2020-12-22 - Someone isn't going to have a very merry Christmas

(TXT to Joey) Seth : Hey man, what's up. This secure? Need to talk.

(TXT to Seth) Joey : You get shot in the head? Phones are never secure. And yes we do

(TXT to Joey) Seth : True, but you never know what crazy shit the crypto guys come up with. Gym?

(TXT to Seth) Joey : Yeah I'm in my office. Come alone.

About fifteen to twenty minutes later, the unmistakable rumble of Seth's '68 Cobra's engine can be heard rolling into the lot outside the gym announcing the arrival of the enforcer. Not long after, Seth emerges ay the door to Joey's office, rapping on the doorframe. The redhead is dressed for the weather wearing a dark mock-turtleneck, jeans, and an overcoat to hold off the brunt of the wind and cold. He remains outside the office door, peering in and awaiting acknowledgment.

Joey is at the gym, in the office and the door is open to the small space with the credenza and heavy wood desk courtesy of 1947 when his grandpa built the place and big fucking desks were some sort of status things. Joey might be the fucking boss but he's always dressed for work and getting his hands dirty a minute ago. Well broken in jeans, and a hoodie under the down vest seem to be the staple. The gym is a bit cold like a warehouse as the heater handing from the I-beams above try to heat the place as ardently and inefficiently as they do. It also means the office has a little space heater in it that stands almost 3' high that's been doing its damnedest since '76. Shocker that's lacquered brown like the rest of the damn 70's. Joey never upgrades nothing that doesn't need it, or maybe there's some nostalgic pride, or holdover habits of growing up impoverished.

"Monaghan. Sup, brother. Siddown." Well the tone while tired and graveling and grumbly as ever hasn't at least changed the greting so if there's a problem right now Seth isn't it.

Taking one last look around the exterior and interior of the office and not seeing anything that raises his hackles (like seeing the floor to Joey's office covered in plastic sheeting for example), Seth steps into the office and maneuvers himself over to sit into one of the offered chairs, maneuvering it so that his back is against the wall and he has a clear view of both Joey and the doorway to the office.

"Hey, Joey. I'd say thanks for the meeting, but it sounded like you have your own agenda for it. Serendipitous I suppose. What's up?"

Nonsense, that's what the boiler room is for. There's a sewer drain in it. Much easier to bleach down and clean up.

There's a pause and those green eyes, sharp as glass do a scan for the gym on the other side of the glass window with the shitty blinds and back to Seth. "You first. Then? I got something that needs doin for you, Cris, and Vic. I don't care I want it done. What's up?" While he listens he takes a moment to stir his Wendy's large chilly with their little beige branded spoon. Fancy shit, truly. Hey it's good and high fucking protein.

Seth leans back again, reaching up to scratch at the day-old stubble on his face, "Sounds like someone isn't going to have a very merry Christmas..."

Rolling his shoulder into a shrug, Seth leans back into the chair and gets as comfortable as the thing will let him, "I know I really don't have a right to ask what I am going to ask, but I am hoping that maybe someone will fill me in. I just to know details on what went down with my cousin, You, Andre, Alexander, and whoever else was there the night Andre died. I haven't been able to get much out of anyone and Felix is not the talkative type. Alexander gave me a name and not much else but said you might be a little more forthcoming with things, so I figured I would give it a shot."

Seth pauses to take a breath, letting it out in a slow exhale before continuing to speak, leaning forward from his seated position to rest his elbows on his knees. "Also, on a side note, what is the deal with De La Vega. Where does he stand on things? Every time I see the man I get the feeling he wants to do nothing more than to put a bullet in me, but then he is over at Thanksgiving like one of the family so I just would like some clarification on if I need to watch my back around the Chief or not."

Joey grumbles, "RIght now that someone is me and I got family shit to do like everyone else. Namely have one and not worrying about people not doing their fuckin job." And then the question and there's a silence. Having worked side by side with Seth and that he's, well, business family and has earned trust from Joey there's a nod. "Alexander was right in pointing you to me and also keeping his mouth shut. Good for him. Pour yourself a drink. Close the door." That said he flips on the switch so he can hear traffic on the road. A neat trick to know when folks is showing up.

