Rosa looked at the sky as she checked her back for the umpteenth time. The bowie knife was indeed still there, help up by a covert holster which allowed her to unsheath it and scare the piss out of any potential attacker whenever she wanted. On her hip was her Glock 42, a sidearm made for concealment. Of course she had her dogtags on, which lay cold on her chest under her AC/DC shirt. Really, she looked like a college rocker from the 70s apart from the USMS badge on her belt. AC/DC shirt, jeans, army drab jacket. No one would have known she was a highly trained federal officer.

Rosa looks over at her partner, still prepping for the task at hand. He was an unassuming man at first glance, nearly middle aged, but Rosa could tell there was more than meets the eye. He was in shape (as she would have expected) and seemed to have a somewhat plain face. She couldn’t really pinpoint what his job was or what he had been through, which came as a shock to her because she was pretty good with people like that. She looked around the scene, the State PD haven’t given them much trouble, although one of the detectives had a mouth on her alright. Rosa strutted over to her comrade and said [b]“Ready to go partner? I didn’t catch your name by the way, what should I call you?”[/b]

This whole business was really a shit show. Atter pulled his Starbucks cup to his mouth and took a small sip of the overly hot beverage inside. He could not understand why people who want to drink this kind of stuff in the Arizona heat. At least it was not in the middle of the damned day. He cleared his throat and checked the boring watch on his wrist. He wasn’t marking the time. It was a deception, like everything else. He used that time to flick his eyes to the woman he had been assigned to assist. She looked like she was sixteen. He made no fuss about that though. He knew appearances were just a surface detail. He knew the very dangerous woman he was standing with. Decorated, effective, and strong willed. That was good. In a fight she’d make a great distraction and probably put lots of holes in poor folks too stupid to comply. 

A tiny hint of a smile crossed his face, vanishing just as quickly, as he saw her check the knife she had strapped to her back for the sixth time in as many minutes. Atter reached his hand up and straightened the lapel of his lightweight suit jacket and made sure his tie was loose and unkempt in just the right way. That ‘I’m an old fed’ look. He was good at that look. Off the rack suit, all black aside from the white dress shirt, and shoes that would get you kicked out of nearly any club worth it’s entrance fee. He had even pre-scuffed the toes of the loafers a little. Anything for the look. 

Rosa finally walked up and asked him the fabled question. Who would he be? It was an easy question to answer, [b]“My badge says I’m Richard Black.”[/b] he took another sip of his coffee. [b]“I think that’s fine.”[/b] he pulled his voice into a normal and unassuming South-western American accent. Keep people at ease. [b]“Quit looking at me like we haven’t been working together for five years though.”[/b] he flicked his eyes over to her and held out the coffee to see if she wanted a drink. [b]“Calm your nerves. You’re knife is fine and this is just talking to civvies. Shouldn’t be anything more than routine. Nevertheless, Semper fi.”[/b] he gave her a quick smirk and a wink to go with it. 

Rosa raised an eyebrow at this statement. He knew about her, that was for sure. She pulled her previously flowing silky black hair back into a ponytail, her scar now clearly visible. She didn’t have overly long hair, just long enough to where she felt going anywhere where she might need to get physical the hair would be an issue. She held up a hand at his offer for coffee [b]“No thanks, I hate coffee. And this would be routine, if this were a routine group that had been put together. But it isn’t. I’m just being prepared. So Black, let’s go inside and question some neighbors.” [/b]The man was peculiar alright, though Rosa was sure he had been chosen for a good reason and for better or worse, he was the guy who had her back right now. 
Rosa began to walk towards the building, her confident strut and desirable figure turning some of the PD officers heads. The detective just scowled as she made her way in. She opened the door for Black, the cool lobby AC blowing on the right side of her body.  

Atter gestured to allow her to lead the way and lead she did. He did not need to make a comment about this being a peculiar group, but, to him it was rather normal. He had spent time training with terrorists and being shot at by the men he had once allied himself with. He suspected this job would result in far less of his own people trying to kill him. Well, he hoped. Mr. Black noticed the police giving Rosa the old ‘watch’em go’ but made no indication that he had seen a thing. He merely filed it away for information to use later and followed Rosa into the air conditioned lobby. He breathed in appreciatively as the cool air rushed over him. His eyes quickly took in the chaotic scene before him. He had seen hotels in Moldova that looked nicer than this. His eyes flicked to a small woman behind the main desk looking more than a little terrified by all the police. Black raised his coffee holding hand and pointed to her. [b]“ I think the front desk is the best place to find out about what kind of people we’re going to want to talk to.”[/b] He started his way across the lobby. [b]“Hopefully, they have a complaint log here. Find out if we have any overly nosey types stalking the halls here, eh?”[/b]  

