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Post by Opa Ophilius on Aug 5, 2009 15:31:22 GMT -5
The others may have felt safe, believing none of their fellow family members could have been the spark that triggered Panas' kidnapping, but Opa wasn't comforted in the least.
From what she saw of Panas, he was that small blond boy obscured by the piles of clothes he wore--ludicrious appearance aside, it had invoked immediate suspicion in her. What was with all the layers--what did he hide beneath the scarfs and skirts?
She trusted the supposed victim as much as she trusted the Liberatore family.
"How can we be sure?" She muttered darkly, clenching her fists in her lap. "How can we know Panas didn't only make it look like a hostage situation? Maybe he's on the opposite side--that maid, Alda something--I don't trust her either. Anyone who's out on the streets could have several opportunities to leak information in exchange for their own skin."
"You all can go and get yourselves butchered at this 'negotiation'--but I'm staying behind rather than risk myself for a crybaby like Panas."
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Samir Sorge
Associate
PR rep for the Innocenzo Family
Posts: 24
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Post by Samir Sorge on Aug 5, 2009 20:46:44 GMT -5
"You know you are talking about Panas right? The meek little Russian boy who cried every time any one older than him expressed the slightest bit of disapproval?" Samir scoffed at Opa.
Now the paranoid girl had a more legitimate line of thought when she mentioned the maid. Someone who was only associated with the family, but would have known Panas was an errand runner. Samir made a note to bring up the woman when he was alone with Allen. No need to have the other family members eye her and she get the idea she was going to be targeted for an investigation. He turned from the young girl, obviously convinced she had nothing to say that was worthy of listening to. He looked at Adrienne with a bemused expression.
"Adrienne you do know if you come along you will have to be silent while Allen and I do all the talking?" he pointed out dryly, both seemed to rub against her personality. Not that he had forgotten how she had teased him when they retrieved Finn. He didn't object to her being the bodyguard as she did certainly have some skill, just not at being the sort of tactful that would be required at such a meeting.
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Post by Bella Uccella on Aug 5, 2009 20:54:31 GMT -5
"Take a bodyguard, they're going to bring their own for certain. Probably that sharp shooting capo or some high ranked assassin," Ines said softly from her seat. If they were lucky they were going to bring that capo, they had some very vicious assassins besides Birthday Ines cringed at the very thought of sitting down at a table with.
"It's all right Opa, I'll stay here with you!" she purred at the younger girl. She cocked as she thought over the two suspects the girl suggested. The Arab, Samir apparently, readily dismissed the very thought this Panas betrayed them. That maid though perhaps I'll have to ask her a few questions...she'd ask Amel for permission first of course. She was earnest to prove her worth to the family after failing to hear of this plot. So while the capo was away perhaps she could alleviate his work load a little.
While perhaps getting to know certain family members better.
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Post by Adrienne Ayers on Aug 5, 2009 21:06:16 GMT -5
Did he just…oh hell no.
The young woman gave her superior an incredulous look, trying to reign in her temper in front of the rest of the family only to fall short at the sheer audacity that this asshole had. “Samir, what the fuck do I look like to you? A cunt with legs and no brain? Yes sir, I’ll leave myself out of this interrogation of the men. Go ahead and compare dick size all you want with the Liberatores, I’ll cover my eyes and weep and blush.”
Feeling embarrassed that she’d let herself get emotional, she clenched her fists and sat back in her chair, glaring at Samir while she did. If you weren’t my family I would cut your throat while you slept you sexist pig.
She glanced over at Ines, hoping that the other woman wouldn't mock her for being so out of line. Great first impressions. "Excuse me," she said softly before turning back to Amel. "Shen or I am going with you. No fucking excuses."
