[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/03zUa7X.png[/img][/center]

Choking on her water, Monique brought her fist to her mouth as she coughed out the liquid that lingered in her lungs. She did not know that John had a wife let alone a family of his own. [b][color=279090]"Sorry!"[/color][/b] she gasped out, finally catching her breath. [b][color=279090]"Went down the wrong pipe is all."[/color][/b] she said, putting the glass to the side. It was apparent that she was a little flustered now, mad that John had hidden these facts from her. She would never sleep with a married man. [b][color=279090]"So is there anything else I can help you with Elliot?"[/color][/b] she asked, her dark eyes staring deep into his.

[color=silver]”Any of his friends that you know would be a big help to me. Anyone that he comes in here with or that he is most friendly with here.”[/color] Elliot replied, looking back into her eyes, sipping on his Coke slowly. He had noticed her reaction, it didn’t seem like she had swallowed her drink wrong but rather reacted with pure shock. Still, he did not mention anything about it, she had already been enough help.

[b][color=279090]"Well.."[/color][/b] Mo reached below the bar where she had threw the dirty rag from earlier. She placed it in a lifeless lump in front of Elliot. [b][color=279090]"John was pretty close with my boss, but he got killed this morning, before I got to work."[/color][/b] She made a motion with her head towards the bartender. [b][color=279090]"Chris would know more about that than I would, since I wasn’t here yet. The fires at the apartment screwed me over out of a place to sleep."[/color][/b] Monique pushed the rag closer to Elliot, signifying he could take a look at it, or keep if it he so chose. 

[b][color=279090]"Besides that, his only friend I saw him with once in awhile was a young man named Brandon, or Brando, or something along those lines. Ugly little twig of a guy."[/color][/b] Monique nodded, imagining the two together visiting TECHNOIR on occasion.

[color=silver]”He got killed? Damn. I’m sorry to hear that,”[/color] Elliot replied, surprised at the news. Monique acted in such a nonchalant way about it, like she was not surprised that her boss had been killed. No one should have to deal with that kind of thing. He glanced at the rag, noticing a large bloodstain on it, then frowned noticeably. No wonder he didn’t come to places like this often. Then he shifted his thoughts to this other friend of the missing man who she mentioned. [color=silver]”Do you know where Brandon lives? Or where I might find him?”[/color]

[color=silver]”You don’t have anywhere to stay after work?”[/color] Elliot asked her, not sure where he was going with the question. Mo was a nice girl, too nice to be in a place like this. The fires earlier in the day had ruined many people’s homes and lives, he was saddened she was one of them. 

[b][color=279090]"I’m not that sorry."[/color][/b] she said bluntly. Though she quickly spoke again, [b][color=279090]"I mean no one deserves to die, but he wasn’t exactly a saint."[/color][/b] Monique debated on whether telling Elliot about her pregnancy, and why it had came about. She decided against it for the moment, it wasn’t his business after all. Though she couldn’t help but feel a bit of devious curiosity of how fast she could get this place closed down if they knew underage girls were being used as sex objects. 

[b][color=279090]"I don’t know anything else about Brandon. I could point him out in a crowd, but I never was interested in his life outside these walls."[/color][/b] she shook her head. She technically hadn’t even started work. She always had the late night shift, saved for some of the more popular girls. That status would probably soon change due to her circumstances. [b][color=279090]"Yeah, I usually don’t end work until sunrise though."[/color][/b] she admitted, watching Chris come over to speak to the two.

[color=silver]”Still, it must be pretty difficult to walk into work and find out your boss was killed,”[/color] The investigator stated, scratching the back of his neck. As a policeman he’d often hear news of his fellow officers being gunned down by criminals, but to hear that your boss was murdered as a civilian was another thing entirely. [color=silver]”Well, just try to be safe. You’re a sweet girl, Monique. I hope you have somewhere to go.”[/color]

[color=silver]”But thank you for you info. You’ve been a great help. I’ll speak to the bartender.”[/color] Elliot said with a smile towards her, then rose out of his seat as Chris approached. He extended a hand to shake as he greeted the man, trying to make a good first impression. 

Monique nodded and took her leave from outside the bar, she went back to the girls and started asking for favors to see if anyone would let her spend the night at their place, most of them saying they had no space for her, due to the overpopulating of the apartment as is.

Chris shook Elliot’s hand firmly, [b]”I don’t know anything about what happened, but I saw you talking to one of our girls and ordering nothing but a Coke so are you trying to do something fishy or do I have to call someone?”[/b] he cocked his head with a smirk, before letting go of Elliot’s hand rapidly. He did not want to cater to people that asked too many questions and didn’t spend enough money in the establishment he had been blessed with this morning.

