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Post by Lyle Inophen on Jun 18, 2009 12:20:52 GMT -5
If Blake was going to order Lyle around, Lyle decided quite early on that he was going to do things his way.
So he waited. He was biding his time, watching the Neves girl. For a few days, he just watched her. Then he let her know he was watching her, but he didn't make a move. The advantage to this was that he now knew her habits. She was never alone. In fact, she made it painfully clear that she was purposefully surrounding herself with people. Which meant that Lyle couldn't touch her.
It was a few more days before what he had to do really clicked. She went home every night with another Ministry employee. Lyle realize this was his way in. He didn't look unlike the cartoon Grinch when this made him smile.
One afternoon, just before most Ministry employees were set to go home, Lyle was speaking with the receptionist in the Floo Department.
"Hold on," she told him, looking over her shoulder. "Geoff... can you come here?"
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Post by Geoffrey Montgomery on Jun 18, 2009 16:38:38 GMT -5
Geoffrey usually met Riley by the apparation area near the auror office. Hayden would walk her out, and then they would apparate directly to his parents' house. He was beginning to wonder just how much longer this arrangement would be necessary. The whole thing seemed to be wearing on Riley, and she was not looking well.
At the stroke of 5, Geoffrey grabbed his cloak and prepared to head out to meet Riley. But as he was about to leave the office, the receptionist waved him over. She was talking to an older man that he didn't recognize, and he should have been suspicious about this. Later he would regret not being more cautious, but for now, he approached the desk readily.
"Hi, Louise, what's up?" he asked. "I was just heading out."
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Post by Lyle Inophen on Jun 18, 2009 17:23:33 GMT -5
"I know," Louise said, her tone apologetic. "Think your girlfriend can wait for a few minutes?" she asked, mistaking Geoffrey's relationship with the brunnette Auror she saw him with every day. "This man here says he tried to floo into the office earlier and his end of the network seems to be down. Sounds like a quick fix... can you help him? I'd send Harry, but he left early today."
Lyle, for his part, was standing patiently, looking like a concerned citizen, and not like a man who was about to force someone to murder another person. He even had to fight to keep from smiling at the thought of it. It was perfect, wasn't it? Whoever this guy was, Neves obviously trusted him.
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Post by Geoffrey Montgomery on Jun 18, 2009 17:44:02 GMT -5
"She's not..." Geoff started to protest, then shook his head. He didn't need to explain to Louise. In fact, it was almost refreshing to find someone who wasn't so steeped in office gossip as to be wondering when Riley would go crazy from grief over Roland.
He turned his attention to the man in front of him. The request was not unusual, and sometimes the people had poor timing. After all, they had jobs, too, right? He really didn't think anything of it. "OK, I can do it, but I need to send my friend a quick memo, letting her know I'll be late," he said. "I don't want her waiting for me."
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Post by Lyle Inophen on Jun 18, 2009 17:50:15 GMT -5
Lyle smiled and nodded. "Sure. I can wait."
Louise still felt bad for sending Geoffrey out after he was technically off, and she thanked him, even as she was gathering her own things. She usually stayed until the last person was out, though.
Lyle stepped away from the desk. He didn't want to be threatening or seem in any way dangerous. He considered, when this was over, that the kid would know his face, but he would be seen murdering a girl in the next few minutes in the middle of the Ministry... Lyle wasn't too worried. It would be next to impossible to pin anything on him.
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Post by Geoffrey Montgomery on Jun 18, 2009 17:56:29 GMT -5
"OK, hold on," Geoffrey said, as he turned to go to his desk. He found a scrap of parchment and a quill and jotted down a quick note to Riley:
Riley--
Something just came up at the last minute, and I have to run out. I'll be back in about 20 minutes. I'll come straight to the auror office when I'm done.
~Geoff
He tapped the note with his wand and it quickly folded itself into an origami bird, which flapped away towards the elevators.
"OK," Geoffrey said to the man. "Let's go. What did you say your name was again?"
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Post by Lyle Inophen on Jun 18, 2009 18:05:20 GMT -5
Lyle smiled. "Richard," he lied. "Donnovan. Really, thanks for doing this. I know how it is when you're ready to go home."