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Post by Amel Allen on Aug 5, 2009 21:23:29 GMT -5
“Okay, okay, everyone calm down,” Amel said, holding up a hand and shutting his eyes against the loudness of everyone speaking over each other. “Quarreling is pointless. Ines, I would very much appreciate it if you remained behind and used your talents to perhaps gain some new information. Perhaps you and Opa can even pool your resources and work together. Opa, while your thoughts on Panas are, in my opinion, unfounded, I do suggest that we look into the maid.” In honesty Amel had had his doubts and questions on the woman ever since he’d first laid eyes on her. There was something else there to look into, especially if he was not the only one to question it. One more thing to deal with. Great.
“There are two ways that this meeting can go, everyone. We can either bend over that table and let them take advantage of us for the sake of keeping the peace, or we can begin a war. They’ve taken a piece of little importance to us, but we cannot let them gain a more important one. While such sacrifice is sometimes necessary, I don’t be letting them trade a pawn for a bishop.” He paused, reconsidering his tactic.
“Unless…we do just that. Give up a piece in supposed sacrifice in order to set our trap.” He glanced around the table with a small sigh.
“What is it then? Peace or war?”
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Samir Sorge
Associate
PR rep for the Innocenzo Family
Posts: 24
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Post by Samir Sorge on Aug 6, 2009 8:28:09 GMT -5
Samir blushed at the accusation, he grinded his teeth, but before he could lash out the Liberatore negotiator was supposedly a woman, Amel interrupted. He glared at Adrienne before giving Amel a look, this is exactly what I meant. At least Shen be able to sit there and look pretty. He sighed and readjusted his tie as Allen continued on. Raising an eyebrow as a thought came to him.
Perfectly vicious and cunning, will he go for it? Trade a pawn for another pawn, except this pawn have enough explosives to level half the Mansion. Well he had suggested it himself.
"It's already a war," Samir said stiffly. He looked at Allen levelly before continuing.
"Berraby, that girl we picked up a few weeks ago who seems to have some sort of stress disorder. She always carries around a stuffed rabbit, and is like a doll herself. She's even more useless than Panas was. Except in this case we can make....a few improvements." He lead on, glancing around the table before settling back on the capo, the one person whose opinion truly mattered in this.
"That rabbit is ubiquitous, we can pack it full of explosives and offer her as a hostage of good will. We do bend over that table Allen, not so much that they will be suspicious, but enough to give them what they are primarily after. Then we exchange Berraby for Panas, and hopefully when they return home the bomb goes off."
And if Berraby dies in the flash of her own bomb, oh well. She had as much a chance as any Liberatore did.
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Post by Bella Uccella on Aug 6, 2009 8:40:27 GMT -5
Ines couldn't help but to giggle at the expression on the man's face after Adrienne yelled at him. She knew it was unprofessional to laugh, but really he had that one coming. Like a maroon balloon... she thought of Adrienne before lowering her hand, revealing a small smile.
She sobered as Samir made his suggestion however. It would be a terribly dangerous mission for anyone, could they hope this girl could complete such a thing? She glanced at Amel, but that was his decision.
"If I may make a suggestion Amel if you do do this," she opined, sitting up a bit. "You may want to ask for a hostage of your own, if this works the Liberatore backlash will be great. Depending on how many of them, and how many of those are high ranking, are killed of course. Still, it probably be best at least to ask for one, even if they will not give one, to make the ruse complete."
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Post by Berraby Romano on Aug 6, 2009 9:05:01 GMT -5
The little blond girl held her rabbit tightly to her chest as she poked her head inside the room.
"Did somebody call Berraby?" She tittered, turning wide green eyes upon the people in the room. There were so many! Boy, girl, boy, girl, girl--like duck, duck, goose!
Stepping lightly, she made a little twirl as she took an empty seat, sitting her rabbit on her lap, toying with the red bow in her hair.
"You want Berraby to do something? Berraby will do it," She giggled. As she spoke, she held up her leering stuffed animal in front of her face, gesturing with its tiny arms as she did so, as if it was talking, moving its floppy ears to express enthusiasm.
