Participants:
| Scene Title | Personalized Messages |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | On the warpath, Jessica arrives at the Linderman Building with the intention of following through with a threat as Caliban and Laura move in to intercept. |
| Date | July 8, 2009 |
Beyond the front entrance, the Linderman Building foyer is likewise unremarkable but still impressive in its size. The black and white marble floor extends from the front clear to the back, and the walls have a layer of Moroccan tiles beneath crown molding to lend the area a much-needed splash of colour. Ornate brass lanterns hanging from the ceiling and mounted on the walls provide just enough illumination to see by, and no matter what the weather, the room is surprisingly cold, as if the heat were being removed from it somehow.
At the far end of the room, opposite the entrance is a trio of elevator doors, but halfway there is a checkpoint consisting of some sort of detection machine hooked up to a portable computer, as well as several security guards who are no doubt armed beneath their immaculately-pressed uniforms.
Walking up the entrance of the Linderman Building, Jessica has already eyed several cameras, and after Niki's little outburst several weeks back at the hospital, she's fairly certain that security has been notified to be on the lookout for her approach. She has no clue that Abby has already tipped off Caliban of her approach.
She's got her hair pulled back into a ponytail, wears a dark blue tank top, and faded blue jeans. She is also wearing some sneakers, nothing ideal for what she plans on doing today, but if she has to run, they'll come in handy. She stops at the entrance and places her hands on her hips, casing the place for a moment before she opens the double glass doors to the building and walks in.
She doesn't look like she's about to take direction from any security that may be on this floor as she plans to head right for the top, since she's been here before and knows where to find Linderman if he's here.
Being associated with the Linderman Group has its obligations; in Laura's case, one of them is periodically checking that the Building's security systems are in proper order. Or assessing the potential for upgrade, when circumstances suggest such things are warranted. One such circumstance happened to just walk in the front door.
Laura looks at Jessica's image on the monitors for a moment, then shoves her notepad and something resembling an instruction at her associate before darting down the hall. For once, radio and the people with them seem to be slower. The young woman stops, more or less, in the doorway of Caliban's office, and waits just long enough to be sure she has his attention before speaking. "Ms. Sanders just walked into the lobby."
At his desk, a pair of reading glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, Caliban rises to his feet while folding the newspaper he had spread across his lap in one smooth, almost languid motion. The glasses are removed, set aside next to a half-eaten box of Chinese take-out. "You're on top of things this afternoon, Ms. Morgan," he murmurs as he pulls on his coat, presumably to conceal the firearm that rests in the holster worn over his pristine white dress shirt. "Not that I expect anything less."
He tips his head in the direction of the hallway behind her, turning down his cuffs. "Walk with me?"
Downstairs, the young woman at reception steals a quick glance in the direction of the security guards posted at the stairwell's entrance. It isn't clear whether or not they recognize Jessica on sight, but as she crosses the lobby, the tense beneath their suits, not yet stepping forward. "Excuse me!" the receptionist calls out at her back. "Do you have an appointment?"
Her back is all the receptionist is going to get. She's definitely not dressed as though she works here and she's heading straight for the elevator and begins to punch that UP button.
Turning back towards the receptionist, she finally responds, "Yeah, I've got an appointment. With Mr. Linderman himself. Call him up. Let him know I'm coming on up. Tell him to go ahead and jump while he's at it so I don't have to push him." Jessica crosses her arms across her chest, tapping her foot, until her patience wears thin and she turns to look for a stairway. "On second thought, maybe I'd rather push him."
Laura steps out of the doorway as Caliban starts towards it, looking askance at him upon the invitation to tag along. "Huh? Me?" She wouldn't expect to be anyone's first pick for a confrontation — the thief doesn't even habitually carry a gun. But she falls into step behind Caliban anyway. "If you're sure…"
"Never surer." For Caliban, it may just be a simple matter of mathematical statistics and probability. The greater the number of the people in the lobby, the lesser his chance of taking a bullet if one of those people decides to discharge his or her weapon. With Laura in tow, he pulls the office door shut behind him and takes off at a brisk pace.
Blanching, the receptionist gives Jessica a mortified look as the two security guards by the stairwell begin to approach Jessica by the elevator. One of them unclips the taser he carries at his hip while the other mutters something into the handheld radio at his ear. "Ma'am—?"
