Kaitlyn shrugged. “Just some cash.” She wasn’t supposed to know what the guy did to deserve all that money, but it had to be something good if he was getting this many thousands of dollars for it.

They approached the café where Lori left her wallet.

The girl didn’t know how to feel about seeing Lori again. It was bittersweet at best. It was great that Lori was alive, which was certainly better than Lori being dead and gone forever. But it hurt to see her like this. This person had the same body and a lot of the same personality as Lori, but she didn’t have any of those shared experiences with Kaitlyn that the girl valued so much. All Kaitlyn could think about was how different this person was from the Lori she used to know.

She wanted the old Lori back.

Some cash? Nobody carried cash in a briefcase unless... "Who are you carrying cash for, Kaitlyn?" Someone was using her kiddo to do something illegal. Her kiddo, who was vulnerable because she hadn't there to protect her.

Well screw that.

Lori hefted Rhys up and offered her hand to Kaitlyn. "You don't have to deliver it alone, do you?"

Who was she carrying it for? “Just one of the--” She stopped herself. “Um… one of your old business partners.” It was usually a bad idea to mention the Order in public. Kaitlyn didn’t even know if Lori remembered the Order.

She took Lori’s hand. “Nah. It’ll be in public, anyway.”

Her old business partners? Ah hell no. Lori stopped them both dead almost as soon as Kaitlyn had taken her hand.

> “Nah. It’ll be in public, anyway.”

Lori looked at Kaitlyn. Really looked at her almost like was taking stock of her freckles. She was confident. Like she'd done it before? Like she had some kind of control in this situation? Backup maybe?

"Me and those colleagues are gonna need to exchange a few words after this, 'kay?" Not the kid's fault some jerks were using her as a money mule. At least it wasn't drugs. At least... she didn't know it was drugs? Gah! Lori could pull her hair out.

Instead she pulled the door open to the chain coffee store and let Kaitlyn go on through first. Even if the kid didn't have any back up before, now she did. This was a situation were Lori wouldn't even feel guilty about using her ability to fry the ever loving snot out of someone. She might even relish it given the right circumstances.

“Okay!” Kaitlyn walked into the café with renewed hope.

That sounded like a very good idea. It would be the first step to getting Lori’s memory back. Lori would get to see the Sanctuary and everyone else again, and that might jump-start her memory; if it didn’t work like that, there might be a mutant the Order knew or some kind of science thing over at Faust Pharms or Mondragon that could help. Then Lori would be back and everything would be better again.

“Mr. Garcia?” A man, sitting alone at a table for two, looked up from his coffee. He looked just like the photo: black goatee with a few gray hairs, shaved head, tall. It was way too warm out for him to be comfortable in that suit. She could use the fact that he was wearing a suit to her advantage.

“You left this in the office.” She held the briefcase out towards him.

He stared at the case for a moment, and then at the girl. It took him a second to catch on. “Oh, of course. I almost forgot. Thank you.” He put on a warm smile. She smirked.

Now that her job was done, Kaitlyn wanted to have something sweet. And some kind of cold drink. This place seemed just as good as any to get those things. She walked to the back, and after a quick glance at the menu on the wall behind the counter, she scanned the room for Lori.

Lori steamed the whole time she was in the coffee shop. This was stupid. She could just go sizzle that Garcia's brains out and take the money and Kaitlyn and send them both to boarding school in Alaska. In fact, the more she stood around looking at the exchange obliquely (which didn't actually take that long), the more Lori was sure it was bad juju for a kid like Kaitlyn to be in league with those colleagues.

Exchange over. No brains fried.

Well, at least she didn't have to use her mutation.

So why did she still feel dirty about this whole ordeal?

Lori took bunny baby to the restroom for a diaper change and then it was time. "Take me to your leader." It was a joke. Mostly. Lori settled Rhys on her shoulders and let him tug at her hair before she offered a hand to Kaitlyn again. No sense in having her run off.

Kaitlyn was just about to order something when Lori appeared. And made a comment about her leader, within earshot of Mr. Garcia. The little redhead glanced at him. He looked away.

She inhaled sharply. It could be very bad if he knew where they were going. After a moment’s calculation, she grabbed Lori’s hand and started tugging her towards the door, slowly enough that it didn’t draw attention to them, but still urgent. “I can’t actually do that--” They made it outside, out of the bald man’s hearing range. “Without warning her first,” she smirked.

Her phone came out of her pocket, and she started typing a text message with her free hand: ’Found Lori. Bringing 2 Sanct. Meet us there?’

According to the screen, this message was sent to “Ln.”

Despite the busy nature of her life, there was always time to reply to a text message from Kaitlyn. As an Older Sister Type Character, this was also part of her job. Putting paperwork and plots aside for a moment, the woman ran a hand through her short blonde hair, then pulled out her phone. She tapped the touch screen until she came to the message, then arched an eyebrow.

Lori had been an important business partner, up until recently. Due to certain events, she'd sort of taken over the woman's job. She'd sent out a private eye or two, to search for the woman, but hadn't turned up any leads. It had been as useful as the time she'd searched for Tarin's wife, Lee. It seemed, like with Lee, the woman had chosen the worst possible time to miraculously appear out of thin air. She wasn't sure how she felt about the situation... on the one hand, it was good. On the other, it potentially endangered her plans. Still, a friend was a friend, and a sister a sister. She worked up a reply.

To Kaitlyn, she messaged '@lobby. See you soon. Take care.'

Sliding away the phone, she made like a tree and left, to get to where she'd said she'd be.