2019-07-22 - Shady Business Dealings

Easton had gotten the call from Magnolia literally minutes before she got out of her car at that bus station, before it went all sideways. Before the two men in their stolen black sedan drove up, threatened her kid, got her into the car, drove her out to the middle of nowhere and demanded answers. Easton had gotten the call all before that shit went down, and so when he shows up at Sneakers Investigations-- a combo reference to her signature Converse and that one Robert Redford movie no one else seems to know but is an absolute favorite in the Jones household-- he finds Magnolia retching with full dedication into her desk-side trashcan. She hadn't expected him, she had forgotten, so she's also really dressed for a client-- joggers, an oversized t-shirt from the UW, and thick happy socks. When he opens the door, she looks up with shadow-rimmed eyes, and just stares at him.

"Shit," is all she says before she flops back in her chair. "Hi, Easton." No 'Mr. Marshall,' today.

And all Easton knows is that he got a phone call that Magnolia had been able to find something for him. As soon as he hung up the phone, he downed a good sized glass of whiskey and decided whatever the outcome he wasn't going to like it. And he was going to want a drink, so he'd may as well just take an Uber (or a taxi if need be) to her office. He shows up in his usual soft gray tee-shirt, dark jeans and boots, the only addition a backwards Boston Red Sox hat. He enters the office after a knock at what he mistook for some sort of weird 'come in' but was actually a full body wretch. He realizes this as he steps into the office and stands in the doorway dumbly wondering if he should back out slowly. But then she looks up and he doesn't stop himself from grimacing at her appearance.

"Oh. Yea. You do, look like shit." That's not what she meant, but somehow in his mind she was pre-empting that statement. "Is this not a good time?"

Magnolia is looking pretty much like shit warmed over when she pulls her head back into view after finishing that last good retch. Then she slumps back again and she chuckles a bit dryly. "Oh yeah? Man, I was really puttin' on a good look for you today, too." She pulls herself upright with a groan, and then she shakes her head. "Sorry. You know, cursed family rings and thugs threatening your life and your kid's life. Fun times, fun times." She gestures him into a seat with another groan. "It's alright. Just... have a seat. And... I'm going to go wash-up. Hang on, okay?"

Magnolia starts to get up, and her chair almost rolls out from under her, the PI catching the edge of the desk before she stumbles. Then, with a hand lifting, she slowly meanders to the bathroom.

Cursed family rings and thugs threatening your life

Easton nods as if she just said traffic and bills to pay. "Yea, that.. that sucks." He is about to move on with the conversation, not that he doesn't sympathize, he just figures if she wants to say more about it, then she will, until he realizes it's worth asking one pertinent followup. "Did these thugs have anything to do with my case? Or is that just your usual routine? Get groceries, get threatened by thugs, find cursed jewels that match you shoes?"

When she goes to wash up, he takes a seat in the chair across from her desc and rubs at his leg when she's not looking.

Magnolia settles back into her chair after a moment, and her whole body seems to slump as she does. It takes her a good while before she feels like she can speak again without potentially emptying whatever could be left in her stomach. She gives him a weak smile. "No. I mean, unless you got some ties to a guy named Jack Michaels." She's in a shitty PI mood right now. THen she finally takes a breath and shakes her head. "No. This wasn't typical." She glances up slightly to Easton. "It'll be alright."

Then she starts in on it, opening the folder she has on Two if by Sea. "Good news is that you and your father have equal shares that give you a majority in the company. Bad news is the rest of the shares are owned by several shell companies, none of them really legit beyond name. I'm still working on those companies, but they appear to own other businesses all over town. Only yours and the Firefly Club share any of those shell companies." Look at that, Magnolia got through all of that without looking green once.

"Jack Michaels?" Easton repeats the name blankly and shrugs, "Not unless that's the name you found?" Granted she probably wouldn't be asking him in that way if she knew they were connected so... yea.

When she turns attention to his case though, he sits up a little straighter to listen. He is relieved at the first part but frowns at the second parts. It's more than he knew, sure but he's not sure what it means yet. "Well that's a start. Thanks." His brow furrows as he shakes his head wondering why this was all setup this way without his knowledge. "You don't happen to know anything about the Firefly Club do you? Besides not to throw a punch? Because daaamn, their bouncers are on top of things." He smirks a bit thinking of the lesson he just learned the other night.

"I had a date there," Magnolia says not-at-all helpfully. "Or a not date." Then she shakes her head before she admits more honestly that, "It's next in my investigation. You gave me access to your files, but this next step will require me to pull in some contacts." The PI picks up a bottle of water and takes a deep drink from it, swallowing down the foul taste.

"Are you familiar with who the owner is at the Firefly Club?"

Easton laughs, a bit rudely at her admission that her date was not in fact a date. But mostly because he really wasn't expecting the overly honest admission. He nods and says, "Well, let me at least cover expenses and pay you for the work so far. This is more than I'd have gotten for sure." He actually went to school pre-law, he should be able to read a contract. And yet? He never seems to have the focus to trace any of these things.

"No.." He answers a bit curiously, "Should I?"

Magnolia looks a bit abashed at the rude laughter, and she squints at him a bit, though she doesn't, at least, look perturbed. "Of course, that would be great." She folds her arms in front of her, looking green still even while she talks, stalling a bit behind what might be another violent barfing. Nope, she's got this. "I'll keep looking into this if you want me to, Easton. I think there's more answers."

