2020-08-17 - Not Dead Yet

After the week Byron has had, he calls for a meeting with little notice at his office in the casino.

Firstly, there are rumors of his murder. Which he is here to put an end to, because he's not dead. And he's not this Bryan Thorne fella.

Secondly, he just crawled himself out of a high speed chase from Spruce to Oak and not only that, his car was more or less totaled during all of this.

Once the others arrive, they may notice that Thorne isn't in the greatest of moods. His lips are drawn thin, that bristled jaw tightened and there was this dangerous look in his dark eyes. At this moment, there's no offer for drinks as he's already settled in behind. "What do we know about Officer Harvey Liu? I believe he has some ties with Monaghan. Borrowed money from him, I'll assume." This is when his gaze settles on Rhys, "What records do we have on him?" He then comes to the meat of what he wants to say, "Because that fucker destroyed my car and his goons nearly drove me off the road in some high speed chase with my fiancee in the passenger seat."

There's a brief pause following this, his posture remaining stiff, "I can't say whether the men chasing us were his, exactly, rather than those associated with Reyes." He brings this name up, curious to see whether either of the two men had heard it before.

Joey arrives in a suit with a bruise on the edge of his orbital socket. It's healing suspiciously fast at least. He gets himself a drink and has a sit listening to B's itinerary.

"Liu, the detective that put the lean on Mac's shop for fuck knows what reason? " His eyes narrow and asks the important question, "And Lil's alright?" Taking a deep breath he brings his rough fingers to rub the side of his nose, "Your car too? Take it to Roz if Lil doesn't deconstruct the damage." More 3-syllable words courtesy of Alexander's little book.

"Reyes? Heard of a few. Not in this area though. I'll stick my nose into it. We've had... things go missing and we're trying to find the 'why'. Someone's pushing hard for the city. Got teh feeling someone's not into paying the harbor master his due."

Rhys is pretty surprised to get invited to a meeting with Byron today. Not because they don't have casino business that needs discussion often enough, but because Byron's dead, right? Killed by his fiancee, which the accountant wouldn't have considered a real good bet. I mean, at the least not before they even made it legal, right? But he remembers reading about it, remembers all the talk about it, remembers that quiet chat with Felix about what steps they might need to take to deal with the situation.

So invitation or not, it's a bit of a shock to see him sitting there at his desk looking no more than maybe bruised and angry. Rhys's real intention was to see who was playing silly buggers, with a scan of the cameras to find a man who certainly looked like Byron Thorne heading in here followed by a wary arrival in person. Joey being there and acting like things are normal is-- well, comforting isn't the right word, but it's a sort of anchor weighing on reality. And at least it lets him lower the mental odds of this being some weird trap.

Never be surprised is the ideal. Never seem surprised (unless it's useful) is a reasonable backup, and as he heads in and settles lazily into a seat, he manages a decent job of it. A nod of greeting to them both, and a slight lift of brows to wordlessly ask what the deal is.

The one who murdered you, he doesn't say when Byron mentions the fiancee in the passenger seat. That would be a weird thing to say to someone who seems manifestly un-murdered at this time. Instead, he gives a seconding nod to the question of whether the woman's all right, and silently wishes he'd decided to grab himself a drink as well. The boxer's comments give him another breath or three to collect himself, and the last of them comes out in a dry laugh at the final remark. "Got the feeling someone wants to be the harbourmaster," he agrees, and tilts his head a bit, regarding the (living) man ensconced behind the desk. "Why was Liu chasing you? Or was it Lilith he was aiming for?"

Byron Thorne was very much alive! Or this was his twin from England, Bryan. The man doesn't have an accent though, but Bryan Thorne may be sly like that.

He probably should have started with the whole 'Look, I'm nod dead' thing, but with his adrenaline pumping from yesterday's incident, he didn't want to beat around the bush. He wanted answers. Or, at least, what information that the two can give him.

