One of the Back Alleys in Fandom, Very Early Sunday Morning

[angelo_wings]

Dawn was creeping over Fandom when Rita stumbled back towards her club. She'd had a fun night, but she never stayed the night unless she was hoping for a mistress gig, and Leon was just the hired help

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[whateverknight]

Hanging out of a dumpster. Leon snorted. "Amateurs."

Still... "They're nice legs, though. Some of yours?" If that was a Magic Box girl, he couldn't just leave her there. Even in a town as wretched as this, there'd be too many questions. And if someone was trying to send Angelface a message, then the rest of the girls were in danger.

Leon pulled away from the lovely gal by his side, and slid over to have a gander at the one in the can.

[angelo_wings]

"You think I can tell from legs?" Rita asked, raising an eyebrow. "Nice legs, good heels. Might be one of ours. How bad's the face?"

Girls tossed into dumpsters were sometimes scuffed up pretty bad. Not exactly ready for their close-up.

[whateverknight]

Leon peered at the girl, and drew breath in a sharp hiss. "You'll wanna stand back. This ain't a sight for a lady." It coulda been worse -- the bruises were bad, but the face was still recognizable. When Leon got done with a job, sometimes you couldn't even recognize it had been a face at all.

"She's yours, all right. This is bad."

[angelo_wings]

"Move," Rita said impatiently. No sight for a lady? She hadn't been a lady in years. And she needed to know, to see it for herself.

The face sure was recognizable. Dammit.

"Celia," she said. "She's just a kid."

She dug through her purse for a cigarette, hoping it might calm her jangling nerves.

[whateverknight]

She might think she was ready to see, but bravado wasn't worth spit when it came to seeing dirtiness up close and personal. Leon had his lighter out and ready for her cigarette, and gave her a few moments afterward. Then he unceremoniously shoved the gams out of sight and turned to Rita. "C'mon. We gotta go see Angel."

[angelo_wings]

"You go," Rita said. "I'm not going anywhere."

No kid deserved to be left in a dumpster, like day-old cartons of Chinese. She was gonna stay here with the body until he got back. End of story.

[whateverknight]

"You ain't stayin' here," Leon growled. He grabbed for her arm. "This was a one-off, a John who got his dander up or just one who gets his jollies offa chokin', that's one thing. But this? This looks like a message, to me. And someone sendin' a message might want to make sure it gets delivered. You get that?"

[angelo_wings]

Rita jerked her arm back, harshly. "You don't give orders to me," she snapped. "I'm higher up the food chain than you. You can be replaced by any thug willing to throw a punch. And I say we don't leave dead girls in dumpsters by themselves. Now run and tell your boss-man so we can make this a proper party."

[whateverknight]

Leon looked at her, looked at the dumpster, and sighed. He pulled a wicked-looking knife from his boot and held it out to her, hilt-first. "You get yourself in trouble, here, that's on my head -- you got that? So stay safe. I'll be right back."

[angelo_wings]

Rita took the knife in the hand that wasn't holding her cigarette.

She tried to pretend she didn't jump at random noises, while Leon was gone. Some part of her wished the creep would come back, so she could give him a piece of her mind. And of the business end of that knife.

[not_a_parakeet]

[angelo_wings]

"Celia," Rita said, folding her arms tightly and trying to keep herself from saying more. "Kinda new. She was working last night."

All of the accusations lay dormant in those words. She blamed Angelface for this -- and herself, underneath that -- but saying that out loud went nowhere, fast.

She liked to bluff that she wasn't afraid of him, but ... well.

[whateverknight]

"There wouldn't have been any reason to get you involved, otherwise," Leon pointed out. This town was full of discarded stiffs. The boss had better things to do than look at every one.

[not_a_parakeet]

[angelo_wings]

It was probably for the best that Angelface didn't know that Moretti had been in Rita's office last night. At least, Rita hoped he didn't know. You couldn't ever say for sure, with him.

The girl deserved a funeral, in a church somewhere, but Rita didn't bother suggesting anything that stupid. She shouldn't let it shake her up like this. Just another corpse on the streets. Wasn't like it was the first one she'd seen, either.

"The girls are gonna ask questions," she said. And she didn't feel like making up a lie about Celia inheriting some dough from her Great-Aunt Betty and skipping town.

[not_a_parakeet]