Joseph Tropiano (luckandchance) wrote in low_tide, @ 2009-12-27 01:05:00 |
|
|||
Current mood: | amused |
Entry tags: | joseph tropiano, npc |
Getting Personal
“Don’t lecture me on what I can and can’t do,” Agent Julie Kottler snapped at one of the other agents in the room with her. “If you’ve got a problem with it, then wait outside.”
There was a huff of breath and the two agents in the room left the red-head to it. She raked her fingers through her hair, putting her badge down on the vanity by the bathroom door.
The hotel room was simple, that was enough to make the FBI agent suspicious. Joseph Tropiano’s presence in Key West had more than ruffled a few feathers and she was trying to find something that would implicate him in the dirty dealings that had been going on in her home. There hadn’t been this much unrest since she had graduated the academy and even then, only in New York where the gang violence was always up due to the severe unrest that happened there; power always shifting and changing.
The wardrobe had been left open, the meticulously hung clothes in order and tidy, not a piece of fabric out of place. Julie blew out a breath and continued her search of Joseph’s room. It was public property, she had permission from the Hotel manager to search whatever she needed to and she was breaking no laws. Her companions were just put out by her need to catch this guy.
The bathroom was clean too, nothing hidden in the cistern of the toilet, nothing in the secret compartment beneath the bathtub, nothing in the lampshades, no hidden compartments underneath the drawers... The man was almost... too clean.
He was suspicious by his lack of... anything. He did seem to just be a man on holiday, but Julie knew better. It wasn’t a coincidence that Key West had just gone downhill with regard to the gang violence since he arrived. She didn’t believe in coincidences after all. And Joseph?
Joseph was, apparently, the universe’s way of telling her that she’d had it easy before now. Now was her real test.
Not that she believed in stuff like that, after all. There were good people out there and there were bad people out there.
Joseph Tropiano was one of the bad people. She knew that, she just didn’t know how she could make everybody else see this too. Her gut had never been wrong before, she knew it wasn’t wrong now.
Her hair was a little tousled, she’d been underneath the bed, pulling out his suitcase, looking for anything that might give some indication of the dirty-dealings she knew he was elbow deep in.
She just needed to prove it.
“Goddamnit, there has to be something” she hissed between gritted teeth, one hand in her hair again. She was going to break a nail doing this, and she’d been trying so hard to grow them. And, in hind-sight, she probably should have worn pants and flat shoes instead of the skirt-and-heels combo she had going on for her. Self-conscisouly, she tugged on the skirt, wishing it was at least a bit longer. Not that she was expecting company any time soon, but she would be embarrassed even if one of the maids came into the room right now when she was on her hands and knees, ass in the air.
Her hair, too, was down instead of pulled back into the harsh pony-tail it usually was. She was regretting that decision as well considering the locks kept getting in her way, even when she brushed them back behind her ears. Frustrating things that hair strands were. She pulled it all over one shoulder in the end, hoping that would fix the situation and resolve the problem.
She got to her feet again, heels making a soft clicking noise on the floor as she approached the dresser upon which her badge was resting. She opened the top drawer and leafed through the items within, the bashed cartons of cigarettes with only one or two smokes left, an open packet of condoms that spilled out.
“Fuck,” she muttered, unable to stop herself from noticing the size and style before she hastily shoved them back into the box. She swallowed and put them down again resting against a bottle of aftershave, watching the packet tip over again and another couple spill out.
“Aw, crap.” She was not having a good time with the packet of condoms, apparently they were just determined to mock her lack of sex life and the fact that this criminal had quite a healthy one. She wrinkled her nose and put her hands on either side of the drawer, tapping her fingers against the wood, her nails knocking out a rhythmic, unsettled beat. There had to be something.
*Ping*
The doors of the elevator at the end of the hall slid open, the reflective surface disappearing to reveal the man inside who was busy looking at a newspaper clasped in one hand and sipping at the coffee held in the other. It was only when the hairs across the back of his neck stood on end that he lifted his head and regarded the uncomfortable looking people hovering in the hall outside of a room, his room to be more exact.
Huh.
Joseph lifted an eyebrow slowly and eased the newspaper under one arm as he approached the situation carefully and slowly. "You boys lost?" His question was ignored, but Joseph expected as much, he hadn't cared that much for an answer. Joseph rounded on the door that was opened by all of an inch and reached out with one hand, pressing his fingertips into the wood until it creaked open.
