Ch 8 The Midnight Folk

Steve pinned a few hairs flat beside Bucky's headband and fastened his mother's pearls around his neck. "I'm not sure these really match."

"Well I don't have a lot of other jewelry," Bucky said, running a finger along the pearls.

"Mrs. O'Sullivan would have let you borrow something," Steve pointed out.

"I didn't want to be accused of stealing it after she evicts us tomorrow." Bucky said pointedly. "Do you want to tell me what you're planning?"

Steve chuckled and kissed him on the cheek. "Better if you don't know."

Bucky eyed him suspiciously. "The last time you said that, I ended up hiding from the Germans in a hay loft for two days."

"It'll be fine," Steve assured him, squeezing his shoulder gently. "Just enjoy your night."

Bucky sighed and dabbed on a bit of perfume. "Does it strike you as odd that Conner isn't going?"

Steve shrugged. "I don't mind."

"I know you don't mind," Bucky said, pulling a silver glove over his left hand. "I'm just saying it's strange. In a month we've never been out with them separately."

"Ok, it's a little odd," Steve conceded, "but I want to see what Mrs. O'Sullivan is up to, so let's just be glad it worked out."

"Just be careful," Bucky pleaded one last time.

He kissed Steve and put on his lipstick. There was a knock at the door. Steve helped Bucky with his coat and settled back to read a book as Bucky headed out for the night. Whatever they were involved in, he was going to get to the bottom of it.

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Loki sat in front of the vanity fixing his makeup. He picked up the emerald necklace from where he had thrown it earlier. It was actually quite stunning, but it didn't match the dress. He took out the ruby that he had been given and slipped it over his head. It was atrocious but it complemented the dress better. He smoothed down a few hairs and headed down. The boss was waiting for him in front of a shiny black car.

"Gorgeous!" he said, opening the door of the car for Loki. Loki took his hand, carefully climbing into the seat. These garments were awkward to maneuver in and it wouldn't do to rip his dress before the evening began. The boss got in the other side and the driver sped off through the streets.

"Where are we going?" Loki asked.

"A few business associates of mine are having a little soiree," he said, straightening his bowtie. "Just sit there and look pretty."

"Are you sure I can't do more?" Loki asked, reaching over to adjust the tie.

The boss gripped Loki's arm tightly. "You got a nice set of pipes on you but I don't want to hear them tonight. You remember your place or the next man you sweet talk will be Saint Peter."

Loki clenched his teeth, fighting the urge to kill the man. He didn't know who Saint Peter was, but it had the tone of a threat. He smiled demurely. "Of course."

"You're a smart cookie, but this is a delicate situation." The boss put his arm around Loki's shoulders. "There are just some things dames shouldn't stick their noses in."

Loki sat back and watched the lights of the city pass by. It was galling to have to put up with such condescending treatment, but until he found the gem he would have to be patient. As soon as it was in his hands he would rip this man's insolent tongue out through his nose.

The car pulled up to a lavish hotel. The boss got out and came around to open Loki's door. He took the boss' arm as they walked through the lobby. A doorman nodded to the boss as they approached and opened the door to let them into a richly appointed ballroom. A band was playing on the stage as well dressed men and women milled about. Loki couldn't help but smile. All of these people thought they were important, yet their fates were already written. A century from now, most of them would have faded into obscurity, their insignificant lives forgotten. He would let them revel in their delusion that anything they did here mattered. The most important thing was to keep his patron happy until the gem was back in his possession.

"Councilman Fitzgerald," the boss greeted an older man.

The Councilman nodded his head politely but coldly. "Mr. Mulligan."

"May I introduce my companion, Lola Jotun. One of the best singers in the city."

The Commissioner took Loki's hand and kissed it. "I don't know what a lovely girl like you is doing with him, but he's lucky to have you."

Loki just smiled. The boss patted his hand and stepped away.

"I need to talk to the Councilman for a minute, doll. Go find the table and I'll meet you there."

"I'll be waiting," Loki purred as he left to look for their seats. As he made his way through the room, a dark haired man came up to him.

"Don't tell me you're here all alone."

"No, I'm with Desmond Mulligan." Loki told him.

The man scoffed. "A dame like you could do better than that sorry son of a bitch."

Loki laughed quietly. "He'll do for now, Mr.?"

"Vito Moretti," the man said, holding out his hand. Loki gripped it lightly.

"Lola Jotun."

"If you ever want to trade up, give me a call." Moretti handed her a card. Loki slipped it into his handbag as Moretti walked away. He had heard the name before and he knew that Moretti was a member of a rival faction. Socializing with him openly would cause trouble, but if Mulligan didn't come through, perhaps Moretti would be more useful.

