The deal done, Glenn and Gustav made their way back to the safe house to meat up with Riordan, taking with them the damning photos of Nazim and the drugs, as well as Nazim practically posing with the gangsters.
The crew determined there was next to no chance that liberated crimes would ever have approved of this deal, and drugs seemed well outside of their wheel house, especially at home.
The decision was made that night to black mail Nazim into complying with the crew’s inquiries into the criminal organization known as Liberated Crimes, knowing full well that if he did not comply it would likely be a death sentence. One not by Riordan’s hands, but by the organization itself, who would likely frown heavily upon a highly trusted, and clearly the most legitimate member of their organization, was getting hands dirty, on Moroccan soil no less.
Getting Your hands Dirty
They decided the best decision was to confront Nazim, but the crew had trouble agreeing on where and Riordan took the initiative to breach Nazim’s sedan in his office building’s underground parking lot. Meanwhile Glenn and Gustav would tail the car and intervene if needed, as Riordan instructed Nazim and his driver where to go. That was the plan.
At the last minute Riordan decided his best approach would be to hide in the trunk. Before getting in he swept the car and found the driver’s piece under the seat. He pocketed it and climbed into the trunk, to await for the driver and Nazim.
The driver picked Nazim up without issue, but then Glenn and Gustav noticed, as they tailed the car in a taxi from a few cars back, that they were not doing the usual and going to lunch. Instead they pulled into a deserted parknig lot near the edge of town, and the driver got out, against the protest of Nazim, who sounded confused and annoyed to Riordan, still hiding in the trunk.
In the parking lot the driver confronted Nazim and explained he was going to extort Nazim, for 50% of the cut from the drugs they had brought in, and that right now they were going to a secluded spot the driver knew, to sort this out, and also that there would be some changes around there, or he would tell his uncle all about Nazim’s misdoings.
Feeling satisfied with himself, the driver got into the backseat and ordered Nazim to drive the car. Reluctantly Nazim got in and started driving, following the driver’s instructions. Soon they were on the highway and Glenn and Gustav were in tow, maintaining a safe distance behind the sedan, in a taxi.
Soon the driver and Nazim started arguing again, and Riordan heard the driver shift his weight to the center of back seat, as the car continued speeding up. Outside the car, the other two members of the crew watched as the sedan sped off, opening the gab between it and the taxi, before veering off suddenly, crashing head on into a cement pylon.
Riordan was knocked unconscious during the impact. His body jostling around hard in the trunk of the car, his only saving grace being he hadn’t braced for an impact and was limp as he flew into the back seat at 60+ miles per hour.
Gustav was almost out the taxi before it had stopped, the driver already slowing down to gawk and possibly help the victims in the crashed car. As Gustav exited the car he went straight for the trunk, knowing too well what it was like to be seriously injured during an op.
Glenn made his way to the driverside door, as the taxi driver frantically paced around the car. Checking Nazim, Glenn noticed the gaping hole in the center of the windshield, and turned to look where the taxi driver was now staring, at the body some 20 yards away, laying motionless in the dirt.
Nazim started to stir, and immediately took stock and started spewing a story about a goat in the road, and how he’d insisted his friend’s nephew buckle up but he refused. His ears still bleeding and clearly in shock from the crash and the deployed airbags, he didn’t seem to notice the burns across his wrists, as he awkwardly exited the car, stared past Glenn, and made his way to the body in the distance, his dismay growing more and more exaggerated as he arrived at the gnarled corpse’s side.
Riordan was still out cold when Gustav pried open the trunk. His legs were bent the wrong way and he had a masive gash on his head, but Gustav found a pulse, and it seemed strong. He shook Riordan until he came too, appearing dazed for only a few moments, before he siezed himself up and out of the trunk, stumbling out, on his broken ankle.
Glenn trodded over to Nazim, and saw as Nazim appeared to be staring at his phone’s dialer screen, about to make a call to someone (He didn’t know who as it was in arabic), and seemed to be rehearsing what to say. Approaching Nazim, Glenn got a full view of the boy’s face, as Nazim had flipped him over in his manufactured hysteria, and even gone to the trouble to get some of his blood on his suit. It would all look very convincing, What was left of the face was little more than freshly ground beef.
That was when Glenn’s phone started to ring, with an unkown number. Rejecting the call he made a note to look into who that could be, as very few had that number.
Behind Glenn, he could hear a commotion and turned to see the mad eyes of the Irishman as he limped past, straight up to Nazim, shouting “Enough of this shit!” as he slammed his unbroken arm into the back of Nazim’s head.
Aftermath
Glenn, realizing that things had gotten out of control quickly bribed the driver, grabbed a card, and sent him on his way, assuring him things would be fine. Then while Gustav started prying open the hood of the car, he drug Nazim’s unconscious body back to the car, binding him and tossing him in the trunk this time.
Riordan eased himself into the backseat of the car and nodded off, as Gustav jerry rigged the car to run again, but only for a short distance.
Back on the road, the team decided to make for a safehouse they had setup outside of town, very remote. The car was able to get there, just barely. Nazim was still out cold as they drug him in and bound him to a chair and tended to Riordan’s injuries.
The bomb specialist, using a first aid kit and some carpentry material, was able to make and then splint Riordan’s arm and ankle, thanks in large part to youtube tutorials and Riordan’s willingness to down whiskey to dull the pain.
