2018.11.20 Hypnagogia: In Harm's Way

Hypnagogia: In Harm's Way
Following a lead on the whereabouts of Bieta's husband, Bieta and Mike travel to Rhode Island only to find more than for what they bargained.
IC Date	Nov. 20, 2018
IC Time	4:30 p.m.- 19:00 p.m.
Players	Bieta ST, Mike
Location	Rhode Island
Spheres	Mage

After disembarking their flight at the airport, Bieta calls a cab for Mike and herself. She did not bother to bring along any luggage, so they did not have to go downstairs to baggage claim for anything she may have brought.

Mike normally travels light anyways. His backpack is just carry on and while reluctant to let it go through the scanner, nothing odd comes up from it. It IS made from standard components... mostly. But what would a security guard know of electronic schematics to realize that truth? Once they land, Mike keeps pretty quiet, keeping close to Bieta and alert, but lets her handle most of the face to face interactions. it's just easier that way for him. Most people ignore him and his passage anyways.

Bieta flags down a cab and gets into the vehicle. Once inside, she asks the cab driver where Mike and she could find an inexpensive hotel. After their driver relates a list of places to stay, Bieta chooses one of moderate cost.

Mike gets in with Bieta and chuckles a little. "They usually ignore me.." He murmurs to her. Aft er the list and the selection Bieta makes, Mike pulls his laptop out. Scooting down low to avoid anyone catching a glimpse of the laptop's screen outside the taxi, he starts typing; seeking out the place to where they were going , to verify there's nothing wrong about it or that it wasn't bugged.

Contrary to what Hollywood would have everyone believe, not all cab drivers up east get you from point A to point B, cussing the whole way, driving the wrong way down one way streets or driving over the median in the middle of the road in order to get where they are going. So, Bieta and Mike are spared the experience of reckless foul mouthed driving. The cab driver pulls up in front of the hotel and places the cab in park.

About two thirds the way there, Mike nods and closes up that laptop, stashing it back in his padded bag. "From what I find it's clean. Internet may be weak there. I'll have to double check once we get a room.. But we're close to the coordinates that I can tell." When they got there, Mike would get out, holding the door for Bieta with a smile flashed her way.

Bieta pays and tips the cab driver with cash. Then, she thanks Mike as she gets out of the cab. Once inside the hotel, Bieta walks up to the counter and asks the hostess about two adjoining rooms. The hostess looks over Bieta's shoulder for a moment at Mike before accepting Bieta's money and handing her two hotel room keys with a smile. The hostess chirps up, "enjoy your stay." Bieta walks back over to Mike and hands him his room key, which is an actual key versus a card.

Mike smiles at Bieta and helps her out. He walks in with her, but hangs back, just chilling as Bieta would get the keys. A nod of thanks is given to her with a smile as the key is pocketed. "Alright. Check the rooms and.. we'll see from there?"

The rooms are nothing much. They look like the last time their decor was updated was the nineties. However, they are clean and the place is nice enough that it could not be considered seedy. The two rooms do share the same bathroom but there are locks on either door to guarantee privacy. Once they are inside their respective rooms, Bieta enters the bathroom and opens the door to Mike's room, inviting him to check both rooms for any bugs.

Mike gets into his room and gets the laptop out. A sweep of the area, powered with those glasses and the watch, are able to get him a 3D model of the room and a clean sweep of nothing bugged in it. As Bieta opens the door, he glances over, smiles and brings his laptop to do the same over there. Typing after the initial sweep, he expands out the modeling of the area, bringing it to the entire hotel and putting faint green dots to represent the minds he picks up in his sweep. "Area looks clean.. We can watch thoughts here.. Green's awake. Blue's asleep. Can't affect anything.. but at least it's a slight head's start."

"Watching thoughts sounds a bit invasive...though having something which shows you who is awake and who is asleep sounds useful," says Bieta. Bieta says, "I am sorry if you felt a bit cramped in coach. However, I chose coach so I would be less noticeable. Now, we need to plan what we will do next. You know more than I do about where my husband might be."

Mike looks at Bieta curiously, then chuckles, shaking his head. "Ahh.. let me clarify. It watches that there are thoughts.. Not bugs, dogs, that sort of thing. Only active thoughts. The signal isn't strong enough to actually read what is being thought about.." Mike looks at the image a moment, then looks at Bieta with a faint smile. "It's fine.. I'm cool with it.. I'm glad to be helping out, Bieta. I've ridden in the cargo area with an O2 tank.. so trust me.. that was a step up." Mike starts typing on his computer again, pulling the first image to the side and starting on the next. This one he sets up to show the general area where he'd gotten the last ping. "So.. This was the general area. Street address from the ID I found. I can try to search from here.. Closer to the spot. Or.. we can go check it out and see what we find?"

