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Gastel wrote: Are there many hospitals in the city?
The LA County hospital is the main one, alongside a bunch of nuthouses and rehab places for veterans.
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Gastel Etswane
Spain
Peterborough
Ontario
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"Vince, let's head down to the hospital. Aggie, you think of any friends who might be able to get us some information on a recent car crash and death of a wealthy man."
Ralph picks out his revolver from the desk and checks to make sure its loaded.
Ralph heads out to the street, looking up and down before heading to his car. Waiting for Vince to join him, they drive to the local hospital.
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Vince had his own gun, always loaded.
"Sure 'ting boss. We gonna bodder wit the police report?"
He got in the driver's side. Vince always drove, usually because Ralph wasn't always in shape to drive.
"So whad ya think of the broad boss. She wouldn't pay us if she had something to do with it. Right? So what ya thinkin'?"
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Gastel Etswane
Spain
Peterborough
Ontario
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"I think you're right Vince. She's in deep in this one. Maybe too deep for her own good.
I think we're in deep now too. I think the hospital is going to be very informative, but we just might need your special kind of persuasion."
Ralph liked to remind Vince that he was a useful part of the information gathering process. Ralph was also worried about the size of the bills and wanted to break them down quickly and discreetly.
"Vince, you know anyone who can handle a change of $500 for a reasonable price? Someone you trust?"
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"Yeah sure boss. You think they might be fakes? Good looking dame like that wouldn't do that would she?"
As tough a guy as Vince was, he was a pushover for dames. He trusted them all.
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Gastel Etswane
Spain
Peterborough
Ontario
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The hospital was a good one, but Ralph knew all the cracks. He was always in the area in his line of work and had got to know many of the nurses. Some of them better than others.
He approached a fairly fetching example of the opposite sex that was know to say 'yes' and even mean it. Her name was Lauren.
"Lauren, how you doin, teuts"
How do you spell that?
"My partner and I are looking for some information about a car accident patient by the name of McCoy."
Ralph was hoping that Vince would stay in the background, but the mook had come right in for a good look.
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Toots
He had come in close enough to check out the nurses, but he backed off when Ralph gave him a look, never getting up to the woman's face.
He backed up against a wall, trying miserably to look non-chalant. The problem with a guy like Vince is that he was about as subtle as the proverbial bull in a china shop. It was a good thing Ralph wasn't in any immediate danger, since Vince's eyes took in just about everything, well everyone in a nurses outfit that strode past him.
Eventually he focused, trying to decide if Ralph was getting anywhere with the nurse.
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"Ralphie! I didn't expect to see you around. How come you never take me out no more?"
She winks playfully at Ralph.
"I'd love to help you out, but the guy's kicked the bucket already. I don't think he'd be much help in an interview right now."
Toots is the spelling.
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Vince checks out Lauren real good. She seems to be playing it straight with Ralph, but maybe she's also angling for dinner and a dance on Ralph's dime.
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Ralph could use a little action so Vince is happy for him. Of course he'd be even happier if Lauren had a younger sister or cousin.
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Gastel Etswane
Spain
Peterborough
Ontario
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"Yeah, real tragedy about McCoy, I'm working for an insurance adjuster who wants to cross his t's and dot his i's. You know how it is with these pencil pushers. If I could peruse the hospital file, I could cut a lot of red tape and this thing could be sewn up by tomorrow.
And about dinner, I'm free this evening. I've got a huge appetite and I could use some dinner too. Why don't you meet me at Eddie's on Venice around 8pm, I've been dying to see ya.
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Make a Cunning Generosity roll to see if Ralph's offer of a fancy meal is enough to make Lauren bend the rules.
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Gastel Etswane
Spain
Peterborough
Ontario
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3d10 + 1d10 4d10 = (8 + 1 + 5 + 8) = 22
8, 1, 5, 8
A ROLL! Woo Hoo! Read em' and weep!
Ralph roll's the dice on this gambit with Lauren, hoping that she will hand over the information.
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2x8, nice!
"Awright Ralphie... throw in a martini before dinner and you got yourself a date. Come out back here and I'll let you peek at the file."
She leads you to the nurses' office, where she opens a filing cabinet labelled DECEASED and pulls out a manilla file.
"Here it is. McCoy comma Nicholas, age 57."
The file is full of medical jargon and medical handwriting, but Lauren seems happy to play interpreter.
"Says here the guy died of internal bleeding from the crash. Broken bones, lacerations, all the usual. No alcohol in the bloodstream, but he had a pretty high level of chlordiazepoxide. I dunno what that is... it must be new."
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Gastel Etswane
Spain
Peterborough
Ontario
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Ralph doesn't trust his memory, so he writes the name of the drug quickly into his notepad.
"Lauren, you sure are a hell of a woman. Martinis it is at 8:00, I'll see you then." Ralph gives her a wink and puts away his notepad and leaves with Vince.
"Vince, we need to head to a good pharmacy and I don't care if it is a legal one."
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While Ralph went back with the nurse to get information he assumed, he kept watch. If anyone else tried to go back where they'd gone, he would have delayed them. He spent most of the time watching nurse after nurse walk by.
*It's like freakin' Candyland here with these broads parading by* he thought.
When Ralph came out, the smile told him that his boss had gotten lucky one way or another. His demand surprised him, but he just nodded and headed back for the car.
