Strange Liasons

Who: Jackson and Maya
Where: The docks district
When: After dark

Maya stuck out against the dirty drabness of the damp dark like a muted beacon. She looked like a woman who had attempted to dress accordingly, but failed entirely. Like a woman would simply couldn't hide what she was. Her clothes were dark, the colours muted. But her coat was of a rich fur, the collar high around the bottom of her perfectly coiffed hair; the stiletto heels of her delicate boots clicked on the streets as she stepped between the puddles and the way she walked, an air about her subtly advertised that everything about her was the real thing - she was no cheap street hooker playing at rich. In the area she was, currently, she was a walking billboard for 'mug me now'.

Of course, she wasn't advertising the pistol she was carrying. Or the fact she knew how to use it. Or the fact that if she had to pull the trigger, it wouldn't be for the first time in her life, and she wouldn't hesitate. Maya Walker, society socialite, had killed her first man at fifteen, and hadn't lost a moment's sleep over it.

Normally she wouldn't come down here alone - and if she did, it sure as hell wouldn't be dressed like some damn beacon of wealth. She wasn't entirely without a brain in her body. but someone had sent a note, and they'd delivered it to her home address. Which meant that whoever wanted to meet her, had wanted to meet Maya Walker, the socialite. People who wanted to meet her other face usually had more indirect means of contacting her. So, she was out here in all her glory, waiting for whoever it was to turn up at the meeting place, cursing her own curiosity.

Jackson was slightly more suited to the docks area, but honestly, it was a place he felt less than enthusiastic about. The last "mysterious note" he'd received asking for his help had ended in a black eye and some very nasty bruises and a hell of a lot of bother with someone who was meant to be dead. But this note had been different... it wasn't a tip. It was a direct plea for help, and tear stained, and smelt faintly of perfume. No matter what, Jackson couldn't ignore that. Not after everything that had happened today. After what he had done... he had to repent for that.

He dug his hands deep into his suit pockets, his expression a lot scowlier than was usual for Jackson, and made his way towards the big storage crate that the note had requested he wait by. He saw the shadowy outline of a woman in a fur coat - and his fear of being beaten up again alleviated somewhat. But his curiosity was piqued as he peered through the darkness. He hadn't been expecting what looked like a well dressed wealthy female - he'd been expecting some skinny little drug-whore.

"Hello?" he called into the darkness, still walking towards the woman. Why was everything so weird recently?

"Hello," Maya responded, with an air of mystified impatience. After all, she was one who was not used to being kept waiting. Usually, she was the one who was being fashionably late. Irritatingly, though, the note had been enough to spark her interest, really engage her curiosity. She had no idea what someone would want her for - which was the reason that she kept her right hand in the pocket of her expensive fur, the small pistol pointed at the man who had just turned up, though he would never know it. At least part of Maya suspected a trap, though the person who would kidnap a Walker was a very brave person indeed. Or very foolish, if it were the latter, though, they would soon learn their lesson. Either directly from her, or from her family. They were a close, close family - and they took vengeance very seriously indeed. "So - what is it then?" she added, after a moment or two, as she stepped forward into the light of a substandard streetlamp which flickered overhead.

Jackson now stood face to face with the woman, who was striking, very well groomed and definitely not an underfed opium whore. He also thought she looked kind of familiar, but he couldn't place her exactly. Some society girl by the looks of her getup - Jackson didn't exactly keep a tab on the gossip column but it was always there in the peripherals.

Confusion was now overtaking nervousness as Jackson's main emotion. What the hell was going on here? "What's what? What? Uh, I mean, look if you're in some sorta trouble you're gonna have to fill me in a little better than a raggedy note on my desk, y'know?"

Maya had always been particularly quick on the uptake, and able to roll with teh punches. A pretty good actress too, all things considered. So, when the guy started talking about notes to her, the 'set up' flag got flown pretty damn quickly. Apparently, she wasn't the only person who'd gotten a note.

She took a step back out of the light, and it was all she could do not to look around to see if they were being watched. God, this was potentially not good. She didn't like being set up. "You got the note," she said, instead, playing for time whilst she tried to figure out what was going on.

