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Post by JDrew25 on Jul 9, 2015 20:28:56 GMT -5
Sam let her mouth hang open for a little bit before she managed to get her brain to catch up. Of course the man had been watching them, the question was how often were they being watched, and how far did the BSAA's surveillance go? Or was this something that the man did on his own time?
"Alright, Edward will be happy to see you. Probably have some leftover Chinese if you're hungry."
As she got back into the car, she gave a nod back to the barely concealed blood in the backseat. This had a story, and she wanted to know. While she buckled up, and she didn't think that she could take the man in a straight-up fight with the man, she wasn't going to go anywhere until she had an answer to what had been going on.
"So what's the news with the blood in the back? Who did you take out?"
Her expression was neutral, but she couldn't hide the bit of concern and fear in her eyes. If the man had wanted to hurt her, he would have done so already. Still, something bad had clearly happened in the vehicle, and she wanted answers.
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Post by Winters on Jul 9, 2015 23:27:38 GMT -5
The only reason that Griffin could even do what he was doing right now and now worry about consequences was because he trusted Sam. Maybe trust was a poor choice of words, but he didnt have a reason to be against her, and she had no reason to be against him. Her reaction to the blood the first time wasnt rational, though it was less complicated she didnt get too agitated about. Though with all the stress of feeling like she had been monitored for so long even he himself couldnt even ballpark a time, Griffin knew that he owed Sam an explanation. Especially since she was being more than cooperative with him, which was more then he could ask for. They face he didnt even need to ask for it made things even better. "Well, we have some time, so ill take the long way." He started, not specifying whether or not he meant the route he was driving, or the story he was going to tell her.
"Storys going around that theres a mole in the BSAA, somebody who was linked to Umbrella. Obviously its me, only I dont have anything to do with them anymore, not since... You know..." Griffin paused. He knew that Sam might not believe him, but he kept on with the story none the less. "Ltd. Rockford started investigating members of our division. He got close to figuring some things out about me that id rather just keep in the past. If he went any further, it wouldve been bad. Dug up some really bad things. So, I ended that. It was a little messy, but oh well, curiosity killed the cat, right?"
Not only was this the absolute truth, though with much of it left out, Griffin wanted to make things clear to Sam that she should be careful about anything she decides to investigate. "Know what im saying? Some stones are better left unturned." Griffin was by no means directly threatening the woman, or the Detective, or even the reporter. "But if you have any questions, I have answers. Youre gonna have to earn them, though, but making sure you or your boyfriend dont get too carried away. You should go back to work, take another case. Plenty of time for the past, im not going anywhere."
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Post by JDrew25 on Jul 14, 2015 13:09:55 GMT -5
Sam managed to swallow down the information, and kept her stomach from churning. So he had killed someone in the same car they were driving around in, and now she was expected to help him with their investigation. He knew too much about them, more than just casual surveillance. How he knew so much already concerned her, but if she played her cards right she could use his connection to help her with her own investigation into what motivated the boy to kill himself. She knew Edward wouldn't have a problem with his help, but Madison was a bit on the naive side, and would more than likely start asking questions that couldn't be answered.
"So how long have you been monitoring us? Must be a while, since you know about Edward and me. I don't think he's even told Kate about it."
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Post by Winters on Jul 14, 2015 15:21:56 GMT -5
"Just one of my many skill sets. You have certain talents, use them in your skill set for work. I did a lot of black operation in South America before I was part of the BSAA. Im probably on a government watch list somewhere, if you know where to look, and who to look for." Arc casually dropped a little more information about himself in the process of explaining how it was he knew so much information, even if it was still an avoided answer. The details werent important, and he knew that Edward would be able to figure it out quick enough if it really made that much of a difference. But the thing that made him uneasy the most was how close the two women were to Rafael. It was some sort of coincidence they happen to take the case, a series of unfortunate events somewhere back down the road that lead them to where they were now. If giving them answers meant they wouldnt look harder then what was just in front of them, then it would be his only choice. Arc knew that was probably going to be the case.