Leaning against the door jam to the bathroom, Bieta says, "I would be all for checking out the physical location itself. Do you know who owns that building?"

Mike muses a moment, then shrugs and starts typing. "Give me a sec.." It should be a straight forward query to the system. As Mike types, he hums absently. Mike nods a little. "Actually rented by a fishing company. Rented from Douglas Anderson.. who's a local real estate investor. I got a phone number and address too, if we want him.”

"I wonder how open he would be to telling us about this fishing company. He will want to know why he should tell us what we want to know. If we tell him that I am looking for my husband, then he might not want to tell us anything," says Bieta. "At the same time, I think we need to follow the leads we can get." Bieta sighs and walks into the room. She sits down in one of the few available chairs and says, "What do you think?"

Mike nods his agreement to Bieta and keeps typing. "That we give him a reason to want to talk to us. If you happen to be an investor with some liquid assets you are seeking to invest into a fishing business as you've heard there's going to be a high revenue return? That's got enough buzzwords that a real estate investor should be willing to share some information.. shouldn't they?"

"That depends on if it is actually so. He would expect me to do my homework before approaching him and he should know how well the fishing trade does for the sake of his own business...if he is legitimate and smart, then he would either know I was making stuff up or believe I just didn't know about what I was speaking. If he is not legitimate, then he would think I was a rube. We could end up with no information or bad information. It is possible this fishing company rents the building on a month to month basis. It would be nice to be able to convince him by showing him Kasia's picture ...at worst to have to bribe him.." Bieta says.

Mike pauses, glancing at Bieta. "I could spoof a bank account enough to make it look like it was so. At least for a little while." He shrugs, then shakes his head a little. "Hmm.. Ok.. If you don't want to go that route, then I can try to hack his network and just get the info myself? Not sure how well he'd be guarded."

"It's more about how the fishing trade does traditionally in the marketplace versus anyone's bank account. If the business is doing well, then they will not want to sell. If you can find information about how well the business is actually doing...say, if they are behind on their rent a few months...try to find information of that nature. I do not like the idea of trying to find dirt in order to black mail someone into giving me what I want," says Bieta.

Mike starts to type, pauses and looks at Bieta again. Slowly, he sits back from his computer to study her. "Bieta.. I wear what's called a grey hat.. I tend to do good hacks.. if I have to hack.. But I've had plenty of times I've had to find dirt on someone.. From the looks of it, your husband just got a new life. He deserted you. Do you want to find him? Do you want me to do what I do, to get the information so we can find him? Or.. not? We've skirted that edge so far. But if we're planning to find him, I will have to get information and that will probably be considered illegal by someone, somewhere."

"Well, something tells me he didn't change his name legally. If the government had done it as part of witness protection program, then they would have moved all of us and did the same for Kasia and me. I need to know what happened and at the very least get him to sign the divorce papers. How would a Private Investigator find him without hacking?" Bieta sighs. "I know this is not right, I just do not know how to fix this."

Mike hesitates, then shrugs. "I'm not a private investigator Bieta.. I'm a hacker. Cyber security specialist.. remember? It's kind of what I do. Heck, I could do a shallow run on his network then approach him as a businessman offering services, depending on how well it goes. Tell him I was looking to rent that place for operations."

Bieta gets up and places her knuckles in the small of her back for a moment. Closing her eyes, Bieta says, "Mike, the reason I have not called a private investigator in on this is...what if my husband had to leave...and it has to do with those men...what if I am not the only reason they have been hanging around?" Bieta covers her face for a moment with her hands. When she takes them away, she says, “The regular authorities do not understand and I want to do this with as small a paper trail as possible. Do you see us being able to go to this guy face to face, telling him what we really want and why and then him being straight with us? Should we try that route first and then hack him if we have no other way?"

Shaking his head slowly, Mike sighs. "No. I don't see him being straight with us at all and that's why I want to bypass him and go for the data. Maybe he is good. Maybe he isn't. I'm not a judge. Just trying to get this done to help you and Kasia out."

