Franklin Kasseal, Maynard “Alex” Hamilton
June, 18th, 2001, 12:00 am
24 Hours Since Kidnapping
676 N Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611
Alex gets a call at midnight telling him he needs to come to police headquarters first, and then to a crime scene at the Omni Hotel in downtown. When he gets to HQ, he is told by his supervisor, Marilyn Rivers, that he and his partner Robert Eckhart have been assigned to act as liaisons to the FBI on a case that just got dropped into their laps. Apparently 24 hours ago (10:00 pm on Saturday June 16th) Jackson “Jax” Van Dorian the V was kidnapped from his family’s estate. His mother and father were taken as well, but judging by the amount of blood left behind by both of them they are presumed dead. The crime scene at the estate was spotless and sealed off when Jackson Van Dorian the III called in Elene Rivers and her team of professionals (3:00 am on Sunday June 17th). They made contact with the kidnappers, and negotiated for the release of the Van Dorian’s kin, but when they went to the drop off, no one was there. They were found dead in their hotel room at the Omni Chicago six hours later (9:00 am on Sunday June 17th) by a housekeeper at which point the Chicago Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation got involved. Since then the Omni’s Penthouse (25th floor) and the 24th floor have been awash in personnel from both departments. Since Van Dorian the III is friends with the mayor, a task force has been created to get his son, daughter-in-law, and grandson back in one piece.
Angelique Ashur, Jonathan Valerius Baksheesh, Sergei Romanova
June, 18th, 2001, 3:30 am
27.5 Hours Since Kidnapping
3518 S. Halsted St., Chicago, IL 60609
Angel receives a call from Victor Halusko letting her know he has a case for her and her team. He gives her the address and then a a knock on the door can be heard. When she heads to the door a bicycle messenger hands her a series of documents and then leaves. Angel calls Sergei and then rushes Jonathan to get ready. Fifteen minutes after she received the call, she’s rushing out the door.
Angelique Ashur, Franklin Kasseal, Jonathan Valerius Baksheesh, Maynard “Alex” Hamilton, & Sergei Romanova
June, 18th, 2001, 4:00 am
28 Hours Since Kidnapping
676 N Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611
Once the rest of Victor’s team is there (Angelique, Jonathan, and Sergei) they begin to examine the scene with a eye towards both the occult and the mundane. Collectively, they determine the following:
• Each member of Elene Rivers team (including her) was decapitated with some kind of saw (probably a hacksaw) post-mortem and had their heads nailed to the wall (probably with the same odd octagonal shaped hammer). The nail was first inserted through the tongue and then continued through the back of the skull.
• Each member’s eyes were removed and instead replaced with two tarnished and fire-blackened silver coins.
• Her team was taken by surprise, probably due to some sort of paralysis or obfuscation spell. The bodies were only found when the maid came to clean the room and those on the 24th floor heard nothing out of the ordinary.
• Six hours after the initial exchange, Elene’s team was killed. The kidnappers could have clearly taken the money or even asked for more, but they didn’t. They left it.
• Though they have no proof, both Angelique (who has a vision about them) and Alex (who has been hunting them down over the last year) believe that the Black Sun cult are behind the kidnapping.
Alex calls an antiquities dealer he’s familiar with, Killian Pruitt, and he, along with Jonathan and Franklin go to met him. Angelique and Sergei instead head to CPD HQ.
Franklin Kasseal, Jonathan Valerius Baksheesh, & Maynard “Alex” Hamilton
June, 18th, 2001, 8:30 am
32.5 Hours Since Kidnapping
3271 N Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, IL 60641
Jonathan get’s Alex to stop back off at the theater first and he makes Killian’s favorite breakfast (French press coffee and madeleine) as a bribe to go with the rare coin he usually asks for in most cases. Back on the road, they make their way to Pruitt’s Pawn and once their bribe Killian with both food and a 3rdcentury BCE gold Carthaginian shekel. Killian agrees to help them and after Jonathan hands him one of the coins he “borrowed” from the scene he quickly tell them that it is a 1847 Queen Victoria “Gothic” Crown, a rare coin of which only 8,000 were minted. Most of them are accounted for accept for the “lost chest” of two-hundred coins that were paid to a member of the peerage for services rendered. Since Killian knows the whereabouts of all such coins except the lost 200 he assumes that they are from that chest. Rumors had it to be in the hands of a private collector or lost in the Vatican Archives. He does tell them that the coin had been intentionally placed in a fire to char and blacken it, but not melt it.
Angelique Ashur, Franklin Kasseal, Jonathan Valerius Baksheesh, Maynard “Alex” Hamilton, & Sergei Romanova
June, 18th, 2001, 9:00 am
34 Hours Since Kidnapping
3510 South Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60653
Back at the new police headquarters, the “rounds” are made and the FBI team, CPD team, and Victor’s team are introduced to one another. The FBI believe that the Pale Riders, a local “motorcycle club” (whom they qualify as a gang) with multiple charters per state are behind the kidnapping, but have no proof. The CPD are following the FBI’s lead mostly, but Alex is allowed his own line of inquiry owing to his phenomenal case closure rate of the last 11 months. Taking time out for a late breakfast Angelique, Franklin, Jonathan, Alex, and Sergei head outside to enjoy the remaining coffee and madeleines. Among the picnic tables, they notice that Special Agent Rebecca Ramirez (Special Agent-in-charge Winslow’s “tech geek”) is setting eating a salad by herself. Angelique goes to speak with her (mining for information), but the conversation quickly turns into a genuine one as the two stuffed-animal toting women exchange stories about their various plush animals. Strangely, Angelique seems to take a shine to the woman almost immediately and when she gets up to leave, they exchange phone numbers. As Rebecca crosses the street a black panel van speeds up, opens a side door and a pair of black masked figures grab Rebecca and pull her within. The PCs quickly react, Angelique sends Sergei to follow the van from the rooftops, while Alex commandeers a 1967 Plymouth Barracuda, Jonathan hopping into the driver seat, and they quickly take off. Thanks to Angelique’s mind bond with Sergei, she is easily able to telepathically pick his location up and then send that to Jonathan allowing them to catch up to the van fairly quickly (though Jonathan is going nearly a hundred miles an hour on inner city streets). Once they catch up to the van, their first attempt to rescue Rebecca results in a empty van (they must have switched her at some point!) and a mounted M60 machine gun in the face. Though they take a full burst from the machine gun, Sergei appears, jumps onto the back of the ‘Cuda and flings a series of shuriken that neatly sever the bullets or deflecting them. Eventually, Angel usually her telepathic abilities to stun the attackers and her psychokinetic abilities to stop the vehicles from crashing. When she tries to read the mind of one of the abductors, he began to foam at the mouth and then die. Angelique decides not to question any others and they head back to police headquarters.
June, 18th, 2001, 10:45 am
35.75 Hours Since Kidnapping
3510 South Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 6065