Monkey Business

[Enver Marshall II]

Reyes Aguilar.

Enver rubbed at his jaw as he paced the hardwood floor of his home. The guy was hard as hell to track down and after the third night of surveying the city, Enver was growing frustrated. The guy was creeping around stealing blood off Lelantos while she was sleeping. The guy pissed him off more than the guy that watched porno's on Lel's computer all damn night and day.

It was during his conversation with Lel tonight that Enver realized he didn't give Hannah a copy of the picture of the guy so she could help scout. It was also during this conversation that he came up with a plan of action. He just hoped Hannah agreed to it, or he'd have to think of a new way to track this guy down. After Enver helped Lel clean up the kitchen for the dinner she had tried to make him, he sent Hannah a text on her phone and asked him to meet her where he was now.

"Heya Enver." Hannah smiled as she climbed the stairs to his second floor and claimed her usual spot on his couch whenever she was here. Enver stopped pacing and looked at the wet bar to the right of him before he cleared his throat. "Hannah." Enver poured himself a whiskey malt as he rubbed at his jaw with the other hand. Hannah produced a small notebook, a pen, some sticky notes and then her pink cell phone. To say the woman wasn't organized or a bit of a perfectionist was an understatement. He chuckled a little and shook his head before he sat across from her and put his feet up on the table between them. "I'm wondering if you can help me with a problem." Hannah sat up taller when she heard him asking for her help. She wasn't sure what to make of it. He didn't even ask her for help when he hadn't moved from the couch for almost a week in his man cave. She had to give him some of her blood to make sure the guy didn't keel over and die. She wasn't sure what would happen if he didn't have blood in him, but Hannah didn't want to think about it because she didn't know what would happen to her.

He watched her, taking a sip of the dark colored malt before he spoke again. "There's this guy. He's been creeping on Lelantos. The blond you met a couple weeks ago?" He asked, not looking for a reply, but re-jogging her memory. "Oh, right." Hannah nodded her head and opened her notebook and grabbed the pen. She wrote Lelantos's name on the top of the page, crossed her legs under her and stared at Enver. "I have a picture of him." Enver pulled out his Droid and passed it over to the blond haired woman. "His name is Reyes Aguilar. And he's been putting his paws all over Lel." Enver cleared his throat after he nodded. He waited for Hannah to finish taking her notes before he continued.

"I don't know where he hangs out at, but I can't get into every place. You can though. I was hoping you could try and track him down and befriend him. Gain his trust. That means I can't have you hanging around here a lot. He might know who I am and it'll trace you back to me eventually." Enver polished off his drink, then put the heavy crystal glass down on the table. "I'll put you up at the hotel in the city for a while. You'll be looked after still. Think you can do it Hans?" He looked at her then, sitting forward himself.

Hannah bit on the end of her pen as she thought about it. "Your idea sounds lovely in theory, but he's one guy of thousands, Enver." Hannah began to use her logical sense of reasoning as she played with the idea. "I can't promise to do anything, but I can try to do it and hope for the best results. Like anything. Promises are not an absolute Enver. They are good intentions which have improbable results. A lot." He almost frowned then, but cleared his throat instead. "You're right. But I can't do anything and you're the only variable that could absolutely solve this problem Hannah." Enver flashed her a grin, hoping he'd win her with her own logic thrown back at her. "Tell you what I'll do. I'll keep an eye out on the campus and library and any place you think he might be at when you text me. If I find him some night, then I'll try and befriend him. But it's not like I have a lot of people knocking on my door trying to be my friend." She smiled a little, then gave him his phone back.

"That's good enough for me, Hans. I booked you a room at the hotel near the college in preparation for you agreeing to do this." He stood, grabbed the printed reservation from the computer and fished out a couple hundred dollars from his wallet. "For food and whatever else you need." He stuffed the bills in her fingers after she stood and closed her small notebook. "Hannah?" Enver cleared his throat and looked her in the eyes as he stood there thinking of what to say. "I'll be careful Enver. The guy doesn't even know I exist yet or that I'm looking for him. It's highly improbable that he will either." She gathered the rest of her things, then waved him a quick goodbye with her fingertips. Enver went back to his computer and continued to search for everything he could on this Reyes Aguilar.

[Enver Marshall II]

Velveteen.

