As Justina’s car sped off, a strange man stepped out of the shadows and watched her car speed away.
Justina arrived at Jim and Matthew’s office and waved at Joyce and Roger as she parked.
“I’m excited about this presentation,” Joyce said as Justina approached them.
“You’re a wonderful speaker and your ideas are usually right on,” Justina assured Joyce.
Roger smiled at them and teased, “You two act like you’re sisters with the way you encourage each other.”
Joyce shrugged, but laughed, “Well, she has become like a sister to me. I’m closer to her than I ever have been to my own siblings.”
Justina nodded in agreement, “You feel like family to me. Heck, you and Christopher are the closest things I have to any family.”
Roger paused and gently patted Justina’s shoulder, “Justina, you are always welcome in our lives. In fact, you’re welcome to spend the holidays with us this year, if you’d like.”
Joyce shot Roger a frown but said nothing.
Roger then coughed uncomfortably, “Oh, I’m sorry. I forgot you don’t celebrate holidays. I...”
Justina saw the discomfort on both of their faces and felt sorry for them. Though Elizabeth had always made grand attempts to make every holiday festive, specifically Christmas, Justina had not been one to celebrate any holiday.
She could not recall one time in her life where she awakened the next morning after losing a tooth, to find money under her pillow, nor did she ever see anything resembling a giant Easter Bunny hopping around giving away candy, or a big jolly guy running around in a red suit doing good deeds. Besides, Easter and Christmas was supposed to be about Jesus Christ. She had not really bought into all the religious hype, so there really was not any reason for her to participate in holidays, except for the ones, which honored America and the American Veterans.
Justina cleared her throat, laughed and looked at her watch as she gave Roger a sympathetic look. He had really meant well by the gesture. “I know you were just polite. It’s okay, really, now, we have meetings to attend.”
When they reached Kingston and Lawton Law Firm, the receptionist politely greeted them, “Hello, Mr. Lawton, you may go in. They will be with you shortly.”
“Thank you, Jane,” Roger answered as he walked past the desk.
Joyce and Justina followed Roger through the door and to the conference room where Roger proceeded to make himself comfortable. He poured them all some coffee and served them a doughnut from the small kitchenette while Justina explored the conference room.
Justina was impressed with the beautiful decor. The round, wood stained conference table was as long as it was wide, stretching across the office, and displayed on an authentic Persian rug. There were large bronze frames clinging to the colonial gray walls.
The view of downtown Dallas from the large glass window was picturesque. Justina liked the view from Lawton Towers much better than the view of Dallas from her office window.
Soon Caroline, followed by Jim and Matthew, entered the conference room and immediately the women greeted one another.
“I love that dress you’re wearing, Caroline, is that another Caroline original?” Justina asked with a smile.
“Yes, thank you, “Caroline replied as she twirled around to show off her blue and white, flowery bodice dress. The dress cascaded down to her ankles.
Joyce agreed with a nod, “I love the open back, and how the straps cross one another.”
Caroline giggled like a schoolgirl, and then reached up to the straps attached on her shoulder and unsnapped them. She followed through with the motion by unsnapping the back ones and removed the straps from her arms. “The straps are removable, and the dress is reversible!”
Caroline and Joyce laughed as Justina exclaimed, “It is a strapless dress that can be worn two ways how smart and diversified this beautiful dress is. I want one!”
“Me too, but I want mine in a peach color on one side and the other green, oh, and a yellow and white one too.”
Justina chirped in, “I want mine in beige and blue, ooh and one in green and yellow.”
Caroline giggled once more and hugged them. “Thanks, girls, I’ll get them done for you before summer.”
The men stood by watching the women act like schoolgirls and could not help, but laugh. After the women had stopped laughing, Caroline pointed toward the door. “We will have our meeting in my office.”
Justina walked past Matthew as she followed Joyce and Caroline out. Her eyes met his and she swore he could read her thoughts though she could not even begin to read his.
Matthew gently placed his hand on Justina’s arm, “It’s good to see you again, although I’m a bit disappointed I haven’t received a phone call from you.”
“I have wanted to call you, but there’s always excuses why that would be a bad idea.”
“All right, I understand Justina. I just hope you don’t regret one day that you didn’t follow your desires.”
“My desires?” Justina gave him a bewildered look as he flashed his sexy smile at her.
“Me.”
“Oh, you really are confident with yourself, aren’t you?” Justina bit her bottom lip nervously.
Matthew whispered as the others turned toward them, “I am confident you want to see me as much as I want to see you and I’m confident it will happen.” He mustered up his most charming smile at her as she gave him an incredulous look and walked past him.
***
Caroline was happy with the presentation for her new clothing line commercial and did not want them to change any of the things they had planned.
Upon entering Matthew’s office, they found the children there.
Justina picked Sammie up as the little girl said, “I love you, Justina.”
“I love you too, kiddo,” Justina squeezed the little girl tightly.
“You have spoiled my child,” Roger said. He turned to the others. “Every time Justina and Sammie see each other, Justina slips Sammie money. They think they're clever, but they aren’t.”
Everyone laughed, including Justina.
She looked at her watch as she placed Sammie back to her own feet. “I have to get going, I’m meeting Zach and Paula for lunch and then taking them to the airport.”
