Unappreciated Alarm Clock

Who: Jesse and Sam
Where: Jesse's Place
When: Late Morning

Late on her second day with no clue that the O'Malleys and the rest of the Syndicate had absolutely imploded. This was so not good. But who could blame her, right? Well, she could blame that weirdo Aaron for getting her back into bed. For not leaving as soon as he woke up and somehow throwing a tantrum like her little cousin. Which is why, she reasoned, she got stuck with questioning duty.

Which brought her to this apartment building. The body of an O'Malley thug was found a few blocks away and one person of interest, Jesse James, lived in the building. One bedroom apartment with his 15 year old daughter. Jesse James? Seriously? That totally had to be an alias. Right?

Rolling her aching shoulders, Sam adjusted her clothes, making sure she looked presentable, and knocked smartly on the door, badge already out in front of the peephole next to her face. "ECPD, we have a few questions!" she called.

Jesse had been half asleep on the couch, when he heard the knock, and the shout. That had him up and over to the door in a heartbeat though, even if his balance left something to be desired, and he knocked into the wall a moment. He cursed under his breath, and threw the door open. "Jesus Christ, you couldn't have just knocked?" he snapped. "Way to completely fucking make everyone in this entire building suspicious! I have a daughter." he told her, distinctly unhappy, which was clear on his expression even if it was marred with the healing evidence of his last few fights. He also hadn't had a shirt on while sleeping and the stitched up knife wound on his arm was visible. He looked all kinds of displeased. "What the fuck is the matter with you?" he growled, walking back into his place, grabbing his shirt off the floor and pulling it on.

Well. That was... unexpected. Sam stepped slightly into the apartment, unsure if it was safe to enter, especially as he hadn't expressly invited her. "We're actually checking several apartments in the building today," she explained. "I'm sorry if I woke you up, Mr. James." Having a daughter had nothing to do with her questions. She had to say, though, that she was sorry to see the shirt go on, especially as she could see the bruises and the knife wound. "I'm just here to ask a few questions, but if you don't want your neighbors to become suspicious, we could always go downtown."

Jesse shot her a Look. "Because that'll really help. No, that won't at all make everyone even more suspicious, and possibly start giving my baby girl shit about things. Fucking bright one you are, officer dumbshit. What the fuck do you want to know?" he asked, shutting the door none to lightly. He was quite a whole lot of 'brown bear with a sore ass' at the moment, but he couldn't quite help it. He was pissed now, and just woken up, and he hadn't been sleeping well lately anyways. Really, he'd been massively stressed out of late, with oh...everyone. So this didn't help, and while he wouldn't take it out on anyone close to him, this bitch who wanted to go shouting to the rooftops that she was the police and had questions, for the whole damn building to hear, she was an easy target. "You realize that after you leave, the whole building's going to be looking at me like I've done something." And he hadn't, this time. He really hadn't.

Sam tilted her head, watching him grumble and growl around for a few moments, letting him vent out his anger. "I take it you haven't heard the news then, Mr. James," she said carefully, pulling out the front page of her newspaper from the back of her pants. "Please believe that you're not the only one in the building being questioned." She held out the front page of the Echo to him. The bruises that she could see on him were old enough not to have been caused by a struggle from that night or morning (her own were getting darker by the hour). She didn't glimpse the knife wound long enough to make a decision, but he'd pulled on his shirt and was moving around smoothly enough that he most likely wasn't the killer but that didn't mean he wasn't aware or didn't know anything.

"Do I look like I can afford a paper to you?" Jesse asked her rhetorically. Truth was, he kinda couldn't. That and he'd been asleep right up until she knocked, so if it was todays news, he was in fact, utterly in the dark. And, glancing at the date on the thing, it was today. He also read the headline, and ticked his green eyes up to hers. "...are you seriously accusing me of murder?" he asked her, doubt clearly in his tone in a 'oh come on' sort of manner.

"No, I'm not "seriously" accusing you of murder. The bruising on your body is much older than just a few hours and," she took a look around the relatively clean apartment and back at him. "Unless you own a Tommy Gun and are into decorating with testicles, I don't think it's you." She shrugged. "Did you notice anything out of the ordinary last night? Did you go out and see anyone that wasn't one of the usual around here?" He'd know what she was talking about. This was a relatively rough neighborhood, but executions of a large amount of men (and a couple women) connected to the Syndicate wasn't usual. She made sure she sounded suspicious, even kind, genuinely not wanting to take him in or arrest him.