Eyeing the taser, Jessica arches up an eyebrow. "I'm certain you don't want to use that. You're going to need something with a bit more to it." she smirks as she walks back towards the entrance to the stairwell. She places her hand on the handle and pulls hard as the sound of ripping metal is heard when she finally pops the door off the hinges, deciding to use it as a shield just in case the guard gets trigger happy with that taser. Just because it won't put her down, doesn't mean she intends to get hit with it.
The door comes off its hinges with the ease of peeling open an aluminum can. Behind her desk, the receptionist wisely sinks off her chair to the floor, telephone clutched to her stomach. The guard with the radio in his hand trades it for his weapon, which — Jessica may be pleased to see — does indeed have a bit more to it. He points the fully automatic machine pistol at the blonde's chest. Or perhaps, more accurately, where he guesses her chest might be based on what little he can see of her behind the makeshift shield.
If the police weren't on their way to the Linderman Building before, then they almost certainly are now.
"Ms. Sanders?" comes a voice from the stairwell, reverberating off its concrete walls. A moment later, Caliban steps into view at the top of the landing between the first floor and the second, his hands held up in a gesture of what appears to be surrender.
She holds the door in place, shielding her from whatever may come her way as she moves towards the stairwell. "Tell that boss of yours that I'm coming up and he's going to see me whether he wants to or not. He has screwed with us for the last time." She yells up to the voice that calls down to her. Jessica needs to get the guards off her back, so she chucks her door towards the security guards, letting it slide across the floor.
She doesn't wait to see if she bowls a strike or not as she ducks into the door and begins to run up the stairs, clearing a few steps at a time with each leap, working her way up to the level where the voice is coming from, as she reaches that landing.
Laura stops a few paces back from where Caliban stands, leaning against the rail and watching Jessica, after the short delay necessary for pitching doors at guards, charge up the stairs. The woman doesn't speak yet, letting Caliban continue to take point.
Of the two guards, only one manages to get out of the way in time. The other goes down, leg clipped by the careening door as it slides across the floor and connects with the receptionist's desk with a thunderous BANG!
"Mr. Linderman isn't in his office," Caliban states in a level voice, careful to keep some distance between Jessica and himself when she crests the topmost step and arrives on the landing. He doesn't go out of his way to block her path, but his tall frame and broad shoulders fill up a large section of the space regardless. "He isn't even in New York City. Can we take a message?"
"How about I go on up to his office and leave him a personalized message? I think it's about time he found himself a hobby rather than going around screwing with everyone else's lives." There's a slight distraction as Jessica shakes her head, lowering her voice and taking a step back. "I'm handling this. It's what you wanted. You had your chance." Her eyes flicker up at Caliban as she arches a brow. "Since he wants to fuck with us, we've decided it's time for a little payback. Are you going to let me pass?" At least it sounds polite, even if that's not the intent as she steps towards the pair.
"I could let you pass," Caliban concedes, holding his ground, "but by the time you get up there, SWAT and SCOUT will have your escape routes covered. You're looking at charges of trespassing, assault and battery, and the destruction of private property at the very least. Is your vendetta so important that you'd risk inflicting all of that on Niki in addition to the pain she's already suffering?"
"The pain that Linderman caused her, right? I'm certain that's what you meant to say." Jessica moves closer to the pair. "He had no right to keep Micah from her. He's not here, so fine. You tell him, he's going to answer for what he's done and I'm going to make sure it happens." She turns to go down the stairs, but pauses, turning back. "You tell him I said to keep looking back over his shoulder. One day, I'll be there to make him pay for everything he's done to us. Everything." She starts down the stairs, one at a time.
Caliban lowers his hands as Jessica turns around, the tips of his fingers curling against his palms. "Everything," he repeats stonily. "You're sure about this, Ms. Sanders? I can't promise he won't preemptively retaliate when we inform him of your intentions."
She stops mid-stride and turns back to Caliban, ponytail swishing as she does. "Oh, I hope he does." She narrows her eyes only for a moment towards the man before she glances briefly at Laura, then continues her way out of the building. Of course, being the bitch Jessica is, she doesn't leave a single door on its hinges in her path from the building. One ends up in the parking lot. Not sure what happened to the other.