Not long after, the car pulled up to the house, and Arc packed along the street as appose to in the driveway. He didnt plan on staying long, just long enough, but really he knew that he shouldnt block a government vehicle from the nearest exit. If Edward had a call and needed to go in a hurry, it would just complicate things. Without saying anything, Arc opened up the door, and slammed it shut behind him, looking at Sam do the same. There wasnt a point to locking the door, he wasnt going to be gone long. Plus the residential area was pretty good. However, before he stepped away, Arc removed the pistol and holster from his overshirt, and slid it through the open crack of the window, making sure it landed on the floor. No need to have on him. "After you..." He politely nodded toward the door.
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Post by JDrew25 on Jul 15, 2015 10:19:41 GMT -5
Sam watched as Arc left his weapon in the car. She wasn't that trusting, but if he felt that safe in their home, then she could try and relax a little. Her nerves were pretty fragile right now, but she was going to hold herself together long enough to get the information she needed to move her own investigation forward.
As they got to the door, she unlocked it and stuck her head in, not wanting Edward to be surprised by a second guest. They had some leftover Chinese if the man was hungry, but she figured this wasn't going to be much of a social call. Still, once they got inside she was going to make another pot of coffee, if nothing more than having something to do while they spoke.
"Edward, we have company. An old friend."
She stepped inside, and let Arc follow, closing the door behind him once he made it inside.
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Post by Winters on Jul 15, 2015 18:12:08 GMT -5
"Yes. Uh huh. Yep. No. Thats what im thinking..." His voice trailed through the hallway from his room. Edward was talking on the phone when there was a voice, and it sounded like Sam, but he knew that this phone call needed to come first. Leaning back to look around the corner of the door to see the front entrance, he seen it was her, but somebody else. No doubt she could hear him talking on the phone, and would clue in that he was busy, but once he caught a glimpse of who else was with her, his ton changed. "...No, that will do. I need to go, email those files." He finished, hanging up the phone. The fact that she let him inside was a little less concerning, so going for his gun wasnt nessicary, but he almost did. Edward stepped out into the hall, and spoke. "Sam." Edward was grateful to see her again, but the man was still keeping him on edge, especially after what he just found out from with the free time he had earlier that day.
"Im not sure exactly what it is you think you know, but I can tell you right now that theres more to the story." Arc spoke, letting Edward know they were on the same page. Sam on the other hand, might not have been, but would be very quickly. Now directing his attention toward Sam, knowing that this was exactly what she wanted to know, he explained himself in full detail, getting straight to the point. "Rafael Ruiz, the child you just watched take his own life, he was part of a group in South America. I was there too, before and about a year ago, when I returned, this time with the BSAA. There was a viral outbreak, most of us didnt make it. TerraSave wasnt called in for this one, too much exposure, it was locked down and quarantined. Cleaned up by us. I was the one who got Rafael out of there, but he was already infected. We found a way to treat the people, but they suffered a lot of mental instability."
It may have been a lot to take in, but it would make sense, far as making sense sent when you were dealing with biological warfare. A lot of things didnt even make sense, even to him, but Arc had it under control. "I was close to Ruiz. Rafael. Being so close to me triggered the emotional responses, causing him to take his life in fear that was I going to come finish the job before he could spread the virus here in the United States. Its no active anymore, not since his death. There is no threat. I should have dealt with it back in South America, but I couldnt, not without giving myself away. The BSAA couldnt know that I was affilliated with him, they still cant know. You investigating this will only create leads, and I cant have that. But im hoping now that you know the truth, you could just put it behind you."
Truth was, Arc didnt need his gun, but he was sincerely hoping that both Edward and Sam would understand, and drop everything, for their own safety. Getting involved was too much, even if what they knew. Arc could see Edward face, and knew that everything had made sense in his head, that there hadnt been anymore questions. Maybe it was because it all sprung up so fast that he was missing something, or maybe he really did know something else and was keeping it from him, but it didnt matter so long as either of them made light of this to TerraSave, or any know affiliations. "Sam... We good, right? I find it hard to read you." Arc questioned.