Jesse shook his head, leaning against one of the counters. He reached up to drag his fingers through his hair, and attempted to get out of his foul mood and to wake up properly. "Naw. Didn't see anything. I wasn't out that late last night. Got in early, crashed." He hadn't thought he saw anyone. Definitely not someone collecting man-parts.

"And your daughter? Not that I'm saying she did it," Sam added quickly before she could get this Jesse mad again. "We've identified the man as..." She dug out her notebook from her pocket and flipped it open. "Sean McManus?"

Jesse knew the name, though not because he'd met the man. Just because he was an O'Malley boy around the neighborhood. "She was in early too." he told Sam. He'd started insisting she be in before dark at the latest, and she was spending a little more time at her grandparent's house because they lived in a better neighborhood. Plus, there were more people there so he felt she was safer. "I've heard of McManus, but that's about it. Never met the guy."

"I know you said that your daughter was in early, but if I could have your permission to ask her if she heard anything, it would be appreciated." Sam sighed a little and made a little note next to Jesse's name. "What exactly have you heard about McManus?"

"She was in the same time as me, and she just went and did her homework, then went to sleep." Jesse said. He looked at Sam a long moment. "...I'd really prefer it if you didn't question my daughter." he said. "The last thing she needs in life is to start that shit." He didn't know if she'd listen or not, but he had to give it a shot. "If she'd have heard something, she probably would have said. And the usual shit about McManus. Just he was a piece of shit mob grunt. Not really much else beyond that."

Sam nodded slowly, seriously. "I understand your misgivings, Mr. James. I'm just trying to do my job here. Even if it wasn't something that could have been considered out of the ordinary, any little clue could help. You, of course, would be witness. She wouldn't be on her own."

Jesse looked at the woman for a long moment. "You asked for my permission, this is me saying no." he said. "People know you're questioning her, people start wondering what she knows, word gets back to them, and maybe they start wondering what she knows too. I don't want that for her. Like I said, it's the last thing she needs. I'm sure it'd be a waste of time anyways." he assured her. He was overly protective, he knew, but he also knew just how fast the shit could hit the fan, all because of ripples put out by one little thing.

Sam could see how his daughter was getting to him and nodded in surrender. "I understand." And, well, what the hell. "Bernard Geiger was seen around the area earlier this week. We've heard that he's been in the area before?" This Jesse guy, he was buddies with that idiot who robbed the bank but we've got nothin' on him but that Eddie guy.... Bobby in records was a bit of a babbler but had convinced Sam this Jesse had to at least know one of the victims. If not for working together, or at least having mutual friends.

She was either getting kicked out of the apartment, yelled at, or just completely dismissed.

Jesse sighed. "Lady, I don't take a poll of who's around." he said. "I'm not a spy, watching my neighbors every move, or any of that shit. I'm barely here myself." Which was true, generally he tried to spend his time away from his apartment, the only real times he came back was when Jessie was home. "Yeah, the guy's been around before. But I couldn't tell you when or why. I avoid any of that when I can." he told her. "I know you lot really love to hound me for shit, but you're barking up the wrong tree on this." he told her. "I don't know anything helpful. I'd tell you if I did. I don't want my baby girl walking home some night and finding herself a corpse."

"Fair enough. If you hear anything, please don't hesitate to call. It's anonymous." Sam reached into her pocket and set one of her business cards on the nearby table. "Thanks for your time." She pocketed her notebook and made sure she had her newspaper. "Oh, do you want me to let your neighbors know you aren't a suspect or anything?" She couldn't help the slight grin on her face.

He shot her a glare. "Yes, that'd be nice, actually." he told her, tone a little snappy, but he couldn't help it. Cops and he didn't usually mix so well, even if this one did happen to be an attractive enough woman. That didn't change anything else, so...yeah. "It'd be nice if they didn't start thinking that I collect man-bits in my off time."

"Yeah, because your testicle collection is so obvious." Sam cleared her throat and went into the hallway, hand on the door knob. "Jesse James isn't a suspect and never was!" she yelled out and a couple of doors concealing some nosy neighbors closed. Sam gave him a sweet and innocent grin. "That work?"

Jesse looked at her, and tried hard not to crack a smirk, but he failed just a tiny bit. It was hinted at. "Subtle," he told her. "You should probably look up 'low key' sometime, incorporate it into your life. Might work out better for you," he told her. "Now get the fuck out of my apartment, and go ruin someone else's morning."

"Yeah, well, you're not that cute to waste my time anyway," she smirked back and shut the door behind her.