je suis le cerf; et vous, le chasseur

[riskbreaker]

Bonifacio, Corse-du-Sud, France



The town, built on an outjutting part of the mountain, in places even overhanging the sea, looks across the straits, full of sandbanks, towards the southernmost coast of Sardinia. Beneath it, on the other side and almost surrounding it, is a cleft in the cliff like an immense corridor which serves as a harbor, and along it the little Italian and Sardinian fishing boats come by a circuitous route between precipitous cliffs as far as the first houses, and every two weeks the old, wheezy steamer which makes the trip to Ajaccio.

On the white mountain the houses, massed together, makes an even whiter spot. They look like the nests of wild birds, clinging to this peak, overlooking this terrible passage, where vessels rarely venture. The wind, which blows uninterruptedly, has swept bare the forbidding coast; it drives through the narrow straits and lays waste both sides. The pale streaks of foam, clinging to the black rocks, whose countless peaks rise up out of the water, look like bits of rag floating and drifting on the surface of the sea.

--"A Vendetta", Guy de Maupassant

(begins here)

Comments

[civilservice]

[When she hears his voice, she turns around with a smile, pleased that he did show and that the table is inside. There is only so long before her hat escapes her, and she'd prefer that didn't happen.]

You're a dear, Ashley.

[Look, while not on the job she will call him what she wants and he should deal with it. She'll follow him along to the table and put her hat to the side. Grell isn't pushing for answers, but it's nice to know he's alive.]

[riskbreaker]

Hardly.

[It's only politeness, he tells himself. They've known each other for a while, and though he's always held others at arms length... Grell has never steered him wrong. She is a good person to know. And she doesn't pry unnecessarily like some other women they know. He doesn't know if he'd call her a friend; he doesn't know if he calls anyone a friend. But it's better than being a stranger, he supposes.

Once they're seated, he shoots a glance at the little card resting innocently on the table, listing the house wines. Maybe.]

How is all faring on the home front?

[civilservice]

[It seems that all the men Grell draws into her life are mysteries, and frankly life's a little more intriguing that way. They are her friends in her perspective, certainly not her enemies, and she can spend her free time trying to decode them. Ashley definitely falls into that category.]

Well enough. Boring, my partner's still recovering from his amnesia.

[riskbreaker]

Still, eh?

[Ashley frowns. He'd never known him personally, but that man had always been a competent agent.]

I trust you're behaving yourself in the midst of it all.

[civilservice]

For a given degree of "behave", naturally. You know the rules aren't my best friend.

[Rules are for people without any other sort of armour for life.]

You? Seeing as you're alive I don't have to worry about Losstarot getting to you.

[riskbreaker]

[Ashley bristles at that just a little.] Just remember that if anything ill comes of that, it'll be your own fault.

[He sighs.]

He hides, and bides his time. I fear he's amassing more followers to his cult; we've heard nothing from our insiders for weeks. Merlose can't decipher much, either.

[civilservice]

The thing to worry about is whether your insiders have been converted-the man's too charming. Even through videos it's obvious, unless they were made of metal something of his might work on them. And as much as I adore Callo, she's but one woman against his force.

[She knows she's not helpful with that remark.]

Is there a way to freeze his financial support, somehow?

i made a thing

[lechasseur]

Mm. [He presses his lips together.] He certainly uses that... charisma to his advantage. And she's unaccustomed to his sort-- she's never touched anything this big.

[There's not much else to be done but to wait-- for Sydney to show himself, or for the man to set out some kind of bait himself. Ashley's willing to take it; he's dealt with the real high-class criminals, unlike poor rookie Callo.]

We've tried. Criminals are very persistent about getting their money, if you can believe it. [He huffs, unamused.]

[civilservice]

I can easily believe it, and it's how you can draw some reclusive ones out of the woodwork. Freeze some, but not all. Keep an eye on the more hidden ones, and trace back the activity.

Think like a criminal, Ashley. If you were Losstarot, what would you be doing right now?

[lechasseur]

[He steeples his fingers.]

Planning, mostly.

There are people on it. I'm sure we'll hear how that works out soon.

[God, he'd like to just wring his neck and be done with it. But most things are much more difficult than that.]

[civilservice]

And while you're planning, what part of you-you meaning your network and your buildings-is the weakest? Don't answer yet, just imagine how you'd need to move to cover that, and then think about what you're not thinking about.

Sometimes they never expect you to be obvious.