Tony: Alvarez Security Series (25 page)

“Yeah,” he chuckled. “You do that.” Turning, he left the room, closing the door behind him.

Betina sat very still until she was sure he was not coming back. Pulling her art pad out, she began sketching again. It was the only thing that made her feel any better about her life. Her fucked-up, out of control life.

*

Tony, sitting at
the head of his main conference room, went over the weekly assignments with his employees. After the larger staff meeting was over, he dismissed everyone except his inner crew.

They looked at the relaxed man in front of them, seeing the effects of his relationship with Sherrie clearly on his face.

“Boss?” BJ asked. “What’s up?”

Tony looked at his former brothers-in-arms—Jobe, Vinny, and Gabe—as well as BJ and Lily. He lay a folder on the table in front of him, announcing, “I’ve had an offer from another…security type firm for us to collaborate with when possible and I’d like to take them up on it.”

Gabe let out a huge breath saying, “Fuck, Tony. You had me worried that you were going to sell the company.”

The others grinned sheepishly, admitting they thought the same thing. Tony shook his head, “You all know this business means everything to me. No way I’d sell out. But I do have a way that we can work with another company at times and I think the partnership will be beneficial.”

“So who’s the company?” Vinny asked.

“I was contacted by Jacques Bryant, our former Chief Warrant Officer—”

“Jack?” Jobe asked, a grin on his face. “Ol’ Frenchie, himself,” he added at Tony’s nod. Seeing Lily’s look of confusion, he explained, “His mom was French and named him Jacques, but we knew him as Jack.”

“Yeah, until Vinny found out his real name and gave him the nickname Frenchie,” Gabe laughed.

“What has he been up to?” Vinny asked.

“Seems he continued in Special Forces for a couple of years beyond us and then, when he got out, started his own business.”

“What kind of business?” Lily asked, astute enough to see Tony’s hesitation in naming the company.

“I’ll call it a security business, but it’s a little different than ours. It’s more…covert.”

“Covert?” BJ asked.

This had the attention of Vinny, Gabe, and Jobe immediately; having served with Jack they knew his penchant for covert operation planning and gadgets.

“He’s created a team of people with diverse backgrounds and specialties. They’re still pretty new, but are having some real successes with their missions.”

“And Jack wants to work with us?” Gabe asked.

Tony nodded before continuing. “Right now, we have just verbally agreed to help each other out on cases where we think sharing will be beneficial. We’ll consider the details at a later time.” Looking over at Vinny, he added, “Don’t worry, Vinny. You’ll still get to provide security for your starlets and rocker girls when they come into town.”

“Thank fuck,” Vinny quipped. “Which reminds me, when am I going to get one of those assignments?”

The others chuckled as Tony replied, “Got something in the works right now. I’ll let you know as soon as the details are worked out.”

Lily headed back toward her office with a smile, patting Vinny on the shoulders as she went by. “One day, Vinny, love’s going to hit you when you least expect and I am going to sit back and enjoy watching it knock you for a loop.” With a wink, she left the conference room.

Gabe turned toward his twin saying, “I’m telling you bro. Don’t mix work and pleasure. I did and it was a fuckin’ disaster.”

Vinny reared back in his seat smiling. “That’s ’cause you forgot to let ’em know it was only for one night.”

As the meeting broke up, Tony felt lighter than he had in a long time. Business was good. Sherrie was good.
Maybe, just maybe things are looking up.

*

Sherrie was back
at work and more determined than ever to check up on Betina. She called her school and made an appointment to meet with one of her teachers. Finishing her work for Mr. Marks, she headed to the school during lunchtime. Once she checked in with the front office, she was escorted to Mrs. Rushmore’s English classroom, where the teacher agreed to meet with her during her planning time.

“Thank you so much for seeing me on such short notice,” Sherrie greeted, sitting down with the friendly teacher.

“It’s my pleasure. I want to help Betina as much as I can.”

“I have some questions that go beyond the ordinary ones that I can easily get elsewhere, if you don’t mind,” she said.

Mrs. Rushmore acquiesced and Sherrie pulled her pad and pen from her purse. “When I ask Betina about friends, she indicates that she doesn’t really have any. Is this true? Do you see her hanging out with any other students? Girlfriends? A boyfriend?”

The teacher shook her head, answering, “She really is a quiet, good student. I was shocked when I heard that she ran away—she definitely is not a behavior problem here at school. Being a rather poor inner-city school, we have our share of problem students, but she’s not one of them. Unfortunately, we lose some kids to the streets and gangs every day, but again, she’s never been a problem. I don’t see her walking in the halls with other students consistently. She does meet and greet almost everyone. I know she would be embarrassed if she realized that someone had noticed this, but she really has the most giving personality.”

Sherrie lifted her gaze from her notes to the teacher. “How so? In what way?”

“Well, when I have cafeteria duty, I see her hanging back, watching the other students. And the ones that don’t have lunch money, she casually goes to them and gives them lunch money.”

Gives them money? Where does she get that money from if her work at the grocery doesn’t pay much?

Mrs. Rushmore continued, “She always talks to them for a few minutes and then they head up to the line where they get lunch. A few of these kids have left our school, but I’m sure they’ll always remember her kindness.”