"Yes, I got the note, otherwise why would I be here? This ain't exactly my preferred jogging spot, y'know? Pretty weird place to arrange a meeting - you oughtta just come into the station if you're in trouble."

Jackson was sick of people trying to force him away from playing things by the book, and his tone said as much, being gruffer than it usually was. Shady meetings at the dock was part of that. This woman didn't exactly look like she was in desperate need of help.

"Look, whatever, you said you were in trouble and you needed my help? So here I am, I bit, now are you gonna fill me in?"

He was a cop then, Maya surmised. Well, that made her feel very slightly better. Only slightly - there was that whole 'what the hell are we doing here?' of it, but at least the guy himself had the possibility of not being dangerous. Either he was straight, theirs, or the Syndicates. A possible two out of three wasn't bad, in Maya's book. She liked those odds.

"Tell me what the note said - I want to make sure that you were the one I sent it to, and not just some... guy who turned up," she said, trying to sound her most vulnerable and scared. She wasn't, of course, she still had the gun, but he wasn't to know that and she'd know better how to play that. She took another step back, further out of the light, until her ankle hit something firm, unexpected - the wall was further back than that.

Jackson sighed, and wondered why the heck the girl kept backing away from him. He wasn't about to jump her, but he kept his distance standing in the light just to make sure she didn't freak out on him. Maybe she was in trouble, if she was so edgy, and her voice did sound kind of frightened. The last thing he needed today was another freakout. He supposed even little rich girls could get themselves into messes. He sighed, ran his hands through his hair as was his tick when he was exasperated.

"Note said I was to meet you here because you were in a whole bunch of trouble and you were scared for your life and I was the only one as could fix it. All tear-stained and scrawly. That good enough for you? So you wanna tell me what kind of trouble you're in, ma'am?"

"I didn't think it could get like this," Maya told him, rolling with it, trying to figure out what the hell she was doing here. She edged around the thing behind her, figuring it was a box. "I... I think I heard something I wasn't supposed to and I really didn't know what to do - I... I'd heard your name and I - well, there was this place and... Do you know what happens down here? I... I heard some horrible things," she said, admitting that, still sounding scared.

Jackson gave in then, and stepped forwards into the shadows with her, planning to place a comforting hand on her shoulder, tell her that it was okay, he would fix it, that she would be safe as long as she was with him - because heck nothing got under Jackson's skin like a damsel in distress. And he ought to know a thing or two about horrible things - he owed it to help after what had happened today. After fucking everything up royally, he needed to get back on track. Instead of doing that though, Jackson stubbed his toe on something the was next to the woman's foot. Smooth.

"Ow! Jesus, damn! What's back here? You got a suitcase with you or something?"

Maya raised an eyebrow. "Did you mother never tell you not to swear in front of a woman?" she asked, as though his words had shocked her out of being scared. She stepped back and to one side of the box, looking down at it. "No - this isn't mine. This was here anyway..." she said, though it was the docks, after all. Possibly some useless dockhand had just not done his job properly. but, then again - there was a note attached to the box.

Jackson gave Maya a half-hearted grin, "Aw, honey, you should hear the mouth on my mother," he was going through the motions of flirting with her, but it was half assed because Jackson was not in the right sort of headspace for flirting. It was just a thing he did when faced with a pretty lady - gut reaction, "I'll try and curb my cussin' though, if your pretty ears is offended?"

Jackson winked, even though it was pointless in the dark, and bent down to examine the box. It was heavy as heck but he did his best to pull it into the light, wincing because bending + pulling + battered ribs did not = fun and laughter, and slowly straightened up scratching his head when he saw the note attached to the top. A note with "JH & MW" scrawled on the envelope.

"Mysterious packages in this part of town don't bode well, usually. Probably chock fulla poppy. Although... JH. JH could very well be uh, me. Damn. You MW?" he sounded as stumped as he looked, and nudged the box with his foot, and patting his pockets down so he could find his penknife and cut the thing open.

"Yes, I am," Maya told him, dropping the act completely as she reached to pull the paper out of his hands with a swift motion. If someone had left a note, she wanted to be the first to read it. Hell knew what was inside it and there was no way that she was allowing a police officer to find out before she did. After all, some of what she did in her life wasn't for legal eyes.

