One of the Back Alleys in Fandom, Very Early Sunday Morning

[angelo_wings]

Dawn was creeping over Fandom when Rita stumbled back towards her club. She'd had a fun night, but she never stayed the night unless she was hoping for a mistress gig, and Leon was just the hired help.

Speaking of, the bruiser was insisting on walking her back like a gentleman. Or like someone who was paid to be sure she didn't end up with a knife in her back.

The early-morning hangover wasn't helping her senses out any, but the sight peeking out from the dumpster shook her out of her fog.

"Are those legs?"

Just what she needed.

(Squall Leon modded with permission, natch)

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[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

Hanging out of a dumpster. Leon snorted. "Amateurs."

Still... "They're nice legs, though. Some of yours?" If that was a Magic Box girl, he couldn't just leave her there. Even in a town as wretched as this, there'd be too many questions. And if someone was trying to send Angelface a message, then the rest of the girls were in danger.

Leon pulled away from the lovely gal by his side, and slid over to have a gander at the one in the can.

[angelo_wings]

"You think I can tell from legs?" Rita asked, raising an eyebrow. "Nice legs, good heels. Might be one of ours. How bad's the face?"

Girls tossed into dumpsters were sometimes scuffed up pretty bad. Not exactly ready for their close-up.

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

Leon peered at the girl, and drew breath in a sharp hiss. "You'll wanna stand back. This ain't a sight for a lady." It coulda been worse -- the bruises were bad, but the face was still recognizable. When Leon got done with a job, sometimes you couldn't even recognize it had been a face at all.

"She's yours, all right. This is bad."

[angelo_wings]

"Move," Rita said impatiently. No sight for a lady? She hadn't been a lady in years. And she needed to know, to see it for herself.

The face sure was recognizable. Dammit.

"Celia," she said. "She's just a kid."

She dug through her purse for a cigarette, hoping it might calm her jangling nerves.

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

She might think she was ready to see, but bravado wasn't worth spit when it came to seeing dirtiness up close and personal. Leon had his lighter out and ready for her cigarette, and gave her a few moments afterward. Then he unceremoniously shoved the gams out of sight and turned to Rita. "C'mon. We gotta go see Angel."

[angelo_wings]

"You go," Rita said. "I'm not going anywhere."

No kid deserved to be left in a dumpster, like day-old cartons of Chinese. She was gonna stay here with the body until he got back. End of story.

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

"You ain't stayin' here," Leon growled. He grabbed for her arm. "This was a one-off, a John who got his dander up or just one who gets his jollies offa chokin', that's one thing. But this? This looks like a message, to me. And someone sendin' a message might want to make sure it gets delivered. You get that?"

[angelo_wings]

Rita jerked her arm back, harshly. "You don't give orders to me," she snapped. "I'm higher up the food chain than you. You can be replaced by any thug willing to throw a punch. And I say we don't leave dead girls in dumpsters by themselves. Now run and tell your boss-man so we can make this a proper party."

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

Leon looked at her, looked at the dumpster, and sighed. He pulled a wicked-looking knife from his boot and held it out to her, hilt-first. "You get yourself in trouble, here, that's on my head -- you got that? So stay safe. I'll be right back."

[angelo_wings]

Rita took the knife in the hand that wasn't holding her cigarette.

She tried to pretend she didn't jump at random noises, while Leon was gone. Some part of her wished the creep would come back, so she could give him a piece of her mind. And of the business end of that knife.

[wwiii]

It wasn't long before Angelface came walking out the back door of the Magic Box, a lit smoke in one hand and Leon taking up the rear. There was a definite briskness to his step that suggested that this was an unforeseen happenstance, and he wasn't particularly pleased to be back here having to play damage control.

"One of ours?"

That's right. Angelface got to the point quickly when he had no time for games.

[angelo_wings]

"Celia," Rita said, folding her arms tightly and trying to keep herself from saying more. "Kinda new. She was working last night."

