IC: Andrei's Apartment

[Raiko]

This thread currently for Andrei, Elizabeth & Caroline only, it will contain spoilers for all other player, so please keep out.

EDIT: Thomas is here now as well.

If you're meant to be here scroll down....

Approaching Andrei’s Apartment
9:15pm – Thursday 15th January

The trio pass slowly by Prospero House in their taxi as they make their way to Andrei's Apartment, but nothing appears to be amiss.

As the taxi approaches Andrei’s apartment building however, the big Russian notices a car outside, with two black guys sat in the front. Glancing up towards his apartment window he can just make out the flickering of flashlights inside.

[imme]

Elizabeth became tense as they approached the publishing house, and relaxed once they saw no signs of trouble. As they approach Andrei's apartment, she yawns and says, "It's so early, but I'm already about to fall asleep."

[coffee demon]

Andrei tenses up as the taxi slows in front of his apartment.

"Damn it" he growls.

"Keep driving, keep driving!" he hisses at the cabby. "Put your heads down!" Andrei tries to duck down, which is a tough thing to do for a man of his stature.

As the cab continues driving, Andrei whispers "There were men parked outside. I saw flashlights upstairs in my window." Still ducked down, he asks the cabby, "Did a car just pull in behind us? Keep driving, go to... just go anywhere!"

Many thoughts buzz through Andrei's mind: How did they find my place? Did the police tell them? Maybe it -is- the police. The Russians and Johnny are coming here later tonight, we need to find them. Thomas might be in trouble too. We need to call the police, first, though.

[imme]

"What?!" Elizabeth is surprised but obediently ducks down when Andrei tells them to. "How did they...? Nevermind. We should go find Thomas, he left on his own. What if they found him?!" She tells the driver to head toward Thomas' office.

[Decrepit]

Good heavens, Caroline thinks. Will this day's troubles never end? As she ducks down, following Andrei's instruction, she wonders quickly about what might have happened if she'd gone with Maksim to her own apartment and then wonders whether Thomas was all right by himself.

[coffee demon]

"How could they have discovered my apartment?" Andrei wonders out loud. "And how are we going to tell Timour, Maks and Johnny? Where did they say they were going, again?"

He watches the expressions of Caroline and Elizabeth, as their faces are momentarily lit up by passing car headlights and street lamps. I hope they're doing ok. These bastards are going to pay for this.

[imme]

"I think they were going to investigate something? Or play cards? I really don't recall. Anyway, I'm sure those three will be able to take care of themselves. But Thomas is on his own. Oh! What if they're following us?" Elizabeth will ask the driver again if he sees anyone following. The adrenaline is starting to pull her out of her exhaustion, and fear has begun to tickle her spine. For all everyone has been talking about danger and taking precautions, this is the first time Elizabeth recognizes that people actually are after them. She suddenly feels vulnerable and grasps hands with Caroline and Andrei.

[Decrepit]

Caroline feels Elizabeth's grip. "I think there are two possibilities. We can assume either that these men know about all of our individual residences, or we can assume that somehow they know about Andrei's apartment--perhaps from his connection to you, Beth--but not about mine or anyone else's.

"If it's the first one, we might consider picking up Thomas. If it's the second, he's probably safer if we stay away for now. We could try going by my apartment, see if there's anyone about. Now that we know what we're looking for, we might not be caught unawares."

[coffee demon]

Damn, I feel useless. Look at me, sitting in the back of a cab, holding hands and running away. Thank God none of the men can see me now. Maybe Timour is right. We need to find out who these people are, and take the fight to them.

"Lets drive by Thomas' office see if anyone is waiting outside. No matter what we see, we could phone the office from elsewhere. In fact, maybe we should stop the cab on the way and phone him from somewhere. Just to warn him."

[Decrepit]

"That sounds like a good idea," Caroline says. "Should we try to telephone first, perhaps from a very public place?"