A brow quirks at Joey, "What do you mean too? The cops with a price-tag tried to run you down as well? Or was this something else?" His voice adds emphasis to what he says next, "Admittedly, it wasn't Liu who chased tried to drive us off the road, but I'm sure he knows the people who did." The man's dark eyes then flicker over at Rhys, nodding slowly to the mention of this harbormaster business. "Officer Liu and three of GHPD's finest tried to shake Lilith down at her shop earlier this week. Liu presented a warrant for a PS4 that was, supposedly, turned into the shop some time prior. By then, I'd already learned that they did this exact same thing to the Game Pad and that place was burned to the ground. Strangely, even after tearing the place apart, they missed the PS4, but there were ominous hints that Liu would return. He handed me a business card to get into contact with him."

Before anyone asks, he says, "I checked the warrant. It's authentic." He really means that he mentally 'read' the warrant, but they can both interpret that as they will. "But, I believe that the judge who signed it did not do it on his own accord. Not without being threatened." Byron offers up the man's name, those in the know would recognize the man as someone in Monaghan's pocket.

"Yesterday, Lilith and I decided to take the game console to Abitha Machinae, believing that there's a connection between Liu visiting her shop and Liu visiting the pawn shop. Lilith and I were out for brunch and just as we were driving out of the Black Bear to pay Machinae a visit, we were being chased by two vehicles. One of them belonged to my personal security team. It was hijacked as they waited for me to exit the diner. The other was a truck. I have no idea who the two in the truck or the hijacker are."

He continues, only vaguely retelling the story, "In the end, the streets were littered with turned over vehicles. Mine wasn't in too hot a shape either. But guess which officer was on the scene for this?" He doesn't wait for them to guess, "Harvey Liu. He asks to check my vehicle, but I was able to hold him off on that. For a time. Then... from what I can tell, he set the trunk of my car on fire, causing a minor explosion. Destroying the console at the same time. Is all of this a coincidence? I highly doubt it."

With all of that off of his chest, Byron then states, "I don't know what they wanted with the console. What data it could've been hiding. I don't know if they wanted that data destroyed or whether they wanted it in their hands. They either won yesterday or lost, I can't tell." His gaze lowers, "We're currently trying to repair the PS4, though we're not sure that the data on it can be recovered. We'll see."

Getting back to something else he'd mentioned, however, he looks to Joey, "Don't let anyone know that I mentioned this to you, especially not de la Vega. It's de la Vega who told me about Reyes. Saying something about his department being pinned between Monaghan and Reyes. He also added that Liu was working for Reyes." Straightening up and resettling back into his seat, he murmurs, "I doubt he wants me spreading that news around to anyone. Especially not either of you, but what do I know, right?" Byron Thorne is an upstanding citizen!

Joey takes a deep breath and looks to Rhys addressing the big issue with the first not-real lie he's told, but one that will frame things for people having a hard time with this, "Rhys, There's been attempts on several lives. The people out shooting up our cars and shit is clearly trying to make a deflation attack on his name." Look there's a lot of words in Alexander's book he is having a hard time keeping correct. He's working on it. Defamation is kinda a biggie. "Byron's like... literally my oldest friend still in the city. I will tell you when he's been replaced with an import. Promise." It's honest assurance, but explanation enough as to why people are talking shit. "Seems they bought the paper too, but no one can remember anything clearly. I'd suggest you both switch to bottled water."

Rolling a look to Byron it pains him but they hit him in a bit of his soul. "Liu's not the guy. He's on someone's payroll. Whoever it is can buy the cops and the press it seems. But... yeah they stole my car, did a hit on the Police Captain and then tried to play crash derby with it trying to run Cruz down. Cruz had to shoot out the windows. My damn GTO is a fuckin pretzel. Roz is still working on it. My bike? He looks to Rhys and Byron, "well that got shot up in your parking garage. But yeah I agree, I think someone is very clearly trying to seize the fucking harbor. We're using it. Sucks to be them."

There is listening and he wonders "A PS4? Can get that anywhere. Gotta be something on it and not just a fuckin console." There's...an explosion??! The eyebrow goes up and his brows crease together, "can Lilith fix it? She's good with stuff." And then... the new news. "De la Vega mentioned Reyes to me but fuck that asshole. He just sold us out. Great for the heads up but watch your ass with that one." Is he mad? Yes he is absolutely a resentment elemental but still he promises, "B, you're coming out of this a boyscout. don't worry."

