#rivervale_lodge

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Frank marches off the trod from the Farmhold towards the Lodge (Jaymes in tow somewhere behind him).

But before he gets there, he might notice a diminutive character in flame-embellished coveralls, goggles propped on her head, standing in the parking area with her hands on her hips, giving the Rig a good looking over.

He changes course to the parking lot (giving Jaymes a chance to part, if that works). "Tweak."

She turns and sneers up at him. "Whatchoo been doin' to this ol' beast, Rigger?" She juts a thumb back at the Rig.

"You're not here for her, Tweak." Grimly.

A scowl. "You sure? Look like she need a professional." Another look at the truck, then she shakes her head. "Well, whatever you say, you th'customer." Then she looks at him the same way she looked at the Rig. "What th'hell crawled up yer ass?"

"This way." Frank leads her off towards the ravine.

A more serious frown, and she follows, glancing back at the Lodge. "Forgot you got such swank digs, nowadays."

"Yours aren't too bad."

"Aw, hell no they ain't! Neighborhood be a shit-show, but still beats Oakhold. Jus' sayin'...I think of you, I think of you squeezin' inta that place under th'overpass." She frowns at the treelined streets. "Where the fuck we goin'?"

"Accident scene. Car there has something nocker-made under the hood. I need to know who made it."

"No shit? Huh...okay, now you got me curious."

He leads her to the ravine, and offers to help her down to the muscle car.

"What th'...how th' HELL did this happen?" She stares at the weapon damage on the body, not to mention the location of the car itself, so curious that she forgets to grumble at being offered help and just accepts the help instead.

"The driver encountered armed resistance." He rumbles.

"No shit! Somebody did a number on this..." She trails off, muttering an inventory of the damage as she makes her way around the vehicle. She's on the far side of it when she abruptly pops her head up to peer over the roof at him. "Rigger...th' driver be one of yours?"

"No."

"Good." Then another sharp look. "Driver live?"

((Paused))

"Not sure."

A premium thunderbird that has been lovingly maintained and restored... and then in something like an SCA Warzone...

"Check under the hood. Careful." Frank watches impassively, his expression like granite.

When Tweak does, she finds ... a really g ood engine that clearly came in cherry condition. But it has a device that is pure nocker tech attacked. Huh... it's like a Nitro boost working on a vapor situation..though definitely not a typical one, else it would be hooked up elsewhere.

A long appreciative whistle when she spies the engine. "Awww, that's a pretty, pretty thing." Then a sharp look at him after she spots the upgrade. "Well, you got somebody what knows their shit, here. This here's a...well, it's...wait...th'fuck?"

She moves around the car to look at the engine from a few angles.

Yep, that attachment is good work... but more than that, he left his mark on it. Bes Din requirement.

She peers closely at it. Anybody she knows or has heard of?

Nah, but she can call it in... or text these days. On the nocker only lines.

She does pluck out her phone, muttering about shitty connection in the boondocks (though in all honesty the signal is okay so close to the city), and starts her search query.

Frank watches, brow furrowed and jaw tight.

Simon "Slip" Dryer...works for hte LEanhaun, works in engines... has 3 patents on record. Age 16ish. Based in Willows ....contact info! And hot damn, a mailing adresses

She hits save on the screen, copies the info to a file...and peers up at Frank. "What you need me t'do with this again?"

"Information? Give it to me."

Normally this is used nocker to nocker

A narrow look. "Why?"

"This guy left my little girl in a coma." He says darkly.

His eyes are a midnight blue.

Her jaw drops and she stares at him. After a moment, she snaps her mouth closed and swallows before saying, "Shit. Shit. Rigger, that's....aw, fuck." A glare at the car, reconstructing some of those dents and scratches and holes.

Wyrded rapier through the roof, REAL Bullets up the roof the other way. Door removed..severed off...

it's a damn fine vehicle if it can be salvaged.

"Whatchoo plannin' t'do? I mean...coulda been a accident....?"

...until she realizes the weapon marks. ((sorry, cross send))

Frank does not answer.

Deep breath, and she works very hard at not imagining Shuri eventually being in such a situation. She looks at her phone again. "Kid goes by Slip. Engine specialist, got specs on file for his own gear. Willows. With the rosy harps."

Frank listens for a moment, nods slowly. "Matches most of the information we already had. What does the thing do?" He doesn't have to gesture to the device.

Tweak realizes someone is approaching, has approached

"It's like a turbo-boost. Speed, y'know? But...not sure what he got this shit hooked up to...."

"Can you take it off?"

That she can do.. it's possible that short bursts of acceleration also made it an ideal murder weapon. Cars don't suddenly 'Lunge' beyond simple acceleration. This device would let it do so

Frank doesn't see the figure, the outline.