"I just feel terrible doing this. Normally, I would be the one saying honesty is the best policy. I feel like I would be a hypocrite if I lied to this person. Also, I am terrible liar. I always have been. Go ahead and hack him." Bieta drops her gaze and looks at her hands.

Mike smiles faintly. "That's not a bad thing, Bieta.. So.. I'll talk to him." Shrugging, he turns to his laptop and starts typing. "If I do it, he'll forget about it anyways.. I'm not selling anything I find. So no harm, no foul. We get closer to what we need."

Mike finds the security on the network to be quite.. weak. Or maybe he's just that l33t? Either way, he skims over the information needed, pulling out two important parts. Once the data is gathered, he carefully covers his tracks, removing any trace that he was there. "Ok Bieta.. So the owner of the company is almost a month behind on rent. Always paying in cash. They got an extension to pay.. but it's almost up. We also got a ship name. S.S. Maria Belle. That.. is public info at the port.." He types a little bit more and checks to see if it's in dock or not. Mike nods slightly. "It's in Dock. Local port too. Easily a taxi ride away."

Bieta nods and says, "Let me grab my purse. If you can give me the address, then I can call us a cab. We can go as soon as possible."

Mike nods, grabs the local number, then erases his tracks again. He tells her the address as he closes his laptop up, checks glasses and watch connection, then goes and grabs his laptop bag to stash it and shoulder it.

After Bieta made the call for the taxi, it would be a short wait down in the hotel lobby for the taxi to arrive. She would step out of the front door of the hotel and wait for Mike.

Mike is just a few moments behind her, pausing that sweep of the hotel so it's not pinging while they're away. He locks the door, sets the 'do not disturb' sign up and heads out. Stepping up next to Bieta as the taxi shows up, he flashes her a brief grin and holds the door open for her. "Your ride..?"

Bieta smiles and says, "Thank you." She ducks her head as she get into the back of the cab and buckles her seat belt. Bieta tells their driver the address for where they want to go. This time, the driver is a caucasian male with a rather conservative haircut, wearing a pair of sunglasses. He is wearing a button down white shirt with the first couple of buttons undone, a neck tie which is worn somewhat loose, a dark pair of slacks, clean pair of sneakers and no jacket.

Mike gets in after Bieta, closing the door and buckling up. He up nods the driver, but otherwise does not talk. Glancing about, he skims for the driver's info casually, just to see if an initial look matches up.

In response to Mike's up nod, the driver glances through his sunglasses at the center rear view mirror and up nods back at Mike. Then he puts the car in drive and pulls out into traffic. There is a plaque on the glove compartment door which has a picture of the driver without his sunglasses and gives his basic information, including full name.

Mike seems fine with that, watching things going past them outside. He glances a little towards Bieta with a brief smile. Looking back out, he keeps alert, but sort of sinks into the corner of that seat, trying to avoid looking at too many people passing by.

Bieta smiles back at Mike but when she sees him try to sink into the corner of the back seat she leans towards him and murmurs, "is everything alright?" Behind them, a few cars back, a black sedan turns the same corner as their taxi the last two times they have turned.

Mike is ignorant, dropping his gaze to inside the cab. He nods a moment to Bieta, glances at the driver, then looks back to her. "I.. don't like crowds. Always gets to me.. too many people. Just.. watching us pass by.." He shudders a little.

"I do not remember you being so nervous when we drove into town to Roasters or to lunch," Bieta says. Their driver inclines his head just a little to suggest he glances back at them but says nothing. It could have been he was only checking his rear view mirror. The city buildings seem to dwindle in height some as they make their way closer to their destination. It is not long before they pull into the driveway of the docks. "Is there somewhere you wanted me to drop you off?," the driver says.

Mike shakes his head. "I didn't look out. Always in." Glancing at the driver, he nods. "Here. Should be fine. We'll walk." He shifts in his seat again and nods to Bieta. "Ready?"

Their driver brings the car to a stop. Bieta nods and takes enough cash out of her purse to satisfy the meter and tip the driver. "Thank you. Good day." She opens the car door and gets out. The driver asks, "Do you want me to wait for you?"

Bieta says, "No, we might be here for awhile."

"Alright," says the driver. He up nods to Mike before driving away.

Mike gives an up nod back and watches the taxi go thoughtfully. He glances around, at his watch and nods, then looks to Bieta. "We're close.. it's.. I'll be fine. Let's go, ok?"

After the taxi leaves, Bieta looks at Mike and says, "Well, you have all the tech which is telling us where to find him. Does it say where his ship is berthed down here or do we start hunting?"

