Page 4 of Tony

The group discussed the pros and cons of the equipment contracts for several minutes. Making their decisions, they moved to the next topic.

“Had a request to help find two sisters who have been missing a month,” Tony mentioned, opening the file in front of him. This got the immediate attention of the group. “Their grandparents have employed us to look in this area. They are from the D.C. area and by all appearances, they ran away together. According to the grandmother, their step-father may have been abusive. It was reported to the D.C. police, but they’re strapped for manpower and the trail is a bit cold. The grandparents hired a PI in the D.C. area and he thinks they took a bus to Richmond. So they have contracted us to see what we can dig up.”

“You giving this to one person?” Jobe asked. “Cause if so, I’ll take it.” The group knew of Jobe’s overwhelming sense of responsibility when it came to his own sisters and Tony knew this would be a personal mission for him.

“I was thinking of you and Terrance working on it, and with BJ getting his PI license, he can work on it with you. I told the grandparents that we would see what we could find from the bus station security but that they shouldn’t get their hopes up too high since the girls left a month ago.” With that, he slid the folder over to Jobe who began to thumb through it.

Moving to the next item on his agenda, Tony continued. “As you know, the Richmond Police have worked with us in the past and even paid Lily and BJ for their time for some of their computer skills. The Chief knows our reputation and with our friendship with Matt and Shane, it’s been easy.”

Lily smiled. Her husband, Matt Dixon, and his partner, Shane Douglass, were detectives that had close ties to Alvarez Security and worked with them even when not sanctioned by the Chief.

“Well now, it seems as though we have the attention of the Mayor and Governor as well. So that will probably lead to us having more and more contracts with city as well.”

“You okay, Captain?” BJ asked. “You’re giving us good news, but seem…I don’t know…kind of bored.”

“Nah, it’s all good. Business is up and you all should be expecting raises by next month.” This news was met with cheers all around. His gaze wandered around the room to his core employees. Lily, happily married to Matt and expecting their child. BJ married his long time sweetheart months ago and is now the proud father of twins. Gabe, who was on his honeymoon, was also on his mind. Jobe was still single, but Tony knew as soon as the right woman came along, he’d snatch her up. Vinny on the other hand, was a hound-dog at heart. He was too into tits, ass, and one-night stands to ever fall in love.Then there’s me. I am getting morose.

Jerking himself out of his musings, he dismissed the meeting and headed back to his office. A moment later, Lily knocked on the doorframe.

Smiling, he stood, motioning for her to enter. Beautiful, blonde hair that just skimmed her shoulders. Neat slacks, professional blouse, and her trademark, colorful tennis shoes. As a below-the-knee amputee, she always wore tennis shoes.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, ushering her to a seat.

“I’m fine. Actually, more than fine.”

She sat, awkwardly quiet for a moment. Finally looking at him, she said, “Sir?—”

“Lily, we’re too good of friends for you to call me ‘sir’.”

Smiling, she nodded. “I just wondered…well, that is to say…I thought that...” Sighing, she said ruefully, “I’m not making much progress here, am I?”

Tony chuckled and agreed.

“Tony, when I first met Matt, I thought that I had nothing to give him, other than a life with an amputee and that didn’t seem fair. I found out later that because of the large scar on his face, he felt the same. That all he had to offer was life with a man with a damaged face. But we were wrong.”

Not knowing where she was going with the conversation, Tony just sat quietly, allowing her thoughts to come out in her own time.

Looking down at her hands for a moment, she unconsciously splayed them across her slight pregnancy bulge. Gazing back up into his eyes, she continued. “We’ve all had pain, Tony. Things that marked us. Changed us. Hurt us. Made us feel like the sun was never going to shine on us again.”

Leaning forward, she placed her tiny hand on his much larger one. “I can’t begin to imagine your grief and pain. And it’ll never go away. I know. I’ve grieved the death of my sister for ten years. But if you don’t allow yourself to feel again, hope again, dream again…you’ll never find happiness again.”

Seeing him about to protest, she interrupted. “And you can find happiness again. We all did and want that for you as well.”

The lump that formed in his throat threatened to choke him, so silence was the only solution. He blinked and nodded, feeling her words slide through him. Not reaching the darkest places. But warming him, nonetheless.

She stood, and walked out of his office saying nothing else. He sat, looking at the papers on his desk but not seeing them. The hall was quiet and he knew he was alone. Pulling out his wallet, he slid the old, faded photograph out. Running his finger over the face of Marla and Sofia once again, he wondered if Lily was right. Was there such a thing as happiness again for him?

* * *

Sherrie walked into the lawyer’s office where she was a paralegal, greeting the receptionist as she moved to her small office. Looking at the pile of files on her desk, she heaved a huge sigh. She used to go to the State Capitol often for business, even if it was just delivering files to a client. But ever since the Senator had been caught in a huge scandal involving payoffs and mob bosses, Attorney Ashton Marks had scaled back as he was winding down his career. He kept his business to just family law, dealing mostly with wills and trusts. Necessary, but to Sherrie, it was a little boring.

She was tired of spending her days stuck in the tiny office, completing legal forms for the clients. She could not help but smile at the memories of helping Jennifer with a little reconnaissance a few months earlier. She had felt alive and needed. Her gaze moved from the pile of folders to a small picture frame on her desk. She and Charisse, her sister. Raised in foster homes, she had gone the route of being a good student and Charisse had decided that prostituting herself for drugs was the way to break out of the system.Where are you now, sis?

“Ms. Mullins?” a deep voice called from the door.

Jumping, she exclaimed, “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t hear anyone there.”

A tall, handsome man wearing a nice, if inexpensive suit, walked in with his hand out. “I’m Simon Tolbert, Mr. Marks’ new partner.”

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