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Status
"You seen your dad in a while?"
It's dark in Discovery Park. Dark enough for Cross to dispense with any illusion of life. Dark enough that the young man walking beside him won't be able to tell the difference. Instead, he uses the Blood to close any wounds he's still nursing from his encounter with the Brood.
"No--not in like six months," Grant answers. The guilt thick in his voice.
"I was down there recently," Cross answers. "Saw him, talked a bit. He's not looking good, Grant." The first part is true: he'd been in LA. The second part isn't, the Burned Man hadn't even called his old partner.
Not that it matters. Cross knows the young detective won't be checking on the story with his father. Probably won't speak to his old man at all before he punches his ticket. The young detective is brave. But, like most young men, his bravery falters in the face of terminal illness. It's simply beyond them, dying like that.
Grant is silent now. Brooding. Just the reaction Cross is looking for.
"Listen, I'm not gonna tell you how to live your life. But you should call him. You'll regret it if you don't." That's it, the back and forth, play him like that: inspire the guilt, offer a solution, repeat until ready.
"Yeah..." Grant replies, softly. Uncertain.
"Yeah. I mean it. It's no way to treat a man. Especially one on his death bed." A touch of anger in Cross's voice now. Just the right amount. A caring sort of anger. Paternal. "You call him, ok?"
"Ok. I will." He won't. But that's not Cross's concern. "Can we talk about something else now, Bobby?"
And there it is, the opening Cross has been waiting for. Grant is desperate to get off the topic, but still locked into the pattern of a father/son relationship. It's amazing, how you can play a well-trained officer of the law like any hump off the street.
"Alright, alright," he answers, seeming to yield. Long moments of quiet between them as they keep walking. And then: "Actually, I got a favor to ask you, kid."
"Yeah, what's that?"
Cross shrugs, all nonchalant: "A couple of names I'd like you to run. See if anything turns up. I'm trying to help a friend track down his ex. She owes him some money."
Grant thinks it over. Cross can almost hear the wheels turning. But he's primed the pump with the guilt trip.
Finally, the young detective replies: "Yeah, sure Bobby." He pulls out a small notepad and pen. "You got the names?"
Cross smiles in the dark. "Of course. Armitage. And Radzinksy. That second one may be male. And a hunchback."
"A hunchback?"
The Burned Man chuckles, a gravelly sound in the night. "Yeah, I know, right? Both of them may be mixed up in some weird shirt. Cult shit. Real weirdos, you know? Anyway, sorry I don't have anything else to go on. You just let me know if you find anything."
"Sure," Grant replies, flipping the notebook shut. "Sure."
They keep walking.
5 successes
2 BP spent over the course of the evening to heal 2 Lethal
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