He headed over to their table. They were the first ones there, but Mulligan's underlings whould be arriving soon. He walked around to look at the names, smiling as he recognizing a few as the boyfriends of other club performers. Satisfied, he sat down to wait. A few minutes later the boss returned and handed him a drink.

"Hope you weren't too bored."

Loki sipped the drink, surreptitiously eyeing Moretti. "Not at all."

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Bucky tried not to gape as Butch let him into the hotel. "I should have borrowed a necklace from Mrs. O'Sullivan," he muttered, staring at the crystal chandelier in the Lobby.

"You look beautiful," Butch whispered. He handed an invitation to the doorman. "Butch Daly and Miss Daisy Buchanan."

The doorman looked them up and down with a scrutinizing gaze and checked the list. "Ah yes. Here you are." He opened the door with a slight bow. "Enjoy your evening Mr. Daly."

Bucky leaned in to whisper, "how did you score an invitation to something like this?"

"It's work related," Butch said evasively.

"So why isn't Conner here?" Bucky pressed.

"Hey, there's our table," Butch said, pointing across the room. "Why don't you have a seat and I'll get us some drinks."

Butch hurried off to the bar as Bucky went over and sat down. He fixed his skirt and looked around at the others seated at the table. His heart froze. Across the table, was Loki. He sat beside an older man in an expensive suit. Butch returned with the drinks and took out his hip flask to spike them before handing one to Bucky.

"Daly!" the older man barked. "Where the hell are your manners? This young lady's been sitting here without an introduction!" He turned to the others. "Kids these days! They're smart, but you really gotta keep them in line."

"Sorry sir," Butch apologized. "This is my girl, Daisy Buchanan. Daisy, this is my boss, Mr. Mulligan."

"Your girl?" One of the other women exclaimed. "Well good on you, sweetie!" she said, raising her glass to Daisy. "For a while there we thought we had a confirmed bachelor on our hands with this one."

She reached over to stroke a finger down Butch's cheek. He tensed up but endured it politely. She winked at him and reached over to offer her hand to Bucky. "Siobhan Murphy."

"Your name ain't Murphy!" her companion growled.

"Would be if you'd make an honest woman of me," she said.

"Pace her, would you?" Mr. Mulligan said sharply. "This party just started."

Loki leaned forward to look carefully at Bucky. "Have we met before?"

"I think you came into the dress shop this morning," Bucky said quickly.

"Oh that's right!" Another woman said. "You're one of Mrs. O's girls."

"I should have known," Mr. Mulligan said. "Colleen always had an eye for beauty."

"Daisy here has quite an eye as well," Loki said. "She picked out this dress for me."

Mr. Mulligan nodded approvingly. "Nice work. Tell Colleen I'll be sending her back."

"Thank you," Bucky said, sipping his drink.

Mr. Mulligan looked over at one of the other tables. "Ladies, if I could borrow your escorts for a while."

Butch stood up and kissed Bucky on the cheek. "I won't be too long. Try not to let them get to you."

Butch and the other men headed off leaving their dates at the table alone. Bucky sipped his drink.

"So you're one of Mrs. O's?" Siobhan asked.

"Yes, I started working for her about a month ago along with my friend Stella."

"Well, looks like you won't be there for long if you hooked Butch." Another woman said. "All the girls have been chasing him for years. We were starting to wonder about him."

"Well it's a little early to say I've hooked him, but he is very nice." Bucky sipped his drink, mulling over her words for a moment. "I'm sorry, what do you mean, one of Mrs. O's?"

The other ladies laughed.

Loki opened a fan with a sharp flick of his wrist. "Now you've done it."

A stunning redhead in a bright blue dress leaned over and took his hand. "Most of us worked for her. She tries to set the boys in the family up with women of a certain caliber."

"Family?" Bucky asked, fearing he already knew the answer.

"Careful Edna," Loki chided. "We don't want to scare her off, and I certainly don't want her quitting. I still need a gown to match that emerald necklace Desmond gave me."

Edna smiled deferentially. "Ignore me dear, a bit too much to drink."

Bucky lifted his glass, sloshing a little over the side. "Oh gosh!" he exclaimed, feigning panic. "I had better go wash this off!"

"No dear, use soda water!" Edna said quickly. "And don't rub, just dab!"

Bucky nodded his thanks and ran to the bar to get a glass of soda water and a napkin before heading off to the powder room. He dabbed at the stain even though it hardly showed.

