Jon Loyalham
Loyalham was in a meeting with Jed Hackaway. They sat at a table.
They were in some sort of empty bar. A third party stood in the background, as if guarding the door. A large oversized man in a leather coat with a tough looking face slung a shotgun over his shoulder, it was Bill Sherman.
"He got York then?" Jon said grimly.
"Yup," Jed said, tipping his fedora slightly. "They found him beat and battered in his home by a shovel. It wasn't pretty. You found Mike yet?"
Loyalham shook his head.
"What's the world coming to eh Jon?" Jed said. "Alan was a good soldier. This is a tad unsettling."
Loyalham decided it was best to just focus on the task at hand. He pulled out a map.
"I have it all marked out," Loyalham said, referring to the map. Jed leaned over as well.
"I have the Blue Hills PD searching for him as a murder suspect as well," Loyalham said.
"The... the police?" Jed asked, wide-eyed.
"Why not," Loyalham said. "It will increase the likelihood he's found. They can arrest him on some bogus charges, won't stick but who cares. The point is to increase the pairs of eyeballs looking for him. I'm using ALL CONTACTS, this takes priority. Any whisper of his whereabouts and we'll know. Now I've got my crews searching for the western and southern half. You said you'd take the north and east?"
"Yes," Jed said. "With that kind of manpower, he'll be found. But where do you think he's hiding?"
"At this point, he could be anywhere," Loyalham said. "We have to assume that this is the work of a professional. He's ex special forces after all. However, we'll find him, and when we do, we'll have the numbers to clip him."
"Let's hope he doesn't do too much damage until then," Jed said. "I'll have my men looking all day. This takes priority."
Loyalham took a deep swig of the liquor. Then he said darkly:
"We've created a dangerous enemy Jed."
"He's just one man," Jed replied uneasily. "We have a whole army."
"Yes, but there's nothing more dangerous than one lone nutter motivated by revenge... with nothing to lose. He's unhinged but methodical."
"Oh PLEASE Jon," Jed said, a psychotic smile on his face. "He WANTS to die. He's BEGGING to be set free, he LONGS to be killed. He CRAVES the embrace of death. So LET'S HELP HIM!"
...
Gary Steel
It had been a long day of physical searching and following dead end leads. Following Jed's orders, the whole gang had to travel around in groups of two or more. Using Loyalham and Jed's systematic approach, the Violet Cloth Army was tearing the entire town apart but they found nothing.
Gary got the chills as he considered what happened to Alan York. He couldn't believe Alan was gone, he had always seemed so dependable.
Gary was sad and upset about Alan but his thoughts throughout the day were largely focused on his wife and daughter. They weren't here last night; they've only returned mid-day from a weekend trip out of town.
You stupid woman I've been telling you to get a cell phone for God's sake.
Gary was already out searching so he had to leave a few messages on the home phone. They weren't returned. Gary's message told his wife Susan to take little Annabelle and move to St. Quentin. She didn't reply but hopefully she had started packing as instructed.
It was a busy day of searching and interrogations so Gary didn't have time to follow up on it. It was almost night again and Gary was getting increasingly concerned. No one else seemed to want to stop searching, Alan York was a popular gangster and it seemed that people wanted to avenge him. Gary himself would have wanted to but he was worried about his family at home. Wilson had already attacked two homes.
"Guys," he said, finally insisting. "I want to check up on my family. Make sure they're safe."
Jed wasn't too happy about this. "Do you want to avenge Alan York or not?"
Next to Jed, Bill Sherman glared at Gary.
Gary was a bit nervous. "Y... yes of course but... but I want to get them out of the way. I told them to move out of town, I want to make sure they've begun packing."
Jed shook his head. "Al... alright then go to your folks and settle it," the fedora-wearing gangster said as he spit out a ball of spit. "Go. Come back at 8 PM in Western Pizza. We got no time to lose. This vampire is going to strike again when the light is down. You want Sherman to come with you?"
"Nah," Gary said. "I can take care of myself. You need every person for the search. I'll make it quick cap, I'll just get them on their way, then I'll be back."
"Go Gary," Jed said. "I'll be seeing you later."
About twenty minutes later...
Gary Steel was inside his home, and the drama had started.
"I don't get what's hard about this Su," Gary said, irritated. "You and Annabelle aren't safe here anymore, so you need to move to St. Quentin for now. It's NOTHING permanent."
Susan, a tall brown-haired woman turned around to face Gary, she was upset... very upset.
"You... you always do this!"
"Do... do what?"
"You're NEVER here all day. Then you suddenly show up and tell us we have to move. And the last time it was because-"
Gary couldn't believe it, he raised volumes. "HEY CAN WE NOT DO THIS NOW?!"
I'm doing all of this for you Susan don't you know?
Susan crossed her arms. She was furious.
"What's going on then?" Susan asked nervously.
"I can't tell you and its best that you don't know," Gary said.
"Is someone coming to kill you?"
"I can't say."
"Gary, if this concerns Annabelle and I then I think we have right-"
"JUST SHUT THE HELL UP AND START PACKING!"
"Don't you use that tone on me!"
At that inconvenient moment, 8-year old Anabelle emerged from the top of the stairs. "Mom... Dad? What's... what's going on?"
Gary and Susan turned around and looked upwards.
"It's nothing dear," Susan said as she walked up the stairs. "Daddy and I are discussing..."
Gary followed them up the stairs.
"Listen, I'm not joking, hurry up with the packing. You need to be out of this house. It ain't safe."
