Page 74 of Tony

Thirty minutes later she pulled into the well-lit alley behind the laundry. Her phone beeped an incoming message from Tony. He had received her message and told her under no circumstances was she to go alone.

Sitting in her car, she quickly called the Alvarez Security. When Doug answered, she immediately told him where she was.

“Girl, stay in that vehicle until one of us gets there and if anything looks weird, get the fuck out of there.”

She was just agreeing when she heard a commotion in the background. “Doug? What’s going on?”

Doug got back on the phone, saying, “Girl, there’s gonna be hell to pay. Tony just called to have us check on you, but I told him we were on our way since you’d called in first.”

Pursing her lips, she knew Tony would be mad, but she had followed his directions.I called first and I’m waiting.

Seeing Vinny pull into the alley, she got out of her car and was able to hear noise from inside the building that her car had muffled.Damn, I thought it would be shut down for the day.Metal stairs zig-zagged up the back of the building with a pile of crates underneath. Looking around before waving to Vinny as he parked, she quickly climbed up the crates and pulled herself up the metal ladder.

Making her way to the nearest window, she peeked in.

* * *

“Boss, she’s good,” Doug called out as soon as Tony and Jobe reached the agency.

The re-setting of the complicated system had taken longer than he wanted and as much as he wanted to get home, he knew he needed to check on the materials for the next install. He hurried into the surveillance room, Jobe on his heels.

“Vinny was closest, so I have already sent him and Terrance to help her.”

Tony looked at the computer screen that Doug was pointing to. The one outside of the alley of the laundry. Where Sherrie was heading up the fire stairs in the alley. With Vinny scrambling quickly behind.

“What the fuck is she doing?” he exploded.

“Vinny’s there, boss. He’s got her and Terrance is on watch too.”

Tony saw Vinny stealthily climbing the stairs and grabbing Sherrie from behind with one hand over her mouth and the other protectively around her waist. He could see Vinny speaking to her and she nodded before he let her go. Then Vinny looked into the window as well. They carefully made their way back down the stairs, where Vinny assisted her from the crates.

“I want her ass here instantly,” Tony growled into the radio connected to Vinny’s earpiece. “In your car. Get her keys and if she gives you any problems, tell her I’ll deal with her when she gets here.”

Doug looked at his boss, knowing the next part of the intel was not going to make his boss happy. “Sir, there’s more. We got a clear identification on one of the men in Quentin’s tunnels. It’s Hernando. He works for Quentin. And for the first time, last night, there were some girls going from one of the outer buildings through the tunnels to the club. We think this may be how they move some of the younger girls into the club.”

* * *

Sherrie started to walk back toward her car when Vinny snatched the keys from her hand and tossed them to the other man coming from behind a dumpster. Before she could protest, Vinny clipped, “Terrance’ll drive your car. You’re to come with me.”

“But—”

Vinny took her arm gently, steering her toward his truck parked at the end of the alley. “Darlin’, I don’t think I’d test Tony on this.”

Pursing her lips, she looked into Terrance’s smiling face, his white teeth in contrast to his dark skin giving his handsome face even more stunning looks. Allowing Vinny to assist her up, she wisely kept quiet during the ride to the agency. All the while, steaming.I was careful. I followed his directions. I texted him first and then I called the office. I waited in my car until someone came before looking in a window.Giving an angry snort, she thought,Just let him try to pick a fight with me!

* * *

The yelling from Tony’s office had continued for the past ten minutes. Terrance, Doug, Jobe, Gabe and Vinny waited patiently, but when the arguing did not seem to end, Jobe looked over at the others to see if he should step in.

Before he could speak, Tony threw open the door and shouted, “Terrance. You got her bag?”

Terrance nodded and handed the large purse that was in Sherrie’s car to his boss. Tony took it and said, “Show me.” Since he had not closed his door, the group outside could hear sniffles inside and papers being shuffled.

“You can’t see them without some help,” Sherrie said, wiping her tears. Tony had ripped her a new one with some of his team right outside the door. She was furious and hated crying when she was mad, thinking it made her look weak.

Tony took the art pad from her hand and walked out of the room with it. Not knowing if he wanted her to follow or not, she decided that she did not care.I know what I saw and want to see his face when I’m right.

Looking up, she realized that the group had grown; Gabe and BJ were there as well. Her face flaming, she held her head high and stormed over to the table where Tony had taken the pad. He had laid it flat against a white tabletop, with a strong light above. BJ sat at a computer station and with a few clicks had the pad projected up on one of the whiteboards on the wall. The group, intrigued, moved closer.

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