Rhys may have missed the 'Bryan' rumours, or maybe they're just easier to dismiss -- he doesn't have any memories of there ever being Thorne twins, after all. The murder, though, the memories tied to that are perfectly vivid. It's hard to dismiss them, but Byron is right there, talking and everything. Joey's explanation actually makes... well, not entirely sense, but something closer than any of the other options currently available. Deflation notwithstanding. Entirely accurately, he says, "I never had the impression he'd been replaced, by an import or otherwise. That sounds... stupid, frankly. We'd have to have moved into a soap opera desperate for ratings." You know, unlike people having two husbands and 13 kids or a pair of Russian spies. A pause. "The coverage of the murder was pretty convincing, though, that's for sure." Enough that it's still nagging at his mind, but... dude's right here. Looking like himself, sounding like himself. And what he really remembers is the reporting and the talk, so what's more logical here?

This is just going to keep happening in some corner of his brain the whole time. Thanks, Gray Harbor.

"Three of them with him, huh? Did you get their names?" he asks, mulling the story over, "And which judge?" He has a suspicion there, but better to hear it unprimed. "So presumably this is the same PS4 that got bought from Mac? Does Lilith keep video, can we get a look at who actually pawned it? 'cause no, I doubt it's coincidence at all. I think we're all pretty much in agreement it's gotta be something aside from just 'a PS4', something inside, and probably data, yeah. Which an explosion is probably gonna be pretty effective at destroying." Annoyingly. "If we find the guy who had the thing between purchase and pawning, though, might be he'd be inclined to help us out." Or become inclined to.

A nod and slight gesture implying the same on Joey's assurance. "Don't worry. Not in any particular hurry to have a cozy chat with de la Vega. If you are, though, please feel free to happen to let us know what interesting things you hear. 'cause when it comes to these guys who're causing you trouble right now? Maybe he's feeling torn between them and the guy who's had your back," not that Byron would prefer anyone know that, but history's proven he can trust this side not to talk, right? "but we aren't."

If anything, Byron's just glad that he doesn't have to convince Joey that he's still alive. So when the guy explains to Rhys that he trusts this is Brya-- er Byron and not his non-existent twin. He may not come out and give Joey his gratitude of appreciation, but he'll offer up a nod of acknowledgment, ending with, "My primary concern with that is people retaliating against Lilith, believing her to a murderer. It's greatly upset her as it is, knowing that people believe that she killed me. I want to shield her from all of that."

There's a quirk of his brow now, "The press as well? Interesting. I was actually thinking of making a statement to one of the journalists, so that they can inform the masses that I am very much alive." Dark eyes then flicker over at Rhys and a few things that his business partner type brings up seems to get a hint of amused interest from Thorne. Perhaps now that they are mentioned, it helps to jog the entrepreneur's memory of things that he'd heard or always known. He knows of Sparrow enough and Sparrow was Rhys' date at the casino grand opening. It'd be rude of him to bring up the woman's many kids right now, so he refrains from doing so! Even if he might believe it to be true.

That's when he bites down on his lip, listening to Joey explain what happened to Kelly's car and bike. "So that's what Machinae was talking about. Shit." There's a slow shake to his head. "And yeah, Liu blew the trunk of my car up." Which the cop did, and like anything weird in Gray Harbor, this statement can be taken any way. "Is my car repairable?" He'll assume that Joey cares about the Wraith as well! "I actually paid Rosencrantz a visit and he said it was probably a write off, so I might not attempt it." His voice adds emphasis to the beginning of this next part, "Is the PS4 repairable? It might be, though a part of it is melted into what's left of the trunk of my car, but that said, we're not sure that when it's fully repaired that it will have any of the data on its hard drive, which is what we assume that whoever wanted the console, was after." Now! it's probably weird for a normal person to think that a melted PS4 console could be repaired in full to begin with.

At Rhys' inquiry and request, Byron goes through a few folders and files on his laptop, pulling up the image from Pawn Shop security from the day the PS4 was turned in and this is what he turns to allow the pair to view. "This woman is the one who brought the PS4 in. A man purchased the PS4 from Machinae's shop. Though they are most likely working together unless this is an odd thing where all of this, people purchasing or selling PS4s and those locations being hounded by corrupt cops are all coincidental."

