Text Chat
Lodestar: I have a theory
Conor: What kind of a theory?
Lodestar: A working one
Conor: LOL. Okay. If you say so.
Lodestar: Aren’t you going to ask what it is?
Conor: Do you want me to tease it out of you?
Lodestar: Maybe.
Conor: Ha.
Lodestar: Pfft. Seeing as that’s NOT going to happen, do you want to know what it is?
Conor: I don’t have anything better to do right now, so sure.
Lodestar: So welcoming.
Conor: I try.
Lodestar: Have you heard about the hockey player who’s been kidnapped?
Conor: Canadian guy?
Lodestar: Yeah.
Conor: Liam Dougal or something.
Lodestar: Donnghal.
Conor: Makes sense. From the little I’ve read on the subject, it seemed to be a professional job. But, whatever… What about him?
Lodestar: I think he’s not the first.
Conor: To be kidnapped?
Lodestar: Nope.
Conor: What makes you think that?
Lodestar: How truthful do you want me to be?
Conor: Where were you snooping?
Lodestar: Do you really want to know?
Conor: If I say yes, would you tell me?
Lodestar: Wouldn’t waste my time if I didn’t.
Conor: Fair point
Lodestar: Plus, you and me, we’re, you know…
Conor: What?
Lodestar: You know.
Conor: Do I? I think you should spell it out.
Lodestar: Fuck off.
Conor: Lol. /sarcasm But yeah, I know what you mean.
Lodestar: You do?
Conor: Uhhuh
Lodestar: Good.
Conor: Good.
Lodestar: So. Donnghal… You want to know my source or you okay just knowing that I have my facts straight?
Conor: You’ll tell me when you’re ready?
Lodestar: I will.
Conor: Okay, so, what about Donegal.
Lodestar: DONNGHAL. Jesus. You don’t watch hockey, huh?
Conor: Do you?
Lodestar: Of course.
Conor: I’ll watch it with you.
Lodestar: You will?
Conor: Yeah.
Lodestar: Okay, well, that’s a date, then.
Conor: Sure.
Lodestar: So I think this is a kidnapping ring.
Conor: Think? You wouldn’t approach me if it was just a ‘think.’ You need to start remembering that it’s straight from God’s lips to my ears when I’m dealing with you, Star.
Conor: Go on then. What do you KNOW?
Lodestar: Maybe I would.
Conor: Maybe you would, what?
Lodestar: ‘Think.’ You know, not have concrete facts when I approach you. That a problem?
Conor: No. Not at all.
Lodestar: Really?
Conor: I’d like to be your sounding board more often.
Lodestar: Huh. Okay. You want me to be your sounding board?
Conor: You usually are.
Lodestar: Not always.
Conor: No. But only because sometimes I don’t want you to get involved.
Lodestar: Like with the guy who set up your ma?
Conor: Yeah.
Lodestar: You know I’d have helped, right? That’s not your scene…
Conor: You won’t like why I didn’t tell you.
Lodestar: Go on.
Conor: I didn’t want you to get your hands dirty.
Lodestar: My hands are a lot dirtier than that.
Conor: Doesn’t mean I don’t want to stop you from having to do that kind of stuff.
Lodestar: Why?
Conor: God knows.
Lodestar: Bull.
Conor: I’ve been reading Austen.
Lodestar: As in Jane?
Conor: As in Jane.
Lodestar: Why?
Conor: Why not?
Lodestar: They don’t fuck in those books, do they?
Conor: Lol. If they did, I missed those scenes.
Lodestar: I’ll bet you did.
Conor: I think they’d have been a lot more popular if Darcy dicked Elizabeth down in Pemberley.
Lodestar: I’ll bet. Okay, so what does Darcy have to do with you trying to keep me out of wet work?
Conor: Does it really matter?
Lodestar: Uh, yeah? I’m not Elizabeth Bennet, Conor. I don’t need to be looked after.
Conor: Neither do I.
Lodestar: Okaaaay.
Conor: That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like it.
Lodestar: To be looked after?
Conor: Yeah. Wouldn’t you like that?
Lodestar: I haven’t thought about it.
Conor: Because you haven’t been with someone who’ll wrangle that from you.
Lodestar: I don’t like having control ‘wrangled’ from me.
Conor: It isn’t a sexual thing.
Lodestar: Isn’t it?
Conor: No.
Lodestar: What is it then?
Conor: It’s a caring thing.
Lodestar: Oh.
Conor: Oh?
Lodestar: Oh.
Conor: Informative. Anyway, go ahead with the theory. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.
Lodestar: You usually do.
Conor: I do? Damn, I’m sorry.
Lodestar: Not in a bad way.
Conor: Uncomfortable in a good way?
