Looking around the HQ, I turn my attention back to Hunter. "I haven't seen her at all today, however I'm here so when you do find her let me know. Be glad to step outside for some details on this... job."

I pour another glass of Whiskey and await further instructions.

Before leaving Hunter to his business I reach out and shake his hand "good to finally meet you Hunter."

Billie whistled, loud and shrill, from her vantage point by the wall. She was reclined, calmly smoking a cigarette and trying her best to hide from the biting winds. Silly boys. She'd been waiting this whole time. 

As Hunter reached out to shake Noto's hand, he faintly heard a shrill whistle that he recognized as Billie's. Though unsure why she was randomly giving away her location, Hunter didn't question it as he spoke to Noto.

"Sounds like Billie is outside. Follow me, please."

The cold hit him harder than he expected it to, nearly snatching all of the air from his lungs. It certainly wasn't the best of weather to be doing a job, but it had to be done. On the bright side, there wasn't much of a chance of many civilians being around. Hunter's eyes darted around frantically in his head as he looked around, making his way towards Jack and his cart. Nodding to Billie, Hunter asked,

"I believe you're going to be joining us on tonight's job?" he inquired.

Billie shrugged and shivered, "A little birdie told my you could use the help." She smiled and pulled her short jacket more tightly around her torso, internally kicking herself for not bringing her swing coat. "So what's the plan?" She asked with a pained looking smile. Fuck it was cold. 

"For now let's get ourselves, and this cart inside. It'll do us no good to come down with hypothermia."

Hunter stated quickly, not wanting to spend any more time outside than necessary. Pushing the cart towards the HQ, he turned to Billie and asked her to hold the door while he and Noto carried the cart inside. Once safely inside the HQ, Hunter found a room that looked like it hadn't been used for anything recently. Excellent. Pushing the cart inside it, he waited for Noto and Billie to follow before he locked it behind them.

Hunter wasn't entirely sure how to go about unveiling what was hidden in the cart, so he wasted no time.

"Billie_Faegan, Noto, what I'm about to show you might surprise you. I've explained the situation to Ms. Logan, and she has tasked me to take care of it. I'm hoping the two of you will assist me."

Hunter opened the lid of the cart, and unceremoniously unstuffed the two men from the cart. Neither moved, though they were still breathing. That was good. Noto and Billie both moved back half a step, and raised their eyebrows. Hunter explained how he'd overheard the two talking, and what they had to do.

"So, once we get one of these two conscious enough to remember the Johnson twins' number, we'll have the message relayed that it's a go for tonight. Then between the three of us as well as perhaps Karl and Fritz from down at The Logan Review, we should easily be able to set a trap. Thoughts?"

I looked at the cart before glancing at Hunter. "Thoughts! Why the fuck is there a ice cream cart around? Its freezing out, these two may not be dead... but they may freeze to death. So lets get at least on conscious."

Taking a few steps towards the cart, I haul off and slap the guy stuffed on top. "WAKE UP!".

The man slowly starts to awaken as I look to hunter once again "Ok Hunter I believe we have some interrogating to do."

Billie rolled her eyes. Leave it to a man to barrel headlong into something like this with no thought first. Leaving Noto to... handle her heavy lifting... she turned to Hunter. "We'll need a plan. And stat. Given the age and contents of the building, there's no room for error. If we're even a moment late on the draw, the whole thing will be up in flames before we can say 'oops'." She gave Noto an incredulous glance, emphasizing the last word. 

"I haven't been in the building enough to be intimately familiar, but I know the basic layout. There's two main points of entry, not including windows or central duct work. We'll need at least that many eyes to watch the obvious vulnerabilities. And that's not counting the alleyways. We should canvas the building and surrounding area for likely flash points, and any pre-laid accelerants or explosives. We need to be ahead of this thing to lay a trap.  If we aim to catch these guys, we need to catch up. Lord knows how many days they've had to plan this, and prepare." 

Tucking a curl behind her ear she glanced back and forth between the men. 