Black stepped up to the woman at the counter and gave her a quick smile. [b]“Of all the nights to be working right?”[/b] He took a sip from his coffee as the woman behind the counter noticed he was talking to her, [b]“What?”[/b] she asked seeming caught off guard by his casual tone.[b] “You know. People wandering off in night.”[/b] he then gestured with his paper cup to the surrounding police,[b]”Suddenly you are swarmed with people who think more is going on here than there really is.”[/b] he reached into his pocket and produced his badge. It was fake but it was a damned good one. [b]“We’re with the Marshals. Just wanna ask a few questions and get outta your hair. Let you maybe get home and get some sleep after all this.”[/b] Black’s face pulled into a warm smile. Perfectly practiced. Black then tipped his coffee cup toward Rosa. [b]“I’m Agent Black, this Agent Ruelas. She just wants to ask you a few questions about the people living here to make sure nothing is out of the ordinary. Well, more than it already is.”[/b] [Roll for Black’s persuasion: http://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/1539 }

Rosa smiled warmly at the woman, she took notice of her Hispanic descent and the ring on her finger. She also detected an accent native to Mexico. Perhaps a reminder at home would put the woman more at ease. [i][b]“Hola, Señora. Estamos buscando Señor Jimenez. ¿Puede nos ayudar por favor?” .[/b][/i] The woman seemed slightly surprised and gave a nervous smile, looking between the two agents. She nodded and said [i][b]“Si, Puedo ayudar.”[/b][/i] . Rosa took out a notepad and nodded as she wrote down everything the woman said. 

Jimenez not a people person, didn’t get many visitors besides Olvik. Labeled as the apartment crazy person, Mr. Haney, the building owner, wanted Jimenez evicted a week before he vanished. [i][b]“What can you tell me about Mr. Haney?”[/b][/i] Rosa asked. [Interrogation Check: http://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/1561]

The receptionist tells her Haney’s daily routine, a strictly business type, doesn’t associate with tenants very much. [b]“Anything else you want to ask, partner?”[/b]

Black looked from Rosa to the receptionist. [b]“Yeah, David’s neighbors. Any of them do anything strange before he disappeared?”[/b] the receptionist nodded, though still uneasy from being asked about her manager, [b]“Si, Mr. Ahmed moved out after David had an…”[/b] she paused for a long moment. Black knew that look. It was the ‘how do I say this politely’ look, [b]”... episode.”[/b] Black nodded. He never bother to pull out anything to write her answers down with. It was not like he had a mind like a steel trap, but, he figured Rosa would take care of that. After all, what were the police good for if not writing things down? (Mr. Black’s roll for persuasion on information about Mr. Henry http://www.roleplayerguild.com/rolls/1562) [b]“Could you tell us anything else about the manager here? I know he isn’t much of a people person, but, he has to take some interest in the goings on around here.”[/b]

 Mr. Black took another sip of coffee, [b]“At the very least he has some kind of eye for talent in his employees. You might even have helped the investigation enough to get some kind of reward. I know, I know.”[/b] Mr. Black raised his hands defensively to halt the woman from speaking, [b]“You can’t talk right now.”[/b] Mr. Black followed the woman’s eyes to all the police. Gotcha, he thought. [b]“Sir, I don’t want to get in trouble.”[/b] she said glancing about, [b]“I don’t want that either. I just want to find out what happened and to make sure everything here goes back to normal.”[/b] the woman nodded.

 She produced a small piece of paper and wrote down the name of a diner, Puggs, and slid it over to Black. He palmed it and slid it into the wristband of his watch in one quick move while sipping his coffee, and of course, giving the woman a conspiratorial wink. 

Mr. Black turned back to Rosa and cleared his throat. [b]“Looks like we have people to talk to.”[/b] He looked at the two men they had guarding the door and scoffed. He always hated working with mercenary types. Some might call him one of them, but, nothing could be farther from the truth. They perpetuated war, he ended them.[b] “I think this, Ahmed, is something we are going to want to keep in the back of our minds. Maybe we can track him down after this.”[/b] the spook lifted his left hand so Rosa could see the paper tucked under his watch. [b]“Plus, we have something to do after questioning the fuzzy-wuzzies here. You like cheap diner food and the smell of grease?”[/b] he gave Rosa a smirk before he cocked his head at the stairs that led to the upper floors and the neighbors. [b]“After you Special Investigator.” [/b]