The room looked far more chaotic than he remembered it being, his suitcase was out and he had to wonder what they were looking for if they'd gone so far as to rumple his sheets. Did they think he'd hidden something in the mattress or was his sex life of importance to the authorities? He wet his lower lip and ventured into the room and rounded on the bedroom itself, tilting his head to take in the sight of the red-head currently clasping a drawer in one hand whilst knocking out a rhythmic beat with the other.
Of all the things to notice first he noticed the heels and the way in which the matt coloured tights clung to calves that looked good in a pair of heels. "Is there something I can help you with?" He asked smoothly, accent lilting on the end of every word. He affected a casual indifference by the way in which he leaned against the nearby wall and sipped at his rapidly cooling coffee, ankles now crossed over one another.
Julie stiffened after she heard Joseph’s voice. Well, that was the last thing she wanted. Her shoulders straightened before she stood up, shutting the offending condom-filled drawer. Her hand rested over the badge sitting on the top of the vanity.
She rested her hip against the drawer and turned to look at Joseph, brushing her rebellious hair back behind her ear. "I'm sure there is," she said, eyebrow arched a little. "The question is, do you want to help?"
The answer, she was sure, was no. It always was with his kind and he had been particularly reticent to talk last time they had met at the airport, but it didn't hurt to try. She reattached her badge to her belt and looked up at him again. Her hair slipped in front of her eyes once more and she took a slow breath so that she didn't lose her temper with it or show that her hair was getting on her nerves, or that she felt an odd sense of... discomfort at the fact that Joseph was here and she was dressed... like this.
Joseph couldn't really help the smirk that tugged at the corner of his mouth once he noticed which drawer she was hurriedly closing. "I dunno," Joseph murmured after having taken another sip of his coffee. "Guess it depends on what you've got to say."
He eased away from the wall and circled around her to the bed, letting his eyes linger for just long enough to put the Agent ill at ease. "Nice outfit by the way, it's a lot more flattering than the last one."
Joseph placed his coffee on the table next to the bed and reached down to snap the locks on his suitcase back into place.
"Probably something that you're not gonna like," Julie countered smoothly, turning to watch him move. She rested against the vanity, feeling the corner of the wood digging into her coccyx. "I've got some questions for you. And I'd really like you to actually answer them this time."
Maybe that was asking too much of him; she didn't know, but it was worth a try.
"My outfit's not at all relevant to his conversation, Mr Tropiano, so please, don't let yourself get distracted." She shifted and tried not to let that slight warm feeling affect her. She didn't get complimented often. She was the hard-as-nails Agent that took no shit from anyone.
"I'm going to ask you nicely to leave Key West."
"Trust me," Joseph responded easily. "I won't." He glanced up at her through his lashes and gave what could only be described as a cool smile. He eased the suitcase off the bed and kicked it back under the bed.
He picked up his coffee and took another sip from it, settling on his bed and easing his long legs out until he looked quite comfortable. "Questions? Pretty sure you don't get to ask me questions and expect answers unless I'm under arrest?" He doubted it considering she had nothing concrete on him and the law was all about the facts.
Joseph lifted the edge of his thumb to his lips and chewed on the very corner of it, snorting a moment later. "Really?"
"I thought we could get this sorted without me dragging you to the police station to go through the song and dance routine that you know all too well." Julie stood up straight and took a couple of steps towards Joseph and the bed.
She lifted her shoulder, "You can leave now, or leave later, but if you headed out soon, it'll be a lot better all around. And the body count in my city'll fall again." She lifted her shoulders. "I don't suppose you believe in coincidences, Joseph?"
Joseph merely tilted his head, watching the way the Agent move and how that tension still sat firmly across her shoulders, pretty sure she must suffer from some killer headaches.
"They happen, don't they?" He countered with an easy smile. "And I really don't know what you mean by the body count falling, I wasn't aware it had risen." One more lie wasn't about to condemn him even further into the pits of hell. "Don't blame me for your law enforcement's failings to keep order in the city."
He took another sip from his coffee and then leaned back to place the cup on the nearby table, letting his touch linger. "Loving the heels by the way, very... sexy."
She did suffer from some killer headaches, but it was nothing a fistful of painkillers couldn't kick into behaving at least enough for her to function. In fact, she was more than due for more painkillers. If she wasn't an officer of the law, she could be considered to have a chemical dependency. Not that anyone knew, of course.
"They don't happen, I don't believe in them." Julie's lips quirked in the very corner. "Since you arrived, the body count's gone up. And every body that's turned up dead is.. of interest to us."
Joseph's path to the table had bought him dangerously close to her. Her eyes dropped to his hands, wondering how many men he had killed with those hands (and then, a traitorous part of her wondering how many women he had satisfied with those hands - and she very quickly felt that she needed a shower).
