Karen's head tips to the side a bit in acknowledgment, her mouth curling in a smile that looks almost apologetic. She has to imagine this kind of thing is awkward. "Matt and Foggy were defending a client in a case a few years back and I did a lot of research into the public service records for vets from New York. Including yours. You can still introduce yourself if you want, I always just figure it's, uh, better to get that out of the way than wondering what might come up."
A quick glance over her shoulder and she puts the safety back on her gun, stowing it back in her purse in exchange for her phone. Which, with a look down - damn, still no reception. She looks up at him sharply when he says the gang might be working for someone higher on the totem pole. "Not Fisk?" Christ, it's going to be a whole can of worms if Fisk is playing in Hell's Kitchen again.
If she knows him, she doesn't need more than that and he decides not to give more than that. Bucky's enough. He keeps walking until he eventually comes up to the car he'd brought and opens the door for her.
"I don't know about Fisk. There are connections elsewhere we're looking into. The lesss you know, the better."
Karen thanks him as she gets into the passenger seat, buckling her seat belt as he walks around the car to join her. She's still got her phone in her hand, keeping an eye on it for the moment reception returns.
But she turns her head to give him a look of disbelief when he gives her a non-answer.
"Listen, I appreciate everything you've done. And I understand if you prefer to work alone. But those assholes just black bagged me and dragged me down to the docks because of what I've put together so far. I have all of their shell companies mapped out back at my apartment and it's only going to be a matter of time before I find the connection I need to expose whoever it is at the top of this thing. So you can keep it to yourself if you want. Or you can tell me what you know and I'll let you come look through my research and we can get these people out of New York a lot faster." Karen speaks quickly and pointedly, and there's undeniable passion behind what she's saying - she believes in her work. And this gang made it personal. She's not going to let it go until she gets all of them behind bars.
"I don't even know you and you think I'm just gonna tell you what I know."
He gives her a look of disbelief before he circles around and gets into the car. He starts the car and hits the gas, peeling out and getting them into traffic. He says nothing as they drive, looking in the rear view mirror a few times.
"I'm sure you've done plenty but I don't know you. You might know me but that doesn't go both ways."
He's paranoid and secretive and he's not going to just tell everything to someone he's just met.
"Oh, come on, don't let your ego get in the way of taking down someone that's - that's already at a minimum money laundering, smuggling, kidnapping and torturing people." Karen's retort to his denial comes quickly and easily, but curiously void of any heat. She's too used to arguing a point with Matt and Foggy.
Her phone screen lights up as her reception returns and messages start to flood in. She thumbs it open, then dials Mahoney's phone number from her address book. Unsurprisingly, he answers on the second ring. "Hey, Brett, it's Karen. Yeah. Yeah, I'll call them in a second. I got picked up by the gang we've been looking into. Most of them should still be down in the second to last warehouse by the docks. They're definitely moving something big through there. If you can collar them tonight I can come through the precinct in the morning. Yeah. Yeah, I'm on my way out of there. Thanks, Brett."
She huffs out a breath as she hangs up and runs a hand back through her waterlogged hair. "Listen, I have to make one more call. I can help you. I know what I'm doing. But I can't be sure I'm pointing you in the right direction if I don't know what you know. Everything I have, I can tell I'm just one or two pieces away from getting the connection I need. You might have that piece. I live in Hell's Kitchen. Start driving that way and I'll tell you where my apartment is after I hang up."
Bucky doesn't say anything but he doesn't stop the car, angling it in the direction that she gives. He's not sure if he's going to give her what she wants or just drop her off and leave.
He'll decide that when he gets there. He falls silent, eyes locked onto the road in front of them and in the mirror to make sure they weren't being followed.
If she needs to make her phone call, she can. He's not going to interrupt.
Karen dials Foggy's number and feels a surge of relief when he answers after a few rings. She explains the situation to him briefly, and then asks if Matt is with him. The answer causes her to make a face, and after a moment, she says, "not right now, no. I already called Mahoney, he's on his way to the docks." After a pause, she nods to herself. "Yeah, I can call you later. Can you meet me at the precinct in the morning around 8? I told Brett I'd come by to see if I can ID anyone they pick up. Thanks, Foggy."
She hangs up and lets out a breath, tucking the phone back into her purse as she looks out the window for a moment. There's a lot of balls in the air. Matt's haring off across the city dressed like Daredevil, so she's going to have to trust that he'll see Mahoney there and put two and two together. If not, Foggy's going to head over and make sure he knows that they're still moving ahead with the case.