He smiled and waved to the receptionist. "So, how do you want to do this? Check it from here, or check it from my office?" He would make up an office, maybe at Gringotts? It wouldn't matter. He just needed to get out of earshot of everyone else to put the kid under the curse, and then he was gone. He wasn't even going to wait around to watch the show.
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Post by Geoffrey Montgomery on Jun 18, 2009 18:13:57 GMT -5
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Donnovan," said Geoffrey, reaching out his hand to the older man. "I'm Geoffrey Montgomery."
He thought for a quick minute, assessing the situation. He wasn't even thinking about whether he should trust the man in front of him. "Um, if the problem is on your end, I'll need to go to your office. Have you tried going back from here to see if it's a one-way problem, or if it goes both ways?"
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Post by Riley Neves on Jun 18, 2009 18:16:28 GMT -5
Riley was just getting ready to head over to the apparition area with Hayden when the little paper bird landed in her hand, and she opened it, showing it to Hayden. "You can go on ahead," she told him. The Auror office was still pretty busy, so she wasn't worried about being alone until Geoffrey came.
They were both at her desk, and she just set her cloak down, lifting herself onto the edge of the desk. She was exhausted, and it was just easier to sit down while she waited.
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Post by Lyle Inophen on Jun 18, 2009 18:23:30 GMT -5
"Like wise, Geoffrey," Lyle said. He glanced around subtly. There were still too many people too close by.
"It's a one way problem. Although, I didn't actually use any floo here. It was from my home to the office. The floo in my office won't let us out anywhere." He was just biding his time until he could get somewhere quiet. A lift, an empty hallway, anywhere. His fingertips itched to get this over with and just cast the curse here, but he was nothing if not patient.
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Post by Geoffrey Montgomery on Jun 18, 2009 18:29:46 GMT -5
"OK," Geoffrey said. "Just to be safe, we should probably apparate there. There's an apparation-safe area down the hall from here, we can go from there. Where did you say your office was again?"
He started to walk out of the office, trying to stay as professional as possible. He just hoped the problem wasn't serious. He was anxious to get home.
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Post by Hayden Ferrera on Jun 18, 2009 18:39:37 GMT -5
As planned, Hayden met Riley at her desk a little before Geoffrey usually arrived to take her back to his parent's house. He was comfortably leaning against her desk, waiting patiently.
Whenever the note arrived at Riley's desk, Hayden read over it. "Nah, I'm not really in a rush to leave. There's nothing for me to do whenever I get home and I prefer company." He gave her a wide smile. He looked more healthy than he had before. "You're not trying to rid of me quickly are you?" Hayden gave her an almost teasing glance, trying to see if he could make her smile in any way.
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Post by Lyle Inophen on Jun 18, 2009 18:41:29 GMT -5
"At Gringotts. It wouldn't be easier to Floo there?" Lyle shrugged. "Nevermind. You're the expert here, right? Apparaition it is," he said, smiling. The apparation area would be packed right now, so Lyle needed to make his move quickly.
The door to the Floo Department closed, and there were people nearby, but if he was quiet enough about it, and kept his body language casual, he could pull this off.
He quickened his pace to be in front of Geoffrey, and was now facing him. "Change of plans, kid," he said, holding his wand and jabbing it into Geoffrey's chest. "Imperio."
Of all the unforgiveables he had ever used, he was most anxious to see this one pan out. Well, he would read about it in the paper tomorrow, at least. "Kill Riley Neves. And make her scream."
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Post by Riley Neves on Jun 18, 2009 18:53:05 GMT -5
Riley gave him a forced smile. "No, Hayden. I just feel badly that you have to do this for me."
It'll be over soon, she thought to herself. Everyone was looking better now, like they were finally learning how to move on from this tragedy, except for her and Christine. Why couldn't she figure out how to move on? It wasn't even like she knew Roland all that well, anyway. He was just some guy she fought with all the time.
"But I appreciate the company, Hayden."