The screen on the laptop shows: The woman visible in several minutes of footage and a variety of still frames has short, mousy brown hair and loose clothing that hides much of her shape, as well as sunglasses worn over her eyes when entering and leaving the store.

"Her name is Bridget K. Turnblom. T-U-R-N-B-L-O-M. Or that's the name that she gave the Pawn Shop when making the transaction." A pause, "Has Machinae told you about the person who purchased the PS4?" He'll assume not. He then blinks at Joey's accusation, "What do you mean? More like, what error in judgement did de la Vega make?" Thorne is curious to know. As he awaits Joey's response, he turns towards Rhys to relay the rest of the information that the man asks for, though keeps his eyes on Kelly. He rattles off the judge's name (Ruiz's player makes up the names for all the corrupt cops, but not for this judge! Go figure!). As for the other three cops with Liu, they were Russo, Poppenberg and Zakrzewski. From what de la Vega could identify." Byron is ready to play back that footage to help the others identify the cops as he waits for Joey to continue with his story on the betrayal of one Javier de la Vega.

Joey finally asks, "Who the fuck is Machinae? What Machine?" He's not following up on the what is what and the who is who. Too many names! When asked about de la Vega though? Oh those eyes shift off of Byron to the wall and then to his thumb as he most interestingly picks at the cuticle with his middle finger. "He uh... sold us out. Anything that talks to Felix really. Didn't have the balls to say it to my face neither. My strong advice is don't give em anything. As far as my people are concerned? He's cut off."

Look, maybe Rhys really likes being an uncle-ish. And who has time to date a woman who doesn't have two husbands already? Truth is, it's probably a spot where the brain's tendency to minimize cognitive dissonance is doing its job admirably: he's been happily dating Sparrow; everything he remembers now says she's got two husbands and 13 kids and this isn't news; therefore he must be okay with this situation. Thus the world remains on an even keel, albeit a keel that involves a lot more random purchasing of toys for kids he's sure he remembers meeting than it did a month ago. Just like Joey's always taught PE, along with running the gym and various less above-board portions of Gray Harbor. The man's just a busy guy.

The accountant makes a vague understanding sort of noise at Byron's worry for Lilith and potential retaliation. If any of that potential retaliation might have ended up coming from quarters he's familiar with, he keeps that to himself. He slips a small notebook from his pocket, with its own little pen, and flips it open to take some notes old-school-style, in what looks like some kind of shorthand. Living in this town quietly trains the mind to edge around certain questions, or to rationalise them before they push too hard at consciousness: easy enough to assume Liu had some kind of explosives, for example, and surely the plastic parts of a PS4 might melt enough to ruin it while still leaving the electronics possibly reclaimable in other parts, mightn't they? And so, neither of these disturb him in the same way as Byron's continued hale-and-heartiness. "Sorry about the car," he says, maybe a little distracted but not insincere, "It was a good-looking vehicle. Yeah, though, unless there was any sign of anything else in the melt, seems like it'd have to be the data." That may well have been the working theory, but signs of confirmation are always good. Though maybe less good when they come via that kind of destruction.

His hand moves swiftly as he writes, surely taking down all the names among other notes, and he leans in to take a good look at all the images they're shown. "Mind giving me a copy of those files and such? I'll see if I can track down anything new. And told me what about him?" Aside to Joey, he adds, "Mac. The one who owned the Control Pad. It's short for Machinae." Another flicker of a glance around the time of 'sold us out', or at least that's about the timing that the pen stills a beat and taps once on the paper before the next note continues. It's oddly reminiscent of someone making a grocery list and remembering he used the last of the coffee that morning.

"Sold you out?" Byron asks, his eyes on Joey as he opens up a desk drawer to pull out a flash drive to insert into his laptop on Rhy's request. "Thanks. That was one of my first big purchases, back in L.A." He speaks of the Wraith. Then to continue on this Ruiz selling them out bit, he inquires, "How did you find out? If he didn't tell you?"