Filing that information away, she asked about Betina’s classwork and once again found the teacher with nothing but praise. Standing at the end of the interview, Sherrie gave her a business card and asked if she would call or email if she thought of anything else.

Walking back to her car, her mind was filled with Mrs. Rushmore’s words.
Always gives lunch money to the kids who can’t afford it.
She remembered Betina talking to the kids after school, telling them they could get food at the Valesquez store.

Walking back into the law office, she went directly to see Simon. He looked up, a smile on his face as he greeted her, and she noticed Mr. Marks was sitting in there as well. She started to back out of the room, but they beckoned her in.

“I hate to be a bother, but I had a question and perhaps you two are the perfect ones to ask.” Taking a deep breath, hoping her employers would not think her ridiculous, she asked, “Do you ever get a feeling that something just doesn’t add up when you are talking to a client?”

Both men looked surprised and confused, so she rushed to explain. “I’m still working on Betina’s case and while I have no evidence, I just
feel
like something isn’t adding up.”

“Intuition, my dear,” Mr. Marks said. “You must look at facts, but never fail to listen to your intuition.”

Simon added, “You’d make a good lawyer, Sherrie. You’re book smart, but you’re very people smart as well. I’d say keep digging.”

“But carefully,” Mr. Marks called as she was walking out of the office.

“I will,” she agreed. “No more dark street investigations for me. You never know who you’ll meet!”

Back in her office, she pulled her notes out as she began to type them into a semblance of a report that would eventually go to the judge.
Betina, I know there is something going on. I can just feel it.
Maybe a surprise visit is what is needed.
She knew the grocery wasn’t open on Sunday so she hoped that would provide the perfect time to see how Betina was with both her mom and Mr. Valesquez around.

The vibrating of her cell phone pulled her out of her musings and with a smile on her face she answered, “Hey, sweetie.”

“You got plans for dinner tonight?” Tony asked.

“Not really. I think there is some leftover meatloaf from the other night.”

“Then let’s go out. I’ve got some news and I thought we’d hit that new steak house downtown.”

“Oohh, you know the way to my heart,” she laughed.

“Darlin’, you’re already in mine,” he replied. “I’ll pick you up in about twenty minutes.”

Hanging up, she headed to the restroom to freshen up. Looking into the mirror over the sink, she patted her hair in place then re-applied her lipstick. Staring at her reflection, she could not help but smile.
Girl, you’ve come a long way since cocktail waitressing in a strip joint to keep an eye on Charisse. A good job. A good man…who is drop-dead gorgeous.
For a second, a flash of doubt crossed her face.
Can it stay this good?
Sucking in a huge breath before letting it out slowly, she squared her shoulders and held her head up.
Just because everything always went to shit before doesn’t mean it still will. Things have changed. My life has changed.

Her pep talk over, she headed out to wait for Tony.

T
he restaurant was
dimly lit, the candlelight flickering on the table between them giving off a romantic air, as Tony and Sherrie finished their meal. Her pale blue, figure-hugging jersey dress with a scooped neck had captured his attention all night. Her dress offered him a hint of the luscious cleavage he planned on partaking of tonight, as soon as he could get her home. Her blonde hair floated around her shoulders, and the thought of running his hands through the silken tresses as he took her had him shifting in his chair.

Sherrie was equally perusing from her side of the table. His muscular arms and chest stretched the material of his navy shirt and the plan of popping one button at a time until she could peel it off revealing the prize underneath, had her pussy clenching. He had just shared his news about collaborating with an old Special Forces buddy and she could see the excitement in his eyes.

“I never ask about your time in the Army,” she confessed, trying to think of something besides the ache deep inside her core. “I suppose I just assume that if you want to talk about it, you will. But it seems that you are very close to those you served with.”

He nodded as he looked at her eyes, seeing in their depths an interest in him. Not his war stories. Not tales of glory. But interest in him.

“When you spend that much time together as a team, you have to know each other’s movement, thoughts, actions…anything less could mean at best a failed mission or at the worst, death.”

Her eyes shined with tears as she whispered, “I hate that you had to face that, but so glad you had men at your back that have become your brothers.”

He looked down at his plate, realizing that for so long the memories of his days in the Army were tainted by his grief, but those men stood by him when he fell apart. And put him back together again. Raising his eyes, he stared at the beautiful woman across from him. Life had not been easy on her either, but here they were—stronger together than they had been apart.

I want this woman in my life forever.
He had not bought a ring, although the idea of asking her to marry him had been on his mind lately.
Fuck it, who needs a ring right now anyway. At least I can tell her what I want.

“Sherrie?” he said softly, reaching across the table grasping her hand. “You know I love you. Will you—”

“Tony? I thought that was you!” came an excited voice from the right.

Jerking his head around, he saw Marla’s parents walking toward their table.
Fuck timing
. He had always had a good relationship with her parents but they’d lost contact over the past couple of years. Their grief was as profound as his, but in their case shared grief did not seem to give him comfort.

He stood quickly, reaching out his hand in greeting. “Ted, Vivian. Nice to see you again.”

Vivian bypassed his outstretched hand and came in for a hug instead. He returned the embrace, but felt ill at ease when she would not let go. Glancing behind her at Ted, his eyes must have given a pleading look because Ted moved in to gently pull his wife from Tony’s arms.