After a moment, she turns her head to look over at Bucky. "I'm sorry if what I said was harsh. I just get so sick of people thinking they can do whatever they want no matter who it hurts just because they - they have money or connections or whatever. We're so close to taking this group down."
"I'm sure you are. I still don't feel good about saying it that way, so." One shoulder arches up in a quick shrug. She's not afraid to admit when she's wrong.
His question takes her a little bit by surprise, and she gives him a few quick directions towards her apartment before she answers.
"I do. Brett Mahoney. He uh, grew up with Foggy, one of the lawyers in my firm. He's a good guy. He worked with us when we brought down Fisk. Cleared a bunch of dirty cops out of his department."
"I trust him. If he was going to sell me out, I wouldn't be here. Fisk had someone targeting me a few years ago. It went all the way up through the FBI. Brett helped keep me alive by making sure I didn't get in the FBI's hands."
Brett's definitely had plenty of opportunities to sell them out over the years. Her circle is small - really small - but Brett is absolutely a part of it.
"Oh, we will, huh?" she asks with a smile. The switch in phrasing hasn't escaped her attention. And she's glad to hear it.
"Yeah, we're almost at my apartment." Karen gives him the last few directions. As they get closer, she comments, "parking is shit around here, just pull in to the next available space."
He's silent the rest of the way, pulling up when she says stop and then finding a spot to wedge the car. He hesitates for a second and then moves to slide out.
Karen gets out on her side of the car, and clearly isn't planning to linger long herself. She gets the keys from her car as she walks and unlocks the front door.
Leading the way through the lobby, she bypasses the elevator to go up the stairs. The building is a little run down, but obviously well tended to by the tenants. "Christ, what a night," she mutters as she lets him into her apartment and locks the door behind her.
She leaves her shoes by the door, turning the lights on as she moves inside. It's a small apartment, but she has everything she needs. "Uh, do you mind waiting just a few minutes so I can take a quick shower? I'm covered in sea water." And she's distinctly aware of how much the bucket of water they threw on her smells like harbor. "There's beer in the fridge if you want one."
He walks in after her but feels like he shouldn't be here, like he's some kind of intruder. He resists the urge to prowl around and pace but he does stand just inside the doorway, stiff as a board.
He curls his fingers into fists and then tips his head from one side to the other before he sighs.
"Go ahead."
He doesn't think he'll loosen up enough to get a beer but he's not going to leave.
Karen watches him for a moment before she says, "okay, I'll be right back." But she only gets to the top of her hallway before she stops and turns back. The way he's holding himself reminds her so much of Frank, all sort of - used to looking over his shoulder and not sure what to do with himself when there's no clear next step.
"Um, you can look around if you want. I don't mind. Or that window by the couch goes out to a fire escape if you want to go up to the roof. And the remote for the TV is on the TV stand. Okay." Her hand pats against the wall and she offers him a quick smile before disappearing down the hallway.
Bucky does manage to say that before she disappears. He doesn't know what he should do here so he just takes a few steps inside the apartment and then settles himself on the edge of the couch. He rests his arms on his knees and bounces his legs a bit.
He doesn't want to go snooping around too much, doesn't think he'd find anything anyway so he waits for her to come back out.
True to her word, it's only about 20 minutes before Karen returns. Her wet hair is held up in a claw clip, and she's changed into an oversized t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. There's some vaseline on the cut on her lip, and a bandage over a scrape she found on her arm.
And she has her laptop and a stack of overfull file folders.
"Hey. Thanks for waiting," she says as she sits on the other end of the couch with he legs folded. "So. I have a lot of research here," she says, patting her hand against the pile. "Want to catch me up with what you've got so I know where to start?"
Karen's mouth twitches into a little smile. Even though it goes against her journalistic instincts to offload everything she has first, her gut instinct with people tells her that going first will help to build trust. What little she knows from her search through his public service record and what she's seen in the news tells her he's had a lot on his shoulders for a long time.
"So there's this real estate management group that started off in Hell's Kitchen...here," she rifles through her stacks of files and hands him one. "They were buying out run down properties and construction sites, but then nothing was happening at those locations. I went and checked out a few of them and they've all just been sitting there untouched - no change to commercial properties, cursory notifications to tenants in residential but nothing you'd expect happening like - like inspections, or changes to rent. So I went digging and found out that it was a shell company, and it's been snowballing from there...here, this is the chain of shell companies I've turned up so far."