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Post by JDrew25 on Jul 16, 2015 8:25:31 GMT -5
Sam sat down at the table, and tried to take in what Arc had told them. So there was an incident in South America, something like Raccoon City. Another town, or city, and all of its inhabitants had been a casualty of Umbrella's recklessness. What Arc had said made sense, if it was a large scale infection they would need the heavy firepower of the BSAA to contain it, and TerraSave would have been one of the last people called in to assist.
"Okay, I'll drop it. But, I want to know more before I do. I'm going to make coffee, you're going to sit down here with us, and you're going to tell us everything you can about the incident. I have to know if there are more people like that boy out there, or if there is a way to keep this from happening anywhere else. I'm not going to let another Raccoon City happen if I can help it."
She got up, her mind made up, and went to the coffee pot, getting it ready as she waited for the others to get comfortable. THis was probably going to be a long night.
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Post by Winters on Jul 16, 2015 15:24:49 GMT -5
It wasnt the ideal way to spend a night, but since Arc knew that the two of them would leave it alone so long as he was up front with them, it was starting to turn out to be a reasonable outcome. She knew with how much both Sam and Edward had been though, they could keep to themselves, so trust wasnt a big issue. Not that it was much of an issue, if they talked to anybody, he would know about it, and it would just end up putting more people at risk then needed, which was what everyone was trying to avoid. Even himself, who was very forthcoming about killing somebody who got in his way, having the blood still in the back seat of the car parked out front. Which wasnt going to come out at this point, it would have to be dumped, probably tonight after he left.
"Not like I have anything else to do, coffee sounds good..." Arc trailed, the irony jetting around in his mind. Thats when Edwards phone rang again, and he immediately reached for it, almost as if he was expecting the call. "Yeah? No. Yes, okay. Ill be in soon as I can." He pressed end on the phone, and slipped it into his pocket, but before he could speak, Arc mocked the situation. "Its like that place would fall apart without you." Edward was a little surprised at how accurate he was, but Arc wasnt far from the truth. Turning to Sam, he stood up from his chair, and went to grab his coat and briefcase. "You can fill me in later, I know you have things under control here. Feel free to text me if anything comes up, as always."
Arc watched as the both of them had met out in the front by the door, probably saying their farewells and whatever it was family did. If you could call them family, maybe just old friends, who knew. He just sat in the kitchen, looking around at the different assortment of appliances. They had been here awhile, the place was well lived in, definitely previous owners before them. Being an FBI agent meant keeping tabs on ones house was next to impossible, not that Arc needed to, but it was unfortunate that his skills could only go so far.
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Post by JDrew25 on Jul 24, 2015 7:22:54 GMT -5
Sam saw Edward off, giving him a quick kiss before playfully shoving him out the door. She watched as he got into his car, and backed out of the driveway. While she didn't have the same detective skills as Edward, she was capable on her own, picking up tips and tricks from him over the years. She would speak with Arc, and figure out from there what to do with the information she was given. She'd take notes, and from there Edward could help her make sense of what she was told, help fill in the blanks.
As she went back inside, she wondered how Arc had managed to survive Raccoon City. What he had seen or done to make it out of the doomed city alive. She didn't want to know, but at the same time she did.
"Alright, tell me more about the mission in South America. Then we can work our way from there."
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Post by Winters on Jul 24, 2015 12:02:20 GMT -5
Flipping through his phone, he pressed a couple of buttons, trying to figure out what did what. Arc wasnt really too fond of them, but they made contact a lot easier, and he knew the one he had wasnt being monitored. It was always a little bit of paranoia, and the fact he wasnt raised with them, technology in general. But the moment Sam had come back into the kitchen, he closed off the screen, and shoved it into his pocket, pacing back to the chairs to have a seat. He wasnt really on his feet all too much these days, a lot of driving, sitting around waiting, which was pathetic for a BSAA agent. Though it was a change of pace, especially once the girl jumped right back into South America. "I dont talk about what happened there. But for you, ill make an exception. But you wont like it."
