On the Streets for Victor: On the Streets for, #3

Chapter One

It was heading toward the end of November, and luckily the temperatures were still in the low sixties during the day. Annabel and I had been back from our honeymoon only a couple of weeks, and the house was still standing which made us really proud. Annabel and I met about a year ago during a case Mac and I were working, and surprisingly she agreed to marry me anyway. Conner MacClennen and I have been friends for well over twenty years, and we are D & M Securities. We are mainly Private Investigators, but we will do just about anything to help someone in need.

Mac and Toni had checked on our girls for us while we were gone. Antonia Hitchens and Mac met during the same case but they are taking it a little slower. Toni is still finishing her last year as a resident at Emory. They had gotten engaged just a few months ago. I would say he hit the jackpot by finding a doctor, but he and I both made a lot of money in the early nineties with some good tech stocks and we do pretty good work.

Mac and I met at the Naval recruiting station and starting talking and have been friends ever since. The recruiter saw something in us and kept us together knowing it helps to have a friend going into something like that. We were straight out of high school and the first time away from home for either of us. They shipped us both to the Naval boot camp in Great Lakes Illinois. We both went from living in the south where in February it was in the sixties to living off of Lake Michigan. This is where I learned what wind was. I grew up around the country but am from The Bronx in New York, so cold was known to me. Wind, on the other hand, was something I only thought I knew. I heard of course that Chicago was the windy city but until you experience it you can only say you know about breezes. When the wind coming off the lake is around sixty miles per hour in cold that is minus 15 degrees, it makes you realize how small your world has been to this point.

Standing in formation in that weather for long minutes waiting to go to one place or another changes the meaning of hurry up and wait.

Mac and I are pretty close to the same height, so that meant we were able to stand next to each other during those times. During that time you learn what it’s like to grow a bond with people no matter where they come from. But ours seemed to be linked with cement now after so many years and events that we have gone through.

This morning I had asked everyone to have breakfast at IHOP with us. I reserved a space so we all could eat together. It was all our kids and the people they cared about. Annabel and I had talked about doing this to start of holidays. We were hoping it would be a new tradition we could do just before Thanksgiving. We wanted a chance to talk about what everyone wanted to do for Thanksgiving, with so many people in this extended and blended family we wanted to make sure we were all together for at least one large meal. Because there were so many of us, we were to the point that we didn’t have our Thanksgiving meal on Thanksgiving so we wanted to pick a day that we could all get together and then go over the menu.

Having it on another day seemed almost better for us. We usually had it on the Saturday after. I wasn't into watching football, so I didn't miss one of the biggest things about the day.

Breakfast was so we could have everyone together to discuss Thanksgiving dinner. It was still a few weeks off, but with our families blending and growing we needed to make sure everyone could agree on a day. We also need to decide who will do what.

We had a great time with everyone and vowed to try and do this maybe once a month. Annabel with her great sense of order put everything we talked about into an email and sent everyone a copy plus added events to their calendars. It was a Sunday morning and by the time she got done it was lunch time. We decided to stay in since we were out all morning. We sat around watching television or just straitening up here and there. I loved Sundays, we usually didn’t do much but relax. Sometimes we would go out of town just to visit someplace new, but mostly we would stay close to home. There was plenty to do and see around the Atlanta area. But tonight we were staying in and just going to relax in front of the television.

The next morning Annabel and I had breakfast together and parted for our Monday morning routines. Her to open the dog grooming business and me to meet Mac and open our office. We were in our normal morning routine when the office door opened. There was a lovely young lady standing there when we looked up. In her mid-twenties at most. Long blond hair, very pretty face with an athlete’s body. I was thinking runner, but I have been wrong before. Mac and I stood up to welcome her, but I think it scared her more than anything. Good morning, I said. Can we help you?

She started to move in finally, I pointed to one of the chairs that sat in front of my desk. She moved slowly to it, she sat and looked at both of us. I have no idea what I’m doing here, she said in a small voice.

Mac moved to sit next to her, and she looked a little scared. It’s okay sweetie. You are safe here. You can tell us, we will either help you if you like or find you the help you need.

She was crying now, and I pushed a box of tissue toward her, she took one. I feel like a baby. She wiped some tears away with the tissue. She took a deep breath and let it out. My daddy is missing. She said it with a sigh. And then lost it. She sounded like a little girl.

Mac sat back a little relieved, we had the same thought. That someone was after this little girl. I was also relieved, but now she had my attention.

Go ahead sweetie, we are listening, Mac said.

No one will listen to me, she stated in a daze.

Mac looked at me, I just shrugged. Honey, what is your name?

The office phone rang, I picked it up. Call back later please! and hung up. I turned the ringer off.

Huh, Oh sorry. Charlotte Nicholson, she said.

Honey we are going to listen to you, tell us how we can help, Mac said. You said your dad is missing. What do you mean?

He's not at home or his office. The office said he took a couple of weeks off. But they didn't know where he went. He would not leave right now. Even if he did, he would tell me.

Ok, let’s start with why you say that, I said.

Why I said what?

Why would he not leave right now, I asked.

My wedding is in the middle of January, and we have been planning this for a while now. He would not just up and leave without at least letting me know. He always tells me if he has to go out of town and when he is expected to be back. He and I tell each other everything. She looked at both of us. She was getting comfortable.

And why do you say no one will listen to you, I asked.

It's a bit of a story, she said.

Okay, I said. Would you like some coffee? She nodded, I will make some, you start your story.

Well, mom and dad got a divorce a couple of years ago. She took off and went a little crazy. Started sleeping around and partying. She said she was making up for all the lost time when she was a prune. She blamed my dad for keeping her down, not letting her do things she wanted to. And it seems she might have started even up to a year before she left him. I guess the good news was that I was old enough to understand that this happens.

We still had an old fashion coffee machine. I still like the sound of the water dripping in the carafe. The way the smell filled the whole room. We heard the final bits of steam that let us know the machine was almost at the end of it’s process.

She stood up and walked over to the machine and brought the carafe over to us. We had our cups on our desk, she filled them and then got herself a cup and added cream and sugar to hers. I just watched her. She was fully comfortable with us now. Even more than I could have thought possible.

She sat down and noticed that we were looking at her different now. She looked around and said, sorry, I worked at a coffee shop in high school, and it is just a habit to fix everyone’s cup when it’s ready.

Mac asked, no cream or sugar for us?

She looked at him a little sideways, now I know you two tough guys do not take it anyway but black. What were you Navy or Marines?

Mac was having fun now. Maybe it was the army?

Nah, if I had to guess I would say Navy, she said.

Mac looked at me, and I just shrugged again.

What is that, I asked.

Oh, well after a while you can read people and what they like in their coffee and then it becomes boring, so I worked on trying to find out what they did. At the time we were close to the base that had some of both Navy and Marines there so it wasn’t long before I would just look at a person and could tell which branch they were in. It has been a while, so I am a little rusty.

Like hell, you are, I said.

She smiled and started back with her story, "my father and I have been working on my wedding together, with my mom helping here and there. However, it was mostly dad that was involved. So when I went to the police department, they told me he is probably just doing the same thing that mom did. Out making up for lost time. But my daddy is not like that. He started going to church regularly and has become very serious about it. He was waiting to meet someone he really likes. He hasn't even been on a date yet. He told me he has a lot of things he wants to work on before anyone else can be in the picture. He has been doing really well, and there was no reason for him to leave right now. The police department said since his office says he took time off that I should just wait until he is supposed to be back before I worry. But then a detective Hill stopped me on my way out and told