Welcome

[Tessa Monroe]

Tessa leaned on the railing, and wished she could drink more then she was able to. The old man had given her the willies, and she wanted to relax now that she was free of criminal influence. Not that she had anyway of getting into contact with Roe even if she wanted to. Her father would have been appalled, his little girl fraternizing with criminals? The very idea would have provoked a fight. yet, her she was, thinking about trying to see if she could talk to the dealer again.

She was also thinking about how to stop him. he seemed all too interested in what was going on in the building, and his talk about selling it made her flinch. Perhaps she should talk to the authorities… no, she had nothing on him other then an instinct. Perhaps the cop that Von gibbs had been talking about might be a good place to take this too.

Tessa looked at the scorecard, and then called the number she found there. She hoped this woman didn’t think she was crazy, and she hoped she was doing the right thing. Then again, letting a cop know what a bad guy was doing was part of the game. her role in such events was pre-set, she had to do what she had to do, because he wasn’t going to feel guilty about letting thousands of innocents die. He said as much, and she had an oath maintain.

she paused for a moment, then punched the number into her cellphone

[Surreal Brackwell]

The defendant appeared agitated and when questioned by constable Stanley his answer to why he was loitering at three fifteen in the morning of January the 2cnd his response...

Surreal stared blankly at her computer screen and frowned she knew all the details of the case. She knew the words and yet she couldn’t for the first time in memory write a report. Using her legs she scooted the chair away from her desk and stared blankly at the ceiling of her home office.

Stuck! In all her time of employment she had never faltered in anything required of her. In the past two days she failed miserably in every aspect of work. Not plausible nor acceptable for a police officer. She needed to hold onto her focus, she wasn’t meant to have a personal life and that was what was killing her professional life. The worst part was that she knew which one she needed and which one she desired. She couldn’t tell what the answer was and there was a shadowy fear that either way she would wind up making the worst mistake of her life. If what she desired turned out to be just like Ryan Gibbs she wasn’t sure if she’d cope.

Her phone rang and she flinched back in her seat before taking the cell from her desk and studying the caller ID. She had never seen that number before. Sighing she hit the answer button and put the phone to her ear.

“Hello, officer Brackwell speaking” she uttered warily.

[Tessa Monroe]

“Hello, My name is Tessa Monroe. I am calling in regards to some information regarding a rather large crime I believe to be in the works.” She didn’t want to give details over the phone. Her father had only disgusted such things in person, and that seemed like a good rule of thumb to go by.

Roe did not seem to be lacking in resources. If he had bugged the polices phones, or had someone working on the inside, then the last thing she could do was spill everything where anyone could hear.

“I was hoping you could meet me. I am at stone blue, a small bar on the east side of town.” She knew she was most likely going to get written off as a crazy women, but maybe if she used a name a little bigger then her own… “I got your number from a man, Von Gibbs? He said you might be able to help me.”

She could save so much time by just giving more information, but meeting in a public place was a good olive branch, and if she didn’t go for the bait, then Tessa would have to see if she could get more information on her own. She hoped it didn’t come to that, if she was going to get in over her head, she wanted some back up.

[Surreal Brackwell]

Surreal found herself instantly reaching for pen and paper, even with alarm bells sounding in her head. People didn’t call a personal cell phone to give this type of information to a police officer who was off duty. Strangers didn’t call strangers with this sort of thing.

“Ma’am,” Surreal started. “Have you called Celestes police department in regards to this information?”

She drew herself closer to the desk and wrote down the woman’s location anyway.

“The department could assist you faster than a police officer who is currently off duty.”

Surreal hesitated her pen hovering over the paper when the woman spoke of Von Gibbs.

“Miss is this in regards to Mr Gibb’s son Ryan?”

If it was than this woman needed urgent help. Was he battering her? Was he abusing and mistreating the woman, the way he had Surreal? Surreal subconsciously pulled at her hair. She closed her eyes and wondered just what she should do here. The best option would be to go to the woman, but she didn’t need to find herself back in the world of Ryan and Von Gibbs. She was tired of crying, and she was tired of the face acts that Mr Gibbs put on to pacify her to keep her wrapped within that world.

“Do not leave,” she replied. “I will come to you.”

[Tessa Monroe]

“No, this is not about his son, its about…someone else.” Not over the phone, Tessa caught her self. She had history with von gibbs, and from her voice, it was not a pleasant ones.

“I understand that just calling 911 would be fast, it’s just that… well I will give you more details when you get here. I truly appreciate this officer Brackwell. I will be on the patio.”

She hung up the phone, and felt a little crazy; maybe the chemo had gotten into her brain. Was she really doing the right thing? Yes, a drug dealer was going to try and steal what was most likely some kind of bomb and sell it to some crazy war lord, who would then try and start a war and use it.

But was this really something you went to the police for? Well, she was going to one person in particular, and she hadn’t filed any sort of report yet. She was playing the role of an informant, and could continue to do so if the need were to arise.

Not to mention all of the people that could die in the theft itself. She had to wonder what kind of people were working on the bomb, and what people would die to keep Roe lee away for this weapon. Did they have families? Where they married to the project? Or where they, like her, afraid of a man like Roe getting his hands on it, and what he would do with it?

They deserved her concern, and even if officer Brackwell thought she was crazy, she had to try something.

[Surreal Brackwell]

Pressing the call end button on the phone Surreal leaned back in her seat the frown deepening. Just what exactly was going on here and why was she encouraging the situation instead of directing the woman to the Police department.

