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[HoneyDog]

Andre grimaces.

“We’re cops. He’s a crook. He won't really want to talk to cops. And we probably want to reveal our real identities as little as possible. How about this - we could tell him we’re with the EPA and we’ve been looking at ABC. The Ectopian shares information with us when they think their sources need more protection than they can provide.”

[Mr. Handy]

"Well, maybe," says Vanessa, "but he could still check with the Ecotopian and prove us to be liars. We could just say we're looking into improper activities at ABC and leave it at that, not telling him who we are until we meet him in person."

[HoneyDog]

Andre shrugs.

"Well, I don't usually work cases, so I'll leave it up to you. I’m still thinking though about how to get to him. He might be wary - I’m sure that ABC must be aware that something has happened and be on the lookout for who or whatever caused it. I reckon that dog was probably on security. Anyway, we have his address. Let’s try and get a phone number when we arrive.”

[Silver Priest]

OOC:   Nice burst of activity. Always nice to see. For reference, because I don't believe I noted it before, Vanessa and Andre's cover for this mission is an out of state training exercise. That's nebulously defined, but no questions will really be asked by your real jobs unless you get in shootouts or something that can't be easily covered up.

"I found some stuff out about Reverol," Jose reports halfway through his meal at the busy diner they find. "Had to dig a little, but it seems like it's not the miracle drug ABC was hoping for. Testing results show a slight, measurable improvement in patients given it, so it's not a total bust, but it's not likely to revolutionize the industry or make the company tremendous amounts of money on its own."

He listens as the other agents debate the matter of contacting Thomas Iron Shirt. "Well I'm not FBI.Just a civilian. A Paramedic, actually. I could try to talk to him. I'll leave it to you guys whether or not this is a good idea, and if so what my cover story should be. Even if we don't do that, I like the idea of checking in at his residence. Maybe with the reservation police to, if we can; I think if we're going to be poking around we'll want to contact them sooner than later. "

OOC:   If you have no other plans, you can rent a room or two at a local hotel and start the drive early tomorrow.. It will take a little over 18 hrs, so most of the day. Let me know if you want to try to make the trip in one day or two; one day you'd get there late at night, two days you could get there early to mid morning.

[HoneyDog]

OOC:   I say arrive there as soon as possible, and arriving at night might attract less attention.

“We don’t know if we can trust local police” says Andre, shaking his head. “Looking at the MO of this Turner guy, I would suspect that he would try to buy influence with them. And if we turn up and go straight to Iron Shirt’s house, we’re sending up a massive red flag to everyone around there. We should try to draw Iron Shirt out. Get him off the res and meet us in a nearby town, or someplace where he feels safe.”

[Mr. Handy]

"Yes, I think it's for the best that Jose initially approach Thomas Iron Shirt," says Vanessa. "Even if we don't identify ourselves as law enforcement, he might 'smell' it. A lot of criminals learn to sense who's a cop, especially those who have done time and don't want to go back."

OOC,Where can I find the information on these people that [b]Andre[/b] researched? I don't recall any mention of [b]Turner[/b], but I haven't read any of his spoiler buttons except the one he said I should read. I also agree that we should get there sooner, and at night.

[HoneyDog]

OOC,It's okay - you can read all of the buttons Mr. Handy.

[Mr. Handy]

"When we do speak to him in person, we can assure him that Turner is the target of our investigation, not him," adds Vanessa.

[Silver Priest]

OOC:   Yes, I use the spoiler buttons more to make text manageable for you both when I have to set separate scenes for you. But I don't mind you reading each other;s, especially when you meet up and presumably fill one another in.

"I guess we'll figure out abetter plan when we get there," Jose says. "We do have Iron Shirt's address, but chances are we're going to need to ask someone for directions." He yawns. "But we'll see what happens. We should get to bed; we have along day ahead of us tomorrow.

Assuming they do nothing else, the agents retire to their hotel rooms and soon fall asleep.

November 6th, 2000

The team gets up early, and are on the road by 5:30.

