Quitting

Con grits his teeth as another file is done without finding who he wanted. Flipping open another one, he suddenly stops. There he was. Con’s eyes widen. He had no doubt. This was the man that had bumped into him at the auto shop. 5’10, dark hair, dark eyes…and yes, he had that scar on his chin.

He pulls out the sheet with detailed information. Dirk Jones. Two DUIs, three petty thefts, one disturbing the peace, apparently he’d ended up in jail for a few years for attacking an officer as well. Typical low-down trash.

Con snatches up the papers and gets up from the table, wasting no time in getting to his office where he sits down, turning on his computer. As he waits impatiently for it to start up, he studies the picture more, the anger beginning to intensify. This was the only lead he had.

Finally he’s able to open up the TJY database and begins searching for Dirk Jones. Finding him, he browses the record, his eyes landing on current information. 378 Thorn St. He lived in town. Con knew the area. It was the slum part of town on the other side.

Without even turning the computer off, Con gets up and marches down the hall, heading for the floor, then the exit.

“Con! Where are you going?”

Con spins around to see Reese. “I found him, and I’m going to go have a friendly little chat with him.”

Reese raises his eyebrows, seeing the fire in Con’s eyes. “Friendly little chat I think not. You’re staying here until the others get back, and they will handle this.”

“I’m not waiting. Jamie is being held by the Agency and they’ll kill her without warning at any time, if she isn’t dead already. I’m going.”

“No you’re not.” Reese raises his voice. “You’re staying here and that is a direct order.”

Con glares at his boss, receiving the order with irritation. Reese was keeping him from finding the one precious thing in his life, and he would not be stopped. “Well then…I guess I won’t take orders from you anymore.” Con reaches onto his belt and takes off the gun that was issued to him through TJY, tossing it onto a table. He pulls his ID badge out of his back pocket and flicks it onto the floor. “There’s your protocol. Any of your men get in my way, they’re on their own.” He spins on his heel and stalks for the door.

“Con!” Reese looks after him in shock. One of his best men had just quit. How could this be happening? “Con, don’t do this!”

Con pays no attention, not even slowing his stride. Out in the parking lot, he’s in his car and reaching under the seat to pull out his own handgun, making sure its loaded, and tucking it into his holster. Payback time.


Wyatt lets out a low whistle as he sees the mess in Jamie’s house. “They did a right good job on this, I’ll say.” He reaches down to right a chair. “This is a mess.” His eyes peruse the office, looking for anything odd in within the tangled heap of furniture, paper and other various articles. He glances to Nate. “Well…I guess we dig in.”


Jason looks back and forth between Herb and Mabel. He didn’t know them as well as Con did, but they’d always been a bright spot whenever Jason had come here. Always warm and friendly, making everyone smile. If anyone didn’t deserve to receive this kind of news, it was them.

He sighs deeply, not even sure how to start. But they had to know…otherwise they would find out on their own about Jamie and would probably call the police – something that couldn’t happen unless they put TJY in jeopardy.

“Herb…Mabel…I’ve got some bad news for you.” Jason grits his teeth, trying to find the courage he needed. “I just came from TJY on orders to inform you. Jamie is missing. Her house was apparently broken into last night, and we think we know who did it. Right now we don’t have any leads, but we’re doing all in our power to find her and bring her home.”

Jason searches the two faces, watching as the shock hits. “I’m sorry. We’re doing all we can. If you’ve seen anything suspicious at all recently, please tell me because anything to point us in the right direction will lead us to Jamie faster. And you both know…time is important.”


“Yo, it’s me.” Carson opens the door, slipping inside before shutting and locking it again. He looks to the two other thugs and nods. “Got sent over here to see how things were going.” A crooked grin creases his lips with sadistic amusement. “And I thought I might get a glimpse of the jewel that was stolen. Heard she was a pretty little thing. I bet that Con guy is hopping mad – Les said he caught ‘em making out a couple times. Medridge knew what he was doing with this one. Not only do we get to play with the torture, but we might just get some answers too.”