Lodestar: Sort of.
Conor: I’m glad?
Lodestar: Yeah, figured you might be.
Conor: There’s something you’re not telling me about this Doodle guy.
Lodestar: I’m a great shot.
Conor: Not sure you could hit me from New Jersey, but sure, you keep telling yourself that. You were saying…
Lodestar: Maverick’s been developing this pretty nifty worm and I might have appropriated it for my own use.
Conor: Lol, can I appropriate it too?
Lodestar: Once I’ve tested its limits.
Conor: Tease
Lodestar: You know it. :P
Conor: Okay, so what have you uncovered?
Lodestar: This kidnapping ring… it’s been going on for years. All around the country. In and out like a shadow, and each and every time, no matter the target, they never get caught by the cops.
Conor: Maybe they have gotten caught, but it’s by a Sparrow affiliate?
Lodestar: You could be right.
Conor: Interesting.
Lodestar: Not if you’ve been kidnapped.
Conor: Shit. I didn’t mean it like that.
Lodestar: No, sorry. It’s had me on edge.
Conor: I understand. I didn’t mean to be dismissive.
Lodestar: You weren’t. I’m just touchy.
Conor: Honestly, it’s understandable. How can I help?
Lodestar: I don’t know if you can. I just needed to talk with someone who wouldn’t judge me.
Conor: I’ll never judge you.
Lodestar: I know. Thank you. <3
Conor: You’re welcome. <3
Lodestar: It’s hard because they take kids too. That’s not common with this level of professionalism. Kids are… Well, it’s messier than with adults. I don’t like it.
Conor: Jesus, they seriously snatch kids?
Lodestar: They have one now.
Conor: Fuckers.
Lodestar: Yeah. I didn’t know I was getting into this. It’s more than I anticipated.
Conor: What did you anticipate?
Lodestar: A favor owed.
Conor: Lol, the best laid plans oft go awry.
Lodestar: They do where I’m concerned.
Conor: Who’d owe you?
Lodestar: That’s what you won’t like.
Conor: Who?
Lodestar: Sicilians.
Conor: Nah, they’re okay. We’re allies. You going to tell them about the kidnapping ring?
Lodestar: Don’t have much alternative.
Conor: You sure you don’t need help with anything?
Lodestar: I uncovered some information that I don’t know what to do with.
Conor: Because of Maverick’s worm?
Lodestar: Yeah.
Conor: I’m here, Star.
Lodestar: Yeah. You are. I should just get on with stuff. Stop wasting time. But you know as well as I do that the truth hurts.
Conor: It does. What’s hurting in particular?
Lodestar: The ringleader had a whole fucking folder on the bastards he hired over the years. I recognize a name.
Conor: Shit. Who?
Lodestar: You won’t know her.
Conor: So?
Lodestar: Scarlet O’Shea.
Conor: I DO know that name.
Lodestar: You do?
Conor: Yeah. Gimme a minute to remember why.
**Fifty-nine seconds later**
Lodestar: You’re aware that you don’t have to remember, right? I KNOW who she is.
Conor: I might know something you don’t.
Lodestar: True. You had your minute. How do you know her name then?
Conor: Declan’s boy, Shay, saw her being murdered by the last Don—Benito Fieri.
Lodestar: Yeah. I know why too.
Conor: Why?
Lodestar: They were going to kidnap Lily Lancaster.
Conor: Interesting. They didn’t succeed?
Lodestar: Not as far as I know. It’s not like I can ask.
Conor: You probably could.
Lodestar: I won’t. Anyway, Fieri’s punishment was kinda random IMO. Why hit the monkey when the organ grinder’s still out there?
Conor: Maybe he thought she was the organ grinder?
Lodestar: Maybe.
Conor: How do you know Scarlet O’Shea? She’s been dead for years, after all.
Lodestar: She’s a Sinners’ brat. Sister of Storm. He’s the Prez down in the Ohio Chapter.
Conor: You going to tell the Sinners?
Lodestar: Not sure if it’s important enough to share, but I needed to tell someone.
Conor: I get it.
Lodestar: Everyone’s dead now. Not sure we’ll ever know what really happened.
Conor: Apart from Lily. She’s not dead.
Lodestar: No shit. Anyway, you know what I mean.
Conor: I do. Lily might know something. You should talk with her.
Lodestar: She was a kid. She’d have been a nice gravy train for a kidnapping ring as prolific as this one.
Conor: Do you want to call?
Lodestar: Not really.
Conor: Not to talk. Just to, you know, connect? I have shit to do; you have shit to do. We can get that done and carry on with our work.
Lodestar: Actually, that sounds really nice.
Conor: Two mins and I’ll phone.
Lodestar: Thank you <3