Mike shakes his head a little, eyeing a sedan (parked out on the street), then looks to Bieta. "We might have a tail.. as for that.. We go to the port master. He'll have the information we can get. But I can't do my check here.. need to be somewhere.. too many eyes."

Bieta refrains from looking in the direction in which Mike looked when he said they might have a tail. She says, "Maybe they will have a bathroom at the Port Master's office. Which way do we need to go to find it?"

Mike nods and starts off with her. "Sure. Probably. It's this way.." He starts walking with her towards that port master's office, keeping a general eye out, but working to keep it casual. He's no one interesting. Nothing to see here..

Once the two of them reach the Port Master's office, Bieta goes inside and asks a man sitting at a desk about a bathroom. He stands up and points in the general direction of the restroom, while explaining how to find it in the office. Bieta looks back at Mike before heading down the hallway in the direction of the restroom.

While Bieta is in the restroom, the guy behind the counter seems willing enough to chat Mike up with some guy talk. He does admit to the fact that he himself is not all that tech savvy and it is his son who had to show him how to use the new system. Still, he does his best to explain what he knows about the system as a user. He confides in Mike that if anything ever goes wrong with the system, then he finds himself either having to call on his son to fix the problem or tech support. He does show Mike where the ship in which Mike is interested is berthed.

Mike offers to help and if let behind the counter, would quickly check up the system and give a few optimizations.. As always, he's fast on the keys! It doesn't take that much, as it's not too complicated a system.. to him anyways, but he gets it humming along.. and hey.. if there's a back door only he knows of? Well.. no biggie. He's normally in Cali, right? Once he's done helping the guy out, he nods his thanks and waits for Bieta to finish up.

Bieta surfaces from the restroom and smiles across the counter at Mike at the computer with the Port Master looking over his shoulder trying to make sense of what Mike is doing. Bieta clears her throat and asks, "Are you two finished?"

Mike finishes that rapid typing, concluding with a slight flourish, then grins at the guy. "It'll work just fine. So don't sweat it now. Shouldn't have any other issues. I took care of cleaning up the OS for you." Standing up, he shakes the guy's hand, then smiles to Bieta with a nod. "Done. Let's go." He motions to the door, ready to lead her out.

The Port Master is just delighted that Mike stopped by and helped him with his computer system. He thanks him and asks him if he has a business card with a number in case he needs someone in the future to come and work on his system. Bieta smiles at Mike and says, "What did you do Mike?" She lets Mike lead her out.

Mike makes an act of checking pockets then shrugs helplessly. "Sorry. We're on a business trip, but I forgot them back at the office. I'll make sure to get one to you.." He smiles and nods to the guy, then heads out with Bieta. Only after they're out heading for the ship would he answer. "Fixed the massive back door that someone was using to bot farm his computer with. Set up a few extra security systems on silent to make sure it doesn't happen easily. Gave myself admin credentials.. just in case.. and uh.. optimized the code for their system. A little. You weren't gone that long." He shrugs slightly, glancing around again as he walked.

"Well, if I understand half of what you said then it is safe for me to say that was very nice of you," says Bieta. At first, nothing seems particularly out of the ordinary on the way to the berth. Then, this guy walking in your direction a ways up ahead stops, pauses, then turns tail and runs the other way.

Mike starts in surprise as the guy spots them and starts to run. "What the.. that.. that's him!" He takes off running, even as he says it, trying to sprint after him. He has to push and the guy is staying ahead of him. Plus.. he (the guy) knows the area. Time to probably get a map so he can follow. Mike pulls up that search history to get the overview of the port. Crude, but it'll work for now so he doesn't get lost.

Gone are the days when Bieta could out run boys her own age. She is doing well just to keep Mike in sight in order to follow him. Bieta tries to control her breathing to keep from experiencing shooting pains through her ribs after the first few minutes. Tomasz Dymna, Bieta's husband, manages to keep well ahead of Mike and his familiarity with the layout of the docks shows.

Mike keeps running. He would have to back track for Bieta probably but this guy had to stop. Continuing to race on, they get to a thinner crowded area. However, it's too hard to focus, type and run. He couldn't hit this guy that way. "WAIT!!!" Maybe he'd slow down?