"Stop that."
Joseph's expression was one of complete innocence. "Stop what?" His lips pulled into another smile and his shoulders lifted into an easy shrug. His eyes found hers and held her gaze easily enough, catching a glint in the corner of his eye. Joseph turned his head and noticed the delicate silver chain that adorned the Agent's neck and reached out to catch it with the tip of his finger. "Cute." He released the precarious glasp he had on it and turned, closing the door of the nearby wardrobe.
"And who exactly is turning up dead?"
Julie's hand lifted to cover the chain as soon as Joseph's back had turned, like her touch would erase his. It didn't, but she ignored it.
Pull yourself together, Julie. You can go out tonight and... indulge. Stop letting him get to you.
"Stop that. You know what." She cleared her throat and definitely did not let her eyes linger on where his jeans followed a particular curve on his body.
Her eyes narrowed for a moment before she decided to play along. "Men. Gang members, to be precise."
"That's unfortunate," Joseph remarked over his shoulder. "Real unfortunate." He opened up the drawer Agent Kottler had been in previously and reached in for a pack of smokes and his lighter.
He turned around and slid a cigarette between his lips. "Better dead than alive, right?"
Julie had to turn again to keep up with the way that Joseph was moving, she wanted to keep him in her sights, as it were. She couldn't risk letting him out of her sight, anything might happen. She swallowed and watched him open the drawer. He was just getting cigarettes, but she knew what was in that drawer and for some reason it got to her.
She hated this man.
"Some would say. That's not the point. Strange thing is, all this? Started happening not too long after you arrived in Key West. Like I said, Joseph, I don't believe in coincidences."
Joseph reclined back against the vanity, dipping his head to light the tip of his cigarette. "Real strange," he agreed with a nod of his head and exhale of smoke. "But shit happens, Agent." He rested the lighter down on the top of the vanity and turned his gaze back to her.
"Never stopped to think that maybe that the gangs decided to up and kill each other all on their lonesome. I hear that happens a lot."
"Usually only when someone else gets involved and stirs up the shit." Julie said, folding her arms. As she did, she rested her weight on one leg more than the other, accentuating her curves. She did have them, they were just usually well hidden and in a very male-dominated work place, it was hard for her to actually... be a woman.
Julie just shook her head. Her hair fell across her face and she brushed her hair back again.
Joseph exhaled smoke and returned to the bed, settling his weight there as if he was alone in the room and didn't have a federal agent in the room with him.
"And here I thought it happened because gangs didn't like one another." He turned a ring over the narrowing portion of his thumb and the crinkling in the corners of his eyes were the only things that gave away the fact he was looking at her instead of at the Agent.
"You'd think it'd be that simple, wouldn't you." Julie offered, arms still folded. If she noticed the slight change in his glance, then she didn't admit to it, even if her stomach flopped over on itself, some subconscious part of her actually enjoying the fraction of attention from a man, even if this man was one that she so desperately wanted to hate because he was a criminal.
He was a criminal and he was going to make a fool of her. Two things she really did hate.
"Surprisingly, not always the case."
Joseph made a clicking sound with the corner of his mouth and shook his head. "Gotta love it when that happens, huh?" He knocked ash into the nearby glass ashtray and licked his lower lip, tasting nicotine.
"Like I said before I'm here on a long overdue vacation, nothing more and nothing less." He drew a leg up and rested his hand atop of his knee, cigarette dangling from between two fingers. "Can't a man catch a break?"
It had been three days, fourteen hours and twenty two minutes since Julie Kottler had had a cigarette and the fact that the smoke from Joseph's cigarette was winding around the air and purposefully (okay, maybe not purposefully but it certainly felt like it) around her head was not helping her cravings. She had picked a bad week to stop smoking.
"No, you can't catch a break." She tipped her head to the side a little, "Sucks to be you."
Joseph laughed at her comment. "I wouldn't say that." He drew smoke into his mouth and rose to his feet slowly, exhaling it as he brushed past Agent Kottler. "I enjoy my life. What about you?"
He backed up towards the mini bar and contented himself with pulling out a glass and a couple ice-cubes. "How's your life treating you, Agent Kottler?"
Joseph tipped a small portion size of whiskey into the glass in question and turned back to the Agent. "You're looking even more tense than the last time I saw you."
Julie's head turned a fraction with the smoke as it passed her, taking a deep breath as if that would quell her nicotine cravings. The goddamned patches did nothing and she had been crankier than usual considering she hadn't had her fix.
