The Law of Motion (Law Series) (81 page)

             
“No problem brother, it’s my job.” He chuckled.

             
I thought back to when Alyssa and I first started, how there was something that drew me to her even though she had tried to kill me before I had gotten a chance to know her. I remembered how annoyed I was when I watched her warm up to every single member of my crew one by one until I felt excluded. People had always flocked to me easil
y
blame it on my charisma, looks, or whateve
r
but it completely blew my mind that this girl would be the exception.

             
“What’s got you deep in thought?” Jackson asked throwing the remote to the lobby flat screen at me to get my attention.

             
I grinned, “Thinking about back when we first met the girls of Gravity.”

             
“What about it?” Jackson asked smirking, probably thinking of his own view of the memories.

             
“Back when we all first met,” I started, “I thought that it would be you and her.”

             
Jackson’s eyebrows shot up, “Chance and me?”

             
“It drove me nuts.” I divulged.

             
“Chance and
me
?” He repeated, a little more of his southern drawl smothering the sentence, and I could tell the thought never came to him.

             
Macon came in with a brown paper bag full of food. Why we were all assembling in the Gravity office when Chance gave us the day off was beyond me, but I welcomed the six pack he pulled from the top of the bag. “What we talking about?” He asked handing us beers.

             
Jackson popped his open, “Let me ask you something man,” he took gulp before continuing his sentence. “Did you ever feel like something would happen with Chance and me?”

             
“Oh totally man,” Macon answered without a doubt popping his own beer open, handing over a bag of tortilla chips, and pulling out a deck of cards.

             
“Really?” Jackson asked still somewhat shocked.

             
Macon nodded, “Hell yes,
really
.” He laughed mimicking his accent on the last word. “You guys were always going off alone and having long talks n’ shit.”

             
“See.” I pointed at him shuffling the cards.

             
Ross, who had been cleaning the guns in the weapons cabinet upstairs, came down. She paused in front of Alyssa’s office where you could hear the girls chattering about locations and dresses; then shook her head and continued walking towards the lobby. “Fuck that, I’m not talking weddings, deal me in pretty boy.” She demanded taking a beer from Mack and pushing the entire chaise across the marble floors to make a fourth spot.

             
“Hey Rozzo, let me ask you something.” Macon chuckled after shoving some chips with salsa into his mouth. “What did you think about Chance and Jackson when we all first met?”

             
Ross rolled her eyes, “Never in a million years.”

             
“See!” Jackson pointed and mocked, glad someone actually agreed with him.

             
I drew a few new cards, waiting for my turn again. “She’s always gonna agree with Jackson.”

             
“No, it’s just common sense pretty boy, no one attempts to hook up with someone that tries to kill them at first meet. It kind of ruins a first impression.” 

             
Jackson laughed, “Adrian did.”

             
“Adrian’s an idiot.” She concluded, not looking up from her hand.

             
Macon laughed, “Technically the only one that didn’t try to kill us was Kristen. I’m the only one
not
crazy.”

             
“Ha,” Jackson blurted slapping down his cards, his hand winning over ours. “You not being crazy is a hoot in itself, Mack.”

             
“Tink and Jackson were always obvious.” Ross declared ending the conversation. “Macon and Kris, Tawny and I, we all fit perfectly; now all we have to do is get those two across the broom.”

             
“Yeah, yeah, that’s in May and the girls will take care of that. Now the question is, does Ross get invited to the bachelor party I’m planning.”

             
I cut my eyes to him, “You’re planning that already?”

             
“Yeah man, these things don’t happen overnight.” Macon defended. “Dario and I are on it, we’re thinking Vegas, or better yet Cancun.”

             
Both were awesome ideas. “Either or man.”

             
“What do you mean ,‘
if
I’m invited’, dipshit?” Ross asked with her own accent attempting to flare.

             
“Well technically she’s a double agent now.” Macon haughtily teased. “How do we know she isn’t the girls mole into what’s gonna going down?”

             
Jackson laughed, “She’s Bravo, she can be trusted.”

             
“But how do we know that she is still gonna stick to ‘bros before—’”

             
Ross pointed a finger at him, “Don’t finish that phrase.”

             
“
See
.” Macon accused as if he just proved his point.

             
Joanne flicked the back of his ear, “Or maybe Roslyn was trying to save you from trouble with
me
. Language Macon Christopher King.”

             
I exploded laughing, and I couldn’t help it. “Hey Joanne.” The rest of us greeted.

             
“Hello there, where is everyone else? I got the software Margaux asked for.” She wondered returning to her normal self.

             
“The girls are in Chance’s office.”

             
She nodded. “Ok, we aren’t to be disturbed unless
absolutely
necessary.”

             
“Yes Joanne,” We all repeated, feeling like she was our mother. Not that we wanted to walk into that war zone anyway.             

             
She pointed a finger at Macon, “Don’t make me come back for you.”

             
“Easy Joanne, I didn’t mean anything by it.” Macon defended still rubbing his head.

