Chapter 3b - Lunchtime (Calvin, Natasha, and Tony)

Hi Tony. I hope you had better luck than we did. Mind you, it would be hard not to. All we managed was to get shot at and find next to nothing new.

He notices Tony's reaction

Sorry. We are fine. And technically it was only me that got shot at.

Natasha is quiet when they pick up Tony. The car is still a muddy mess and so are her pants.
Her thoughts are still dwelling on that encounter by the swamp house. There was something about the man that is bothering her but she can't quite grasp what. He was really scared, but not of her and Calvin. She wishes, she had more information...

"We got something", she corrects Calvin. "But not much. She looks at Tony in the rearview mirror. The girl looks pretty shaken up. "How did your investigation go, little one? Did something bad happen?"

Tony's brain had calmed down considerably in the last hour, and now there was nothing in her body to combat the spreading bliss of the drug. It peaked right after she made the phone call to Natasha, so she'd been sitting under the tree just hammered for an hour. She was just beginning to sober up when Natasha arrived. She practically stumbled into the car and completely missed the "little one" reference, which, normally, would have pissed her off to no end.

When there was a lull in the conversation, something in her brain told her it was her turn to talk, so she tried.

"So, first, I should probably warn you that I'm high as fuck. High. As. Fuck," she repeated slowly. "And it is magical. The voices in my head are gone." She slowly waved her hand in front of her face to illustrate gone. "If whatever I smoked isn't supernatural, I'd be shocked. Shocked." Again, she repeated it slowly. "I don't have any more though. A very scary man took the drugs out of my pants. Oh, don't worry, I wasn't wearing them at the time. And they didn't shoot their guns, so there's that. He let me go, but I'm pretty sure he kidnapped a girl named Ash. And I spent all our money," she added, slowly shaking her head.

It took a little bit of work during the car ride, but eventually Calvin and Natasha got the entire story out of Tony. It helped that she was getting straighter by the minute. The drug was wearing off fast.

Natasha frowns when Tony mentions being high but she doesn't comment. There would be no point.

In fact, while Calvin talks to Tony, getting the whole story from the girl, Natasha stays completely silent. Calvin notices that at the mention of the kidnapped girl, Natasha's grip of the steering wheel tightens until her knuckles turn white. Someone kidnapped a child with obviously horrible motives while they were driving around some swamp. She's angry. And she notices that it's Tony that she's angry at, Tony who got high while some girl is probably living through a nightmare right now. She knows it's irrational to be angry at Tony - after all, what could one little girl have done against three armed men? - but she can't help it so she decides to at least stay quiet and not let her anger out.

Calvin also notices that the car is accelerating way past the speed limit, which he knows is unusual for Natasha, who usually follows every rule to the letter when driving.

Calvin clears his throat.

Natasha, we can't afford to get pulled over. I am not sure our IDs would hold up.

Natasha drives her car into the self-wash, still being mostly quiet. Only after turning off the motor, she speaks up. "Go and get some food, you two", she says. "I'll wash the car and then join you."
Her thoughts are still with this girl, Ash, that Tony told her about. If only there was some way to find her or those men but it seems like Sean is their only clue right now...

After Tony and Calvin disappear into the fast food place, Natasha opens the passenger side door of her car and reaches into the glove compartment. Trying not to let anyone see it, she takes out the gun and hides it under her jacket.
Calvin got shot at, Tony got threatened with shotguns. At this rate she is convinced she will need it, probably sooner rather than later.

Calvin goes over to the fast food place with Tony.

I guess burgers for everyone. Onion rings and a coke on the side for me. What about you Tony?

She wasn't hungry, but she knew she should eat. "Sounds good," she said.

Tony pulled off her hat and stuck it between her knees while she fixed her ponytail. Then she put her hat back on and pulled the brim down to the top of her sunglasses. She used the car window to adjust her t-shirt which was now completely dry. She looked disheveled but none the worse for wear.

As she followed Calvin to the burger joint, Tony could feel the crazed itching starting up in her brain again. The voices were coming back in force. She wished she had more of the drug, though there was no telling where those substances came from. She probably didn't want to know.

While they ordered their food and waited for Natasha, Tony asked quietly, "How much do you want to bet all this is connected? Supernatural drugs, swamp people, a kidnapped girl, and a dead girl. I'll bet your swamp Billy is afraid of my swamp Billy and his two friends. That body wasn't supposed to be found, but your Billy found it and did the right thing. Now he's afraid of retaliation from the swamp trio. And Sean the drug dealer is in the middle. I wonder if he gets his drugs from your Billy or mine."

My Billy doesn't strike me as much but a scared hunter in over his head. I don't take him for a drug czar.

There could be someone above both of them, but if not...I think your Billy is the boss.

He eats a couple of onion rings.

I agree though, this is probably a whole connected thing. Hopefully nothing more sinister than drug dealer worried about his turf.

As Natasha cleans the car, she keeps her eyes open for any suspicious people or anything that seems out of place or weird.

Once she is done, she drives the car to a parking space, enters the fast food place as well, orders some fries and a burger and sits down with Tony and Calvin.

"Billy wasn't the boss," Tony reminded everyone. "The old man was the boss. Billy was one of his lackeys."
Tony shook her head as she chewed up her bite of burger. "I'm telling you, those drugs were supernatural. I've never experienced anything like it, and it quieted the voices in my head. No drug has ever done that. Sean, the drug dealer, looked scared to death of the old man and his boys. It won't be easy to threaten him into talking, even if we do find him."

Tony walked casually down the sidewalk back to the car.

"They aren't here. They spit," she said as she climbed into the back of the car. "I can take you to Sean's cabin. I think." She wasn't entirely sure about that. "Maybe we'll find him there or some clue as to where he is."

I can't think of anything else. Any ideas on a cover?

"How about concerned parents looking for the man who pointed a gun at our lovely adopted daughter", Natasha suggests. "Or we just go in asking questions and not giving answers. Tony, will this Sean respond better to a friendly or a forceful interrogation?"

"Sean was really scared of those dudes," Tony repeated. "It won't be easy to threaten him into talking. And I don't think we'll need a cover with the kids at least. I know kids like these. They don't talk to cops. They won't out us. That's good for us and bad. If they aren't scared enough to talk to us, because they think we can help, we'll probably have to bribe them." Tony pointed between Natasha and Calvin. "Park over there. We'll be out of the way and can get to the woods without being too conspicuous."

Tony knew that last part probably wasn't true. It would be nearly impossible to do anything in this little town that was inconspicuous.

"I'm just glad we can get there on foot. I'm hoping I won't have to drive into this damn swamp anymore while we're here. But something tells me I won't be this lucky", Natasha says as she parks the car in the spot that Tony pointed out. Subtly patting her jacket to make sure she has her gun on her, Natasha gets out of the car. "Lead the way, little one"

I was not always the upstanding gentleman you see before you. My upbringing probably wasn't very different than theirs. I may be able to talk to them.