Arc decided it was best to leave out details on how he even managed to get to the level of degenerate soldier of fortune he did. but from what Sam could easily assume, Raccoon City had a lot to do with it. "I worked for a drug cartel. Moved product into the United States. Well, before that, I was military service, but I dont need to get into that, im sure you already figured that out by now..." Exactly what sort of military service didnt need to be mentioned, but it really didnt matter. In fact, Arc had a change of trust, and decided maybe it was better to casually bring it up. "...But when it lead into the drug trade, you can probably guess it wasnt for my country." Figuring it was best to leave out more about himself to the imagination, he quickly went into more detail about the kid, though knew it would be hard to muster. Even for him.
"Rafael, he was the same as me, only younger. Didnt have much choice unfortunately. I was part of his training regime, unit captain. Taught that boy how to shoot. Was a little upset that he turned that on himself, but he wasnt the one in control." Which brought him to the point, finally, the part that was the most important. The incident. "There was chemical testing, similar to what they did back in nineteen ninety eight, only this was off the books. Even im not entirely sure what went down, but I know it wasnt good. Because they succeeded. Instead of ending up those mindless, you know, they had emotionally deprived child soldiers." Maybe Sam put two and two together and assumed what happened to Rafael would happen to himself, or maybe she didnt, but Arc was going to leave it out because he knew he wasnt a child.
The coffe was finally ready, and once Sam had poured a cup for him, Arc started drinking it, not minding the temperature. "It is what it is. Thats how I remember it. Anything else, im not sure if I can answer. Not because I wont, but because I have a bad memory of it. I got out of that, and fell in with Umbrella. Not my finest decision, but oh well. I had a lot to answer for, and I did. Why im here now, and I dont have anybody hunting me. Same with you, and Edward."
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Post by JDrew25 on Jul 26, 2015 22:36:16 GMT -5
"I don't want to press any more into that, I imagine it's something you'd want to leave behind you now. I just wish we could have helped him."
Sam took a cup for herself, and sat in silence for a while as she thought of her next move. What would they do next? She could investigate it further, but she wasn't sure what rabbit hole that would lead her down. The important part right now was to make sure the BSAA and TerraSave didn't catch on to her activities or motives. She could count on Edward and Arc for that, but for the moment she would leave Madison out of it until she could figure out which side of the fence she was going to end up on.
"I still don't know how you managed to make it out of Raccoon City alive, but I am glad you did. No one should have been left there, regardless of who they were."
She had wished that her mother had been found. She still had nightmares about her staggering around in the rubble, trying to find a living being to feast on. She knew in her heart that she was dead, but she wished she knew for certain.
"I was thinking of going back to Raccoon City one day, maybe to see if they ever found my mom. Would you be able to check into that discreetly for me? Maybe they came across her and I was just never told since they thought I was dead too."
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Post by Winters on Jul 27, 2015 1:59:11 GMT -5
Feeling like they had both made progress here, with Arc not needing to worry about whether or not Sam was going to start something she couldnt finish, yet still getting most of the answers she was looking, the two of them came out of the conversation with a mutual understanding. Soon as the cup of coffee was finished, Arc stood up from the chair, and walked over to the sink. He placed the empty cup in it, filling it up with a little bit of water, and then turned to face Sam. "Not going to make any promises, but ill see what I can do, as a personal favor."
Not that he needed the favor, or that he was even going to bother trying to find out. Arc had much more things to do, but at least he was being polite, even though it was a complete lie. "Much as I enjoy spending time with you, I have a car to dump. You should get to sleep early tonight. Big things lined up for TerraSave in the near future, youre going to need all the sleep you can get." Arc spoke in a sarcastic, carefree tone. He was still in a good mood from before, or at least he tried to be. It was his was of putting the past away, masking it with humor.