Taking a deep breath he say "There's a fuckwit named Reyes. Player from up north making a play for the Harbor and I don't think planned on it being presently occupied. They bought cops out and also managed to buy out some of our guys. NOW... I told Felix we're getting it handled and that's what we're gonna do and why I called you. Business is business but these fucks don't give two shits about our town." Big negative in Joey's book. He HAS made the goon squad replant an old lady's garden for breaking begonias dragging a body through it.

On the note of de la Vega Joey's eyes harden, "Fuck em. He broke all ties and made it very clear he's got his own deal going and Mr. Fancy Captain gives no shits about those of us trying to keep this town together and for all I know also got bought out. Don't tell him shit, don't touch his shit, because I can't tell you he'll aim to miss or won't snipe you from the goddamn roof. NOW..." He takes a deep breath and sighs chucking his spoon in the now empty chili container and that in to the trash.

"Itzhak tells me he's handling it but de le Vega broke trust. There was an understanding. He broke it. The garage... was fucking complicated. They came in to roll up on Fi trying to gun him down. Didn't know I was there. They took Alexander as a hostage. Out of the back of the van comes Felix, Andre and Graham. We unload on these guys. We disarm the guy on Alexander and de la Vega straight up executed the guy. We don't talk about it. That's the information the cops don't have... I have faith we do. After that de la Vega calls my ass up and tells me our deal's off." There's a pause and he murmurs, "I'll toss em expendable things that ain't doin no one any good from time to time in exchange for just avoiding where I need em not to be. So yeah, open hunting on our asses. That said? DO. NOT. TOUCH. the fucking cops. We go after de la Vega or anyone federal and we got no leg to stand on to save you. The cops and Reyes' people are counting on us to get all hood and emotional up in here so that's exactly what we're not gonna give em. Fuck em."

Seth gets up from his chair, shutting the door and pouring himself a drink as requested before he retakes his seat as the underboss starts to recant the story of that night. Seth remains quiet as Joey speaks, listening quietly and staring at the man intently throughout the whole tale, moving only to sip from the glass in his hand or to nod his head in acknowledgment of what has been said.

"Do you think de la Vega burned us before, or after the attempt? Is he in this Reyes' pocket, suddenly get a conscience, or do we not know?"

There is a long pause as Seth takes a very deep breath and looks down at his glass, a small frown forming on his lips as he quietly says in a voice that almost trembles a bit with worry to the answer, "And do we have to worry about Vic? I know she and de la Vega were tight at one point in the past." The weight of the air held in his lungs to ask that later part comes out in a heavy sigh through his nostrils as he lifts the glass to his lips to drain the last of the liquid inside looking like a man that is bracing for bad news.

Seth takes a deep breath in to center himself, lifting his head to catch Joey's eyes again. "I won't touch the cop. I just wanted to know if I had to watch my back around him, which seems like that is the case. Why hasn't he moved on us? Because of the execution? It doesn't really seem to me that would be enough to stop him. I mean, if you think Itz has enough clout with him to handle it, then fine...but we should have contingencies in place in case he can't. Machiavelli said 'Men rise from one ambition to another. First, they seek to secure themselves against attack, and then they attack others,' and I think that definitely applies to de la Vega. If we can't bring him back into the fold, we can't give him the time to fortify himself."

"I don't know shit about most anything going on here recently, having been nothing more than a glorified bouncer over at the Firefly recently. Felix barely says word one to me, and I just have kept my mouth shut till now...so I figured it was time to start asking questions." the enforcer sighs, setting his glass on the edge of Joey's desk.

"So, what do you need me to do?"

"Cops don't have a fucking conscience. They're cops." Joeyisms. There's a longer pause when Seth asks about Vic and as much as he hates saying it he shakes his head, "If she becomes a lose fucking canon lemme know. This ain't a place to get emotional and sloppy and anyone interested in going off script with establishment will wind up in the goddamn ground. Vic, us, any of us."

When Seth asks if he has to watch his back there's a wry , rare grin and a laugh, "He's the fucking Chief of Police. We're criminals, Seth. Yes we have to watch our back. And no I don't trust that Itz does. I believe Itz thinks he does but I talked to de la Vega who seemed as willing to burn Itz if he has to as the rest of us." He listens to the cousin, the council in this and takes a sip of his coffee. "Yeah well seems to track. If this Michael Velli guy is looking for a job lemme know." There's a pause and says "Ya do good work Seth. You keep your nose clean and get that this is a business. Between you and I? No I don't trust cops, and were it not that I know what I know I'd swear to you Vic was undercover. She ain't tho. She's working some shit out right now."

