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The man in the suit turned to another, 'Yeah, they're clean."

"Right then, Mr. Essex will see you now," the second man said, leading them down through the casino and down the hall, firmly ignoring Robert's little pee-dance. Their destination was behind a set of heavy, tastefully ornate wooden doors. The room was relatively large, with a number of well-dressed men and a couple women, lounging in leather chairs at polished wooden tables, drinks and soft chatter filled the room but came to abrupt halt as the two Hunters were ushered in.

In the center of the room, a man sat alone at a table. He was relatively young, late twenties at most, and though he wore a nicely cut suit and tie, but something about his posture and overall bearing made the suit seems worth about a hundred times anything else in the room. he expression was mildly welcoming as he gesture for Reine and Robert to approach.

"Well, this is unexpected," his voice, while not quite cultured, held the confidence of one who was used to holding authority over others. "So please excuse me if I'm a bit blunt, but where the ******** is Clarice?"

Robert did what he did best. Despite the fact he had walked into the casino doing the peepee dance, he'd walked into the room with a stern, and dark expression. He was composed, and completely threatening looking, as he loomed behind Reine and looked the perfect part of the 'muscle'.

And the muscle never had to say anything. So, despite the fact that the words 'where's your toilet' were dying to fall from his lips, Robert stayed silent as stone, and twice as hard.

Maybe he'd really wanted to meet Clarice. Maybe he'd been courting her forever and finally managed to snag a date, except Clarice hadn't shown up. Or didn't want to show up. Maybe that was why she'd sent the two trainees instead.

Whatever the case was, Reine distinctly disliked the feeling of being surrounded by a pack of hungry wolves, and that was the feeling she was getting from the people in the room. Reaching into her pocket for her phone, she stepped back a little, brushing against Robert as she dialed Clarice's number. As much as he was like a ticking pee bomb, he was also the only source of a sense of security she had... even if it wasn't much to begin with.

"Hello, Clarice? We've reached the place. I hope you're doing okay, how's the wound healing up?"

She hoped the hunter would play along.

"Mr Essex wants to talk to you." Glancing up at Robert, she held the phone closer to her ear, showing no sign that she was going to hand it over.

Clarice was currently lounging in her bathrobe, watching old episodes of Mythbusters while painting her toenails. The phone call was met with a glare, a sigh, and seeing the caller ID, answered with a resigned, "Did Robert ******** it up? You guys aren't in jail are you?"

Her expression grew confused at the question and then alarmed, "Talk to me?" Robert's suggestion left her near panicked, "No don't-"

Robert knew Reine was bullshitting, but his poker face was just as dull and dim-witted as his normal face. It came in handy, sometimes. He eyed Mr. Essex, assessing him carefully. It was clear they'd been put in a situation that could end up rather dangerous, but Clarice had to have hoped for some kind of success here. Somehow.

She might have sent Robert off to die, but not Reine. At least, he was pretty sure about that. Sort of sure.

A little sure.

Wait, did Clarice even like Reine? s**t..

"Is there any reason why I should, sir?" Clarice hadn't gotten back to her yet, about why she was so reluctant to talk to this man, and Reine was slightly annoyed by the both of them. Was he some kind of stalker from her past, perhaps, or a jilted boyfriend, either way Reine found herself extremely unsympathetic towards Clarice the moment she noticed the guns, but then again, she wasn't about to simply hand Io over.

Maybe she should have let Robert do the calling, he didn't seem that attached to his cellphone.

"It self-destructs if it detects interference, that is, if someone who is not me as much as touches the phone," Reine continued, "new model, improved security. Especially since the last.. uh, incident we had to deal with. Would you like me to pass a message."

Her tone was clipped; the hand not holding the phone slipped into her pocket, where she fingered the pendant. Clarice had said to use it just in case, and it seemed she might need it in the very near future.

On her end, Clarice was cursing softly. It could be due to the situation at hand, but it could also be due to the fact that she spilled her nail polish.

"It self destructs...I see," the man steepled his fingers and stared at them. "I'm not at all surprised she give you such a thing, what with her..." Essex expression shifted, first softening slightly and then slipping into fairly pissed off, "...tendencies, but I'm afraid that your answer is unacceptable. If you can't speak with her, then we'll have to higher. Call the doctor."

Clarice cursed again.

Reine might have been trying to contemplate all sorts of ways to get around Essex's request, but Robert was not nearly as intelligent. In fact, he was a little pissed that they were fighting over such a stupid little demand. Why didn't Clarice just talk to him? They would have been out of here by now, playing slots until their portal was ready for return. But nooo, Clarice had to have ~woman issues~ and decide to play hard to get.

So Robert did the only thing he thought to do. He moved around the table - slowly, so that he wouldn't attract any attention, and started dialing Dr. H.

"Seriously though. Don't touch the phone, I'd rather not be a splatter on the wall just because you decided you need to have a heart to heart before we can complete this transaction."

He held the phone out, pointed at Essex, four feet away. If he wanted to talk to Dr. H, this was as good as it was going to get.