             
“Serves you right.” Ross smirked throwing down two pairs.

             
Jackson just shook his head. “You figured after being married for two yeas he’d calm down some.”

             
“In his defense, he’s Macon.” I laughed, not really at my joke, but how good it felt to just shoot the shit with my crew.  No cases, no bullshit, and we were just as close as we were in our Merc days, just with a lot more down time.

             
“Royal Flush assholes,” Macon cheesed, his white teeth standing out with his dark skin tone. “Yeah still kickin’ your asses.”

             
Ross started to say some smart shit, until the bell chime of the front door echoed in the lobby again.

I knew Jeff and Danny were already back in the Midwest so I assumed it was my dad, it wasn’t until Macon muttered a barely detectable “Holy shit.” That I even thought to turn around.

There was a woman in the doorway, and it wasn’t hard to understand why Macon swore. She stood tal
l
well n
o
not really tall. She was probably about average height for a woman, five foot five, maybe six, but with the heels it was hard to tell, and her posture was
perfectly
straight, which made her look long. 

Now I love my Alyssa, and she is the most perfect woman inside and out in my eye
s
hell in most men’s eye
s
but this woman was smokin’. Like almost unreal, you would think she was made in a lab where they pulled DNA from the world’s sexiest women or some shit.

Though her clothes would have been perfectly acceptable in an office setting, and showed no cleavage. You could tell that her slender frame was also extremely curv
y
not quite like Alyssa’
s
but close. Her skin was a richer brown, more of a caramel.  Her hair was black for the most part, except for a dark purple streak in the back, and a few strands of her bangs. You wouldn’t notice it if her hair was down, but her high pony tail showed the large section of color...

She looked like she had to be in her mid to late twenties, but then again she could have been older. Her skin was smooth holding no lines, or imperfections, and a very small speck of a beauty mole just above the right corner of her cheek. It accented her fac
e
like Cindy Crawford, or Eva Mende
s
in no way unflattering.

It took all of us a few seconds to process her
appearance; we just sat there in silence. We must have taken too long because she looked at Macon, him being the closest and asked. “Is this Gravity Investigations?”

“Uh, yeah.” Macon answered. “Can we help you with something Miss…?”

“Ramirez, Carmen Ramirez.” She introduced. “I am here on behalf of my mother, Altagracia  Ramirez.”

She waited for us to respond, and we waited because she had yet to tell us her purpose for coming. “Are you in need of our help?” I asked when the pause was taking too long.

She nodded, “Yes, I need help locating a missing person.”

That seemed like enough for everyone to get over the initial shock of her looks. “How long has the person been missing?” Ross asked walking to the reception desk to get a pen and paper.

Macon offered her a seat but she refused it politely. “Over five years.”

“What did the police say?” Jackson inquired standing up, a habit for him if there was a lady in the room that wasn’t sitting.

She sighed, “The police were no help.”

Ross handed her a slip of paper, “Unfortunately we have orders from the boss not to take any more cases for now, but this is the number to another firm that would be more than willing to…”

Carmen shook her head, her expression desperate. “My mother was directed here
specifically
.”

It sucked because we never turned people away, and Jackson looked like he was trying to find some way to help her. “Look, why don’t we get the basic information from you, and I will have our boss look it over personally and call you if she thinks she can help.”

“Is your boss Margaux Meadows?” She questioned.

He chuckled at that, “In some ways you can say that. She’s my wife, she works here too.”

“How do you know Margaux?” I asked curiously.

“I don’t, but she contacted my mother a week ago saying that she had information on my cousin’s disappearance and that it was too sensitive to speak of over the phone. I had a layover here on my way back home, and decided it would be a perfect time to see what she knew.” The more she talked I could detect a Spanish accent.

Ross nodded, “Why didn’t Mrs. Ramirez come, if Margaux contacted her?”

“My mother has been looking for her niece for half a decade, please understand that her heart can’t take much more disappointment if it turns out to be another dead end.”

I nodded in understanding, “If Tink contacted you then it must be important, Jackson, go get her man.”

“Go get who?” Hunter asked coming down the hall with Dario. “Holy shit!”

              Macon whispered to him. “I know, she’s hot, but watch the language.”

             
Carmen went around Ross and Jackson traveling across the room in quick strides stopping at Hunter wrapping her arms around his torso. “
Hunter
? I never thought I would be glad to see you, but
oh my god
I am.”

             
“Carmen what are you
doing
here?” He asked releasing her, looking around at us. We were lost, and apparently he knew something that we didn’t.

             
“Did Margaux Meadows contact you too? Do these people know where she is?”

             
When it clicked in my head I looked to Dario. “
Boss
…” He called down the hall before rapping on the door. “We need you out here.”

             
“You might want to sit down.” Hunter suggested directing her to the chaise.

             
Worry crossed her face again, “Has something happened to her? She isn’t dead is she?”

             
“Chance….” Jackson called a little louder.