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Post by Adrienne Ayers on Aug 6, 2009 10:08:45 GMT -5
The look on his face was almost worth the outburst, Adrienne decided as she listened to Amel and Samir discuss their strategy. She had to admit, it was a good plan. Let them know that the Innocenzos aren’t fucking around and would be willing to fight even if it was just for an errand boy. And while Samir had probably made the decision in some sort of compensation for a small dick, she simply nodded and didn’t comment on it. It would be best to not instigate him any further, especially as the very person that he had mentioned had walked into the room.
She frowned at the little girl. So ignorant. She would make the perfect pawn in this game, to use Amel’s analogy. I just hope those little legs of yours can run faster than they look.
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Post by Amel Allen on Aug 6, 2009 10:19:15 GMT -5
The suggestion was crass, abrasive, dirty and underhanded, but Amel had to admit, in the long run it would be the best way to save face as well as send a message. The first thing to worry about was retaliation; if they blew up their property and took a good number of Liberatores along with it, the backlash would be extreme. Already the Liberatores had to know their location if they were able to discover Panas so easily; there was a very good chance that they also knew the location of Wammy’s House.
The capo glanced around the room, gauging everyone’s reactions. They didn’t seem to have any problem with this suggestion, and precautions would of course be made to insure the family’s safety first, no matter how many sleepless nights it involved.
But before he could comment on it, the little girl walked in. Had she been spying? Well, he supposed that he had called out an announcement for every member of the house to come to the meeting in his haste to call everyone together. “Berraby, please sit down a moment. We do have something to discuss with you,” he said politely, turning back to his family.
“We will need to move locations. We cannot be here when this backlash occurs unless we want to be killed. We can always relocate temporarily to an Italian house. That would certainly be hiding in plain sight and give us easy access to their territory. As for requesting a hostage, I’m not certain how well that would go over. We’re already asking for a trade, anything further might be pushing our boundaries, especially if we want them to believe that they have the upper hand still. However, if the opportunity is to arise, I will certainly suggest it. They have to have someone that they would be willing to part with.”
He paused and finally sat down, tapping his foot on the ground nervously. “I need every bit of information that we have on their highest ranked members, anything at all that is confirmed and not hearsay or word of mouth. I need facts, not assumptions. I won’t allow anyone to be caught in this crossfire unnecessarily.”
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Post by Bella Uccella on Aug 6, 2009 23:30:05 GMT -5
Ines was thinking roughly the same thing Adrienne was as she looked at the girl. She closed her eyes, they had all done dangerous missions before, and some of them were very young. They had all gone into situations with as much a chance of survival as Berraby. She cringed as the girl twirled in her chair and you could be holding our future in your arms.
She refocused her attention on her capo when he asked for information. She sighed; this was her department so to speak. She had not been trained to simply open her legs.
“There’s a rumor that capo, that he’s a fugitive of some sort. The details are unclear but he’s purportedly hiding from the KGB for crimes in his homeland. That homeland either being Austria or Germany given he’s apparently a native German speaker, “She began, trying to recall every line of information she had heard over the year. “He’s an especially gifted marksman; it’s not hard to see he picked up that skill if he was formerly employed by a terrorist organization. Beyond is as I said is Japanese, he’s likely former Yakuza, but again that’s merely speculation and perhaps a racist fueled one at that. Still given how long he’s been killing with that unique crime scene, he started somewhere else.”
She paused, closing her eyes briefly, as she tried to remember more.
“The consigulerie is Italian, and he apparently favors a restaurant called Nikki for their breadsticks. If he goes there he does so undercover as he’s never supposedly been seen. There’s a rumor of a Russian assassin, apparently a giant of a man and also a sadistic killer. From the crimes attributed to him he has some medical experience. A young girl is also associated with the group, she’s new and so far her function is yet to be seen but supposedly she’s closer to the capo then what one would expect. There was a rumor they contracted another woman but the link is vague and why has yet to be seen,” she finished with a frown, wishing she could offer more than such vague facts.
