"Do you think we'll get answers out of him?" asked Buckley.
The two men were standing on the stoop of the Sawyer residence, which they noticed had received a paint job since their last visit. Green and yellow, true to their country origins. It stood right in between two other town homes like the rest of the block.
"We'll have to," Bob replied, "If Beau's been roped into this too, we'll all need to work together to get to the bottom of whatever's going on."
"Then here's to hoping he's on our side," Buckley said as he rang the doorbell.
It took a minute for the door to be opened, and as expected, a pudgy man with a moustache greeted them. Beau Sawyer, Lila's father, gave the men a warm smile.
"Bob! Buckley! It's been ages!" Beau exclaimed.
"Eh, good seing you too, Beau," Bob grunted.
Bob didn't dislike Beau. He just wasn't very good with people in general, and Beau was no exception.
"Beau, we'd hate to intrude," Buckley said, "But there's something...rather serious we need to talk to you about."
"Oh, of course!" Beau exclaimed, creaking his door all the way open, "Please come in! Make yourselves comfortable! I'll help you to the best of my ability!"
Olga had been on her way to the grocery store for her family, having finished a proper list. She made sure to write more than just booze, red meat and snacks, which was usually her father's entire list. Olga added fruits and vegetables and other proteins to the list as well. Along the way, she leaned into the right lane, and before making the turn, saw a familiar face strolling down the sidewalk, staring face down as if he did not want to be seen. Olga rolled down her passenger window to call out Haggard.
"Haggard!" Olga exclaimed cheerfully.
Haggard looked up from the sidewalk and warmly smiled upon seeing Olga.
"Olga," he said, "What a nice surprise. What's been happening?"
"Just running a few errands," Olga replied, "How about yourself?"
"Long story, I'm sure you have much better things to do with your valuable time," Haggard replied.
Seeing no one in the lane behind her, and that traffic was slow nonetheless, Olga leaned towards the open window, though not without keeping her hand on the wheel.
"Try me," she said.
Haggard was not expecting her to actually be interested. He wasn't even supposed to be disclosing anything to anyone other thsn Ashley. But Olga seemed nice enough, and she did become quite the new friend. He walked up to her window, resting his palms on the door.
"I was on my way to Hillwood Corrections Facility," Haggard replied, "I was supposed to visit someone there. Trouble is, their particular circumstance limits their privileges, including visiting hours."
"Let me guess," Olga inquired, "You were hoping to bend the rules a little bit."
"That," Haggard replied, "...aaaand I have no idea where it is."
Olga covered her mouth with her fingers as she laughed, though it didn't hide the edge of her smile. With that same smile, she popped open the passenger door.
"Hop in," she said, "I'll drop you off."
"Can I get you guys anything?" Beau asked, "Water? Crackers?"
"No thanks," Buckley said, "This shouldn't take long."
Buckley Lloyd and Bob Pataki sat side by side on the longer couch, while Beau Sawyer sat in the loveseat across from them, crossing his legs as he got comfortable.
"So what can I do for you both?" asked Beau.
"We have a certain...problem we're dealing with," Bob replied gruffly, "And we need some answers from you."
Beau stroked his moustache in confusion, unsure of what they were implying.
"I'm, uh, not sure what you mean," replied Beau.
"About Gemini Labs?" Bob asked.
A cold sweat broke out across Beau's face. Clearly he heard the name before.
"I've heard of them," Beau answered, "But there's not much I know about them."
"Beau," Buckley said leaning forward, "We saw your name in their archives. It seemed important to them too, because it was highlighted."
"But I never asked for anything from them!" Beau exclaimed.
"We figured as much," Bob said, "Which leaves the conclusion that you worked for them."
"I would never!" Beau exclaimed.
Beau looked as if he would pop a vein, and his whole body was trembling. It took more than a few moments for Beau to calm himself down. When he looked back up at Bob and Buckley, they knew there was no more lies. No turning back from this point forward.
"It was my wife," Beau replied, "She worked for them."
"So who were you planning to visit?" asked Olga.
"...someone from our history," Haggard lied, "Me and Ashley, I mean. I don't want to go into the tragic details of what happened..."
"Is her mother...alive?" asked Olga, "Sorry, it just worried me that you've been raising her yourself."
"Unfortunately, she's not," Haggard replied, "She died a few years ago."
Haggard wasn't technically lying about that. Her mother was obviously out of the picture, and she wasn't the only child in the city without a mom.
"Is the person you're going to see...did he kill her?" Olga asked.
"No, he didn't," Haggard replied, "But he may be able to bring us some...closure."
That wasn't technically a lie. Scheck obviously wasn't the end of their search. But since he worked with one Coco LaBouche on designing the vessels for Gemini Labs, he could provide a pivotal clue as to how they can be stopped. Or better yet, where they currently are hidden. Haggard looked out the window as Olga turned into a small street in between two brick buildings. Neither individual knew who was waiting in the alleys.
"I'm sorry," Olga said, "I don't mean to be so nosy. I just worry whenever I see broken families. I just wanted to help..."
"Don't be sorry, Olga," Haggard said, turning to her and smiling warmly, "I have no reason to distrust you. In the short time that we've been here, you've been very kind to me. To us. I'm glad I got to meet you."
