Vendetta (25 page)

    
“That figures. Well, that’s just politics, bro. Everyone has to cover up the ugly and come out on top… looking good,” Mark laughed.

    
“Yep, you’re right about that,” Williams continued.

    
“I thought it was a bit odd, that the very next day, however…a “leaked story” about a father and daughter, who helped the local authorities with an ongoing investigation, began to surface all over the internet. Basically, headlines like, “Local family aids in secret investigation.” to “Young woman risks life to serve the greater good”. They’re the weeks most searched Hot Topics on the web, you know,” Williams stated.

    
“The articles were quickly followed by, “sources unknown. You wouldn’t know anything about that would you?” he smiled slyly.

    
“I’ve heard a thing or two about those, too. Allie has had a field day trying to explain things to people…without “really explaining” what has happened. Most people are just as confused as we are… right, honey?” Mark looked at Allie, who had a grin on her face as wide as Texas, metaphorically speaking.

    
“Oh, yes, absolutely,” she agreed. Allie’s intrigue was revealed by her twinkling eyes, confirming Mark’s suspicion.

    
“Yep, she leaked it. I wouldn’t be surprised if Jen had a hand in that as well,” he chuckled.

    
Allie laughed. “Oh, you crazy investigative types, always looking for what isn’t there. Maybe you should’ve been a journalist!” Allie smiled widely.

    
Julie playfully rolled her eyes at them, and stood to clear the dishes.

    
“Let’s go see what’s good on T.V. Allie-cat. This could take a while,” Julie gestured towards the living room.

    
“What?” Mark and Williams said in unison.

    
“You know what,” Julie pointed at Mark and smiled. “This on-going banter of yours and talks of a conspiracy theory concerning an already closed case,” Julie said.

    
“It’s all in good fun,” Mark held out his arms playfully.

     J
ulie blew a kiss at Mark.

    
“Leave the dishes in the sink, Williams and I will get them,” Mark leaned over and kissed Allie on the top of her head. Both the girls paused for a moment.

    
“Go, go, go!” shouted Allie. The girls pretended to bolt from the dining room, gladly accepting his offer.

    
“Get outta here before he changes his mind!” yelled Allie.

           
  ~

    
“So, how is Julie doing with everything? You guys sure do look happy together,” Williams said as he rinsed the salad bowl that Mark just washed.

    
“She’s doing great. She fits in here really well,” Mark said smiling.

    
“She’s moved most of her things into the house, while slowly sorting out her legal affairs with Nick. The divorce papers were signed and Nick has surprisingly, stayed true to his word. He gave her practically everything, even though she didn’t want any of it,” Mark commented.

    
Williams nodded.

    
“It’s not like he’s going to be using any of it any time soon. The charges brought against him, are mounting up… he‘s looking at a life sentence in the least,” Williams added.

    
“As soon as they had the chance, Lucy and Nick couldn’t wait to spill the beans on each other… they even did it without making deals for lesser time, stupid criminals,” Williams and Mark chuckled to themselves.

    
“Whatever happened to “honor amongst thieves?” Williams added.

    
“With the exception of Nick’s personal stuff, Julie has decided to sell everything, including Nick’s truck and their home. Nick’s sister took his family pictures and put important papers and stuff in storage and let Julie donate the rest. Clothes, furniture, his books, magazines… she just put it all out on the curb and made a call,” Mark said.

    
“That’s good, I suppose. Clean slate. I bet she’s anxious to put that life behind her,” Williams said.

    
“Yeah, I think so, too. I told her she had all the time in the world to make up her mind… she could stay here or there, if she was more comfortable, but she really just wanted to get it over with and stay with me and Allie. She said it was nothing but a house of lies, and she doesn’t ever want to live like that again,” Mark said.

    
Williams nodded. “I could only imagine how difficult that must have been for her to deal with. It’s such an awful thing to happen to such a nice girl.”

     “It’s his loss and
my gain for sure. For the first couple of days, I kept asking Allie if she was alright with Julie moving in. You know, just trying real hard to include her in the decisions I was making, and every time, Allie would say… “Of course, I want her here silly. Or, “Dad, stop asking, you’re going to hurt her feelings if she hears you!”

    
“I just wanted to make sure she felt good about it too, you know. A lot has happened, really fast,” Mark said.

    
“I understand,” Williams nodded.

    
“Allie surprised me the other night after I had asked this last time and she turned to me and said, “You and Julie being together, seems more logical to me than anything else that has gone on lately. I have always felt that there was something missing here in our home and with Julie being here, it suddenly feels… whole.”

    
“Wow. That’s a pretty bold and direct statement,” Williams said.

    
“Yeah, tell me about it. I was so happy to hear that. My daughter never seizes to amaze me. Just when I think I have an idea of how she feels or if I think I know what she’s going to say, she just blows me away with how compassionate and incredibly smart she is. She’s way more mature than I give her credit for,” Mark said honestly.

    
“Does Allie plan on staying local after high school?” Williams asked. “I always wanted my daughter to stay with me and attend the University here.”

    
“Allie will be graduating High School in the spring and plans on moving out. Allie and Jen have plans on finding a place together and going to the University. Allie thinks Julie moving in is perfect timing, and this way she won’t, “feel like she’s leaving me all alone.”

    
“That makes sense to me! I wouldn‘t want to leave you alone either. We all know what happens! You turn into a renegade vigilante!” Williams smiled as he listened to his friend.