Jackson cocked an eyebrow at Maya as she snatched the envelope from him. The girl was on edge, alright. He found his knife and crouched by the box again, running the blade along the lid in order to get it opened. "Okay, MW, maybe it's time you tell me exactly what's going on? How come you got me out here opening boxes?"

Maya read the note - what there was of it. It simply read for you. That was all. nothing more, though Maya checked the back, just in case, then threw it down to the wet ground in disgust. "I don't 'have' you opening boxes," she pointed out. "You did that by yourself. But someone's got us here and they've left this for us - so, what's in it?" she asked him, looking down. No way was she crouching - this coat cost far too much for that. If there was anything interesting, then he could pass it up.

Jackson was already a world of confused. Today had not been the best of days as far as clarity was concerned. So when he opened the box and was faced with what appeared to be a porcelain doll, things weren't exactly a world of clear.

"Creepy..." he said softly, holding the doll up to Maya, a little girl with long, white-blonde hair with a heavy fringe, and bright blue eyes. It got creepier though. The doll he held up to Maya was covering the rest of them, and seemed to be the only one that wasn't somehow broken. The box was a tangle of china limbs and broken edges and cracked glass eyes. He flinched slightly when he thought he saw what looked like a boy doll with short brown hair and braces on his trousers - only it was hard to tell, because it's entire face had been chipped away. That was fucking uncanny. "What does the note say? Does this mean anything to you? Is it something to do with the trouble you're in?"

Maya took the doll that looked eerily familiar and turned it over, looking for some signs that it was anything dangerous. "It didn't say anything," she told him, looking up the doll's dress - just in case. But there was nothing there but more doll. She cradled it in one arm as she looked down at him. "Who on earth would want to give us a box of dolls? Or is this just some kind of an elaborate joke?" she asked, wondering at that. Dolls didn't exactly seem threatening, after all.

"You tell me," said Jackson, narrowing his eyes at Maya. For someone who had been shit-scared not 3 minutes ago she was taking a creepy fucking box of dolls remarkably well, "You're the one who organised for us to meet out here. If anyone's in the dark as to why they're here or what the fuck is going on, it's me."

He pulled out another doll, and blanched. It was another doll with a broken head, all cracked down the middle, but this one had fluffy brown-blonde hair and oversized brown eyes. It was also wearing a pink floral dress that he found familiar. Because it had been the dress Jenny had worn the night she was attacked. He felt a wave of nausea rise in his throat, and dropped the doll with a shudder of repulsion as he stood up. "If it is a joke, it's really fucking unfunny. So explain. Now."

Maya eyed him, and then relented. "Sugar, officer - I didn't organise for us to meet out here," she informed him. "I got a note, like you got a note. I came because I thought someone wanted to meet with me. Clearly, they didn't. Clearly, this is a set up. I have nothing to do with the dolls. Though I might keep this one - I know someone who might appreciate it. But, given that someone out there knew we were going to be here, enough to leave us a present, I doubt this is a good place to be. Especially since this is generally not a good place to be. The docks, alone, at night - you may have your shield as protection, but I very much don't." She really had heard some horrible things about what went on down here.

Jackson had about had it with people spoon feeding him bullshit today. He put his hands on his hips and frowned hard at Maya. He didn't like being dragged around like some fucking flunky for these game players. His job was to help people, people who needed it, not be a play-thing for any pretty dame in lipstick and furs who thought it'd be funny. "I ought to arrest you for wasting police time, do you know that? Who are you? I know you from some place, and you better pray it ain't a street corner because I am not in a forgiving mood." She didn't look like a working girl, but then again, Eris never had either. Familiar faces were going to be the death of him, he swore it.

Maya raised an eyebrow. "Officer, I really think that you would have a hard time arresting a woman for 'wasting police time' simply because she innocently responded to a note asking her to meet someone at a certain place, at a certain time. Of course, you're willing to try and make that stick - and I will be calling my lawyer. personally, though, if that's the route you choose to take, I really hope you like writing out parking tickets, because I see a lot of that in the future. So, you have a choice - you can either arrest me and face the consequences, or you can calm down and we can deal with this like adults," Maya told him, not looking in the least bit flustered. "Oh," she added, sweetly, holding out her hand in a posture that suggested it was his choice as to whether he shook it, or kissed it. "And my name's Maya - Maya Walker."