Bringing Nazim to with smelling salts, the crew had put on balaclavas, hiding their identities, as they sat patiently and watched as Nazim took stock.
Realizing he had been kidnapped, he dropped the victim act and asked if they knew who he was and who he worked with, explaining this would likely be the last chance they would have to walk away.
Riordan almost lost it, hearing Gustav translate this, and whipped out his pistol, planely aiming it at Nazim over his lap. Glenn pulled him aside after a few awkward moments of silence and the two argued about the next course of action, Riordan very clear about what he thought ought to be done next.
Back in the conversation with Nazim, Gustav let drop they knew he’d killed his driver, that he and the driver were connected to liberated crimes, and even showed the pictures of the drug operation Nazim had done the night before, making it clear the crew’s intentions were not about money, but were about intel on the organization.
Glenn rejected another call from the same number, turning back to Nazim.
Nazim, still acting in control of the situation, very calmly proposed a deal, over the objecting shouts of Riordan, where they help him make his alibi for the killing of his driver, and he would in return give them names, and intel, now and in the future, especially if they didn’t interfere with his newly established side gig or reveal him as an informant to the organization.
Begrudgingly the party agreed. Demanding first some intel, at least a name, before they would act to secure his alibi and let him go. Nazim complied and gave the party a single name. Then they set Nazim’s alibi in motion
The crew decided that he was likely taking his driver to a rehab center, that was coincidentally a few dozen miles away down the highway the wreck occurred on, and they made short work of convincing the center they were expecting Nazim and his driver that day. They also contacted the taxi driver and instructed him of what story he should tell if asked. Then they dropped Nazim off (using the wrecked car) at a nearby hospital, and cut him loose.
Taking Riordan to a private upscale hospital in town, his wounds were tended to, no questions asked, while Glenn finally took the call he’d been getting all morning.
A man named Mil identified himself on the other end, claiming to work for a private security company in France called Tradesmart Securite. He claimed that Alyssa had handed off their point of contact on the op to him, though he was largely still in the dark about the operation overall, and had arrived that morning in Morocco and needed to meet with the crew urgently, especially Eyevan. He shared his hotel info and insisted they, all of the crew, make their way to his hotel that day, or the per diem account would be cut by the end of the day.
Deciding it was in their best interest to not mess with their paycheck on the op (and Gustav’s only chance of finding out who was behind him losing an arm), the crew scooped up Riordan and made their way to the hotel that afternoon.
Entering the hotel suite, Mil asked them all to sit down, as he was pouring threw several documents atop a manilla envelope that had a broken seal on top with the writing ‘not to be opened until Casablance’ in french across the top.
Mil seemed to have been ill informed of the situation and wasn’t keen on knowing too many details, especially the likely less than legal ones. He did however reveal that he already knew that Eyevan had fled Morocco and was last seen boarding a plane to Russia in Hungary. Hence the handoff being moved up, as Alyssa was furious and convinced they were taking advantage, most deplorably, of her and the innocent non profit she worked for.
Explaining that the op was not over, he demanded all the intel that they had so far, and Glenn willingly shared a handful of shreds, making no excuses about the lack of information they had thus far on the op.
Mil seemed upset by this, but also prepared, as he laid down the law, making it clear they were on the shortest leash he was comfortable putting them on, which would include daily phone meetings, and weekly reports they would need to prepare for him, showing their progress.
Finally, Mil came to his final order of business. He had brought his own contractor in, a German boy (relative term, Mil being in his 50’s), that could readily handle the digital surveillance and intrusion tasks the group was lacking, as well as a competent wet worker if the need indeed arose.
Going by the name of Elliot Alderson, this new contractor had been in the adjacent suite, listening through the thin dividing door the entire time. Walking in he shared a similar demeanor and attitude to the fictional television character he had lifted his name from (though it didn’t appear the rest of his new crew got the reference, or were even aware it was one).
Making lemonade, Glenn welcomed Elliot and the new member left with the new crew, as Gustav received a phone call from an old friend.
One of his local contacts, the one that had helped them scope out liberated crimes, was not surprised to hear that Gustav was in Casablance (where he worked and lived), and seemed upset on the phone, even scared. He insisted that Gustav meet him at a local eatery and they discuss things.
Parting ways from the crew, Gustav made his way to the kabab restaurant his friend mentioned, meeting him at a table as he watched a football game, where Barcelona was winning by a mile.
Gustav was shocked to find out that liberated crimes was already setting up shop, loudly and openly, in Casablanca, after the discovery of a higher up memeber’s nephew had died that morning, seemingly for drug related reasons. Apparently someone had turned the boy an addict and they were shaking down every local organization, testing their drugs, looking for the same composition as the drugs that they had found on the boy, in a compact he kept in his pocket, of all things. They even had portable chem testers, and were comparing product they obtained, by force if necessary, from the various dealers throughout town. This had included some of Gustav’s friends foot soldiers, and he was terrified.
Convinced this was all because of Gustav and himself, he had decided he needed to disappear, because at the very least just a couple weeks ago he had been asking about Liberated Crimes, on Gustav’s behalf, rather loudly, and they were likely already looking for him.
Meanwhile Nazim’s intel had pointed them back to the club, Case De Sangre, and to the man running it, as well as the fact that it was indirectly owned by Oasis Financial. The lead they were looking for had been sitting in their lap the whole time.
Turning their attention to the club, it became clear things wouldn’t be as simple now that Liberated Crimes was officially active in town…