Arc was seen to the door, but opened it himself and made his way to the car. "Ill be in touch...", he told Sam before closing the car door, starting the engine, and pulling away from the driveway. His next step was to ditch the evidence, then he had to knock on some doors before tomorrow.
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Post by JDrew25 on Jul 27, 2015 7:16:56 GMT -5
Sam locked the door after Arc left, looking through the side window as the sedan pulled out of the driveway and into the night. She knew that if she had to get a hold of the man again he would be easy to contact, but for now she needed to get some rest. She wasn't sure what was going to be on tomorrow's agenda, but she was sure Madison was going to need her.
She climbed into the shower, letting the water wash away her worries as well as the day's dirt and grime. The water soothed her, calming worries and letting her relax. She didn't know how it managed to do that, it just always did. Her father used to say it was because she was part mermaid. That little memory brought a smile to her face as she toweled off and got ready for bed.
She stopped in the hallway as she making her way back to her room. She thought for a moment, then went into her room, grabbed her pillow and then made her way back to Edward's, leaving the door slightly ajar as she climbed into bed and got comfortable. She didn't know when he would be back in, but she didn't want to be alone tonight.
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Post by Winters on Jul 27, 2015 8:49:48 GMT -5
"This is everything you have?" Edward question, laying the pile of bundled folders back onto the table. He sat back in his seat, sitting across from a man, in a booth at the back of a bar. It had been a quiet night, only the dull roar of music playing over the radio, but it was a quiet confrontation. "Its everything. Trust me. This is him." The other man spoke, taking a drink of his whiskey, and clanking the glass off to the side. It wasnt that this was all they could get, this was everything there was, no word of a lie, and he was sure of it. Edward could tell by the look in his eyes. It seemed strange that he was asking a private investigator of this, when he himself had more connections through the FBI. But the sensitive topic of this issue made it hard for him to get what he needed without causing internal distress.
"Can I give you some advice, Edward?" The way the man referred to him by a first name bases hadnt been professional given their relationship, but Edward accepted it, nodding his head, not saying hes or no. But he did want to hear what the man had to say. "This isnt worth it, whatever you plan to do with the information I gave you tonight." He was a little shaken by the question, by Edward knew what he was doing. It wasnt about getting results, he just needed to know the truth. It was always more important to him than anything.
The man looked at Edwards drink, seeing it was almost empty. They were in a bar, he didnt need to point out the awkwardness, but he was going to ask because at this point, the man knew how forthcoming their relationship was. "Least I know if you do anything stupid, it wont be the alcohol." Edward almost grinned, finishing the last mouthful of water from the glass. It was a habit worth kicking, as its only made him sharper, and probably preserved the rest of his life. After surviving everything this long, it would be a shame to see himself go out because of a drinking problem. "I appreciate it. Hope we dont have to see each other again." He started, sitting up from the seat. "Me either..." The man finished.
~
Unlocking the door, Edward slipped into the house, removing his leather jacket and hanging it up on metal rung quietly as he could. He did the same with his boots, slipping them off to the side, trying not to wake Sam. It was after midnight, and the only thing lighting the place had been a nightlight in the kitchen. But as he came around the corner, he seen light coming from the crack in the barely opened door to the bedroom. Maybe she had fallen asleep with the light on, or had been listening to music, he wasnt sure until he opened the door, speaking out in a low tone. "You didnt have to wait up."
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Post by JDrew25 on Jul 27, 2015 11:03:14 GMT -5
Sam's head shot up, one eye opening half-way as she was woken by Edward's voice. She tried to stifle a yawn and failed as he made his way into the room. She had stayed up for a bit, reading and just trying to pass the time until he came home. She wasn't sure how long she had been asleep, but her book was lying discarded by the bed. It had more than likely fallen from her hands when she fell asleep.
"Sorry, was trying to stay awake until you got back. Everything go alright?"
She rubbed at her eyes as she made room on the bed for him, fluffing her pillow a bit and waiting for him to join her.
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