    
Mark laughed. “Ha-ha, very funny. Allie feels like she won’t have to worry about me as much and she can feel more confident about her decision to move and be more focused on school.”

    
“That’s good,” Williams agreed.

     Mark continued.
“It kind of resonated with me, to hear that my daughter feels so responsible for me and worries about me so much. So, I’m glad that she’s going to gain some independence from this.” Mark said truthfully. “I just never realized that most of her decisions were based on me and what I wanted or needed.”

    
“Well, she cares about you very much, Mark. I think it’s a good thing she’s going out into the world. She needs to know you support her. Not that you need my opinion, but I’m glad to hear everything is coming together for all of you. Everything is going to be just fine from here on out,” Williams said sincerely.

    
“Thanks. I appreciate it, bro. I think you’re going to be doing pretty well for yourself also,” Mark said.

    
“Speaking of Allie, she seems like she’s doing good with the fall-out from her role in the investigation and all,” Williams asked.

    
“Well, despite all the attention she’s been getting from the newspapers and numerous reporters wanting her exclusive interview, she’s actually doing quite well. She doesn’t seem traumatized by it at all. In fact, she thinks it was the coolest thing she has ever been a part of. I told her she’s going back to school tomorrow, to get back in the swing of things. I think she’s okay, emotionally, so I thought it would be best for her to go right back to school and get back to normal. It‘s been a week, I think it‘s been long enough,” Mark said.

    
“I completely agree,” Williams added. “That girl has guts, doesn’t she? Most girls her age and even older wouldn’t have pulled that off. She was very brave.”

    
Suddenly, Allie came into the room to say goodnight to them.

 
“Am I interrupting the discussion on how cool I am? I could sit over here and wait till you’re done,” she joked.

    
“No, you need to get to bed,” Mark walked over to her hugging her.

     “Now, are you 100% sure
that I need to go back to school tomorrow, Dad?” She grinned up at him.

    
“Yes, I’m definitely sure. There’s no getting out of it,” Mark said sternly.

    
“You mean I can’t call in dead?” Allie winked.

    
Williams and Mark laughed.

                                
~

    
That night, before leaving, Williams told Mark and Julie about his plans to take a REAL vacation, and go visit his daughter in Washington. “It will be a couple of weeks before I get back. I’m hoping that she will want to come here to visit over Christmas break, and be able to meet everyone,” Williams said hopefully.

    
“Oh, that would be wonderful!!” Julie exclaimed as she hugged him.

    
“Going to spend time with your daughter is awesome, I’m happy for you. It‘s about time,” Mark patted him on the shoulder.

    
“Thanks guys. So, looks like I’ll be doing a lot of shopping over the next couple of weeks and walking the windy beaches getting to know my daughter,” Williams said optimistically.

    
“Oh, she’s going to love that, I’m sure,” Julie said kindly.

    
“I think we can manage to stay out of trouble for a couple weeks… at least until you get back,” Mark said.

    
Williams laughed as he stepped outside and they waved goodbye.

         
~

    
Mark thought that everyone’s lives seemed to be headed in a positive direction, with a newly renowned sense of purpose and drive… except his own.  His path seemed blurry in comparison. He felt unsure about his future now, than he ever had.  Before this, his focus was always on Allie, working, and burying his painful memories under layers of pent up anger and hidden regret. Now, there was nothing to hide, and Allie was practically grown. Well, almost. Besides his daughter, he had Julie by his side, and that alone gave him the feeling of hope.

    
Despite how he felt about Dom, Mark would have to return to work sometime. Wouldn’t he? After all, it was his job, his livelihood. But Mark sensed that there was more than just a disagreement with Dom, other than how things went down. Now that they knew each other’s secrets, it would all be different. Mark wasn’t entirely unrealistic, but he didn’t expect it to be the same. He had thought about quitting the restaurant all together and going to work at the Police Station. Captain Haddock had called and offered him a job, with Williams putting in a good word for him. He just hadn’t called him back. He hadn’t returned anyone’s calls.

    
“You know, I think I read somewhere that Angelo’s is re-opening this week,” Julie mentioned that night. They were sitting up in bed together. Mark was watching a rerun on television, while Julie read a book.

    
“Oh, yeah, does it say that somewhere in your book? Let me see that,” Mark grabbed at her book and pretended to try to read it.

    
“I don’t think so, smart guy!” she joked. “You know where I’m going with this,” Julie closed her book and gently smacked his arm with it.

    
“Why don’t you just go down to the restaurant, and tell Dom how you feel? You can base your decision off of how that conversation goes, on whether you can work with him again, or if you even want to stay at the restaurant at all.” Julie grabbed his hand and lifted it up and over her head, wrapping it around her, snuggling closer to him.

    
“You didn’t have a problem voicing your opinion at the F.B.I. headquarters, or when dealing with anyone else for that matter,” she glanced up at him, and he shrugged his shoulders, not disagreeing.

    
“Speaking my mind isn‘t the problem,” Mark said.

    
“I know that. I also know that you’re not talking to Dom because you want to avoid him. You’re avoiding him, because you’re mad that he betrayed your trust.  You’re mad, because he’s your friend and you care about him and hurt feelings are involved.”

    
Marks body felt suddenly rigid. Julie knew she hit a nerve on that one.