Fuck. Of course it was - he'd been right with the socialite hunch. Jackson took her hand, ignoring the haughty way she offered it, squeezed firmly, and then released it. That was how working class boys shook hands, solid and short. Maya fucking Walker. Hell. She was right that she would be unarrestable, the Walkers were the closest thing to untouchable this city had. Not that he would've arrested her anyway. But god damnit.

"What did your note say then? I mean, I figure if someone was gonna tempt you out to this region they'd have a kidnapping in mind, but then why have a cop on scene? Why the creep fest over here?" he said, gesturing to the box of dolls, "This don't make a jot of sense to me ma'am." He threw the 'ma'am' on the end because it would be required of him now he knew who she was, but he wasn't any more comfortable with the situation - less so, in fact. This was a whole barrel of not good.

Maya smiled, looking slightly amused - and feeling much more on solid ground as she watched his reaction to who she was. She unobtrusively flexed her hand after having it squeezed like that - she wasn't used to such a firm grip, but she couldn't say it was totally unpleasant. "Please - Maya," she insisted, at her being suddenly so polite. It was always funny, when people like him found out who she was, watching the deference kick in. But still, it didn't actually change the situation. "My note was enough to catch my attention. Enough to get me down here, alone - and I wouldn't normally come out to a place like this, you know. And I'm sure that you're right - kidnapping, well - it's a risk, you know." A slim one, all things considered, but there was always someone stupid enough to try it. Maybe. Still, she'd only been taken from her home once, and she liked the one she had now - it was never going to happen again.

"Well you oughtta be more careful. You see, followin' up on suspicious notes is sorta my job. Pretty sure your job is lookin' pretty and throwin' parties," said Jackson, not unkindly. He got it, the nice rich woman wanted a little adventure so she'd followed a note to the docks. It was a stupid thing to do, but Jackson always figured the upper classes were somewhat stupid. The angle he didn't get was the person sending the note in the first place.

"Can you think of anyone who'd want to harm you or your family? You seen any suspicious people hangin' out around your place of residence? Anything at all? I don't like this situation one damn bit."

Maya could think of plenty of people who might want to harm her or hers, but nobody who would actually be dumb enough to follow through with it. At least, not successfully, and definitely not this weirdly. "No, officer..." She left a gap for him to supply his name, then continued on anyhow. "I don't know anyone who would do something like this - but I do hear things about the dock. Rumours, of course. But people don't always watch what they say at my parties..." she offered, dangling vague possibility before him.

Jackson cocked an eyebrow. That sounded like she was trying to make a play. He wouldn't bite just yet though. Same as he wasn't telling her his name just yet - he was testing to see if she'd slip up and say it before him. He wasn't going to give her even more of an upper hand than she already did, especially considering how fucking weird this was and how unweirded out she seemed. Nothing was sitting right with him, and he was done taking chances for the day.

"Well, I don't think there ain't a rumour that's been spread about this place, ma'am. Hookers, drugs, giant alligators, killer clowns - you believe everything you hear then this place is a regular carnival of terrors. You got anything with a bit of solid foundation, though, I'd gladly hear it."

Maya was disappointed that the cop didn't give her his name. She didn't actually know who he was - she was talking it on faith and his bearing that he was, in fact, a cop at all. Well, on faith, bearing and reliance of the gun in her pocket if he tried anything, of course. She was also disappointed that he didn't bite, but she could play that game. "I don't know how solid," she admitted, looking around, keeping an eye on the area - and staying away from that light - though keeping her poise as she did it. Maya was good at keeping her poise under pressure. "Just that I hear things. Things that have nothing to do with a darkened meet with a stranger who says he's a cop and a random box of dolls. I don't know who would get us down here, or why. Isn't that kind of thing your job? Working these things out? I just - that's not my world. I haven't heard anything about giant alligators or killer clowns either, officer, so I'm afraid I can't help you there."

