carissimo. You only see things that are right there on your nose."

When he asked what was in the box, Valentina laughed softly. "That was, indeed, the point, my dear not-so-punctual friend. If anyone other than yours truly could open it, it wouldn't be a box for secrets. And what lies in there is a secret. My secret. So, I'm looking for a polite way to say that this is none of your bus...". She stopeed talking when she heard the speed boat and her black eyes narrowed. "Not again", she muttered under her breath.

A split second later, she was running, the box firmly closed in her left hand. Words were just going to make them waste time and breath. When the car stopped in front of them, Valentina stopped running, hiding behind Zeo's shoulders. Luckily, he was tall enough for that. He could feel her trembling body on his back. "Don't do anything stupid. It's me they're after, so just... step away from me. Slowly. I don't want you to get shot on my behalf."

May-23-2009 04:01

'Woman!' Zeo thought. First the lady hid behind his tall thin frame, then she asked him to step away.

"Step away, son. This is none of your business." Several tommy guns pointed at the two as the cigar smoking fat man said. These people wasted no time.

"And why would I listen to you?" Zeo smiled, and glanced at D'Angeli. Perhaps this was addressed more to her than to the gang in front of them.

"All we want is that box the girl has in her possession. If you have half a brain, you know what's best for you, kid." White billows of smoke floated up into the night sky.

"Oh, you mean this?" Zeo took out another Japanese box and waved it in the air. D'Angeli looked at it wide eyed. She quickly hid her version of the puzzle box under her thin jacket.

"So, you're the reason why we couldn't find it in the first place, even when we turned her house upside down. In that case, you cannot be spared either... Zeo, I believe that's your name, kid?" The fat man nodded at two of the goons on his side and the large apes approached Zeo. With a quick flick of the wrist Zeo tossed the box in the air, "Go!" Zeo hissed and ran for his car with D'Angeli. The fake puzzle box landed in the water.

The speed boat with the fat man's goons headed towards where the box landed, and so was the two brainless apes. "After them, you moron!" The cigar man shouted, but they were too late. Zeo pushed D'Angeli into his car and closed the door behind him as bullets ate into the body of the vehicle. Zeo stepped on the gas and sped away.

May-23-2009 04:08

"I hope you're going to pay for that body job." Zeo looked at his bullet ridden car door from the side mirror. For some reason he couldn't understand, D'Angeli was deeply upset with his comment. Zeo decided to change topic. "Sorry if i was late. Your box was not that easy to replicate. When you asked for it earlier today, I could smell trouble." Zeo said as he focused on the road.

D'Angeli starred at Zeo for a moment. "Only if you're as sensitive outside 'business'..." D'Angeli lamented.

"What do you mea--" Zeo suddenly noticed the black Lincoln in his rearview mirror , "Hold on tight, Tina. Look like we've got ourselves a car chase." Zeo shifted gear and his compact blue Buick flew faster then it already did.

May-23-2009 12:37

Walking the street,with a nice bottle of Scotch whiskey. A 12 year old one,and it tasted good. The local liquor store owner handed me a glass and let me taste it. It was good,as I already mentioned. As I saw the traffic light turning red,I saw Joseph Zeo braking. ''Vulkie,get in,now!!!'' he yelled. I quickly decided what to do and threw the bottle away,grabbed my gun and I opened the door. ''I hope I'm not disturbing your behaviour and this little lady here'' I said,looking at Joseph. I quickly stepped in the car. The traffic light turned green

''Here,use my tommy'' Joseph said and he gave me a tommy gun. After that,we sped away. Behind us drove a car,full of goons, of what Valentina recalled ''A fat guy smoking cigars''. I fired some rounds at them,while Joseph took the corner. ''Head for the bridge Joseph'' I yelled at him,he took a right and a left and there was the bridge. ''DAMN!!'' I yelled, ''Tommy is jammed''. The tommy was shot out of my hands and I got back in the driver's seat. ''Step on it Joseph,step on it!!'' I said.

Joseph gave me a frowning look and pushed the pedal down,and we really sped away. The bridge was opening. I was saying my prayers,Valentina was saying her prayers and Joseph focused. We jumped over the open bridge,and as we jumped,I looked behind and saw the goons stopping.

We made it safe to the other side. Joseph stopped the car for a second in our safehouse in the Broker street. I closed the doors behind,hoping the goons won't find out we were at this place.

Joseph helped Valentina out of the car,who was still a bit shaken up from the chase. I know how that was,the first time...

When we headed upstairs to the living room,Joseph made some spaghetti for us and I picked a nice bottle of wine to fit with it. Valentina made no efforts and still was a bit looking terrified. I got her a glass of water,to be sure she would be comfortable.

We spend the night in the safehouse and the next day.. (read next post for more)

May-23-2009 12:37

.. And the next day,Joseph told us his plan...

May-24-2009 09:17

* Previous evening at the safehouse after dinner *

"When did you start knowing how to make Spaghetti? Two years ago you couldn't even toast bread!" D'Angeli asked lightly.

