Florida Mob Vacation 1
Aug. 23rd, 2006 10:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gotham_knockingKnox hadn’t been to Florida in some years, and never to the Gulf Coast. So it took a little time for him to get his bearings. And also to get used to the much stronger sun. Not that he minded the getaway from Gotham winter. And yes, he’d been outside at the Bar many times, but it wasn’t the same. Florida clearly trumped even magic bars.
He followed the instructions he got from the girl at the rental car office and drove from Tampa International across the bay and through St. Petersburg to a resort town called St. Pete Beach. It reminded him of Atlantic City, before the casinos and before the decay that led to the rise of the casinos. The waters of the Gulf of Mexico were gleaming blue and very inviting, and maybe if he had a few spare moments, he could go to the beach. After all, even his cheap motel was on the waterfront.
He took a few minutes to check in, settle in, unpack his one suitcase, and make sure that his room had HBO. If he was going to be in a motel, he’d better have at least HBO. Not that he was paying. It was all on the Globe’s bill. Sometimes, he mused, it was nice to have an expense account.
He went back to his very plain Chevy, and began driving up and down the main drag, getting a sense of the town, of the resorts and both foot and car traffic. And soon he found the place. Found the Don Cesar Hotel, a massive pink structure with both a name and a look that seems to fit the men rumored to be gathering here. He was a bit surprised to find that the meeting would be taking place in so public a hotel. He figured they would meet somewhere off the beaten path. But then, Gotham’s mobsters were always a bit bold. And it wasn’t like anyone would arrest them. These men were almost untouchable, the ones that Gordon and the cops and the FBI and even Batman couldn’t just bring in for questioning.
He parked his car in the hotel’s secondary lot and looked around for a good place to watch the front door. He found a couple but he suspected he might have to try and find an inconspicuous spot in the lobby for a while. He wasn’t good at surveillance, but in a pinch he might be able to get away with it for a while.
That would be tomorrow, however. That was when the meeting was supposed to start, and there was no reason to stay here longer than he needed to. So back in the car, and back on the road. He drove around a bit, returned to his room, and turned on the TV. HBO was showing When Harry Met Sally.
[The DonCesar Hotel is real, as it St. Pete Beach, but the events and uses of real places are purely fictional. Any errors in georgraphy are those of the author and probably on purpose.]
He followed the instructions he got from the girl at the rental car office and drove from Tampa International across the bay and through St. Petersburg to a resort town called St. Pete Beach. It reminded him of Atlantic City, before the casinos and before the decay that led to the rise of the casinos. The waters of the Gulf of Mexico were gleaming blue and very inviting, and maybe if he had a few spare moments, he could go to the beach. After all, even his cheap motel was on the waterfront.
He took a few minutes to check in, settle in, unpack his one suitcase, and make sure that his room had HBO. If he was going to be in a motel, he’d better have at least HBO. Not that he was paying. It was all on the Globe’s bill. Sometimes, he mused, it was nice to have an expense account.
He went back to his very plain Chevy, and began driving up and down the main drag, getting a sense of the town, of the resorts and both foot and car traffic. And soon he found the place. Found the Don Cesar Hotel, a massive pink structure with both a name and a look that seems to fit the men rumored to be gathering here. He was a bit surprised to find that the meeting would be taking place in so public a hotel. He figured they would meet somewhere off the beaten path. But then, Gotham’s mobsters were always a bit bold. And it wasn’t like anyone would arrest them. These men were almost untouchable, the ones that Gordon and the cops and the FBI and even Batman couldn’t just bring in for questioning.
He parked his car in the hotel’s secondary lot and looked around for a good place to watch the front door. He found a couple but he suspected he might have to try and find an inconspicuous spot in the lobby for a while. He wasn’t good at surveillance, but in a pinch he might be able to get away with it for a while.
That would be tomorrow, however. That was when the meeting was supposed to start, and there was no reason to stay here longer than he needed to. So back in the car, and back on the road. He drove around a bit, returned to his room, and turned on the TV. HBO was showing When Harry Met Sally.
[The DonCesar Hotel is real, as it St. Pete Beach, but the events and uses of real places are purely fictional. Any errors in georgraphy are those of the author and probably on purpose.]