All of the accusations lay dormant in those words. She blamed Angelface for this -- and herself, underneath that -- but saying that out loud went nowhere, fast.

She liked to bluff that she wasn't afraid of him, but ... well.

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

"There wouldn't have been any reason to get you involved, otherwise," Leon pointed out. This town was full of discarded stiffs. The boss had better things to do than look at every one.

[wwiii]

"Reason enough if she's right in our backyard," Angelface noted. "Last thing we need are the buttons sniffing around here, seeing if they can take a look inside."

He took Rita's unspoken accusation in stride, the same way he took pretty much everything. This wasn't a complete disaster, no. Never was, if they got to it quickly enough.

"As it stands, we're gonna want to get this one out of here."

Deal with the mess first, then worry about what dirty looks Rita was going to give him for it. That was how you ran a business in this neck of the woods, after all.

[angelo_wings]

It was probably for the best that Angelface didn't know that Moretti had been in Rita's office last night. At least, Rita hoped he didn't know. You couldn't ever say for sure, with him.

The girl deserved a funeral, in a church somewhere, but Rita didn't bother suggesting anything that stupid. She shouldn't let it shake her up like this. Just another corpse on the streets. Wasn't like it was the first one she'd seen, either.

"The girls are gonna ask questions," she said. And she didn't feel like making up a lie about Celia inheriting some dough from her Great-Aunt Betty and skipping town.

[wwiii]

Angelface had noticed someone from the station sniffing around the building. If he'd been made aware of her coming into the back room, well, he'd certainly make it be known that he was disappointed that nobody had informed him. After all, it wouldn't do to have the one clean cop in town getting too interested in the place without at least giving him a chance to grease the right palms as damage control, first.

"Tell the girls they get the week out of the back rooms. Get 'em to show up for their numbers as usual, but too many questions are going to be frowned upon." Angelface tilted his head in thought. "Too many ladies giving answers are going to be frowned upon, too. You make it damn clear they keep their traps shut and direct any questions from the cops or the press back to you."

His name wasn't on the books, after all. It would certainly raise some eyebrows to implicate him in this. It was Rita's ass on the line if the cops got involved.

[angelo_wings]

Wonderful. She got to break this to a bunch of nervous girls and get them not to panic.

"And you find the sonofabitch and remove his organs," she said.

Celia was working last night. So Angelface had to have a name.

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

Leon got to work hauling Celia out of the dumpster, and tossed her over his shoulder. The corpse was still fresh, so he could pretend she was just passed out, should anyone stop him. He'd had to haul dancers home after a long night any number of times before. "You do your job, let us do ours," he told Rita.

[wwiii]

"We'll start with his knees," Angelface noted mildly, pulling a little black book from inside his pocket and flipping through to see who was working with what john last night. "Once we've dealt with this mess. If he's got half a brain in his head he'll be halfway to Chicago by now."

They never had half a brain in their head. Made for that many more bodies to hide at the end of the week.

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

"I got a friend in Chicago," Leon offered helpfully. Exactly what that friend might be willing to do if asked, he figured was obvious.

[wwiii]

"Get him on the horn and tell him what's what," Angelface replied. "Tell him your boss has good kale if he makes it that far. Double if he makes an example of the man we can point at down the line if any future clients have misconceptions about exactly what product we're offering, here."

[angelo_wings]

Rita hated to admit it, but she was relieved. Angel wasn't going to brush this off, or cover it up. Granted, he wasn't doing that out of any sense of loyalty to Celia personally, but rather a good practical business sense; didn't make it any less satisfying, to know the man responsible was short on time.

Moments like this, it was easy to remember why she'd hopped into bed with him in the first place.

She felt like thanking him, but didn't want him to know she'd gone soft.

"I'm off for some beauty sleep," she said, waving a cigarette in Celia's direction. "You don't need me for disposal."