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Samir Sorge
Associate
PR rep for the Innocenzo Family
Posts: 24
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Post by Samir Sorge on Aug 6, 2009 23:45:51 GMT -5
“Berraby, darling, why don’t you have a seat next to me?” Samir invited the girl, giving her a charming smile. He glanced at Amel I know you won’t want to break it to her. Though looking at the girl contrite expression he wondered if death even frightened her. Perhaps she was just as much a doll as that rabbit after all.
He listened to the information the new woman had to give. He smiled; apparently she had been some sort of spy. Well, ‘Ines’ was it? She certainly was a welcome addition then. He could only hope she be as competent at rooting out the spy.
“This young girl, didn’t we hear recently rumors the Liberatores had acquired a new negotiator?” he looked at Amel. His eyes narrowed a negotiator that was close to a capo? Certainly he and Allen had a working relationship but they rarely saw one another outside of these sorts of meetings. That a special connection be noticed, either he was giving her special professional attention, or just special attention.
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Post by Adrienne Ayers on Aug 6, 2009 23:58:06 GMT -5
Adrienne listened carefully to the woman across the table. She must have been a spy, and apparently a good one at that. She had extremely useful information, even if most of it was word of mouth. Amel wouldn’t like that, she knew, but it seemed like most of what she did know was legit enough. The pieces were beginning to fit together.
She frowned at Samir as he called the little girl over to him. I wouldn’t put it past you to be some kind of perv, she thought to herself. But she understood that this was just what Samir did; put on his charm to dazzle everyone into complacency. Everyone but his family, that is. Somehow that same basic charm and compassion didn’t translate over to the people that he should have cared for the most.
Not that she cared about what he thought. Nope, not at all. Stupid sexist jerk.
“KGB and yakuza. This just goes to show that what we’re dealing with is not something to be taken lightly,” she spoke up, pointing an accusing finger towards her capo. “If it’s war that you want, you’ve certainly got it. And I think I speak for us all when I say I’m not backing down to a fucking kraut. Excuse my language, Berraby.” She leaned back in her chair, keeping her eyes firmly on Amel. Don't you dare get scared and run away like you always do.
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Post by Amel Allen on Aug 7, 2009 0:13:26 GMT -5
Amel couldn’t help but sigh softly at the information. It was mainly irrelevant; he wasn’t willing to take anything that was word of mouth or rumor at anything less than face value. But still, some of the information did seem valid, enough that at the very least they had a good idea of who the main players were. “This is all good information, thank you, Ines,” he said quietly, allowing himself to give the woman a small grin. He glanced back at Samir as he spoke, letting his eyes linger on his associate before glancing at Adrienne. She had a point, these people were obviously not to be trifled with, and if the information was all correct, they were capable of far more than just kidnapping an errand boy. Why did they just take Panas then? This is obviously a precursor for something more. If only I could figure out what their capo is thinking…
“Negotiator?” he asked, quirking an eye at Samir. He had heard the rumors as well, but since nothing was confirmed he had committed it to his memory and left it listed as unimportant. But if it was true, it meant that this woman could be of use.
“A close acquaintance of the capo would be a far better bargaining chip,” Amel muttered, scratching idly at the base of his neck. “Let’s find out what we can about her. She might be of use to us later. For now, however, let’s set this plan into action. I will arrange for us to procure new shelter and wait for the phone call. Samir, please speak to Berraby about what role she will play. The rest of you relax and get some sleep tonight. Tomorrow will be a big day.”
With that he stood up to leave, glancing around the table one last time. “Does anyone have anything further before we adjourn?”
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Post by Berraby Romano on Aug 7, 2009 0:24:19 GMT -5
Berraby smiled at being called "darling", and with a hop and a skip was next to the tall Arab, plopping herself into her new seat with her rabbit held in both hands.
She cocked her head at the grimaces and the snatches of dark conversation going on around her. She tugged at the man's clothes, her hand closed around her toy's paw.
"A play? Berraby is going to be in a play? Can she be a princess? Tell her!"
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