At what needs to be done? Joey runs his hand over his short beard and says, "Daryl Du Bois. God i out of some of our people he's the one recruiting some of our guys. I don't want him watched. I'm sending the hounds. I don't care how you fucking do it but I want him fucking gift wrapped so we can have... a talk with em." Joey's not a talker. "There's duct tape and a chair in the back room." It's going to be one of those talks. One enforcer to another the intent clear, "We're gonna send Reyes a message and that message is get the fuck outta my harbor"

There is a long pause after Joey speaks as Seth sits in silent contemplation of what he was just told. He is pretty sure Vic isn't undercover. He has been on jobs with her in the past, and the things they do are still illegal, even for undercover officers. Still, the thought of it makes him frown. She is his friend, sometimes partner, and recently the possibility of something more. This is one of those things that does make a 'thing' between them complicated for sure. Still, as cold as he can be when he needs to be, he does have feelings.

Seth shakes his head slightly in an attempt to clear it from unpleasant thoughts that his mind tries to unfurl on him all at once, slowly letting the held breath out through his nose as he locks eyes onto Joey once again. "I don't believe she is undercover. If she is, she would have a lot to answer to her superiors for." Seth says in a monotone voice. "I'll keep an eye on her just in case though. Do you want me to bring her in on this?"

"Niccolò Machiavelli. He's dead. He has been for 400 something years. Don't think he is in the market. " Seth says with a little bit of a snort. "I'll get you a copy of 'The Prince' for Christmas. You might find it enlightening. It has a lot of connotation to our line of work, surprisingly enough. Anyway, do you have a packet on this Daryl Du Bois, or is this going to require some investigation? And how damaged do you want him before he is delivered? I just want to know how much force to use in a grab. I would hate to damage the merch to much before delivery."

Joey nods to Seth with a grumble that this dude ain't gonna pan out for being a little indisposed by time and a bit of dirt. "Were that only true for Thomas fucking Addington" There's a pause and a slow nod. "Yeah You'll want Vic in on this and possibly Cristobal. He's excitable but he can hotwire a damn car faster than you can scratch your own balls and is a wily sunnovabitch. Make sure Vic doesn't kill em though. I still wanna be able to talk to the asshole." There's a snerk and he doesn't say no, but does add, "My coffee table is plenty level, but sure. I want-"

the words cut off and Joey frowns. What does he want. "Crime in this place used to be nice. There was an order to shit. This isn't chaos like Chicago or the goddamn Wire. We take our cut from organizing the vices people are going to indulge in anyways and by doing so regular...people didn't have to suffer because someone else wants to be an idiot. Shit. was. balanced. Only the people who agreed to invest were affected and now we got this Reyes sloppy fuck burning down a game shop and scarin everybody."

Both hands rub his face as he levels with Seth, "Ya know whe I was 16 and everything went to more shit and Ma was killed by that dickweasel and the state was gonna throw us away and I thought to myself burning down the whole goddamn fucking world felt like a pretty damn good idea. You know who convinced me to exactly do not that?"

Even if he didn't know the answer to Joey's question, he knows the answer. "Felix," Seth says quietly. "I know you have had his back for a long time."

"I don't think I have worked with Cristobal before. You might have to make introductions there. If he is as good as you say, it will be good to have someone like that on the team. We can have him get us a 'clean' van to use for transport and not have to go through Itz for something."

Seth stands up from his chair and makes his way over to get a refill of his drink, "I don't know if you heard, but someone did a number on Vic. Showed up at Ravn's place with a messed up face and a shitload of cracked ribs. I healed her up as best I could and taped up the rest so she isn't nearly as bad off as she could be, but I figured you would want to know. And before you ask, I have no idea who it was. She won't tell me. Just said something about it being a therapy for someone, and that she deserved it." Seth slams back the shot this time, not sipping it as he did before.

"I'll get your guy for you, as undamaged as he needs to be to talk."