She pulls one of the files from the middle of the stack and moves it to the top, flipping it open so he can see the typed list of companies and associated owner names when they've been available - a lot of them are just tied to other dummy companies. There's a column next to it tracking large payments that float from shell to shell. "Seeing this I thought it was money laundering, but when they picked me up earlier tonight I realized there has to be something more going on."
"And how does this gang fit in with what you've found out?"
Because, from all intents and purposes, they were a low level gang. A lot of them had felony convictions for assaults, robberies, that sort of thing but to be involved in something higher than that?
You wouldn't have thought it possible. But his own information has led him here and so has hers. He just has to figure out what they have in common.
"This wouldn't be the first time we've seen money launderers team up with local gangs. They fund the weapons and drugs for the gangs in exchange for protection. But I'm thinking..." She trails off for a moment, her fingertips tapping against her files.
"They didn't follow us out of the warehouse, which means that whatever they've got in there is more valuable than what they think I know. So this whole thing must be circling around a smuggling operation. What have you been seeing? Is there any - tech or anything missing that you know of?"
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
A quick glance over her shoulder and she puts the safety back on her gun, stowing it back in her purse in exchange for her phone. Which, with a look down - damn, still no reception. She looks up at him sharply when he says the gang might be working for someone higher on the totem pole. "Not Fisk?" Christ, it's going to be a whole can of worms if Fisk is playing in Hell's Kitchen again.
no subject
If she knows him, she doesn't need more than that and he decides not to give more than that. Bucky's enough. He keeps walking until he eventually comes up to the car he'd brought and opens the door for her.
"I don't know about Fisk. There are connections elsewhere we're looking into. The lesss you know, the better."
Secretive, as always.
no subject
But she turns her head to give him a look of disbelief when he gives her a non-answer.
"Listen, I appreciate everything you've done. And I understand if you prefer to work alone. But those assholes just black bagged me and dragged me down to the docks because of what I've put together so far. I have all of their shell companies mapped out back at my apartment and it's only going to be a matter of time before I find the connection I need to expose whoever it is at the top of this thing. So you can keep it to yourself if you want. Or you can tell me what you know and I'll let you come look through my research and we can get these people out of New York a lot faster." Karen speaks quickly and pointedly, and there's undeniable passion behind what she's saying - she believes in her work. And this gang made it personal. She's not going to let it go until she gets all of them behind bars.
no subject
He gives her a look of disbelief before he circles around and gets into the car. He starts the car and hits the gas, peeling out and getting them into traffic. He says nothing as they drive, looking in the rear view mirror a few times.
"I'm sure you've done plenty but I don't know you. You might know me but that doesn't go both ways."
He's paranoid and secretive and he's not going to just tell everything to someone he's just met.
no subject
Her phone screen lights up as her reception returns and messages start to flood in. She thumbs it open, then dials Mahoney's phone number from her address book. Unsurprisingly, he answers on the second ring. "Hey, Brett, it's Karen. Yeah. Yeah, I'll call them in a second. I got picked up by the gang we've been looking into. Most of them should still be down in the second to last warehouse by the docks. They're definitely moving something big through there. If you can collar them tonight I can come through the precinct in the morning. Yeah. Yeah, I'm on my way out of there. Thanks, Brett."
She huffs out a breath as she hangs up and runs a hand back through her waterlogged hair. "Listen, I have to make one more call. I can help you. I know what I'm doing. But I can't be sure I'm pointing you in the right direction if I don't know what you know. Everything I have, I can tell I'm just one or two pieces away from getting the connection I need. You might have that piece. I live in Hell's Kitchen. Start driving that way and I'll tell you where my apartment is after I hang up."
no subject
He'll decide that when he gets there. He falls silent, eyes locked onto the road in front of them and in the mirror to make sure they weren't being followed.
If she needs to make her phone call, she can. He's not going to interrupt.
no subject
She hangs up and lets out a breath, tucking the phone back into her purse as she looks out the window for a moment. There's a lot of balls in the air. Matt's haring off across the city dressed like Daredevil, so she's going to have to trust that he'll see Mahoney there and put two and two together. If not, Foggy's going to head over and make sure he knows that they're still moving ahead with the case.