“American...” she uttered realising that this Tessa had said 911. She ran a finger over the screen of the phone and considered calling the department, or at least Lachlan. After the promenade she dreaded taking any risk that might end in another bad situation she didn’t need to relive the past two years of her life again. She’d learnt her lesson she’d been to aggressive, to sure of herself as a woman and as a police officer the implications of that would haunt her for the rest of her life.

Surreal stood taking a light short sleave jacket before leaving the apartment to find her BMW in the underground parking facility.

*****

As a rule Surreal didn’t inhabit bars. Her mother had taught her that bars, clubs, and parties that didn’t require a cocktail dress were tasteless and no place for a lady. She didn’t think poorly of those who went to these venues, but stepping within the doors of such places guilt consumed her and her skin would crawl. Tonight was no exception.

Out in what could best be described as a beer garden that overlooked the bustling streets of Celeste Surreal scoped the various females that stood about drinking in groups. She spotted the woman standing alone overlooking the city. At least she felt this was the right one. With an air of put on confidence to hide her frail inner workings and caution, Surreal approached her straight backed.

“Miss Monroe?” she asked. “We spoke on the phone I am detective Brackwell...”

Surreal looked back over her shoulder and prayed this would be a quick social call. It seemed the woman standing by the railing was drawing attention of the male variety.

[Tessa Monroe]

“Ah, detective Brackwell, pleas have a seat.” Tessa smiled at the women, and motioned toward a near by table that was just out of the way enough that they could talk privately. She pulled out one of the chairs, and took a seat on the other side of the table.

“I truly appreciate you coming out here this time of night. Under the circumstance I didn’t know whom else to call. From what I understand you are a acquaintance of Mr. Von Gibbs.”

She motioned to the bar tender for another diet coke, and slowly took a drink from her glass that was mostly melted ice. Then, she spoke in a soft voice, trying to keep what she was about to say to between the two of them. “I have information on a man named Roe Lee. I believe he is going to make a run for a project currently held in Sterling enterprises. I believe he is after some kind of bomb.”

The waiter came over and Tessa gave him a smile as he sat the drink down. He almost spilled it, and Tessa almost laughed. Then as he walked away, Tessa continued. “I think I might have given him an idea about how to pull it off. We were talking about military transport, and I am afraid I ran at the mouth a bit. He seemed to like the idea of going in by air more then anything else. If Australian law is anything like American law, then this isn’t really enough to file a report about. However I felt it was important to tell someone.”

[Surreal Brackwell]

Surreal could do little else but stare at Tessa Monroe astounded. Was she serious? If everything that Tessa said was backed with hard evidence Surreal had Roe Li she almost smiled.

“A bomb?” Surreal hesitated rubbing her temples. “Miss Monroe I am with the violent crimes unit this is not exactly my area. Even if it was you need to have sound evidence to back up the accusations you are making. Without them there is little I can do.”

Surreal paused watching the waitress approach the table to refresh Tessa’s glass. This was strange and so very sudden. If there truly was a bomb or something underhanded going on should she simply turn her back? If she chose to assist that made her a rogue cop and the thought of that disgusted her. She couldn’t be that type of person.

“Miss Monroe are you telling me not only that you know about this situation but you are aiding and abetting with Mr Li?”

She blinked, surely she’d gotten it wrong. This woman what exactly was she up to?

“You are absolutely right there is nothing I can do about here say. I’m uncertain that I can assist you any further.”

She went to stand and hesitated for a moment. “If you come to find evidence. If what you say is true I advise you to call the police department. I am sorry but I believe my hands are tied.”

[Tessa Monroe]

“I was thinking of something else, detective, if you would hear me out.” she had done thing kind of thing in the past for her father, and while Roe lee was not dumb, she had something going with him. something that she might be able to use.
“I propose becoming an informant on this mater.” She paused to see how that would go over. This was not the kind of bar to have Roe’s type about, so she wasn’t worried about that. This also allowed her to indulge in something else. Protecting the callous little man from him own ambitions.

She had known men like him before, ambitious, self trusting, egomaniacal, and perhaps dangerous, however, what he was planning was going to backfire. Things like this always did, and maybe she could stop it from going really wrong. If she was there, maybe she could mitigate the damage involved. Better to be in jail then dead, after all, you can get out of jail. As far as she knew there was no way to fix dead.

And perhaps, she might understand why she was here. She didn’t know why she lived, and was getting better when so many people that she went into treatment were dead. If she stop this, then maybe it could make sense.

[Surreal Brackwell]

A fine brow shot upward and Surreal crossed her arms over her chest. She wasn’t sure she could here this out. She had endeavours, ones that could be shattered if she went along with what this woman was suggesting. Police commissioner was what she wanted, not fired on the spot.

Surreal held up a finger. “What if becoming an informant gets you killed? Do you have a death wish Miss Monroe Roe Li is an deviant and wicked man. I advise you not to get close to him.”

But she had informants she’d had informants before there was nothing illegal about that. She recalled his crass comments in the car his question about the promenade and she felt somehow violated as though Roe Li had been there watching the entire ordeal, though she knew he had not.

How bad do I want him? she asked herself. The answer was obvious. She needed him to go down so she would never see his smirking face again.
“I cannot make the choice of who you hang around with,” Surreal replied slowly her eyes on the woman trying to delve inside trying to understand why this woman was working this way.

“But now you understand that I have warned you.”

It was as close to yes as she could get. Still she didn’t like this idea at all.

“Be very careful Miss Monroe you will find Mr Li is a very worthy opponent.”