[imme]

"But what if they are already there? Calling him won't do any good then," Elizabeth says. "Couldn't we just drive by first, to make sure he's okay and we're not too late again? And then, if everything's okay, we could call from a public place."

[Decrepit]

"'Damned if we do?'" Caroline asks rhetorically, managing a grim smile. "I see problems with either idea, but I think yours is better, Beth. I just thought we might end up drawing attention to his place by going by first, but the attackers may already have known where his office is.

"I say let's go now."

[coffee demon]

"Sure."

Andrei doesn't see a problem with either idea, but he doesn't want to go knocking at Thomas' door to contact him.

Andrei is silent for a few minutes during the ride, then speaks up quietly, hesitating, like he doesn't want to say, "Ellie... we need to check up on your parents soon as well."

[Raiko]

Near to Thomas’ Office
9:25pm – Thursday 15th January 1925

Andrei gives the taxi driver new directions, for Thomas’ office, the driver shrugs and says, “You’re pay’in bud.”

As they approach the right block the taxi almost passes Thomas, he looks like he’s heading for a pay phone booth.

[coffee demon]

Andrei quickly looks behind Thomas, down the road, to see if it looks like anyone is following him.

"Slow down, slow down!" Andrei hisses at the cabby. "Stop the car!"

Andrei unrolls his window, and calls, "Thomas! Get over here!"

[imme]

Andrei is silent for a few minutes during the ride, then speaks up quietly, hesitating, like he doesn't want to say, "Ellie... we need to check up on your parents soon as well."

After Andrei's comment Elizabeth becomes very quiet.

...

Andrei unrolls his window, and calls, "Thomas! Get over here!"

"Hurry! Let him in!" Elizabeth scans the street, automatically suspicious of anyone out walking on such a cold night.

[warhammer]

Thomas carefully looks around as well, then quickly enters the taxi (providing he doesn't notice anything suspicious that could make him change his mind).

"Thanks for dropping by. We need to get away, and preferably call the cops. My office is being searched. I'd really like to know how they got the address, since I haven't been there ever since we started the investigation, and my face is not particularly famous so I doubt they were able to figure out my identity back at the Chelsea. Unless the cops are with them but I have trouble buying that. But we'll get to that later. How about you?"

[Raiko]

Nobody spots anybody tailing Thomas.

Once the lawyer has climbed into the taxi the driver asks, "Where now?"

[Raiko]

Unless the cops are with them but I have trouble buying that. But we'll get to that later.

I'm not sure that Thomas would take that view (given his leaning towards civil rights).

As far as I can tell (and as far as I'm concerned), corruption and brutality in the NYPD was commonplace during the 1920s (indeed throughout much of it's history).

They were condemmed for the commonplace use of torture to extract confessions in 1931 (coining the term 'the third degree'), and their close ties to the Irish community (who's Mafia dominated the NY bootlegging industry in the 20s) created a culture of easy bribery and corruption.

Although these cultists obviously aren't Irish-American, once you cross the line and become 'corrupt' do you really care where the next bribe comes from? It's also worth noting that a lawyer with Thomas' strong liberal views probably isn't very popular with the 1920s era NYPD. They won't think much of Russian immigrants either.

I'm not saying that the cops are responsible, that's for you to decide, but after talking for most of the afternoon to everyone except Johnny, they do know all of your addresses, including Thomas' office, and the Rukov's hotel room(s).

I do promise that I've thought very carefully about the amount of information the bad guys have on you all, and I'll continue to do so.

Cheers,

Gary.

[warhammer]

OOC:

You are 100% right that Thomas isn't fond of the cops, he made this comment not because he trusts them, but mainly because he doesn't believe they would accept bribes from cultists who commit ritual murders involving disembowelment, rune carving on the forehead, etc. I figure the cops would be scared of these guys since they (I assume) don't understand their motives and don't have the grip that they would have, for example, on alcohol bootleggers whose motives and behaviour are considerably more predictable and more "American". And don't worry, Thomas is just trying to understand where the leak came from so that we don't repeat the same mistakes later on.