Then at his question in answer to her question, she shrugs. "Maybe you two have something in common that has two of these companies interested in your businesses."

Easton came prepared for this part at least and pulls out a large bill fold. He peels off a few hundred and slides them across the desk. He nods and says, "Yes. Please. If you could look into the financials some more, I'm pretty sure something.." He doesn't want to say illegal. If it was illegal he should call the cops, right? Or the FBI? Or something? He instead says, "Weird. Something's weird."

He ahs, and gets what she's saying. He says, "Huh, I actually know someone who works there. I bet I could start asking some questions and at least find a name, someone to talk to." Oh good, that'll go super well.

The miraculous appear of the hundreds has Magnolia reaching for them a bit more readily than she'd like to admit. Look. She's broke, and now she has some kind of ring-curse-flu, and she's probably not going to be bringing in more clients in the next few days. So, she takes the money but does not let the glee hit her eyes. "I'll keep on it."

Then she takes a breath and immediately frowns. "No." Her eyes take on a cautious light. "Really. Let me do that. You get into it, it could go sideways. Now, if you want to go ask around, take me with you. Seriously."

Easton averts his eyes and pretends he can't tell how much that payment means to her. He just folds the rest of the bills back up and arches to put them back in his pocket. He nods at her continuing but then quirks an eyebrow as she tells him not to follow up. He then looks like he's trying to stifle a laugh when she tell him to take her with him. He asks, "Are you... suggesting ... you'd protect... me?" His dubiousness is clearly written on his face, as if she missed it in the tone of that stilted question. "I mean, you will certainly be better at it." If that's the case, he's got not issue, but the thought of her keeping him safe threatens to bring him to yet more rude laughter.

The tiny blonde hits him with a look that no amount of green-gills can really hide. "Dude, my center of gravity is low and I had a cop for a dad, and I am not half bad at kicking people's asses. I mean, as long as we're not talking like Jackie Chan or something like that. Plus I'm small and scrappy and fight dirty. So don't give me that chuckling chauvinistic look, because I'm on my second bottle of Pepto Bismol and I have zero issues beating up Bennie's boyfriend." Whoops, that slipped. She doesn't seem to notice, or she just skates on past that with ease.

She explains her credentials and Easton nods, but he's still not really viewing this girl as someone he'd take for physical backup. It's not that she's a woman, it's that she's kind of a tiny feisty woman and he says, "Look, I'm not saying you can't hold yer own in a fight. I'd just rather bring a gun for backup. That's all." Which is a terrible plan, for many reasons, not the least of which the number of crimes he'd likely be charged with or framed for in this instance if anything actually went south. But Easton is very proud of his guns and very sure of their usage. And he's also kind of dimwitted. "And how did we jump to you beating me up here? I thought you were supposed to be my backup in this scenario?"

"Who says I wouldn't bring a gun as your back-up?" Magnolia sounds almost exasperated, but then she takes a small step back-- metaphorically speaking. She leans back in her chair, releasing a soft breath. "Look, I'm... sorry. I usually don't threaten to beat clients up." Usually. She rubs slightly at the bridge of her nose. She's tired, she has had a headache since Highway 109. "I'll keep at the case, and... just if you go to the Firefly Club to talk, bring me along? This is my job."

"Well, I'd feel a lot better if you did." He likes guns. He trusts guns. He smirks and says, "That's alright, I appreciate a little tussle every now and then." Granted he wasn't exactly expecting to fight the person he's paying to do investigating work, but he's at least not put off by it. "I get it. I think it'd be better actually if you asked the questions and kept my name out of it, at least to start. If this is as jacked up as I think it might be, then it'd be best to do it quietly."

Magnolia takes a breath, but when she exhales it, her brow arches slightly with bemusement. "Huh." Then she settles into a little smile. Easton is such an oddity. Then she folds her arms in front of her, shutting her eyes briefly; then she looks back up at him. "Yeah. It would be good if... I took point, but I'm serious... if this becomes something where you should come along, I'll let you."

Easton nods and says, "Of course. And if this case ever gets you, or your kid, threatened. We drop it. I don't need answers that badly." Would it bother him, yes. Is it worth her or anyone getting hurt over, no. He can deal with mysterious shit, goodness knows there's enough of that going around town.

Magnolia breathes out a sharp exhale as she realizes she did mention Lark and the threats, and she rubs slightly at the back of her neck. "I shouldn't have mentioned that," she says quietly. "That had nothing really to do with this, I'm just... Yeah." Then she forces a smile into place that doesn't meet her eyes.

Easton holds up his hands and says, "Look, if you wanted help with that, you'd have asked. Like you said, you can handle your shit. I'm just saying, don't do that on my account." She already fought him once for insinuating that she might need his protection, he's not about to imply that twice. With that he pushes his chair back and stands up. "Thanks Ms. Jones, I appreciate you working this."

For a heartbeat, Magnolia actually considers that-- it passes like a flitting thought through her mind. Could she actually ask someone else for help in all this? What would be the risks? She's already got Kevin involved. Could she really ask someone else? Then she sighs out a breath and forces a little smile into place. "No. Really. I've got this." She's got this. "Thank you, Mr. Marshall." She gets to her feet, but slowly so she doesn't make her head spin. "I'll let you know when I have more information."