Starring:
Also Starring:
Jerry Dorsey
Summary: Meryl and Nova decide to head down to the beach for awhile. But they don't know that they're being watched…
Date It Happened: 18 OCTOBER 2008
Finish the Job
Cairns, Australia
Several days of searching has turned up little, but not nothing. That's the important part. Meryl didn't anticipate he'd be easy to locate, though… One has to ask the right questions and to the right people. Their Company watchdog, Sawyer, alone in one of the rooms on the floor, has even been a little help now and then. One has to enjoy a babysitter assignment when it's in Australia, after all, and better than that — the weather's been nice and warm, and for the rooms on one side of the hall, the beach can be seen from the windows.
Meryl's looking out one of the windows now. It's almost seven at night, she's hot, she's tired, and she's through looking for Dorsey today. She has notes spread out on her bed - a combination of scrap sheets of paper, napkins, and even colouring book pages, but she's ignoring them now. Instead, she's wearing her bathing suit, covered up by a white terrycloth robe. Yes, she's fighting between Doing More Work and taking a quick swim. Really, what could it hurt?
—-
Yet another lead that went no where. But hey, at least it's nice to be back, where the weather is sane. And there's still time. All the same, it's frustrating, the amount of dead ends one can run into. Nova knocks on the door before trying the handle— unlocked, glorious— and walking in, dressed in skinny jeans and a tank top and looking for all the world like a very normal Australian woman, even if the boots she wears gives her an unneeded inch of added height. "Agent Wolfe," she greets, stoicly, pushing her hair behind her ears as she enters the room, hands then returning behind her back in an almost militaristic pose.
—-
Meryl looks over her shoulder, arching an eyebrow as Nova totally misses the whole point of looking out a window and down at the beach. SERIOUSLY NOVA. Try smiling. "You are such a goof," is the return greeting. "Look at them out there, Nova. Everyone's having fun. I want to go play Dodge-the-Box-Jellyfish, too! And Marco-Polo with the sharks." And she goes back to staring out the window. "I don't think I can honestly get anything done tomorrow if I don't at least head down to the beach for an hour, and neither can you. Go get a swimsuit on." 'Cuz when it comes to fun, MERYL is the team leader! …Or something. All work and no play makes Meryl insufferable? No, that's not quite it. "Oh, I got a tattoo!"
—-
Nova glances out the window, then back at Meryl, a slight line deepening between her eyes. "With all due respect, Agent, I'm concerned that one thing will lead to a next and a very important mission will turn into a vacation," she says. "We've made no progress on the target's location— you got a tattoo?" She hesitates, breaking her Stoic Policewoman vibe for a moment as she goes, "What, here?"
—-
Meryl lifts up her wrist to look at her watch. She's not wearing a watch. "According to this, I went off-duty fifteen minutes ago. Really, Nova, there's no one here who wants to catch this guy more than I do. But— !" She points out the window, and manages to mke a damn good argument while saying nothing at all! "You want us to burn out completely? And who knows? We might find something. You know, on the beach. While building sandcastles." Her short attention span is showing. But it looks like she has been working, at least.
Notes about contacted Australian Company agents lay across the bed in a surprisingly neat order. "According to this, he managed to throw people off his trail, despite the fact that he's ruddy tagged," she complains, pointing at her spreadsheet. "It's enough to drive anyone up a tree."
Why not clear their head? Take a cool swim?
The frustration turns to a smile, though. "T'ch. Here? No way. I wouldn't be asking for a swim in saltwater if that were the case. Ouch." Peeling back the shoulder of her robe, she shows off the purple kangaroo. "Had some kid draw it for me. Pretty good, huh?"
—-
Well it's a kangaroo, in purple, tattooed permanently onto the woman's body. Nova blinks at it, then leans just a little so she can inspect it properly. Considering the silliness, it's actually pretty cool. "Pretty good," she repeats, agreeably. Then, she casts a look towards all that work laid out, and rolls her shoulders in contemplation, a hand hooking into the pocket of her jeans. "I can stand a trip to the beach." She can just do laps and feel like she's working out at least a little. After working on her tan.
—-
"I'm glad you agree. I was dragging you along whether or not you wanted to go. Anyway, I've already laid your suit out for you on your bed, to facilitate faster… uh. Ready-ness." Pulling the robe back over her shoulder, Meryl reaches out to take Nova's shoulders and turn her around toward the door, pushing her out toward her own room. Work put aside for now, they will have an excellent time relaxing in the sand, and perhaps they can drag Megan and Ben down along with them.
"They're kinda in over their head, don't you think?"
The man doesn't answer, reaching down instead to rub his leg, just below the knee. It still pains him, even all these years later… But he had to expect that this was coming eventually. After all, he could only run from the Company for as long as he stayed off the radar, and… Well. He certainly hasn't been off the radar lately.
"We could leave town, lay low for awhile. They can't stay here forever."
It's a good plan, he thinks to himself, but there's one thing that Jerry Dorsey can't stand for, and that's the one who got away. That's either the biggest mistake or the biggest boon the Company has going for them now. They sent Amanda Cline along as part of the team, which both ties Jerry to his post in Cairns and ensures that he will, indeed, go after her. "Nah, I think I'll stay."
"They'll find you eventually." The other man leans forward on the table. "And you know I'm out, if that's the case. I still have family to take care of, Jerry. I know I can't— "
"Don't worry about it." He looks toward the beach, where two women are standing near the edge of the water. One of them, he vaguely recognises. It's been years, though, and he wouldn't have known who Amanda was if it hadn't been pointed out to him. "You got names and stuff, Joe? Pictures?"
Joe hands over a folder. "Yeah. She goes by 'Meryl' now. The info on the others is in there, too… What I could gather, anyway. It's not a lot, but they made one mistake, and we got a lucky break. I don't know what you did to her head, Jerry, but she's a loon."
He looks through the photos and the names. Nova. Benjamin. Megan. The latter two have The Curse, as he calls it… Not so much an ability as a death sentence. At least they figured out how to get around things a bit. "Pretty girl," he muses. Looking through them, he tries to figure out the weakest link, to fragment them, take them out one at a time. Benjamin and Megan have unique talents that could aid them, and Meryl's already evaded him once, and so he puts his finger down on Nova's picture. "Her. It'll be her." Demoralise the troops, take out one of their own, and hey, they're all one step closer to finishing the job. "What about the other guy?"
"He won't be a problem."
"You're sure?"
"Yeah."
Jerry holds out his hand to shake Joe's. The two of them have been friends forever… One of the few people Jerry will actually trust. "Well, my friend. Take your family and get somewhere safe. You know how to reach me." Releasing the other man's hand, he places all the pictures back into the folder, and tucks the whole thing under his arm, before walking off to do some research of his own.