The Law of Motion (Law Series)

by Di'Nisha Robinson

  “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 tallwell no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 eyeshell in most men’s eyes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 curvy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 facelike Cindy Crawford, or Eva Mendes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 ov
er 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.

  “Hell…” Ross muttered. “Tink could have warned us she was coming.”

  “You think?” Macon muttered.

  Alyssa never really talked much about her family, and from what I knew they were all living in the Dominican Republic; but I was aware that she never faced them once she came back from Cuba. With good reason, she didn’t want to retell what happened to her. But she’s been getting a lot better, so it wasn’t easy to predict how she would react to seeing this cousin after five years.

  “What is all the noise about?” Alyssa demanded coming into the lobby. She froze the instant she saw Carmen sitting on the crooked chair.

  “Alyssa!” Carmen screamed launching herself at her, the same way she did with Hunter, except this time with tears in her eyes.

  Alyssa didn’t return her embrace at first, still shocked herself she just stood there. Compared to Alyssa’s five foot two height and Carmen’s five foot nine with heels it looked like an off embrace. Alyssa exhaled closing her eyes, “Carmen…it’s ok, and I’m alright.”

  “You just disappeared and no one knew where you were, and Mom kept sending everyone to look for you, and no one could help us. We thought you were dead.” Carmen continued crying, ignoring us completely, even though the lobby was now full, with the girls coming out to witness what was happening.

  “Where is Tia Alta? Is she with you?” Alyssa asked, her eyes almost panicked for a second, and I didn’t understand why.

  Carmen shook her head, “She is in Puerto Plata waiting for me to call if there was news. Where have you been this whole time?”

  “It’s a little complicated Carmen.” Alyssa replied hesitantly.

  Carmen pulled back, wiping her eyes. “Complicated or not you need to explain. We have all been worried for years, not days Alyssa years. We didn’t know if you were dead, alive, hurt, and the military didn’t tell us anything. If you’ve been fine this whole time, when were you going to tell us where you were?”

  Alyssa had no answer. In most cases, with a reunion like this, there would be the first initial shock, then happiness that the person was alright, and then anger. “Do you know what you put everyone through Alyssa? Do you know how hard it’s been for all of us? We had just lost Tia Marisol, and then to lose you not even a year after. How can you be that selfish?”

  “Ok, let’s calm down, you have no idea what she’s been through and until you know it’s completely unfair for you to just—” Kristen loyalty drove her to Alyssa’s defense immediately.

  “No Kristen,” Alyssa halted, “Carmen has a right to be angry.”

  “Maybe you two should take this in your office.” Doc suggested.

  Alyssa nodded. “Come back here with me Carmen, and I’ll try my best to explain.”

  “I’ll bring you both some tea.” Joanne offered.

  “Thank you Joanne.” Alyssa breathed,leading Carmen to the back. Her cousin took her handdespite the fact she was obviously angryshe wasn’t quite ready to let her go.

  When the door closed all of us on the outside stayed frozen for a bit, in fact no one melted from their positions until my dad came into the building. “Who died?” My dad joked, but his face grew serious when nobody answered. “Oh shit… who died?”

  I could see his eyes doing a nervous head count, so I decided to answer before he panicked too much. Not that it wasn’t a perfectly probable thing when it came to our group, “No one’s dead Dad.”

  “Alyssa’s cousin showed up today.”

  My dad rose an eyebrow, “Oh, how did she find her?”

  “Tink.” Kristen muttered almost bitterly. Tink took a seat next to Jackson, either she didn’t notice Kristen’s displeasure, or she did and chose to ignore it. Either way it just pissed Kristen off more. “Why in the hell did you do that?”

  “It needed to be done.” She answered simply, taking a tea cup that Doc sat in front of her.

  That wasn’t a good enough answer for Kristen. “So you decide to tell this woman where Chance was, giving none of us a warning, including her?”

  “I didn’t tell anyone because I didn’t know how Chance would react if she had a heads up. She could have avoided it, or ran.” She excused.

  Kristen fell onto a chair across from Tink and crossed her legs. “And that makes it ok? If you didn’t know how she would react, the smart thing would have been to not do it at all.”

  “Baby… it’s ok, it’s over now.” Macon tried to soothe, rubbing his hand on her leg but she was too irritated and brushed it away.

  “No it’s not ok, and it’s not over.” She snapped, “Just because you have a ‘profoundly gifted’ IQ doesn’t give you the right to play and interfere with people’s lives Margaux.”

  “Ladies, ladies,” Dario tried to calm, no one had ever really seen the girls go at each other; they were always a united front even when they didn’t all agree.

  Margaux took another sip of her tea and put the cup back on the saucer. “No let her finish it’s obvious she has issues with what I did so she should get them out.”

  “Damn right I have issues! What gives you the right, Tink?” She demanded.

  Tink, for the first time ever, looked older than Kristen, her face serious, “It’s ‘Immeasurable genius’”

  “What?” Kristen scoffed.

  Margaux sighed the continued to explain. “You said that my IQ ranked me as ‘profoundly gifted’, and you’re wrong. An IQ over two hundred is considered ‘immeasurable genius’”

  Kristen ran her hand through her hair, frustrated “Are you trying to tell me that being smart is the reason you feel you can play with—”

  “No Kristen, I did it because it needed to be done. Alyssa is family to me, and that’s what families do, we sometime force the people we love to take the steps they need to make them better, even when they can’t see it themselves.” She snapped.

  Yes, I understood her reasons for staying away in the beginning. Her not being ready to face her family and relive what happened, but look at her, she’s better now. She has friends, a business, people can touch her, and she can sleep through most of her nights without the need of medication and waking up to nightmares.

  She puts them off now, not because she’s broken, but out of fear because so much time has gone by that it seems too broken to be fixed.”

  Kristen sighed insisting, “It’s not up to us to decide when it is the right time for—”

  “So when is the right time Kristen? After sh
e’s married? After Adrian and her are raising a family? After her aunts and uncles die of old age leaving her with no way to fix the gap? No, the longer she lets it linger the worse it is to fix. It’s been five years. She’s ready. Yes it may be hard now, but she will be happier when her family is in her life. She will be better for it.”

  “And if they don’t accept it, don’t understand, and remain angry and unforgiving? That will tear her apart Tink, did you think of that?” Kristen continued.

  All of us just looked back and forth between the girls unsure of whether to butt in or leave them be, their voices weren’t loud enough to carry towards Alyssa’s office, but for some reason that made it a shit load scarier.

  “The fact that they held on to hope the last five years, with no reason to believe in a positive outcome shows how much they love her in itself. They won’t get her back just to lose her again by their own hands this time. I expect some apprehension yes, but nothing worth having comes easy and her happiness is worth having. No one deserves that more than her after everything she’s been through. And heaven forbid the anomaly happens where they won’t forgive her absence, I will just love her twice as hard for each one of them that won’t. Just like I am sure everyone else here will.

  I can live with her giving a hundred percent and still falling short, but I can’t live with her continuing to run from this because she’s afraid of what will happen. Not for their happiness, but for her own. She is worth that effort for herself, after all she gives it to us every day.”

  Jackson kissed Tink’s temple as she took another sip of her tea catching her breath from her tense rant. “It’s ok sweetheart.”

  “No, it’s not ok Jackson.” She demanded putting her cup back on the saucer forcefully. “I am so sick of us not talking about things. She is getting married, and I am pretty sure that everyone here has thought at least once about who would fill up her side on the guest list.”

  She was right, I had thought about it, but since she never mentioned it, I assumed that she didn’t want to talk about it.