Hunter blinked, repeatedly... Noto had a good point, why the fuck was that kid walking around with an ice cream cart in this cold to begin with?! Billie listed off the basic layout of the building, which was extremely helpful. Hunter figured with a quick call to Karl or Fritz, they could have the inside of the building thoroughly scanned while they attempted to awaken one of their captives.

"Alright, while Noto and I attempt to get some sort of response out of one of these men, could you phone down to The Logan Review and ask for Karl or Fritz? Give them as much information as they need, they can be trusted as you know. That should give us a decent start. I was also considering the option of cutting this all off at the head, provided they haven't already preemptively placed anything."

Hunter remembered the bottle of whiskey Noto had been carrying. Turning towards him, Hunter suggests,

"Try getting some of that on your fingertips and sticking them in his nose."

He looks back to Billie.

"Where was I? ...Oh, yes. The Johnson twins, they don't know anything is wrong. If we succeed in getting one of these two men to call and say the job's a go, it will be on our terms. There is a slight chance we could scout out their operation, and avoid a skirmish near Ms. Logan's office entirely, no?"  

I put a little whiskey on my finger and put it near the guys nose. After getting no response I look at Hunter "how fucking hard did you hit this guy?."

I then take the bottle and tip it, dumping the whiskey on the guys face. Finally he wakes up "eh... where am I?" he starts to get a little more conscious and tries jumping out of the cart. I grab the guy by the collar and fling him against the wall, sliding him down to the ground before speaking to him.

"First off let me congratulate you on being the dumbest son of a bitch I ever met, only guy I know who manages to wind up in a ice cream cart when its this cold out. Its so cold out I'm actually pissed off, to know that people are out there wheeling a fucking freezer with wheels really gets me agitated, so my friend here is going to ask you some questions, and if you waste my time or his...I can assure you that it will be the worst day of your life."

I glance at Hunter.

"Well my friend, do your thing."

Billie rolled her eyes again, as she headed for the door. She stepped out into the hall, paused and then leaned back in with a smirk. "Consider..." she used the word to carefully preface her statement, still uncomfortable with asserting herself, "Arranging a meeting with an 'inside agent'. I can go in. That'll leave you two to handle the... rest of this," she gestured around the room, "and lay in wait." 

She shrugged as she stepped into the hallway once again, calling over her shoulder, "I'll be on the phone if you need me."

Billie sauntered down the hall to the public phone mounted to the wall. "Yes, operator? Connection to the Logan Review, please." She bounced impatiently on the balls of her feet as the phone rang... and rang... and rang... and... jesus, mary, and joseph! She could almost smell the liquor through the phone as Fritz finally answered. "Fritz? Fritz! This is Billie... Yes. Pretty Brown Billie." She rolled her eyes and shook her head at the ceiling.  "Listen, I'm calling from Kate's other place. You understand?" 

Billie rested her forehead on the wall next to the phone. This could be a very long conversation. To her surprise Fritz seemed to sober up almost immediately, and Billie couldn't help but give an appreciative smile and nod at the man's quick change. "Yeah, yeah. I'm still here. Sorry. I need you and Karl to do a top-down on the whole place. Even Kate's office. Bust the lock if you have to. I'll take it up with her later.... Yea. Yea. Mhmm. Arson. You can handle that? I mean EVERYWHERE, Fritz. Holes in the walls, back alley, everywhere. Okay. Okay. Good. You call me back here as soon as you're done. If you find anything call back here immediately. On this phone. If I don't answer -- and I mean me, personally -- you hang up and call Kate immediately. You understand. Okay. Perfect." 

The hallway echoed with a shrill ring as she slammed the phone down into the receiver, the clicking of her heels echoing down the hall as it faded off. Slipping back into the room into the room she nodded grimly to Hunter, "Karl and Fritz are on the hunt. I gave specific orders for the search, and to call back here with any news. They'll ring the phone down the hall if they find anything. But I wanna keep this under wraps, so I told 'em talk to me or Kate only. Just to be safe. You gotten anything useful out of our friends here?"

Billie's piercing green eyes scanned the four men, the wheels in her head turning almost visibly. She had several ideas, but she needed information from their captives first. Where these boys frequented, when they were usually there, what their schedule looked like, code words for the operation, all that jazz. She needed these big bastards to sing like little birdies. And that was her associate's job. 