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Post by Ted Tonks on Jun 18, 2009 18:59:34 GMT -5
"Are we having a little pow wow that I wasn't invited to?" Ted asked. He was passing by Riley's desk, ready to go meet Andi at the school. He liked coming home with her, especially with everything that had been going on.
He was teasing Riley and Hayden, but it was just his way to say hello as he left the office.
Riley wasn't looking good, he noted. Hayden, on the other hand was looking better, but Ted still thought the two of them should take some time off. But it wasn't his call.
"How are you guys?"
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Post by Hayden Ferrera on Jun 18, 2009 19:04:18 GMT -5
"Don't feel bad. You're the one that's really helping me out." Hayden wished there was something he could do, but he was going to avoid that subject. The more it was avoided, the better it would be for the time being.
"Hey Ted," he greeted. Luckily Ted had been one of those that hadn't said anything about needing time off. No, Hayden didn't need any time off. The only way that he was able to coop with this was the fact that he had his work. Something that made his mind go in different directions.
"Good. How about you?"
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Post by Geoffrey Montgomery on Jun 18, 2009 19:09:36 GMT -5
"At Gringotts. It wouldn't be easier to Floo there?" Lyle shrugged. "Nevermind. You're the expert here, right? Apparaition it is," he said, smiling. The apparation area would be packed right now, so Lyle needed to make his move quickly. The door to the Floo Department closed, and there were people nearby, but if he was quiet enough about it, and kept his body language casual, he could pull this off. He quickened his pace to be in front of Geoffrey, and was now facing him. "Change of plans, kid," he said, holding his wand and jabbing it into Geoffrey's chest. "Imperio." Of all the unforgiveables he had ever used, he was most anxious to see this one pan out. Well, he would read about it in the paper tomorrow, at least. "Kill Riley Neves. And make her scream." Geoffrey never even saw it coming. He never had the chance to struggle or protest, and before he knew it, he was under the Imperius Curse. He shuddered slightly, then his eyes went blank, and his body was numb. Suddenly he couldn't remember who he was, or where he was. It was like the man had erased his brain and filled it with only one thought. Kill Riley. He nodded slowly, and words tumbled from his lips against his will. If he had any will left. "Yes. Kill Riley Neves. I'll do as you say." A tiny part of his brain whispered to him that this wasn't right, but he didn't know how to fight it. He felt like a puppet, and the man in front of him was puling the strings. He turned and started to go. |
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Post by Riley Neves on Jun 18, 2009 19:19:31 GMT -5
Riley didn't even bother to force a smile for Ted. She just mumbled something about being fine. That was the standard, factory issued answer that everyone got from her. She was fine. And if anyone tried to argue with her about that fact, the claws came out.
Luckily, Ted usually didn't push her, and she appreciated that. She could see why Andromeda married him. At least someone had some good news... but honestly, what was with all the couples around her? Lina and Cyrus were getting married, Andromeda and Ted, even Geoffrey had Alison now. Involuntarily, her eyes traveled to Fabian's desk. She hadn't even talked to him since Roland died.
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Post by Ted Tonks on Jun 18, 2009 19:24:11 GMT -5
Ted didn't seem at all bothered by the response he got from Riley. He figured if Andromeda was actively trying to befriend her, then he would take a more passive approach, and one of them would have to get through to her.
"I'm doing pretty good. I was actually just on my way to go pick up Andi." He considered his next question and smiled a bit more brightly. "Hey, are you guys busy? It's last minute, but maybe we could all go grab something to eat, or something." The second 'something' came out rather lamely, but he was trying. None of them knew what was looming just around the corner.
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Post by Lyle Inophen on Jun 18, 2009 19:37:45 GMT -5
Like stealing candy from a baby.
As Geoffrey turned away from him, he smiled, letting his evil grin shine for a moment. Then it was time to go. He couldn't be here when everything went down, but he was going to relish the news in the morning.
It would look like the Ministry was falling apart. First, the loss of an Auror, then his grieving partner murdered in cold blood... it gave him chills just to think about it.
He wrapped his cloak around himself, and then he was on his way out, home free.
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