Enough is Enough

Posted on Sun Oct 18th, 2020 @ 6:21am by Captain Ash Shultz & Level 2 Chiyo Takei & Level 2 Kitt Murrow & Lieutenant Tchaikovsky Ford & Level 2 Itishaam “Tim” Mughabghab PsyD & Level 1 Rev. DR. Finnegan Quinn & Level 5 Nicholas "Nick" Medhurst & Level 3 Carmine Mannarino

Mission: Possessed and Obsessed
Location: HQ, Dinner Table, 2nd Floor
Timeline: July 10th, 2020 - 10:45am

This was the fifth time in an hour she'd seen the commercial on her smart device, and on the TV while she watched mid-morning news updates. Ash shook her head in dismay.

"....you are tired of half-baked, ill-trained ghostcatchers overcharging you for your ghost problem? Give the ParaKillers a call. We take care of the problem, every time!!!"

Shana paused the ad on her phone, which paused it on the smartTV in their kitchen. Their new housing project of the old hotel was about a month from completion. So they were making a profit. However...

"These arrogant assholes have somehow managed to snipe eight of our biggest potential paydays in the last three weeks," Ash told all of her peeps. "I don't know how they're doing it, but the ParaKillers aren't like us. They only vanquish - they aren't interested in researching new ghosts. They kill now, ask questions later. And in the long run, that's not a good thing."

Hearing the name, she looked up as Chiyo was veiling her nails, "But they have the advertising world at their side...not much we can do about that." She stated the obvious.

"Very true," Ash conceded. "Ads we can't manage. But how they're finding out about our client contracts, and sniping them, then getting the job done before we arrive? That is what we need to figure out."

"Maybe we have a rat within the Ghostbusters and they are selling us out" Chiyo smirks a bit at that idea, it was cunning and maybe it could earn some cash. But that plane was already gone.

"Maybe they have our computer hacked? Or the phones tapped." Finnegan said as he was by the counter. Food was laid out before him. A meat mixture in the crackpot and he was putting it and other items into the taco shells and placing them in a large cake dish. Enchiladas were easy when you did it right. And the way he cooked, leftovers always seemed to be a thing. "I just want to know how they are still in business. No amount of good advertising should counter bad press."

“And yet the same politicians keep getting re-elected,” commented Tim. “People don’t care about the press much; all they care about is a recognizable name. ‘Oh, yeah, the ParaKillers! I’ve heard of them, so they must be good!’” he quoted in a pretty good approximation of a brainless individual. “I think I can come up with some advertising money, though, if you’d like. I have sources.”

Ash had to admit, Tim had a point. That and the rich folk tended not to care about minor to mild property damage so long as the problem was taken care of.

Nicholas had been sitting at the table going through some potential sources of calls when he heard the crack about the politicians. It was always a matter of money- voters always preferred someone who was a 'fiscal conservative' "Boss, why don't we try getting a meeting with the Mayor? It might be a good start- at the least, we could get some facetime in and submit a proposal."

"We may need to," Ash sighed with annoyance. "We may need to..." She hated politics.

"Doctor, my point is that they seem to leave a lot of property damage. Why call a group that could make you homeless. One of the families that attend one of the churches I preach at, can't return home until it's fixed. And it wasn't even the haunted place. Those fools destroyed the house next door and ruined the foundation to the homes on both sides. So now all three have major repair work." Finn stated as he put the, now full cake pan, into the oven. "The mayor isn't one of my parishioners. But his and his family are highly religious. Like most Southern politicians. I think he is a Lutheran."

"So what are we going to do about it?" Chiyo said not hearing any solutions and frankly already getting bored by the conversation itself. Lots of talking and no action was not her strongest side to wait on.

"Go down an bust heads!" Carmine called from a nearby corner where he had a weight bench. He was sitting up as he looked to the group at the kitchen area. "Few busted teeth git da message out."

"Carmine, that wouldn't help. In fact, it would make us seem like common street thugs. And that would trash the public image for the whole company." Finnegan said to him as he went to a seat at the table and set a timer on his phone. He picked up his Bible and pulled an open notebook closer to start penning a sermon for the coming Sunday. He looked at Ash. He had been lucky to get the job. First, it meant no more couch surfing at his sisters. And he had gotten to drive the wonderful big rig around. Not much, but a few times. Even when they went by car, he tagged along. With his other job, and the fact that over the past decade he had dealt with a great many people who were highly emotional, he took the job of helping Tim to talk them down so they were coherent. "I'd agree with Nick. Go to the mayor. I met him a year ago. Good man, and like I said, very religious. Take Nick and maybe you can find some common ground."

"Nick an' I, it sounds like, draw the politics straw," Ash began to hand out assignments. "Meanwhile, we have 2 calls... The first is in Burlington - Department store with an exploding toilet in the women's restroom. No signs of pyrotechnics. Just a lot of water geysers and whooshing sounds. Who wants this one?"

"I'll go, but I'm not the driver," Carmine said as he moved closer to the table.

"I'm game to go to Burlington," Kitt said, having just arrived munching on a Slim Jim. "Just by virtue of never have been there." He said. His phone pinged but he ignored it.

"The other job is in Eden. Civil War ghostly head. Keeps appearing in the third-floor bathroom's mirror, of an old plantation house," Ash announced. "Could be harmless. House is in restoration process, so this needs careful hands on the proton packs."

"I'll drive ecto two, if you want the other," Finn said to Ford. While the others were higher rank than him, he had the advantage of having driven commercially for the past year or two in the area. So he knew a lot of shortcuts. Plus he also knew where most of the normal traffic tie-ups would happen at. "Burlington is about fifty-five miles, legally I can get you there at normal speed in forty minutes. That's a lot of little-traveled back roads. Eden is about one hundred miles from here. Take over an hour and fifty minutes at normal speeds."

Ford had wandered into the conversation once the political situation was decided, or at least those who would handle it had been chosen. He had no interest, desire or intention of being involved in that weighty mess. Two busting jobs, though? Hell yeah. He leant against the wall and listened to the others as Ash gave them all the lowdown, then smiled and shook his head as the work was divvied up.

"I'll take Ecto One and Eden, no problem," Ford agreed in a lazy drawl. He ignored the satnav update from Finn and cast his gaze about those gathered. A broad grin settled on his features as he let said look settle on first one and then the other. "Tim, Chiyo, saddle up, looks like you're coming with me."

Finn got up and looked to Ash. "Boss, you may wish to see the governor as well. Can't hurt to talk to him as well."

Nicholas interrupted. "I'll take that meeting- I still have a few contacts on the legislative affairs side here in the state. After that, I'll jump in on the Burlington call if needed or rustle up some new business. It's your call, Cap."

"Those not chosen for the Eden job, have the Burlington one," Ash smiled. "If no more questions, team up and have at it."

When no one spoke up, Ash gestured to the door with a smile, "All right. Hop to it."