His eyes on screen, he copies several files over onto the flash drive. "Nothing in particular." This is said to Rhys, "Just that the man who purchased the PS4 is not the same person who dropped it off at the Pawn Shop." He's then looking at night club manager from above the screen, "I'm not sure what their game is and why they felt this was the... most clever way to transport anything." His gaze then lowers again to complete the transfer. "At first I found it strange that Liu and his crew would harass Mac," He'll use the name that Joey knows best, "about some guy purchasing the PS4 to begin. Demanding she give them a copy of the receipt. Then I thought, it's to cover whoever's track, right? The person who purchased the PS4. We're still trying to put the pieces of this puzzle together." He then adds, "Mac has photos of the guys who burned her shop down. Doesn't match Liu or the officers with him." Pause, "Or the guys who tried to run me off the road." Once the files are transferred, he removes the drive and slides it over across to table towards Rhys.

Joey really is a busy guy truth be told. Those hard green eyes remain on Byron and there are things there in Joey's expression that read back to that same posture and expression were when they were kids and Joey was, for a while, without family and home; except Jaime. He did always have his brother and a shit to of anger. Fourteen years later being abandoned like a hot rock is so not sitting well with him. "Yeah he fucking broke up our allegiance over a goddamned text calling us 'losses' and expendable. Watch your fuckin ass. When have I ever lied to you?" Or anyone really. Never. Deflect, maybe, but Joey's allergic to lying.

He stops and almost restarts on elaborating. Stops.. He takes a deep breath. No. Hand relaxes on the arm of the chair and he says, "Forward the picture to me. I'll get it to Cris and Vic and see if they pick up anything from the guy they went round and round with at that hotel. I'm serious on de la Vega being a two-faced sunnovabitch. Don't get played."

Rhys snags that drive, gives Byron a mock-salute with it to go with the, "Thanks," and tucks it into his pocket. The whole situation with the PS4 is odd, and he mulls that over; he's clearly not inclined to argue about whether any of them ought to be trusting anything to the local chief of police, though maybe he's thinking that situation over too.

It's at least the former for certain, though, since when he speaks it's to say, "Seems like an interesting attempt at espionage, if you ask me. Get hold of something that you can hide something in, physically inside or data on the drive, something that can be bought inconspicuously, sold inconspicuously-- something that gets pawned fairly often, I'd guess. Something that people buy secondhand a lot, too. No need to have the same person involved in every step. No actual contact necessary between the drop and the pickup. Which makes me wonder: anyone not these assholes show up looking to buy a PS4 from the pawn shop lately? 'cause you'd think whatever was in it was meant for someone, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't them, or they wouldn't be making such a production of finding it. They'd just be quietly buying the PS4 from Lilith and taking it home."

He taps a fingertip against the cover of the little notebook, absently. "Not so sure they wanna cover the track of the dude who bought it. Or if they did, who from? Who'd've even known buying it wasn't the same as every other PS4 she ever sold, if they hadn't made a fuss? Seems more likely they want him. Like they got wind of someone planning to betray them and the basic plan, but not who... or they knew who, but they wanted the proof for other reasons. Blackmail; evidence to show someone who wouldn't believe Ol' Tony-Tom-Terrence-whatever would betray 'em, whatever. Or who they thought knew more of the plan and could be conned into spilling what the people asking 'already knew'." A shrug. "Maybe I'm missing things, here. But the evidence I see so far suggests the folks who bought and sold that PS4 look more like our enemies' enemies than their friends. Not that that would make them ours. But it's interesting."

Byron is milling the idea that de la Vega had made an enemy of Monaghan, though he never truly knew whether there was much of a tie between the Acting Chief (or to some, the real Chief) and the crime boss. When it seems that his inquiries may have gotten under Joey's skin, the dark-haired suited man casts his dark gaze over at his childhood friend. "No. I believe you." Though there is something troubling him about all of this.

His gaze turns to Rhys, listening to the man's ideas regarding the PS4 shennanigans. "That makes sense as well. I'm not sure what the chances are that there is another player in town, especially if the PS4 transactions weren't done by..." He doesn't finish that statement, but he means Monaghan's crew. "It is something to think on. de la Vega's worried about internal corruption in the police force. He knows about Liu and his gang. Perhaps others who I've not yet encountered. It would be interesting if they were all on the same side now. Interesting and disappointing."

Looking between the two men, his eyes narrow, "If de la Vega isn't playing nice with us anymore. Let's hope he doesn't have anything incriminating that he can use. If he's willing to play hard ball."