Page 3 of Very Special Forces

"I cancover this in an hour or two," said Lucas. "It's easy to look upproperty records."

"Great.When you have the boundary lines confirmed, Fletcher can head outto the property with a measuring tape and confirm it oldschool-style. Then you can go home," Solomon added with a pointedlook at Fletcher.

"Thanks,boss," said Fletcher, not even pretending to argue.

"Whatelse do we have?" asked Flaherty.

"Theregister at Dollar Donuts has been coming up short for the pastmonth. The owner wants us to find out who’s behind it."

"On it,"yelled Flaherty as he reached for the file.

"Youdon't know all the details yet," said Solomon.

Flahertygave a smug smile. "I know all there is to know. Stake out thedonut shop. Pretty much my life's dream. Anything else?"

Solomonshook his head. "That's about it," he agreed. "Don't spend morethan a couple days on it. There's a new employee and the assistantmanager is apparently behaving oddly. Check them both out and thenput surveillance in place. Dollar Donuts doesn't have any camerasso there's no video footage to examine. Next up is a divorce case.Suspected hidden assets, disgruntled spouses. Lexi, do you andLucas want to team up on this one?"

"Whatkind of hidden assets?" I asked.

"Property, investments and bank accounts. The marriagereportedly lasted a heady forty-three days before the husbandsuspected that the wife was just in it for the money. He's accusingher of being a gold-digger. She's adamant she's not. The lawyershave agreed to team up to find out what the situation is and who'stelling the truth. The information is in the files. It should bemostly desk work."

"I cando that," I said, "but I'll need to defer to Lucas for any trickierfinancial angles. There are limits to my talents." Unless we weretalking cocktails, cake, and getting into trouble, for which therewere no limits.

"Perfect." Solomon consulted the files that were left. "Thefirst of the last two case requests involves a missing person butsince it's only been forty hours, I'm going to pass that one backto the Montgomery Police Department; and the other is a familysquabble. Something about some coins, one that most likely needs alawyer to really shake that money tree rather than privateinvestigators." Solomon tucked both files under his arm. "Nowalk-ins for the past two weeks unless someone forgot to mentionone?" he added, looking around as we shook our heads. It hadactually been very quiet in the office for the past couple ofweeks, which was not a bad thing. Usually, I would have beensearching for something to do but now that the wedding plans werein the final stages and the big day only a couple of weeks away, Iwas glad of the quiet time. If I were lucky, it would continue andSolomon and I could get married in peace before embarking on ourhoneymoon with nothing more to concentrate on than each other. Eachother and the sun, the sand, the ocean, and the entire cocktailmenu.

"Lexi?"

"Hmm?" Ilooked up and blinked, disappointed that I was still in the officeand not on the honeymoon that so briefly occupied mythoughts.

"Are youokay to get started, or is it too much?" asked Solomon.

"It'sperfect," I assured him.

"Youdon't have any dress fittings or other wedding preparationsscheduled?"

"Nottoday. I'll get started on these and let you know when my report isready," I said as I stood up and collected the file.

Lucaswaved as he left the office before disappearing upstairs to theupper floor of the detective agency. Fletcher and Flaherty were onhis heels, reminiscing about the paintball wars, leaving Solomonand me as the last participants to depart. The phone in Solomon'soffice began to ring and he jogged over to answer it. A momentlater, he strolled out again just as I sat at my desk, holding hisjacket in hand. "I have to head out," he said. "I might be gone allafternoon. Do you want to go out for a bite to eatlater?"

"Can wecook at home? I promised Lily I would meet her at the gym afterwork. We're taking a new class."

"Whatkind of class?"

"Lilycalls it strengthening and core work with a touch ofdance."

"Okay,"said Solomon, his eyes glazing over. "Just don't getinjured."

I heldback a snort of derision, primarily because his advice was good andLily had been slightly sketchy about offering any details of theclass. She convinced me on the principle that it would be a goodway to get fit since we needed to find a new regular class afterbecoming so scarred from the spin class we used to take. That,coincidentally took a murderous turn, and since the once ultra-fitLily had delivered a baby, I was finding it harder than ever to getenthused or motivated for any kind of fitness efforts. Only thethoughts of looking back on my wedding photos could manage to spurme on.

"Youtoo," I shot back pointlessly; Solomon remained a wall of musclethat rarely got injured. However, he’d only recently recovered froma gunshot wound that nearly killed him so I was well aware that hewasn't completely indestructible.

Solomonsimply smiled, dropped a kiss on my lips, didn't argue when Iprolonged it, and promptly left, leaving me alone in theoffice.

"I couldliterally do anything in here and no one would ever know," I toldthe empty room. I jumped when the phone in Solomon's office rang atthat very second. "Who's watching me?" I asked out loud whilecrossing the floor and reaching for the phone.

"SolomonDetective Agency," I answered.

"Thatyou, Lexi?" asked Jim, the doorman who monitored the building'sfront entryway.

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