In an effort to be random in his movements and lose Mike, Tomasz takes a wrong turn and finds himself running up to the end of a dock where a ship is moored. Tomasz turns around and holds a hand up. Sounding out of breath, he shouts, "No, Stop! You can not do this! It is too dangerous! She cannot see me!" Gasping for breath, Tomasz's eyes track to Bieta, who has now caught sight of Mike and him but has not quite caught up to both men. Bieta calls out, "Tomek! Wait!" Bieta starts to run towards Mike and Tomasz. Tomasz begs Mike, "Please, you have to take Bieta and get out of here now, I can not be anywhere near her!" He clenches his jaw.

Mike pounds after him, slowing as he'd get caught. Narrowing his eyes, he eyes Tomasz, then motions for a moment for Bieta to stay back. Mike keeps coming closer. "Give me one really, really good reason. You ditched her and your daughter. That's already got you on my crap list. So give me a reason."

Tomasz holds a hand out as though to hold back Mike and said, "You do not understand...I love my wife and daughter. That's why I had to leave...I had orders...I had orders to kill Bieta...and I..I couldn't do it. I went rogue...get her out of here now!" At that moment, there is a loud pop noise followed by the whole side of Tomasz's head being blown open, sending blood, bone fragments and pieces of his brain flying. Everything seems to happen in slow motion for Bieta as she sees her husband's legs crumble under him. Her whole body stiffens and her jaw drops open, she moves her lips but no words come out at first as she reaches a hand to her chest. Finally she quietly speaks his name, "Tomek?" She starts running towards Mike and her husband, crying 'Oh my God!' over and over again. Tomesz's body falls into the water and there is another loud popping noise in the air followed by the sound of something metallic ricocheting off one of the vessels near Mike. Bieta stumbles and falls forward onto the wooden slats of the dock, crying and screaming, "Tomek!"

He.. ran.. oh.. oh crap..

And then Tomek's head popped open like a rotten watermelon.

Mike stares, stunned a moment, but snaps out of it fast as there's that second sound. Ducking, he goes to grab Bieta. "No! We have to move! Now! We're in trouble!!" He tries hard to get her going the other way, trying to put himself between where he calculated the bullets were coming from and the shooter. He'd also make sure to cause them to jerk to the side when the mental count of the timer said the next shot should come. He's definitely NOT going to make it easy for them!

"Run! Or we all die here!"

Bieta is screaming and crying in a fit of hysterics when Mike takes her up in his arms. She moves mostly under his guidance, gasping now and then for breath between the sobs. Though it was difficult to tell from where they were being sniped, there was a lighthouase nearby which would not be an unlikely point. "Mike! He's dead! My husband's dead! What have I done?!"

Mike shakes his head, keeping them down and with spotting the light house as the source, does his best to keep stuff between them and it. The first turn on his map that shows them able to break line of sight, he'd take. "Bieta.. this isn't you.. he.. he was one of them. With Linnete.. black suit. He was told to kill you! We.. we have to keep moving. Please.. please.. focus.. focus now, mourn later!"

Bieta shakes her head and says, "No, that is not possible. He never threatened or hurt Kasia or me." She chokes down a sob, "He was a loving, caring, good man...how is this possible?" Bieta tries to stop crying and get her breathing under control. Her voice sounds so small when she says, "I just do not understand." There are no more shots fired from the light house. Bieta is trembling when she says, "What do we do now?"

Mike gets them down, kneeling as he pants softly, seeking to recover from the scramble. He shakes his head a little and pulls out that laptop to start typing rapidly. "We have to get away. Sniper in the light house.. The sedan.. probably the taxi.. you didn't leave anything important at the hotel did you?" He glances at her, then back to his code. "Let's live.. for Kasia's sake.. we'll go over what he said later Bieta.. I need you to focus.. please.."

Bieta tries to stop crying and says, "I do not know...if I left anything...back at the hotel." Bieta is trembling.

Mike pauses, looking at Bieta. He reachs out, giving her a fierce, brief hug. "Bieta.. I'm.. I'm sorry this went down this way.. I'm sorry I'm pushing.. we're.. we'll be alright when we get out of here.. we can go over it soon.." He'd seek to keep one arm about her in comfort, as he'd finish that send off with his other hand. Once done, he closes up the laptop. "I got an uber coming. Guy I helped before. So should be safe.. do you think you're ready to move again, Bieta?"

Bieta accepts the hug but she is still shaking, "I...I...need to call us...a taxi." She pulls away and looks at Mike, saying, "Mike, I have...never seen..anything like that. I am...trying...really hard...not to be sick." Bieta wipes tears off her face and notices she is hyperventilating.