He felt like a fool for not seeing it sooner, but whatever these men were doing, Mrs. O'Sullivan was involved and so were Butch and Conner. He set the cloth aside and sat down in front of the mirror. The most likely conclusion was that they were bootleggers. He didn't have anything against that exactly, but the sort of activities that tended to go with it worried him. Butch didn't seem like a murderer, not that Bucky was in a position to judge him for it if he were. Still, it wasn't the sort of world he wanted to get pulled into. He drank the rest of the seltzer and headed back out, hoping Butch hadn't returned yet.

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Steve waited until late in the evening to be sure he wouldn't be seen. He put on his cargo pants, cinching the belt tightly to ensure that they would stay up and slipped on his t-shirt. He laced up his most sensible pair of shoes and crept downstairs. He quickly picked the lock of the door and slipped inside, pulling the door behind him. Turning on his flashlight, he made his way to the back room.

The safe was built into the back wall. Steve had seen Mrs. O'Sullivan open it several times. She either trusted them or didn't think they were quick enough to catch on, because she had never bothered to hide the dial when she opened it. Steve quickly cycled through the combination and the safe sprang open. He took a moment to memorize the location of the items so that he could put them back in the proper place when he was finished. There were several stacks of hundred dollar bills, a few folders, a stack of large envelopes and a leather bound ledger. Steve took out the folder first and leafed through the papers. There were several bills of lading listing various shipments of fabric. He read through them, but none of it seemed out of place. He replaced the folder and took out the ledger. It was written in some sort of code, but he recognized several of the shipments. There were numbers on each line that he couldn't identify, but they seemed to line up to various names. He read back through them. A few of them looked familiar, but the connection eluded him.

He took the folder back out and laid it on the work table, he opened the ledger beside it and took the top bill of lading. Looking through the ledger, he found the name of the ship and the container number listed. He looked more closely. The bill of lading listed a quantity of silk being shipped from France, but the ledger had two numbers, neither of which matched.

Steve grabbed a sheet of paper and a pencil and made some notes. He picked up the second bill of lading. He was on to something. Whatever Mrs. O'Sullivan was doing, the answer was in these papers, he just had to look.

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Butch was still gone when Bucky returned to the table. The women had settled into a conversation of the latest gossip and barely noticed his presence. He sat quietly, watching Loki as they chatted. The man he was with seemed to be the leader, and the other women deferred to him, albeit grudgingly. He was powerful enough to command respect, but not untouchable. He spoke several times about gifts that Mulligan had given him, mostly emeralds. Bucky realized that Loki was using this man to look for the time gem. So far they had been unable to come up with the money to buy if from Mr. Nussbaum, but if Loki was searching for it, they were out of time. They would have to retrieve it tomorrow, by any means necessary.

Butch and the other men returned a while later, smelling like cigar smoke and whiskey. Butch sat down and handed Bucky a fresh drink. "You girls get along alright without us?"

"Just fine," Bucky said. "But I'd like to dance if you're done with your other commitments."

Butch stood up and led Bucky to the floor. "Why do I get the feeling I'm in trouble."

Bucky took his position for the dance. "You told me you work in imports. That's not true, is it?"

"Sure it is!" Butch insisted. "I import silk and wool and maple syrup and all sorts of other things."

Bucky scowled. "I'm sure you do, but how much silk is actually in the crate?"

Butch shrugged. "What's the harm if we hide a few bottles of booze in with it?"

"You're a mobster," Bucky whispered as Butch led him through the turn.

"Ok, yes, I am," Butch admitted. "I was going to tell you, but I was afraid you'd leave and I was having a good time."

Bucky didn't respond. He had no idea what to say. Steve had been right all along.

"I wasn't trying to hurt you," Butch continued. "I'm no button man if that's what you're thinking. I just handle the paperwork, forge documents, bribe cops, but the rest of it's all above board. If it weren't illegal it would almost be respectable."

Bucky looked at him. "I don't agree with prohibition, but people tend to get hurt in your line of work."

"It won't be you," Butch promised.

Bucky leaned his head on Butch's shoulder. He had learned to trust his instincts, and whatever Butch did for a living, Bucky's gut said that he was a good man. "Stella isn't going to like this."

Butch kissed the top of his head. "Well I'm not dancing with Stella."

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Steve finished with the ledger and folders and placed them carefully back in the safe. He had managed to find a trail of shipments containing illicit cargo going back months. He stared at his notes for a moment wondering what this meant for them. In any other era he would have turned this over to the police, but after all his lectures to Bucky about not interfering, he knew that wasn't an option. His other instinct was to distance themselves from things, but that didn't seem like a wise course of action either. They had a comfortable life and trying to reestablish themselves elsewhere would just take time away from their real purpose.

He sighed. Bucky had been right. They should have just left well enough alone. He looked in the safe to see what else he could find. If he had come this far, he might as well know everything he could. He removed one of the envelopes and started to open it as he heard a pistol cocking behind him.