Hunter chuckled, Billie certainly had spunk. He would definitely be keeping her in mind if he ever needed help again doing a job. He looked at his captives, one looking up in fear to Noto, the other still passed out on the floor beside the cart. Hunter turned his attention to Billie,

"I haven't gotten anything...yet. But I have my ways." Hunter stated, sure of himself. "I think it'd be best if I went at this alone, though. Noto, why don't you stand guard outside, Billie, keep your ear out for that phone!"

Noto and Billie exited the room, and Hunter grinned in the direction of his conscious captive. Hunter grabbed hold of the other man, and sat him leaning up against the wall next to his comrade. Slapping him in the face a few times, the man began to stir.

"Where do the Johnson twins go to relax?" Hunter asked, looking back and forth between the men. Neither answered. He chuckled internally, wondering how much they could endure before they told him what he wanted to know.

"I'm going to ask both of you, one more time. Then one of you dies. Where do the Johnson twins go to relax?"

The man on the right immediately began to speak,

"They like to hang out at a speakeasy called 'The Flamingo' alright?!' You can't get in without a password though so good luck!" The man laughed, his throat cracking from dehydration. Hunter looked briefly at the other fellow, who seemed confused. Was he confused that his comrade betrayed the Johnson twins hangout? Or was it something else... Leaning in close to the man's face, Hunter asked,

"This true? Your buddy here telling the truth?"

The man nodded furiously, but his eyes told a completely different story. Hunter shook his head sadly. How unfortunate. Double checking that the door had locked behind Noto and Billie, Hunter turned back towards the two men and flashed a monstrous grin.

Tapping into his ability to move at super speeds, Hunter rapidly moves his hand until it was merely a blur in front of them. Without a moments hesitation, Hunter stuck his hand through the shoulder of the man who'd lied to him. The man screamed louder than Hunter had ever heard anyone scream before his eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he passed out.

Hunter pulled his hand from the mans shoulder and continued rapidly moving it, spraying the blood off of it onto the conscious man's face.

"I won't be nearly as nice next time if I'm lied to again." Hunter stated, no emotion in his voice. Though it had only been a couple weeks since he fell into this era, he felt a very strong sense of belonging. And he owed everything to Ms. Logan, he wasn't about to let her down.

"So, again I will ask... WHERE THE FUCK CAN I FIND THEM?"

"Penguin's Pub... They're usually there from around four in the afternoon til around ten at night...Tell them Pablo told you to say 'Humpty Dumpty' and they should let you in." The man choked out, his voice trembling.

Hunter could tell he was telling the truth. With a sense of purpose, Hunter glared at the first man and felt his lip twitch. They only needed one person to make the call to the Johnson twins. Snapping the liars neck in an instant, Hunter pulled the remaining captive to his feet and walked to the door. Unlocking it, Hunter warns.

"Keep your fucking mouth shut and you might live."

Exiting the room, Hunter nodded to Noto.

"We have the information we need. Let's go get Billie and get the show on the road as they say."

Slow concentric circles.

A tiny movement of the wrist is all it takes to get it started. A rolling motion - like waving at royalty. Not too crazy either. Wouldn't look good sloshing over the rim of the cup. The rug on the floor looks like it is worth more than my life. Take ten head of Navajo a month of Sundays to weave something that grand. Exotic textiles from foreign lands. American dream right here, standing on flooring that exceeds the wealth of most small countries with a good cup of coffee in my hand.

Like mine black. And hot. Hotter than devils pee. Sugar is something of a luxury these days but there is plenty on the table. What looks like an old absinthe spoon as well. Intricately ornate, slots running in all directions. Cream there next to the pot. Don't use it myself. Seen a few of the guys with their flasks fill a cup halfway up with hootch before adding the coffee. I hope to live long enough to join that silver flask club someday. Guys with suits and the look of new money. Guys with connections, you dig? Guys who can swing a deal with those log rolling moose fuckers across the river/border in Windsor. Don't really know the difference between the whisky and the whiskey but it appears to me that they are both distilled from pure gold, given the price.