God, painkillers and nicotine. She was two steps away from speed and crack and a den in the middle of nowhere turning tricks for money. At least in her eyes. Jesus, she needed to pull herself together.
"I enjoy my life just fine." It was spoken tersely, like she wasn't quite sure that it was the truth, but she wasn't about to argue any kind of point with him that would end up with her trapped in a corner. "And it's treating me fine. It would be better if people stopped turning up dead in my city, though."
She turned properly to face him, an expression crossing her face that she dare not try and catalogue, "Not that it's any of your business." But she did lift her shoulders briefly as if the verbal reminder of her tension caused pain to shoot through her shoulders and neck.
Joseph's smile said more than his words ever could and the glint in his eyes shone beneath the strands of dark hair as he ducked his head, swallowing a mouthful of whiskey. "No, of course not." He ran his thumb over the glass, feeling the cooling nature of the ice and the way in which condensation had already begun to gather.
He approached her slowly and carefully, every step more considered than the last. "But a man can make observations, especially when ones about you are so easy to make. I'm thinking you work every day and every night, desperately wanting to make the world a better place, but where does it get you exactly? An empty apartment and probably a lot of regrets as far as a personal life goes, but who am I to say? It's not like I know anything about you."
Or maybe he did.
"How is divorced life these days, Julie?"
Julie almost visibly bristled at that comment, something akin to the way a cat reacted to a threat. Her jaw tensed and she drew in a slow breath through her nose. So what if he was right?
He was playing her and she knew it. There was no way that she was going to let him.
"Better than being married," she retorted sharply, "Again, none of your business." There was a moment where she stood up straighter, a little closer to his height with the heels on than when she was in flat shoes.
But he'd hit a nerve and it hurt, a reminder of all those late nights, coming home to a bed that should have been empty; would have been better if it was, instead it was cold. The years of drifting before finally hearing the words 'It's over' and 'It's work or me, you can't have both.' And it hurt. It still hurt.
So yeah, she threw herself into work. It meant she didn't miss the little things.
Joseph's gaze was nothing if not discerning, catching the glimpse of something in the Agent's eyes before it was blinked away and the tension that all but ran the length of her back.
"I never did understand the concept of marriage," Joseph shared with a casual lift of his shoulders, apparently unaffected by the emotional response he'd inspired in the Agent. "Far too restrictive." He eased an ice-cube between his teeth and crushed it, drawing the smaller shards of ice into his mouth. "But you're right, it's none of my business."
He held her gaze as he tilted his head. "Just thought I should at the very least know a little something about you, Julie."
Julie's eyes caught the movement of Joseph's mouth, the ice-cube and then frowned at him. "See that? That's kind of creepy." She leaned back a little, trying to get out of the discerning and disconcerting gaze of the man in front of her.
"And why did you think you needed to know anything about me?"
"You claim to know a lot about me," Joseph pointed out as he returned to the mini bar, picking up his previously forgotten cigarette. "Didn't think it would hurt for me to return the favour. Knowledge is power, Agent Kottler."
He inhaled a drag and then simply allowed the smoke to curl around him. "Now, are we done here or did you want to rifle through my underwear drawer as well as perusing my condoms?"
"I was just thinking they're an exaggeration. You're a sad little man," Julie said, lifting her chin. "Like I said, Joseph, we're watching you. Very closely."
She shook her head and walked past him, heels clicking. She paused halfway to the door. "I went through the underwear drawer already." Her lips quirked before she could help herself and she lingered, like there was something else on her mind before she continued towards the door.
Joseph tipped his head back and laughed, amusement filtering into the darkness of his eyes. It was as she was leaving that Joseph wandered over to the drawer in question, pulling out a strip of the aforementioned condoms.
"Hey, Julie?" He waited until she'd turned towards him before throwing the strip her way, offering a wink and a smile. "Have some fun on me, you look like you need them far more than I do."
Joseph lifted the drink in a mock toast before he left the Agent to her departure.
Julie caught the condoms out of reflex more than anything else. She looked at them, a little disgusted before she walked out of the room, dropping them in the trash can near the door.
It clicked shut behind her and one of the men she'd come with turned his head. "You find anything?" he asked, "We tried to stop him but-"
"Don't. Don't talk to me," Julie warned, tone sharp. "Let's just get the fuck out of here."
The angered click of her shoes was heard as she retreated down the corridor, more determined than ever to catch this son of a bitch. "Someone get me a cell phone with a line to Danvers."
OOC: NPC Agent Julie Kottler was played by Willow