Mike shakes his head, bagging his laptop. "I know.. that was.." He just shakes his head. Shouldering his bag, he focuses himself, tapping a few things on that watch, before reaching out to press his hand against her cheek gently, index finger resting on her temple. "Bieta.. Breathe.. focus.. calm.. Center yourself.. You can do this. I already have a ride coming.."

Bieta works at slowing her breathing and she just focuses on looking Mike right in the eyes. Overhead, she could hear the sounds of sea birds calling where before there had been silence. She could feel the calming influence of Mike's working helping her to find peace and the calm she believed she just could not reach right now on her own.

Mike continues to stare Bieta in the eye, giving that calmness, leaving him restless maybe, a hole to be filled but.. it was helping her. It was worth it. "Good.. see.. the birds are speaking.. they sense things.." He smiles slightly at her, nods, and then his watch beeps. Glancing at it, he finally breaks eye contact and nods, standing to his feet and offering Bieta a hand to her own. "Ride is here. Come on. Let's get back to the hotel."

Bieta nods and stands with Mike. She walks with him to the waiting cab. This time, they have a different driver who is dressed significantly more casual, wearing sweats and a t-shirt. The driver's dirty blonde hair is woven into dread locks. When Bieta gets into the vehicle he says, "Where to?"

Mike holds the door for Bieta again, a small smile her way. Getting in, he gives an up nod to the driver and rattles off the hotel's address. Just like before, Mike glances around, looking for that I.D. that should be posted.. you know.. just in case.

Bieta fumbles for her seat belt, trying to click it. The driver flashes a smile at Mike in the rear view mirror and says, "Hey, how's it goin'?" His eyes shift to Bieta and he says, "Everything alright?" The driver's I.D. was posted in the vehicle and from the backseat one could at least make out the name 'Toby' and a picture of Toby looking both washed out and a little spaced out, the picture did not exactly flatter Toby.

Mike reaches over to try to help Bieta gently. He smiles a little sadly to Toby. "She just got told some bad news about a shipment. Seems it's not going to arrive. We'll be ok. Can you just get us back to the hotel?"

Mike's words seem to give Toby a moment's pause but then he says, "Okay. Sure thing." Toby shifts himself a little in the front seat, which was covered in one of those seat covers made of wooden beads woven together. Toby gave them a smooth ride out of the parking lot and out onto the street. In the backseat, Bieta finally gets her seat belt secured and leans her head on Mike's shoulder. Toby glances back now and then by way of the rear view mirror.

Mike shrugs a little at Toby's glance, then looks to Bieta, making sure she's ok. He closes his own eyes, to try to calm himself down. When Bieta rests her head on his shoulder, he opens his eyes to look at her, then shifts to slip an arm about her. Otherwise, he's quiet, focusing on just her and not out of the vehicle.

After awhile, Toby pulls his cab up to the curb out front of the hotel where Bieta and Mike are staying. Bieta lifts her head off of Mike's shoulder and asks Toby how much their fare is. After Toby reads the meter and gives her the total, Bieta works her billfold with half numb half aching hands to get both the fare and a tip out. Bieta hands the money to Toby and says, "Thank you...very much." Toby nods to both Mike and Bieta and says, "No problem. You two try to have a better day. Peace."

Mike stirs when Bieta does. A glance around, he nods his thanks to Toby and gets out with Bieta. Slinging his bag over his shoulder, he eyes the hotel, sighs and looks to Bieta. "Shall we?" Motioning to the door, he'd go to head in with her, leading for that set of rooms and using his key to let them in.

Just as Mike was moving to unlock the door, it would become evident that the doors to both their rooms were ajar. In fact, it looks like someone forced the doors because the wood of the door jambs are splintered where the latch bolt would join with the stike and the stike to Bieta's door is actually left dangling from a screw. Bieta grabs ahold of one of Mike's arms and tries to hold him back saying, "Mike?!"

Mike stops short as soon as he realizes, staring at the door, he curses and steps back. "I knew it.." Gently but firmly, he pushes Bieta back the way they came. "Anything in there is gone. Consider it such.. we have to get out. That driver was too fishy.."

"Which driver, Mike?" Bieta says, as she let Mike push her back down the hallway. "Mike, wait. We need to report the break in down at the front desk. If we just leave and the rooms are trashed...not to mention, I want to talk to the police...file a report." Bieta leans in close to Mike and murmurs, "What if someone finds Tomasz's body later at the docks, calls the police and someone comes forward as a witness to what happened down there. How would it look if we skipped town without filing a report? Especially, when we were the last ones to see Tomasz alive. Whoever was shooting at us could implicate us."