Yeah. That was definitely a scream. Or shriek. Or strangled cry for mercy. Going to pretend it was the wind. Guys like me can't afford to be curious. Should probably move around a bit anyways. If the Boss saw me standing here she might think I was waiting around to be milked. Loud voices and pitiful sobbing in that direction - best I head down the other end of the hallway.

Thomas found his way to the 'break room' of the HQ, and danced his way around the people in there, almost bumping in to kookookoala with a, "'Scuse me, boyo..." as he passed. It seemed Thomas was one of those silver flask club members as he produced one from the inside of his suit jacket. Whiskey, coffee (black), and one quarter teaspoon of sugar was added to the flask. Thomas looked up as he shook it, giving a nod to Koala, "Yer new here, hi?"

He didn't really give much of a chance for answer before he walked over to the window and looked out over the courtyard. He took a drink of the flask before twisting the top tightly to it and slipping it into his jacket. Turning, he looked back to Koala and walked over, "Yeh findin' everythin' yeh need here? Tha assignment board an' such? Maybe yer lookin' fer someone in particular?"

Thomas stood in front of Koala now, attempting conversation.

Nice.

Captive top. Sounded mostly full. Wanted to read the engraving but suppose it might be personal. Disappeared back in to a pocket. Quick. Buddy here was fast with his hands. Deceptively so. Dangerous man. Seen him about but all hi and bye shit. Different circles, ya know. The elite ...and well..me. Making an attempt to be personal with me. Yes, this is a good thing. Real good.

Yes sir, Mr. O'Shannon. Couple three days or so. Been on a cigarette run, chased down some grub for the fellas, nothing I can't handle. Ready for something else to do besides gopher work, truth be told. I believe I am perfectly...Koalified...for just about anything gets tossed my way.

Had to turn the corners of my mouth down to keep from smiling.

Thomas' lips cracked upward into a smile, he couldn't help it. "Koalified... Yer one o' them funny men, hi?" He began to chuckle a bit. "I like a guy that can make me laugh. Guessin' wit' tae joke, yer tha one they been callin' Kookoo Koala? Whar tha fock yeh get a name like that?"

He pulled out a pack of smokes and a matchbook, striking up a flame and lighting one before offering to Koala.

"If yer lookin' fer somethin' more, then I'm gonna need yeh ta be givin' me a list o' yer strengt's, lad."

It had to come up sooner or later. Told the story a few times now, almost autonomous at this point. To be expected though. When all you have is a name you are a poor man. When all you have is a goofy ass name you're screwed.

Got it courtesy of our government. I came up from the Hooverville over St. Louis, because who wouldn't leave there when they could right? Five thousand shacks made out of mud and pallets and stray animals and whatever else will stick stacked on topa one another along the Mississippi. Sent some census fellers out among us to take a head count. I guess they got bored or pissed off somehow and just started telling us what our new names were and passing out papers. My sister ended up as Dirty Dangly Dingobits. Youngest brother is Frisky Frisky Downboydown. Get the picture? I got told I was now KooKoo Koala and got an official piece of paper to prove it. Also said I was an Hasidic Jew. Apparently on file that way in Washington for the rest of my life. 

Had to get away from there or starve to death like the rest. To tell you the truth I mostly walked here. Mostly. Was able to get a ride now and again. Didn't expect to get work as soon as I got here though. Certainly grateful for that.

Yeah. Guys definitely smarter than me. He'll know if I try bullshittin' him. Honesty is going to have to be the best policy like it or not here.

I don't know if you can call it a strength but I can be selectively deaf, dumb, and blind. I can talk my way out of a jam. I can make things disappear if needed. I can piss the entirety of the 117 psalm in the snow. I speak fluent Canadianese. And I will absolutely bust my hump around the clock doing whatever needs to be done no questions asked. Might not be the best of traits admittedly, I can learn though.

...and now the awkward silence. Yeah that's not a whole lot to bring to the dance. Fuck. Should have bluffed and said I did bank jobs or burned churches down for kicks.