[color=silver]”I’m not up to anything. I’m just looking for a friend that was a regular to this place.”[/color] Elliot stated. Taken aback slightly by the bartender’s rough tone, but not entirely shocked by it. Still, he was not phased by Chris’ words or his tone. [color=silver]”He went missing a few days back, name’s John Costa. He spent a lot of money here, if I found him I’m sure he’d spend a lot more, maybe tip the bartender that helped me find him nicely.”[/color]

[b]”Never heard of him.”[/b]


Chris stated in a lie, bluntly. He had served John Costa and his crew plenty of times, but with his new found gig he didn’t want to cause anymore attention to the bar than they already had this morning. [b]”Now if you don’t mind- if you’re not buying poisons, parties, or pussy. I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”[/b] He snagged the rag as well as Elliot’s glass off the counter, away from reach. He gave Elliot a stern look, hoping that he got the hint, and fast.

Mo, defeated; came back out to the bar and made her way back to stand next to Elliot, thinking of another thing she could tell the man about his missing friend. Something she hadn’t thought about in their previous conversation.

Elliot did not say a word as the rough bartender spoke to him, clearly lying. He simply looked the man in the eyes, completely unfazed by his tough guy routine. He was not an idiot, if Costa came here as often as he was said to then Chris would know well who the missing man was. He hated liars, especially ones that lied in such a dire situation as this. Costa could be kidnapped, tied up somewhere or worse, dead. He glared at Chris as the man turned his back and went back to his bar, then shook his head, turning to Mo. 

[color=silver]”I know that asshole is lying.”[/color] The private detective said calmly, figuring out his next move. He had a name, and somebody to track down, but not a lot of information beyond that. Still, he had made due with less in the past. One thing was for certain though, he wasn’t going to spend anymore money here, especially when he got told off by a bartender. 

Mo frowned, [b][color=279090]”Don’t mind him, he’s got a stick up hi-[/color][/b] before Mo could finish her statement a firing of gunshots rang through the building, patrons were not really any more shaken than the first time that this had happened this morning when Dicktator Joe was killed. However, most people that were still planted in this dimension began to panic. 

Mo dipped down quickly, scurrying to the side of the bar rather than using stools for cover. A large man bellowed out, gunshots following again as he yelled in what could be seen in agony. [b]”WHICH ONE OF YOU MOTHERFUCKERS KILLED MY BROTHER?”[/b] he screamed, as the dancers, and some of the others began to zip away. Like cockroaches.

[color=silver]”What the hell?”[/color] Elliot exclaimed as he heard the gunshots go off, then dived down alongside Mo. He glanced towards her, then towards his ankle where his concealed handgun was tucked. He wondered if he should use it, if he did then it may paint a large target on him to be shot at. But he didn’t exactly want innocent lives to be lost to this crazy thug.

[color=silver]”We’ve gotta get out of her!”[/color] He muttered to his new friend, peeking over the bar towards the gunman. Another shot rang out as someone shot back at the large man, then another. The bar was quickly descending into a firefight and he didn’t want to be caught in the middle of it. He grasped Mo’s hand, then looked around for a backdoor to dart out of with her in tow. 

Watching Elliot dive down, Monique was pleased that he wasn’t the blind heroic type. He would have been an idiot to try to shoot that man, and put a mark on his head as well as anyone related to him. Not saying anything, Mo nodded as Elliot took her hand though she felt the need to take the lead for a moment. Walking in front of him she led him the right way towards the back door, rushing through she brought them to a back alleyway. Looking up the two would see hundreds of windows, bars of metal and other materials. Plants, clothes and other debri hang across the buildings, making the alleyway dark and dank. 

[b][color=279090]”Fuck."[/color][/b]

The word fell from Monique’s lips softly, as she looked over to Elliot.

As they darted out of the bar gunshots continued to ring out, echoing inside the compact walls. He heard grunts and hollers, screams from the working women that tried desperately to get away from the danger. Part of him wanted to go back in there and try to stop the whole thing but he knew that would end with him dead. He was just one man, and who knew how many dangerous people were in there? He couldn’t even count all of the gunshots as they filled the bar with noise. 

[color=silver]”Are you okay? What the fuck happened in there?”[/color] Elliot asked her, concern obvious in his facial expression. His mind instantly went to it being gang drama, the city was infested with those scum. 

Then at that moment he realized he was still holding her hand tightly. He glanced into her dark brown eyes once more, lingering longer than he had before. It was at that moment in the clear light that he really took in her gorgeous features, having to stop himself from staring at her. She was nearly half his age, he had to get his mind straight. His breathing slowly calmed, and he wiped the sweat from his brow. The private eye almost reluctantly let go of her hand, then thought of where they could go next. They had to get away from this place, the police or more thugs were going to come crashing into it, both were bad news.