"Yeah, Miss Walker, that is my job, which is why I'd be more interested in knowing exactly what your note said than you tryin' to feed me lines. Kinda feels like you're keepin' me sweet, you know? And you lied when I showed up. So I ain't exactly in a trusting mood." Jackson didn't sound best pleased, his arms were folded and his expression was stern - but he wasn't yelling, he was dong his best to be polite. He also didn't like having Maya here by the docklands with a creepy box of little dead dolls, his instinct to 'protect the pretty lady' was hard to suppress even when he was kind of confused and mistrusting.

"Maya," Maya corrected again, still cradling the doll - with the white hair, it looked like Cheyenne. "And yes, officer - I lied to you. I didn't know what was going on, and I thought that maybe you were lying to me. I thought that maybe you were leading me on for some reason and I thought I should play along for a while, give myself some time to try and work out what was going on. Now, I'm fairly sure that you're not lying to me now, because you seem just as confused as I am about this entire situation. So, you have my apologies for earlier. But as for my note, it wouldn't be of any interest to you, I'm sure. But, if you must know, it was from an anonymous sender, telling me that he - or, I suppose, she - had information about one of my children. I have several step-children," she filled in. "They're very important to me, I love them all very much. But, apparently, according to the note, one of the elder ones - which one was not specified - had gotten in some trouble that I would be interested in. The writer didn't tell me what. But, it was enough to get me down here, and from there, you know the rest."

Jackson sighed at that, she talked a good game, and showed no sign of 'slipping up' - probably because she was being honest. The whole thing was fucking weird but he had no reason to believe she was trying to set him up, not really. "Well, have you checked in with all your step-kids? Can you give me names to make sure they're all okay with a little police assistance?" he gave in then, and fished into his inside pocket for the card he'd been handing out so often recently, "Detective Haas, my extension at the station is on there, so you know I'm really a police officer and not some weirdo who has called you out here for kicks."

Maya took the card and read it over, before looking back at Jackson. "Thank you, officer - I appreciate it." She tucked the card away and pulled a slight face at him. "I suppose you think I'm a very silly woman, don't you? Heading straight down here without checking anything out first?" She given her veiled threats earlier on, when he'd threatened to arrest her, but she wasn't going to hang onto that. You caught more flies with honey after all - not that she was particularly out for the catch tonight. "I haven't check on them - but I will. And thank you for your offer, but I'm sure that this was just some kind of nonsense - there's no suggestion..." She trailed off, knowing that she was holding a doll that looked like one of her children. But she was reluctant to involve an officer she didn't know in with this, especially in with handing out names and addresses, just like that. "But, I promise, if there is anything, I will call you straight away. I wouldn't like to worry any of them, though - having the police turn up at their apartments in the middle of the night."

Jackson winked and grinned, although it was half-hearted, not his usual full-blown toothy smile. He wasn't interested in putting the moves on her. He wanted to go check on his sister - the doll had put him on edge. If anyone had touched her... well hell, it was about the only thing that could make an already horrific day worse.

"Silly'd be one of the words I'd use, yeah - classy broads shouldn't be hanging around here, especially with all those nasty rumours you've heard," he did wonder about that. It's be foolish to let a decent lead slip away just because he tended to think the upper classes were unaware and plummy, "Honestly most've 'em tend to be true - well not-so-much the alligators, but even the clown I wouldn't be surprised at. So if you do hear anythin' or think of anythin', you can call me up. But for now I figure I oughtta get you home safe and I got no objections to helping you find a cab."

Maya gave him a grateful smile. "Help with a cab would be most appreciated, Officer Haas," she agreed. She was never against an attractive male escort, after all - even if it was simply for as long as it took to get out of there. And whilst she was capable of defending herself, he would be better skilled at such a task, should it prove necessary, than she would be. But, whilst she had him, there was that little opportunity she shouldn't pass up. "But... I do hear things. If I wasn't so worried about my children, I never would have come down here. An acquaintance of mine was saying how he had been told that this area, right around here. The old Wilson Import warehouse, I'm sure he said. He said that drugs were dealt down here." She said the word as though it were a curse. As it was, she'd just heard that the Syndicate did deals around here. It wasn't a firm enough lead for anyone to want to put men on it - if they were going to go for them, then they wanted to know dates, times, places and for it to turn out bloody. But having the cops know? That was something else. That could cause all sorts of lovely problems. Make life difficult. "I don't know when, but my friend was talking about Asian men - and to me, at least, it sounded like a lot. He was talking about crates and boxes..."