Zeo was silent. He remembered how Lisette used to force him into cooking. She claimed that all man should know how to take care of himself. Lisette was the most demanding girl Zeo ever met, but he never stopped missing her. He lit a cigarette.

"Joseph has been a good cook since the day I met him, about a year ago. Seriously, he was that bad?" Vulkie asked. The two girls hooked up quickly and started teasing Zeo together.

"Okay Joseph, what are we to do next?" Vulkie finally asked.

D'Angeli still refused to tell them about what's in the box, or why the fat cigar man wanted it so badly. "Let me think about it overnight." With that, Zeo went to the smaller room and lay his head on the pillow. He had a restless night.

* The next morning *

As expected, D'Angeli was still sleeping, she was still a night owl as he remembered it. Zeo waved Vulkie over and closed the door behind them. "The fat guy know my face and my name now, so it's up to you Vulkie. I've never seen or heard about the man before, I suspect that he's not from about town. Find out what you can. I'll keep Tina safe in the mean time. Meet back here before sunset." Zeo said quietly. Vulkie nodded and went off.

Zeo made some omelette and brewed coffee, and waited for D'Angeli to wake.

May-25-2009 02:03

Valentina wasn't used to all that mess anymore. And car chases weren't usually a part of the job. She had her gun on her, but she was in no condition to use it, so she left it up to Vulkie and hoped that would do.

The worst part was definetly the bridge, but they had passed by, so that was fine. When they reached the safe house, a very pale and dizzy Tina allowed Zeo to help her out of the car and into the house. She sat on the first place she found and accepted a glass of water from Vulkie's hands. Food was the last thing in her mind at the moment.

She dodged the questions about the box, though it made her feel a little guilty. Those two had laid their lives on the line over something they didn't know anything about. Well, she'd open up the box in the morning.

With that in mind, she laid on the couch and slept like a baby. She could feel something being put over her body in the middle of the night, probably a blanket, but she didn't move. In a few seconds, she was deep asleep again. Nothing else disturbed here till daylight, when she felt the distinct smell of coffee. Her pitch black eyes opened slowly and she sat on the couch, pushing the blanket away. Her hands pressed the sides of her forehead and she sighed. She had been having those headaches for quite a while. As far as she could remember, they had started about six months ago, and sometimes they were so bad she could hardly remember her name. Another sigh. And they made her really...

Her line of thought was suddenly cut by a strong wave of nausea. She barely made it to the bathroom, kneeling in front of the toilet and coughing out whatever she had eaten the day before. She only noticed she wasn't alone when Zeo's hand pressed up her forehead. She couldn't look at him for a while more, but when there was nothing left to throw up, she did, and forced a smile. The headache was almost blinding now.

"I'm fine...", she murmured softly, knowing she looked anything but fine. "But thanks for being ...

May-25-2009 02:03

... here.", she added a few deep breaths later.

May-25-2009 04:42

Vulkie was off to get some more information about the fat man that smokes cigars. As she made her way towards the Hencloth bar in the city,she noticed that a car passed by. ''Get in'' a man like voice said. What options did Vulkie had? Run away and get hit by the car. Or get in and risking getting killed. She chose for the second option. The man was behind a wall of darkened glass,so Vulkie took place on the opposite side of the glass. A huge smoke came floating towards the glass and Vulkie immediately knew who this person was.

''What do you want from me'' Vulkie said. ''Just some information dear lady. You will get 25 grand if you can help me get the box.'' Vulkie thought about the offer. She could definitely use the money,since she needed some new clothes and some nice meals. She happily accepted the offer and made a deal. If she could get the box to the fat guy,she would receive the 25 grand and Joseph and Valentina would be safe.

And so she started plotting with the fat guy...

May-25-2009 18:18

D'Angeli seemed very sick. Zeo wonder what's wrong with her. He laid her down in bed, and noticed that she kept the box with her while sleeping.

"Nobody can open that, Tina, you don't have to be so..."
"You just don't know how important this is." That's all D'Angeli said before she drifted back to sleep.

Vulkie returned around midday, with a look of satisfaction on her face. Zeo, of course, didn't notice it.
"So, how did it went? Have you found out more on the fat cigar man?"
"Yes, the name's Domino on the street, but that's all I have. I heard that the tea merchant know more about him though, and since you have him as your contact, maybe you should go have a chat with him."
"Sure," Zeo took up his trench coat from the kitchen chair. "I'll go now, while it's bright and sunny out. I'm sure the fat Domino wouldn't do much during the day."
"Where's Tina?" Vulkie asked.
"In her room, sleeping. She's sick." Zeo replied while putting on the coat. In the winter time, the sun can lie about how cold the temperature really was outside. "Poor girl is sleeping with her box on her." Zeo smirked, "Not like we're going to steal it or anything. See you back in a while." Zeo left from the side door.

Zeo lived very close to the teahouse, so he decided to walk. Five minutes down the road, Zeo remembered the rare tea leaf he got from Delhi. It could be a nice gift to the tea merchant. He returned to his house. As he approach the front lawn, he noticed Vulkie leaving the house. A car with tinted glass received her, and they left together swiftly. 'Strange,' Zeo thought. He went back inside.