After a moment, she turns her head to look over at Bucky. "I'm sorry if what I said was harsh. I just get so sick of people thinking they can do whatever they want no matter who it hurts just because they - they have money or connections or whatever. We're so close to taking this group down."
no subject
He's dealt with worse, he's heard worse, he's probably said worse. It barely touches him. He shrugs a shoulder and glances over at her.
"You got contacts in the police department?"
Might as well ask, right?
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His question takes her a little bit by surprise, and she gives him a few quick directions towards her apartment before she answers.
"I do. Brett Mahoney. He uh, grew up with Foggy, one of the lawyers in my firm. He's a good guy. He worked with us when we brought down Fisk. Cleared a bunch of dirty cops out of his department."
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He doesn't trust many people but he knows that he's an exception to a lot of rules because of what he's experienced.
"He won't sell you out?"
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Brett's definitely had plenty of opportunities to sell them out over the years. Her circle is small - really small - but Brett is absolutely a part of it.
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Not that he really trusts anyone but he'll trust that she trusts him. It's the most he can give. He keeps driving, silent for a few moments.
"Where am I going? Just driving around or do you want me to go somewhere specific?"
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"Yeah, we're almost at my apartment." Karen gives him the last few directions. As they get closer, she comments, "parking is shit around here, just pull in to the next available space."
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"Come on, get inside quick."
Never knew who was looking.
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Leading the way through the lobby, she bypasses the elevator to go up the stairs. The building is a little run down, but obviously well tended to by the tenants. "Christ, what a night," she mutters as she lets him into her apartment and locks the door behind her.
She leaves her shoes by the door, turning the lights on as she moves inside. It's a small apartment, but she has everything she needs. "Uh, do you mind waiting just a few minutes so I can take a quick shower? I'm covered in sea water." And she's distinctly aware of how much the bucket of water they threw on her smells like harbor. "There's beer in the fridge if you want one."
no subject
He walks in after her but feels like he shouldn't be here, like he's some kind of intruder. He resists the urge to prowl around and pace but he does stand just inside the doorway, stiff as a board.
He curls his fingers into fists and then tips his head from one side to the other before he sighs.
"Go ahead."
He doesn't think he'll loosen up enough to get a beer but he's not going to leave.
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"Um, you can look around if you want. I don't mind. Or that window by the couch goes out to a fire escape if you want to go up to the roof. And the remote for the TV is on the TV stand. Okay." Her hand pats against the wall and she offers him a quick smile before disappearing down the hallway.
no subject
Bucky does manage to say that before she disappears. He doesn't know what he should do here so he just takes a few steps inside the apartment and then settles himself on the edge of the couch. He rests his arms on his knees and bounces his legs a bit.
He doesn't want to go snooping around too much, doesn't think he'd find anything anyway so he waits for her to come back out.
no subject
And she has her laptop and a stack of overfull file folders.
"Hey. Thanks for waiting," she says as she sits on the other end of the couch with he legs folded. "So. I have a lot of research here," she says, patting her hand against the pile. "Want to catch me up with what you've got so I know where to start?"
no subject
Better her talking than him. He sits back a little, still stiff but trying to loosen up.
"What've you got on these guys?"
no subject
"So there's this real estate management group that started off in Hell's Kitchen...here," she rifles through her stacks of files and hands him one. "They were buying out run down properties and construction sites, but then nothing was happening at those locations. I went and checked out a few of them and they've all just been sitting there untouched - no change to commercial properties, cursory notifications to tenants in residential but nothing you'd expect happening like - like inspections, or changes to rent. So I went digging and found out that it was a shell company, and it's been snowballing from there...here, this is the chain of shell companies I've turned up so far."
She pulls one of the files from the middle of the stack and moves it to the top, flipping it open so he can see the typed list of companies and associated owner names when they've been available - a lot of them are just tied to other dummy companies. There's a column next to it tracking large payments that float from shell to shell. "Seeing this I thought it was money laundering, but when they picked me up earlier tonight I realized there has to be something more going on."
no subject
Because, from all intents and purposes, they were a low level gang. A lot of them had felony convictions for assaults, robberies, that sort of thing but to be involved in something higher than that?
You wouldn't have thought it possible. But his own information has led him here and so has hers. He just has to figure out what they have in common.
no subject
"They didn't follow us out of the warehouse, which means that whatever they've got in there is more valuable than what they think I know. So this whole thing must be circling around a smuggling operation. What have you been seeing? Is there any - tech or anything missing that you know of?"