Joey rubs his forehead with a sigh. It's not on the list of easy shit to talk about but it is what it is. "Yeah he brought me out for a job, not mine, but sat me down in his office and had one of those talks with... Shit I think it was Craig Mallone if you remember him. Told him to bring someone up to his office and explain why he thought doing some dumb ass cowboy gangster shit was a good idea. Told Crag, ya know, take em down stairs. They left and he looks at me and says *'Kid, right now your balls are bigger than your brain. That guy's not coming back. When we are sloppy we hurt the community around us and if they're hurt they can't pay and that's bad for business.'"

There's a deep breath.and he shakes his head mumbling in the gravely tone of his, "Used to be in teh old says, per Felix, for a percentage for the effort, a working fee as it were, to make sure business don't have problems. Looking after our neighbors is a hard business. When we don't? Things like my mom happen. It's our job to our community to be the move carnivorous terrible thing on this block to protect it. it's ours. These people? They're ordinary folks and can't or will not do the things what need to be done to save this town." It's a lovely flowered hat on extortion really, "We have to be those monsters so nice people don't gotta. They're depending on us, Seth. I mean, I get no joy outta my job, but it looks after these people and keeps the shit in the canals where it goes. These guys? They're gonna strip mine this place til it's got no soul left and we don't fucking recognize it."

There's a pause and he sighs, "Let Vic handle her shit. Making changes without information is how people get shot and shit gets broken that we need."

"I am. Other than lending her a helping hand in the healing department I'm letting her handle it. She says it's good, then it's good. I have no reason to doubt her. It doesn't mean I like it. I don't like seeing my..." Seth hesitates a moment as he tries to come up with the right word, Friends? Co-worker? Partner? Possible Girlfriend? What is she to him? He settles on "...friend hurt. I won't lie, the first thought I had was to find out who did it and return the favor. Probably why she won't tell me. She's smart." the enforcer says as he makes his way back over to the chair to sit, sipping at his drink. "I just thought you should know that someone almost put her out of commission for a while."

Seth takes another sip, setting the glass down onto the edge of the desk. "Ravn has a theory that there are some people that are in league with Them. Well, I shouldn't call it a theory. I've seen it first hand now. Alexander, Ravn, and I ended up in someone else's Dream, and I am ninety-nine percent sure if we hadn't have intervened as we did, we would have had a serial killer on the loose. Regardless, the reason I bring this up is you don't suspect this Reyes and his cronies have any ties to Them right? This is all purely on this side of the Veil?" Seth reaches up and rubs at the back of his neck, "Not that it makes much difference I suppose. "

"The days she stops yelling into her phone in my driveway tearing someone a new asshole I'll know something is afoot at the Circle K." Truer words not spoken. Trying to make sure the onion from his chili is not still trying to hug his toot for dear life by sucking on it his hands go up in the air as it is decided. "Well, then I guess we find ourselves at war. Get the word out, the enemy of our enemy is not our friend, but not our enemy either. Hands off cops. Anyone doing something dumb will be left there. If there is a legit bullshit arrest we'll call Saul and get em out."

There's a pause when Seth starts talking about the veil and Joey boggles, "I don't fucking know where in Washington they're from and I don't care. a problem is a problem juiced up on Angel Dust or not. can they use shortcuts? I duno. Vic might have that answer. There's only on fucking serial killer allowed in Gray Harbor. She's under 4' tall and can take down a box of Cap'n Crunch like it owes her money. Jessie aside? if we do have what would concern you as a 'recurring issue'? Blow up my fuckin phone."

"I think Alexander, Ravn, and I handled it," Seth says with some confidence. "We didn't handle it the way I would have handled it, but I let Alexander do it his way and see if it takes. If not, well..." He leaves the rest of that thought unfinished.

"Set up a meet with Cristobal, get me what you have on Du Bois, and I'll grab Vic and we will get this thing done for you," Seth promises as he reaches out to pick up his glass from the edge of the desk to sip at the liquid inside to drain it before standing, "Anything else?"

Joey considers the else and looks up to Seth with some weight on that and a nod. He stands and grabs his coat. "Yeah let's go for a ride. I want ribs. I'll buy, you drive." If that's not a high compliment to Joey's esteem on Monaghan #2 what is?

Chuckling softly, the younger Monaghan nods, opening to door to the office. "Alright, ribs it is. Let's go."