Thomas couldn't help but laugh at the names, "Yer fockin' serious?" He shook his head letting Koala go on.

"That be an interestin' skill set, lad. So yeh speak Canadian Creole? That could be useful. Especially since we be on tha border o' Canada. Windsor be just across tha river yeh know. As fer tha snow shite, nae sure how useful that would e'er be... But, it could work fer a distraction at some point. Howe'er, what I like ta hear, be tha bustin' yer arse point yeh make. Tha deaf, dumb, blind skill nae be too bad eit'er."

Thomas puffed on his cigarette before discarding the butt into an ashtray on the table. Exhaling a plume of smoke overhead, he turned back to Koala. "I'll look around an' see if I can'nae find yeh somethin' wort'y o' yer skills." With that, Thomas headed from the break room and back towards the offices of The Paragons. He bumped into Hunter, Noto , and Billie on the way up, along with some schmuck of a frosty wop.

"Don'ae let that focker melt on tha carpet," he winked as he passed by and continued on his way.

Now off to Penguins pub, I focus my attention on Hunter.

"So I assume you know where this place is?, because I have no clue... that being said you're driving."

After years of not smoking, I finally give in and light one up, as I follow Hunter's lead... this was his gig after all.

Billie pushed herself off the wall as she saw the men headed her way. While Noto and Hunter decided who was doing what, Billie turned her attention to their newfound companion. "Where's the club?" She asked flatly. The man looked down at her and scoffed. "I ain't answerin to no half-bred n..." 

There was a sudden snapping sound a Billie punched the man, her small fist landing squarely on his eye socket. The man howled and then laughed. So Billie punched him again. This time the man stumbled, throwing his head back. Billie seized the opportunity, grabbing hold of the man's tie and using it to yank his face down to her level. Looking him straight in his one good eye she whispered into his face, "Whatever my friend's might've done to you... however nasty you think they can be. That is NOTHING compared to the tortures I have been put through in my life. And if you don't tell me exactly what I want to know, I will rain every single one of them down on everyone you have ever loved, while you watch from a gallows in that old oak thicket out on Bell Isle." She was hissing at this point. 

She raised two fingers to his face, displaying her pointed, manicured nails. "Right now you have fractured orbital floor." she jabbed his quickly bruising eye socket to illustrate her point. "But if you don't tell me what I need to know, right now, then I will reach these petite little fingers all the way into the back of your head, yank out your eye, and eat it in front of you. So, I'm gonna ask you again," She yanked on his tie, causing it to tighten around his throat, "where is Penguin's Pub... exactly? I want an address, and directions." 

The man began to babble, and Billie yanked his tie again, "No, no, no. Don't tell me. Tell them." she smiled at him wickedly, "They're gonna be my chauffeurs." 

He stared at Hunter and Noto, looking flabbergasted, terrified, and furious. "That ain't right." she spewed and stuttered, "That's not fuckin..." Billie wrapped the tie around her fist, pulling the man close. With a wicked, gleeful smile she dug her fingernails into his eye socket. The man screamed as blood welled around her fingertips. "Okay! Okay!" He screamed. Billie backed off, hissing for him to be quiet. Holding one hand to his face he glared at Hunter with his good eye, giving Hunter the precise location and directions.

With a satisfied smile Billie said, "Thank you." And then promptly pulled her pistol from her blouse and shot the man in the head... right there in the hall. Of course just about every gun in the place turned on her in instinctive reflex, but as she stowed her small pistol back in it's holster, people seemed to calm. It was just little Billie, after all.

Turning for the door she called out over her shoulder, "Get your asses in the car. And somebody clean that mess up!"  

------------------------------------------------------------------

Once in the car she leaned over the backseat, looking like she owned the thing. "Sorry for the ruckus. I just wanted to move things along. You two drop me off out front. They haven't gotten a call yet, so they'll still be recreation mode -- spending the first half of the money. I'll play decoy and get them both into the back alley." She gave Noto a meaningful look, "You two meet me around back and we can clean this up fast." 

She leaned back, lighting a cigarette, "We should double check the office when we're done."