"Cut the crap. Who, and what are you? Because you aren't cops."
It's almost like the two people were paused for a moment. Like someone had to turn them off and on again as you say those words.
Burke was the first to recover. "You know, that is a very serious-" Burke starts, but you interrupt.
"Look, we both know you aren't who you say you are. So you can either tell me who you really are and you can leave now, or you can take your chances with the real cops." You say, your phone already in your hand.
For the first time, Hare shows an emotion. A look of concern on her face. "Burke?" She says, looking at her partner. But Burke doesn't seem to flinch. You're already getting ready to rush inside your workshop if things seem bad. You don't want to fight, but part of you is thinking preparing for one of the "cops" to draw on you.
But Burke breaks first. "Have a good day. And don't tell anyone about this, or we may have to come back" He said, though you can hear the annoyance in his tone. The two people walk back to the vehicle. You keep your expression, boring a hole in the back of their heads. But as they get in the car, they only linger for a few seconds before driving off.
You let out a breath after they are out of sight. You lean against your wall to keep yourself from falling down. A few seconds later, you go into your workshop and close the door behind you.
You don't know if they are or aren't suspicious, but the fact that they came to you in the first place isn't good.
You start going through your list of contacts, some people you know. Other metalworkers, people who used to work at the factory before it shut down. You want to know if anyone else has had a visit from "Burke" and "Hare". If that was really their names. If other people have been visited by them, then at least you aren't in as much danger. They're just doing a sweep. If you're the only one they've been talking to, then you're in trouble.
The first person is Ernie. Ernest Hunter, worked with you at the old Pipe Factory. Before the boss replaced you all with machines, anyway. Since then, he smoked a lot of weed and decided to become an artist. Generally, he's more the type to try to get his work in the Hartford Museum of Art, he's done a few commissions. A few of those were props, or even pieces of armor for people to cosplay in.
As the phone rings a few times. You wait a few moments before he picks up.
"Sonya? Hey, it's been a while? How've you been?" He asks.
"Pretty good, Ernie. How's business?" You respond.
He sighs. "Well, things could be better" He says. "So, what's up? I doubt that it's a social call"
You rub the back of your head. You're a little guilty since you're asking for something. But this could be about life and death, so you don't feel that guilty. "Sorry, but it isn't. I wanted to know if a couple of people tried asking you about your metalworking…?"
……………………………
"So, what do you think?" Burke asked as they drove away from the metalworker. He didn't know how, but she made them. Sure, she didn't at first, but she made them. He really hoped that that woman wasn't supplying The Vigil, or they may be "promoted" to "Weapons Testing".
"I don't know. I didn't find anything in the shop." Hare said. She wiped some sweat from her brow. She would've loved to just cave in that Sonya's skull, if only so she wouldn't blab to anyone else. Hare squeezed her hand into a fist, red energy emanating from it. But they weren't supposed to kill anyone unless it was necessary.
"And she didn't seem nervous" Burke said again as he turned onto the highway. "Think maybe she was a psychic? Maybe that's how she found out…"
"If you think everyone's a psychic, then you'll be jumping at shadows 'till the day you die" Hare replies. "Still, we have a few more people we need to talk to let's get it done before we head back to the hotel"
"Yeah… though maybe we should get some other disguises. Maybe only one of us should go in, in case that bitch blabbed." Burke said, talking to himself as much as he was talking to Hare.
Hare opened a notebook with a list of people. Some had been crossed off, some had various umbers of question marks next to them. Two names had been large 'X's through them. She looked through the remaining names. "There's a guy named Zeke off of I-45 on Davis Street. If you wanna skip doing more of the cloak and dagger bullshit, we could be there in ten minutes."
Burke nodded. "Yeah. The longer we do this, the longer we aren't making any real money. Battery better appreciate this."
…………………………
You hang up your last call about an hour later. A few people you know had, in fact received visits from the two people.
You look at the helmet. If those were real cops, then having that helmet wouldn't have been a big deal. But today, it could've buried you. You wonder how you could've just left it just laying around. But as you look at it, you realize something.
You didn't.
You replay your arrival in your head. You did, in fact, wear it as you came in. You were on your Speed King and you wheeled it into your shop. You took your breakfast taco out of the saddlebag and went over to your desk to check your messages.
Then, you put your helmet in your desk's cabinet.
You check the drawer and you see that's slightly ajar. You pull it out. And while everything is there, some things are out of place. Some spare printer cartridges knocked over that weren't before. Some papers about a job that someone is trying to get out of paying for. a dice bag that Jasmine left over here with its contents spilled.
One of those people had powers. You swear to yourself. It was probably Hare. Makes sense that quiet asshole was doing something! You start tearing through your workshop, looking for any other evidence that she, or hell, even someone else, was looking through your things. It takes about an hour and you find things here and there that could have been out of place. Things that aren't quite where you left them. But all of them were what Hare could've seen from the door. The file cabinet where you keep most of your expenses, which is on the same wall as the door but on the other side of your workshop, is untouched. You also see that most of your equipment is where it was as well.
After sitting down, you hold your head in your hands. Even if your slip up was minor, and wouldn't hold up in any law enforcement investigation, that wouldn't matter for criminals. Even if they weren't going to kill you, even if they were just trying to intimidate you, you don't want to risk ending up being another body dumped in the river.
Glancing at your phone, you have a couple of hours until your hapkido lesson, and you're too wired on adrenaline to hold your drill steady, so for now, you sit down, thinking of what you can do to keep your Vigilante life from getting you killed while in your civilian life.
[] What can you do to protect yourself? You may not be able to do everything immediately, but it's good to have a list.