Mike pauses as Bieta tries to stop him. Glancing up and down the hall to make sure no one else is around, he shifts them to press her back against the wall and he steps in close. Just two lovers, nothing interesting there, right? His voice is low, careful as he'd speak, studying her eyes with his own. "The taxi driver. I knew the uber was safe. I had worked with the guy before. The taxi driver.. too clean. He got us. They'd been hunting Tomasz. We found him.. because of what i can do. They'd never report it.. just try to take us down. His orders, Bieta.. was to kill you. He couldn't.. so he ran. Think about that."

Bieta did not say anything to Mike at first, letting the revelation take hold. Bieta says, "Alright, what if making these police reports could make a difference when it came to me getting a ccl, Mike? Now more than ever, I need some way to defend myself from whoever is doing this." Bieta glances down the hallway in the direction of their rooms.

Mike glances that way slightly, then back to her. "Or give them a big flag for the guys we're talking about to know exactly what happen and come to finish a job undone.. But.. we should check the room.. just in case."

"Mike, whomever was shooting at us already knows they did not finish the job," Bieta says. 'What if whoever broke into our rooms is still in there...waiting?"

Mike glances about again, shifts, grabs his bag and kneels. "Lets find out.." Opening the laptop, he starts up that program that had been suspended before, the sweep of the hotel to tell them where people were at.

Within the hotel there appears to be only sleepers right now and no one inside Mike and Bieta's hotel rooms. Bieta waits quietly for Mike to tell her his findings.

Mike frowns at the screen, then nods. He closes the laptop, bags it and stands up. Pulling a glove out of his pack, he uses it to open the door to his side, looking within.. just in case. "It looks clear." If it was in fact clear, Mike would head in with Bieta, to check for damage done. This is, after all, part of why Mike travels light.

The whole place is just trashed. Someone slashed the upholstery of the few chairs in the room before smashing them. The mattress is no longer on the bed and has had great handfuls of stuffing torn out of it. All the dresser drawers are pulled out of the small bureau provided in the room and a few of the drawers are broken off their runners and left strewn out on the floor.

       Bieta is careful about stepping over one of the drawers as she allows Mike to lead her through the wreckage which was once their rooms. When they reach the bathroom, which joined the two rooms, they would find that someone had emptied the bottles of complimentary shampoo and conditioner into the sink along with the contents of the complimentary tubes of toothpaste. All the towels and wash clothes are now on the floor. Bieta moves to press her forehead against Mike's back and quietly says, "Please, can we just go downstairs now to the front desk?"

Mike looks about grimly. Glancing back to Bieta, he nods a little. "Yeah.. I don't know enough on how to play it back.. and.. this spot is compromised.." He turns, gently wrapping Bieta up in a hug, holding her gently, before leading her back the way they came, to head for that front desk.

Bieta wraps her arms around Mike then allows him to guide her back out of the room. She quietly says, "Let's look for the stairs. I do not want to use the elevator right now...we could get trapped in there."

Mike nods his agreement, glances at the mini map on his glasses and leads on. He pauses at one of the half-flight landings to pull out that laptop, routing the scan of the hotel to his glasses to track people and those who might be magically active.. Just in case.

So far, there are no magically active people showing up in the hotel. Fortunately, their rooms had been on the fourth floor so the way down to the lobby is short. Bieta waits for Mike to finish what he is doing before descending any further down the stairs.

Mike gets his pack set up, offers his hand to Bieta and heads down those stairs, watching that mini-map to make sure there's no ambush nearby. Hopefully getting to the bottom floor, he'd head for the front desk with Bieta. "You'll have to report it, Bieta.. you registered the rooms."

Bieta nods and says, "alright. Maybe you could find somewhere in the lobby to sit while I do. I know you have that I.D., I just rather it not be under scrutiny more than absolutely necessary." Once Bieta steps out of the stairwell into the lobby, she makes her way over to the check in desk. A young woman wearing a well kept uniform asks if she can help Bieta. When Bieta tells the woman what has happened and gives the hostess the room numbers, the hostess's eyes grow wide for a moment and she picks up a phone. After notifying hotel security and sending them up to look at the rooms, the hostess dials for the local police department. She hands the phone to Bieta and Bieta tries to steady her voice as she speaks to the officer on the other end about the burglary. Before hanging up the phone, Bieta requests that the police send an investigator to the hotel because she needed to discuss with them something which happened earlier in the day.

