"No, blond hair--long blond hair. Yep. No--No... No. Blond. Like, Yellow? ...Light, yes. That's right. No. Not that light. Okay. Okay--hello?"
Billie cursed under her breath and, again, slammed down the receiver. She'd been on her way out the door when a former snitch returned her call; she took a chance on his word, and wasted more of her time on his wild goose chase. It was now four hours into her deadline, and she still had nothing. No leads, no hunches, no ideas, and no clues. She placed her palm against her forehead and closed her eyes.
While thinking, she heard a man call out her name. Too calm to be Van's voice, and not distinct enough for Deaq's, or Parrish's, she knew it had to be Hill. The he'd said her name--with a sneering laugh should have been enough to give him away. She didn't bother looking up.
"Is that what they're calling you these days? Billie?"
The voice continued; she felt the blood seize in her veins, and her lungs freeze. It was Ted, standing in front of her desk in a brown suit--arms behind his back.
"I apologize. I didn't mean to startle you," he smiled. "I just, couldn't help but overhear--were you talking about my Stacey? It's funny, see, I came here to talk to you about her. What a coincidence. Nice place, by the way."
Billie forced herself to exhale, and tried her best to resume breathing, but something inside her knew what was going on. It was all too familiar.
"How'd you find it?" She managed to ask; her voice was shaky and suspicious. He smiled menacingly.
"Now you should know better." He started with a grin. "Your boys are easy to follow." Ted frowned, shook his head, and, from behind his back, pulled out a yellow mailing envelope. "A little too easy."
Without a bit of hesitance, Ted placed his package on Billie's desk. She stared blankly at it, too afraid to move.
"We've both been great at keeping our promises, but you did tell me that they'd stay out of my way. To make up for it, though, I'm willing to make another deal. I want another plane ticket. For Stacey. Passports, IDs, the works. Oh, and a hundred grand would be nice; I'm not talking candy bars."
Billie laughed, still uneasy. "You don't need my money, Ted."
"I know. But I might as well make the most of it, huh?"
"Excuse me,"
Van stood up from his bar stool and turned to see a petite young woman looking him over. She looked like a typical party-goer and fit right in with the rest of the crowd; tight pants, short shirt, dyed hair. Blond, with blue tips. "Are you Van?"
"Uh, Yeah. Can I help you?" He asked somewhat surprised. The music was so loud, he could barely hear her, but he tried to be polite anyway.
"Would you come with me, please?" Her eyes motioned towards the exit, just past the dance floor.
"Look, lady. I'm kinda busy now. Working." He yelled again.
"Me too." She laughed, pulled out a badge, and smiled. "Let's go."
Haha, I'm interested to see how well this works out. I no longer remember the time frame i had planned for the story--hope this gives me enough time for everything.