"I know dis guy. Doc Tambellini. Good guy, knows how to keep quiet. I helped him once, kept some punk he didn't like away from his daughter Christina. So he'll help us."
The place they were heading to was only a 5 minute drive away.
Never sure how far to take a post since you might want to have something happen along the way so I'll stop here for now.
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Gastel Etswane
Spain
Peterborough
Ontario
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I'm assuming that if we overstep our bounds, we'll just have to edit and restart. Just the nature of the PBF beast.
Ralph remebers Tambellini and Vince's relationship with him. That had been around when they had met. The punk had turned out to be part of a syndicate and Vince had gotten in over his head, a feat considering the guy could benchpress a small car. Ralph had used his charm, creativity and eventually his loose understanding of the moral code to help Vince out of the situation and they had been friends ever since.
"Great, Tambellini is the guy we need. You're right. I think you should talk with him as you ultimately saved Chris from those punks. We need to know what this drug is for and how readily available it is." Ralph gives Vince the paper with the drug name on it and pronounces it a few times in a casual way so that Vince might have a chance when talking with the doc.
"I'll tell you, I wouldn't be surprised if this drug is hard to get, new and highly intoxicating or worse. I think we're getting into something big here. You ready for this? I've never forced you to go down this road, and you can always back out if you want."
Ralph was sure that Vince would stay, but he wanted to Vince to know that he respected his decision to stay and didn't expect it. They were partners not employee and employer. It also helped to keep the human meat-grinder happy and loyal.
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The big guy shook his head immediately, looking kind of pissed off that Ralph would question his loyalty.
"Ain't backing out on ya boss. Not ever. I hear ya say, you're taking out that nurse? Looked like a win-win situation to me." he added with a smile.
"Tell ya what boss. Why not drop me off down by the docs place and you take the care to go back to the office and get ready for your squeeze. Ain't too far from my place. I'll call ya after I hear what the doc says. Probably best if I go see him alone anyways. Ya know how squirrely he can be."
Want to assume, Ralph lives above his office?
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Gastel Etswane
Spain
Peterborough
Ontario
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Vince arrives near the doc's office. Ralph takes the wheel and gets the jalopy back to the office.
He heads to the office looking for Ag, hoping that she had some luck finding out about the insurance policy, but not holding his hopes up to high. Ag was the perfect clerk for the office, pretty, polite and most importantly with low enough standards that she looked the other way when Ralph needed to live outside the law.
Ralph did not go to the office first however, he decided instead that he deserved a drink to calm himself down after the start to the morning. He knew that there was a bottle in his desk, but his mind had been set on martinis since Lauren had brought them up at the hospital. It was pathetic really, how easily his mind became focused on liquor. He had never found any answers at the bottom of a bottle, only problems. Somehow though, Ralph was certain that if he kept looking, he might find the answer to it all. He entered his room and went to the kitchen to fix himself a martini so dry that the Sahara would look like a tropical jungle in comparison.
His mind was focused on Vince and his discussions with the doc. He knew it was right for them to see each other alone. That relationship had so much sub-text that even a silent room was filled with conversation. Ralph planned to down a couple of martinis and then go look in on Ag.
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Vince got out, leaving the door open and the engine running for Ralph. With the note with the drug written on it, he opened the door to doc's clinic.
He made his way to the front desk where he was greeted by Marci, doc's receptionist. He knew she had a gun under the counter, but nobody would ever see it since it was hard not to notice the deep canyon between Marci's tits.
"Hey Doll, you're looking good enough to eat." he began with a smile.
"The doc in. I got some business I need to see him about. Won't take no time."
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Marci looks up from filing her nails.
"Sure Vince, go right on in. You ain't been shot again I hope?"
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"Doll, you know better than that. I do the shooting, I don't get shot. But if you want later, you can check me out to see for yerself."
They both knew that wasn't always true, but it was most of the time.
He patted the counter.
"Thanks Marci. You'se good people."
He headed back to the doc, closing the door behind him.
"Good to see ya doc. How's Christina? She doing good in school I hope."
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Gastel Etswane
Spain
Peterborough
Ontario
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Ralph took $200 and placed it in his hidden safe. The safe was hidden behind a tile in his kitchen wall and he had used this on more than one occassion to keep some loot from a job. When he opened the safe, he saw a bottle of whisky from Stan down on Skip's Lane. He surprised himself by not taking it, afterall the anticipation of martini's was already in his system. Ralph tucked the $200 away and closed the safe. Then Ralph made himself a pitcher of very dry martinis and plopped onto his worn fabric highback chair, bringing his feet onto the coffee table. The first martini evaporated before his eyes, and the second followed suit. He was halfway through his third when he realized that he wanted to see Aggie about the insurance. Repulsed with himself, he slammed his glass onto the table sloshing the contents, but not spilling as there was little left.
"This habit is kicking me hard," Ralph slurred to himself and headed out the door reeking of alcohol.
He headed down to the office to see Aggie and get an update. He planned not to stand too close to her, to avoid her smelling his shame. But he already knew that he was about as subtle as an earthquake when it came to hiding his drinking.
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Tambellini greets Vince warmly.
"Vincenzo! What can I do you for? You ain't been shot again, har har."
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He held up his arms, smiling.
"Not this time doc. Me and Ralph need some help on a case actually and you're just the man we need."
He handed the doc the paper.
"Can you tell us what this drug is and what it can do to a man?"
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