The trip is long and largely uneventful, though traffic is manageable. To avoid exhaustion, all three agents switch off driving now and then, while the others rest. It's not comfortable, but they've likely been in worse situations. A feeling of trepidation slowly begins to fill the air as the team gets closer and closer to their destination. What horrors were they heading towards?

November 7th, 2000

The team finally arrive at Browning Montana just after 1 in the morning. It's pitch black, so they are prevented from seeing much of the surroundings, but maps they purchased indicated that the area was full of breathtaking scenery and very close to Glacier National Park.

Picture,[img]https://i.postimg.cc/J7F6RRcK/220px-4449-10-17-2009x3-033x-Flickr-drewj1946.jpg[/img]

If nothing else, this meant that tourism was not unfamiliar to the area. That might help them with a cover story, at least for a few days.

Browning itself was only about 1200 people in total, and it strikes them as a rather ordinary small town. (But then, so did Groversville for a few of the team...) but there are a few hotels in town which seem half filed. Agents can get a room if they like and wait until morning. Or, if they liked, they could proceed with their mission right now; tracking down Thomas Iron Shirt.

[HoneyDog]

Browning looks like a typical country town to Andre, reminding him of New Mexico in many ways. Rubbing his tired eyes, he hopes he doesn’t give off too much of a cop vibe as he scans the phone book at the reception for a listing for the Iron Shirts.

[Mr. Handy]

"We can at least find out where he lives now," says Vanessa, "but we'll probably have to wait until morning to pay him a visit. I don't think he'll be pleased if we try that in the middle of the night."

[Silver Priest]

The agents find a phone number for a Robert Iron Shirt, Thomas's father. The address lists him living just outside the town.

Andre does not think he's been made as a cop, though the hotel receptionist, an older woman with tired looking eyes, seems curious as to why he's looking through a phone book. She does not press the matter though and seems friendly enough otherwise, if a bit perfunctory.

OOC:   Waiting until morning? If so, what time do you want to pay Thomas a visit?

[HoneyDog]

Andre frowns.

“If you’re both insisting on visiting him at home, then it might be better to go now. We stand less chance of being seen. I’m not comfortable with going there, I still say we should meet him at a place of his choosing.”

He shrugs.

“It’s up to you though, I don't have much experience with this kind of thing. I’m just a doorkicker.”

[Mr. Handy]

"No, you're right," says Vanessa. "Jose can make the initial contact in the morning, and he can decide where to meet us if he agrees."

[Silver Priest]

"I'm fine going whenever," Jose says, nervous but trying to look brave, and mostly succeeding. "But I have a few questions. Did you want me to go alone while you both wait nearby? I'd feel better if you both were. And what's my cover story? I was thinking we could go with a half truth; tell Thomas that the box opened in transit and I'm from the post office to ask him about it. Even if he's distrustful of law enforcement, most people don't mind the post office that much, right? And he's less likely to be able to check the story out then if I said I was with the Ecotopian."

[HoneyDog]

“I’m confused” says Andre. “You want to go there to arrange a meeting with him for a different location? Isn’t it easier to call him on the phone? Look, let’s just go there right now and lay it on him. Jose can knock at the door, we’ll wait in the car. I’ll scout around and get a sense of whether Iron Shirt is being watched or not. Jose, just tell him you’re a friend of Lin Wei’s with government connections, looking into ABC, and you want to talk about the box.”

[Mr. Handy]

"We only have his father's address," says Vanessa. "We don't even know for sure if Thomas lives with him, and knocking on the door in the middle of the night won't exactly endear us to him."

[HoneyDog]

Andre mutters under his breath.

"We have Thomas' address from his police record. It's the same as his father's. Even if he doesn't actually live there now, where the hell else are we going to start looking? Can we just go there already and get this done?"

[Mr. Handy]

"I still think we should wait until dawn," says Vanessa. "Nobody's going to believe that the post office is showing up in the middle of the night. If you both really want to go now, though, I'll go along with it."

[HoneyDog]

“What is this post office thing? Come on guys, try and think this through! Postal inspectors are law enforcement too, remember? Look, tell him whatever you want. We can leave it until the morning, I'll leave the plan up to you.”

He turns and makes for his room, intending to try to get some sleep.