Jackson raised an eyebrow at that. It was no secret the Lotus boys used the docks to do their nasty little deals, but to have a specific location? That was something he'd have to file away. "Who was disclosing this kind of information at a dinner party? Sounds like I do all my raids on the wrong end of the social ladder, huh?" it was a half-joke, but it was true that a lot of the money for crime trickled down from somewhere - and the big powerful families probably had more than their fair share of crooks... Like he wasn't already in enough bad books without chasing up criminals in the big glitzy families like the Walkers. What was important right now was getting her away from this grim area safely.

Maya gave him a winning smile and offered him her arm to take. "I never said it was at a dinner party, officer," she told him, using a tone that suggested that it would be up to his imagination where it was that she got it. "But, the kinds of people I know tend to be the kinds that gossip a lot. I don't know how useful information like that would be to you, but I do read all sorts of terrible things about crime in this city in the Echo, and if a little bit of gossip could help you fine boys in blue with your jobs, then - well, I just hope it helps."

Jackson took her arm and chuckled slightly. Yeah, if she wasn't actually an upper-class ditz she sure played the part well. Jackson couldn't tell just by touching if the fur was high quality of not, but it sure was soft, and damn it'd been a while since Jackson'd had someone on his arm - even if it was just a courtesy. He felt more like his usual cheery, flirtatious self escorting an attractive woman from danger, he could push the extreme fuck up way down into the base of his brain if he felt like he was working, doing something. Helping. "It's nice that you're so community minded, ma'am, not everyone feels the same way about the police. But the best thing you can do is keep yourself out of bad neighbourhoods like this and make sure you stay safe, last thing I'd like to see is another gorgeous lady rolled out on a slab, you know?"

"I don't like to think about things like that, Officer," Maya told him, purposefully and repeatedly using the man's title to pander to his ego. It couldn't hurt, after all - especially since she'd had to admit to lying to him earlier on. Normally she would have covered better for that, but the events of this meeting had been far from expected. She'd been thrown off balance and so had he, she thought. "But I'll take your advice - and if there is a next time, hopefully I'll think a little before running out the house. Or, maybe I should give you a call," she suggested.

Jackson made a face and looked down at her with a cocked eyebrow, she wasn't inspiring confidence. Society butterflies could talk up a mean game if they had enough champagne and pretty clothes but they lacked common sense. She seemed to be comfortable in the company of a police officer, and that was good. No hints of a guilty conscience. "Just hope that there ain't a next time. I still wanna find out how comes we've both been pulled out here. There's gotta be a reason for it, and I doubt it's a good one. You oughtta call though. If anything comes up, or y'know," Jackson winked, and went for the standard line more out of habit than anything else - she was hot, sure, but way out of his league, "just if you get lonely."

Maya's smile widened just a little as they got back to the main drag, somewhere that a cab was more likely to be. "Well, I'll be sure to keep that in mind, Officer - and, thank you. I'm sorry you had such a wasted night." She wondered if hers had been. Dragging herself out here like this, for very much not what she'd expected. That was quire irritating and more than a little perplexing. She definitely wanted to know the reason for it. but being able to cast some problems for the Lotus - that might be worth the hassle. If it turned out right, of course.

"Not a waste at all, Miss Walker," said Jackson, still unable to go for the first name basis. It didn't feel right no matter what she said, "I got to make sure a lady didn't get mugged, that's pretty much my job. Not a waste at all." He smiled, and whistled loud with both fingers as he saw a cab appear on the horizon. It hadn't been a waste. That box of dolls definitely suggested there was a creep out there somewhere. He needed to check on his little sister, and maybe, if he was lucky and Maya wasn't a complete dip, he had a decent lead to follow up on in order to catch those Lotus boys at their favourite game.