Olga blushed when he complimented her. It slightly distracted her from looking ahead. But even if she was, she would not have noticed the green, circular object that rolled under the vehicle. Or the fact that the pin was pulled.
"Hey," Olga said, "Once you sort this all out, maybe you and I..."
The car flew into the air once the grenade exploded. If shown in slow motion, one could see the sparks flying from the car sliding across the walls. It landed on the passenger side, badly damaged and with dents on the trunk as well. The shadowy individuals came out of hiding to fetch the two of them...
"My wife graduated with a Masters in Animal Sciences," Beau explained, "We had just been settling into the farm when she was approached about a job offer at Gemini Labs."
"Strange sort to be getting it from," Buckley said, "I thought they were mainly involved in human interests."
"So did we," Beau said, "But apparently human interests included fighting world hunger, and since they were in the business of cloning and we were raising several edible creatures...well, you get the picture. She provided them with DNA and blood samples, they cloned the animals for whoever was paying for their services."
"How does that fit into now?" Bob asked.
"The farm itself wasn't all they wanted," Beau replied, "There was another project in the works. Something big. But Kaspar Corr had very little involvement with that. It was his partner..."
"He had a partner?" Buckley asked.
"Yes," Beau replied, "The two partnered up shortly after the labs were first established. His partner had focused on his own project while Corr further perfected genetic cloning."
"So this business partner of his," Buckley further surmised, "It sounds like he's the one taking charge of their operations now."
"Something ain't right about this," Bob said, "Buckley here said they had Spade collect his kid's blood samples as part of a deal they made. But it sounds like Corr was the only one involved in that part. What's this new guy have invested to keep doing that? If it didn't have anything to do with whatever he was working on...what was he working on, anyway?"
"I don't know," Beau replied, "And frankly, I'm not sure I want to know. After working for them long enough, my wife started investigating on her own. She must have found out what it was, because next thing I know...they got her."
"The...the fire...that was them?" Buckley asked, "You're sure of it?"
"I saw him with my own eyes," replied Beau, getting angrier as he spoke, "I never told Lila, but I saw him standing right in front of the barn as it burned to the ground! I know he lured her in there somehow and then murdered her!"
Beau took a moment to calm down, feeling Buckley tap his hand with his own, trying his best to comfort his friend. Bob, for once, was entirely speechless.
"My God, I..." Bob said, trying to compose himself, "I dunno what to say."
"Then don't say anything."
All three men jumped as they saw Spade, who somehow got himself and two burly goons inside without making a sound, standing under the awning.
"Spade?" asked a shocked Buckley, "How much did you hear?"
"Enough to know you're getting too close to be left alone," Spade replied, "And no, before you ask, I don't know what Kroger's secret project is, so don't try getting that out of me, you'll just waste your time and mine."
"Kroger?" Bob asked.
"Drat, that was his name!" Beau exclaimed, "Vaas Kroger! He was the one Corr partnered with!"
"He's also rather agitated that the two of you have been snooping around his business," Spade replied, "He wants me to put a stop to that."
"Look, Spade, we don't want trouble," Buckley said, trying to reason with the infamous criminal, "We just wanted to repay our debts and go our separste ways."
"We're past the point of that, Buckley," Spade replied back, "Besides, we both know you're doing this to stop the boss's plans."
"We don't even know what his plans are!" Buckley exclaimed, "We didn't know his name until you arrived! We've never even met him!"
"Well there's time to change that, then," Spade answered, "He wants to meet with you blokes personally. He's waiting for us at..."
"MacGuffin Warehouse," Gerald said, reading aloud the decaying sign, "This is the place all right."
The kids stood in front of the sign, standing on a large dirt pathway that led to the eponymous warehouse. It was a large structure by the harbor, but was clearly unused for some time. The bricks were cracked and the windows were shattered. Anybody could use this for any form of sinister purpose. And to add poetic irony, the sun was going down.
"Please let this lead to something useful," Helga said, "No more bizarre clues."
"Finally, something we agree on," Ashley said.
"I, uh, I dunno if we should go in there," Sid said, "Looks kinda shady."
"Sure does, Sid," Stinky concurred, "I ain't a-scared or nuthin', it just ain't safe."
"M-Maybe we should just wait until tomorrow when it's...not dark," Harold said.
"Well then the three of you can wait outside while those of us with cojones go and search inside," Gerald said.
"Hey!" Harold screamed, "I have cojones!"
"Yeah!" Stinky exclaimed, "What's a cojones?"
"I don't even know," Harold replied.
"Hold up," Ashley said, "That may not be a bad idea. They'll make good lookouts for anything suspicious, and if this all goes south, they can get help!"
"Hey yeah!" Sid exclaimed, "We can totally do that!"
"Well then get to it," Gerald said, "The rest of us are going inside."
As the three compadres stood outside by the gate, everyone else walked towards the door. Ashley stood in between Gerald and Rhonda while watching Helga strut forward ahead of everyone else.
"You really think they'll help by being lookouts?"
"Oh hell no," Ashley said, "I just need the Three Stooges out of the way for a while."
"Sneaky, sneaky," Gerald commented.
"Well it's not like they would help by being afraid of their own shadows," Rhonda said, "So they get a job they can do, we go searching in the meanwhile. It's a perfect plan."
Ashley just looked forward as they opened the door to the MacGuffin warehouse.
Unless something is waiting for us inside...