Mike gives a faint smile to Bieta, nods slightly and does what he does so well.. fade into obscurity. Sitting at one of the mini-tables they have for complimentary breakfast, he's just some guy working on a laptop.. don't mind him!

Once she gets off the phone, the hostess invites Bieta to sit down at one of the small tables where they serve continental breakfasts earlier in the day. She tells Bieta that she is welcome to a cup of coffee if there is any left. Bieta thanks her and moves over to the coffee maker. Bieta pours herself a cup and walks over to join Mike. She sits down at his table and tries to take a sip of the coffee only to find out it is tepid and somewhat burnt tasting. Bieta sets the cup aside.

Mike glances up as Bieta comes over. A small, sympathetic look is given at the coffee. He glances at people going by, then back to her. "You ok..? The longer we're here.. I'm.. just worried, Bieta.. This is dangerous."

Bieta leans in close and says, "Val did not seem to think 'they' would do anything to me if I was in a public place surrounded by people. There are more people here than there were at the docks."

Mike nods slowly, frowning a moment. "Point.. I just.. rather be sure, Bieta. That's all." Glancing around, he looks at his laptop a moment, types something in, then picks up the coffee to place it next to his laptop. Using it to warm up the coffee.. at least it wouldn't be tepid then?

Bieta and Mike do have a little bit of a wait. Eventually, a couple of officers do show up on the scene. The hostess directs them over towards Bieta and they both greet her. Bieta stands up and offers to shake hands with both of them, saying, "Good day! Dr. Elżbieta Dymna is a name by which I am called."

Bieta continues to explain to the officers about the burglary of Bieta's and Mike's rooms and relates the story about seeing a man shot down at the docks. She tells the officers how a friend of hers had investigated the disappearance of her husband for her as a favor and discovered that her husband had been living under a different name in Rhode Island. Bieta tells the officers she only came to visit him in order to get some answers as to why he left and find out if he would either come back to her or sign divorce papers. She informs the two officers that whomever shot her husband had taken some shots at Mike and herself. One of the officers speaks into his radio about sending some officers down to the local docks to search for a body and any signs of gun fire. The other officer notes down in a small notepad the details which Bieta shares.

Mike keeps out of it as much as possible, letting Bieta tell the story. He smiles her way, encouragingly, when she explains a 'friend' did this. He watches the men, listening in, but otherwise keeping quiet and letting them work out what details they want.

When Bieta finishes, one of the officers asks her if Bieta has any plans to stay there in Rhode Island for the next few days. Bieta explains how she can not stay, that she only took time off from her practice to pursue this lead, which was the best one she had seen since Tomasz Dymna had walked out on her and Kasia. Bieta truthfully explains how she is scheduled to perform an important procedure on a rather expensive thoroughbred the next day and if she was not there to perform the surgery, the Officer to whom the horse belonged would not be patroling their usual beat for some time after due to the financial loss to the Prospect Police department. Both Officers nod in understanding. One of the officers heads outside and returns in a few minutes with a LCD pad in his hand when he hands it over to Bieta, he tells her it is an electronic copy of the form she would need to fill out at the department and file in order to make a formal report about what happened. He shows her how to use the stylus and then how to sign with an electronic signature just by touching a button on the screen with the stylus. When she is done, the officer tells Bieta, "Well, you two should be all set to go. If you do not mind riding in the back of the police car, we could drive you both to the airport if you want. Make sure you do not have any more trouble during your stay here in Rhode Island..."

Mike listens and watches. He goes and ditches the coffee as Bieta deals with the cops and quietly packs up. Watching the final parts, he eyes that connection, but does not comment. At the ask about the back of the cop car, he doesn't look like he panics at least. Instead, a polite smile and shake of his head is given. "We should be fine. I've already booked us a ride. Thank you though, Officer."

The other officer says,"Alright, well...you both try to stay safe then.." They both wave and head out. Bieta exhales and says, "I am glad that is finished."

Mike watches them go thoughtfully, then nods a little, looking to Bieta. "That was good for you. I'm glad it helped.. Shall we get going? The ride should be here in about 5 minutes.."

Bieta nods. On the way towards the door, she wraps her arms around herself.

Mike gets his stuff together, laptop in his bag and out they'd go. Stepping up to her as she wraps her arms about herself, he quietly steps up to hug her from the side. Not saying anything, just letting it be as they'd walk.