He met her officially last night for the first time with Lel. It was an awkward meeting at first, but the meeting seemed to grow lighter as the conversation became lighter and lighter. Still, didn't mean he wanted to be left alone in the room with that lady. She killed or helped kill a lot of people for their mistakes. Then there was the fact they had, what Enver described as different political views.

Enver moved over to the wet bar, grabbed a small crystal glass and poured himself some whiskey in it. He paced in the room, sipping down the drink as he thought about the meeting, when Velveteen threatened him during the meeting, then the time she threatened him when he was with Echo and then when she shot him. She was someone he needed to keep an eye on.

Enver sent Hannah a text, asking her to meet him at the theatre. Twenty minutes later she replied and changed the location because she was supposed to not know him. He polished off the drink, grabbed his hat, pocketed his phone, cigarettes and keys, then headed to meet her at the Met. It was casual enough, could be two people meeting randomly for the first time in a club.

He spotted her sitting in a booth by herself with a a beer. Enver ordered the same for himself, scooted in to the seat across from her and put his hat down on the booth beside him. "Heya." Hannah looked around as she greeted him, then sat back in the booth. "Evening Hannah. Any luck on finding Reyes?" Enver cut right to the chase because he had a lot of things that needed to be taken care of tonight. She shook her head and sighed. "Sorry Enver. He's not been on campus or the library." Enver nodded, and rubbed at his chin. "He hasn't been back to bug Lel in a couple nights, so maybe he got smart. We'll set him aside for now and see what happens in the next couple nights." Enver passed the waitress some cash for the beer and her tip before going back to their conversation. "Good, because I've got a lot of assignments due for this bio-chem class I'm taking this summer."

He cleared his throat, adjusted his tie, then leaned forward after giving the place a quick eye. "I know. Which is why I don't bug you much. I know how important school is to you." Enver nodded, leaned forward, still thinking before he talked again. "I was hoping you could keep an eye open for this lady." Enver fished out his phone and showed off the picture he got from a friend of Velveteen "Another tracking job?" Hannah put the beer down as he eyes slanted in anger, thinking he ignored everything she said. "No. Not tracking her. Just noticing if you see her hanging around the theatre or Lel's place when you stop by to feed the fish. Just until I can get a guard dog, some security or something." Enver sat back, ran a hand through his hair, then sighed. "Look, Hans. It's not a long term thing. But the lady doesn't like me." He looked around, then lowered his voice. "She's known to kill a lot of people that she doesn't like under some ******** lie she's been brainwashed with due to fear." Enver grabbed out his cigarettes, put one between his lips, then lit it. "I just need an extra set of eyes to watch my back. That's all." Enver polished off the beer, put an arm on the rest of the booth and looked at her.

"Alright. I'll keep an eye out for her when I'm at the theatre and Lelantos's place. Nothing more. I don't have time to be playing Nancy Drew for you, Enver." He chuckled and shook his head. "That's all. I don't want to be digging blades or bullets out of my back any time soon, Hans." He stood, buttoned his suit coat, then put a few bills on the table. "Enjoy your evening, Hans." Enver scooped up his hat and tipped it at her before heading back to the theatre to research security systems.

[Enver Marshall II]

There was a plan brewing in his head. This plan stemmed from a couple things the past few weeks. All of it led to a great distance between him and his wife. The woman he was bound to forever. And it bothered him more than he would admit.

"I need you to do something for me." Enver spoke to his secretary after clearing his throat. "Take these." He handed her a stack of files. Data he had gathered over his time as a vampire. No more people were going to die because of this Fae Crow creature. Not if he could help it.

"Inside are various locations. Homes, clubs, cafes...anywhere I've seen these people at. I want you to follow them and report back to me anything that you think might be strange. Not something you or I would do. Be thorough. Dates, times, districts and activities. And then I think it's time we were honest with the other, Hannah."

She started rambling on about the time she took the last of his creamer for her own use, the one time she forgot to lock up, and please don't fire her. He batted all that away with a swipe of his hand in the air. "You aren't getting fired." Truth was Enver was fond of Hannah. She never let him down, was thorough and was pleasant to work with. Maybe he even loved his thrall. He scoffed at the idea, certain he needed his coffee to get thinking straight. "I'll catch you later tonight. Try and catch the top person there. It's important."

He sent her on her way, then started making a spreadsheet. He was going to save lives.