As Caroline shook Justina’s hands again, she said, “Thanks, again for taking on my clothing company as a client. I hope you have a nice Easter holiday, Justina.”
Justina smiled politely, “Thank you, Caroline and I hope you have a pleasant one as well.”
“Justina isn’t one for celebrating holidays or special occasions,” Roger commented.
Caroline looked at Justina with surprise. “Aren’t you going to spend it with someone?”
Justina shrugged her shoulders. “No, I haven’t made any plans, I have so much work to do, and enough to keep me busy all weekend.”
“Come and spend it with our family.”
“I couldn’t intrude on your family, but I appreciate your invitation.”
Matthew wanted to say something to convince her to come for the weekend, but not wanting to appear pushy, he took a seat without a word.
“I know our folks would enjoy having you there. Easter is one of our family’s biggest holidays and it is always a big affair,” Jim cheerfully echoed Caroline’s invitation.
“Roger is right. I’m not big on celebrating holidays unless it’s one, which honors our soldiers or our country. I’d rather be doing volunteer work downtown or work on company projects, but thank you again for the kind invitation.” She turned slightly toward Matthew and said, “It was nice to see you again, Matthew.”
“Take care,” was all Matthew replied. He watched with uneasiness as she exited his office.
***
“Good morning son. I’m glad you’re up for the family breakfast,” George said heartily.
“I apologize for sleeping late. I hope I didn’t wake anyone when I ca
me in last night,” Matthew replied as he walked down the staircase. He followed his father to the den where they each took a seat.
A sly, devilish grin crossed his face as he recalled the intimate details of his evening spent with Spanish beauty, Jennifer Gomez.
His father shook his head, “Those wild women are going to get you into trouble son.”
George then smiled at Matthew and whispered, “I had my share of wildness too, but keep it between us.”
The two men laughed as Matthew crossed his fingers over his heart, “Scout’s honor, Dad!”
After they had ceased their laughing, Matthew changed the subject, “I looked in on the girls when I came home and they were all sleeping soundly.”
“We stayed up late watching those kids play video games, but when we finally got them into bed, we fell asleep and a tornado couldn’t have stirred us.”
“I’ve never seen cousins get along as well.”
George shook his head as he sorted through his mail, “Yeah, well, those girls have been together since birth; they couldn’t be anything else, but best of friends.”
The door burst open and the girls came running and screaming while being chased by little boys. The girls ran over and stood behind Matthew and George.
The boys stopped close by, and all were laughing. George put his finger to his lips, “Shush, what is all of this fuss about?” He looked at his son and the children. “These kids are the very images of you running around here.”
Matthew saw his father smile and knew he was happy with his life. Matthew realized how lucky he was to be in such a wonderful family.
“We were trying to fish and the girls won’t leave us alone, so we told ‘em that we were gonna dunk ‘em in the pond when we caught ‘em,” Conner blurted. Matthew and George tried not to laugh as George began fussing on the boys, “Now boys were you really going to dunk the girls in the pond?”
“No, Grandpa we really wasn’t gonna do that, but they won’t leave us alone, so we just made sump’um up,” Timothy replied.
“Yeah, that sure got rid of those pestering girls when we told ‘em that, Grandpa,” James blurted out. The other boys shook their heads in agreement as George and Matthew laughed.
George touched Kate and Sammie on the shoulders, “Girls you aren’t going to be dunked in the pond.”
“You children go play a while longer and boys, behave,” Matthew suggested.
“What are you kids up to now?” Brian asked as he walked into the room. “It’s almost time for breakfast and afterwards we’ll go to the lodge for the Easter party.”
All of the kids yelled with excitement at the thought of the big Easter dinner and egg hunt. Every holiday was fun at the lodge for them.
***
Later in the day, the Lawton and Kingston families gathered at the lodge with the guests. The ladies combined all the boiled and decorated eggs together and as tradition dictated, George and Ben hid all the eggs and the great Lawton Lodge and Resort egg hunt commenced.
Matthew and the other men were all standing under a tree and talking amongst themselves. Michael walked away from the group and toward the gazebo.
Jim whispered to Matthew, “Now would be a good time to talk to your brother.”
Matthew followed his brother to the gazebo.
“Hey, there, Mike. What are you doing?”
Michael shrugged his shoulder and held up a cigarette, “Taking a smoke; what’s up, Matthew?”
“Did Sara tell you I called you a couple of days ago?”
“Yes, it was late when I came home from the office and I had to rush back to the office early the next morning,” Michael shifted his feet nervously. “What did you need to talk to me about?”
“I wanted to know if there was any more information on your attacker.” Matthew watched his brother’s smile fade.
“No, they don’t have any leads.”
“I’ll see what I can do next week.”
Michael shook his head and became irate. “I told you to stay out of it Matthew and I meant it.”
Matthew forgot he was supposed to be easing into the conversation slowly and blurted out, “Are you afraid I might discover something dark about you, Mikey? Perhaps drugs or gambling?”
“You’re stupid and wrong in your accusations.”
“You were seen in front of Isabella’s Cafe with Robert, Nick, and Marcus Cabara along with a woman at your side and it wasn’t Sara.” Matthew sat there as Michael thumped out his spent cigarette but lit another.
“I don’t know where you got your information, but it’s a lie, I was in the office until 1:00 am working on paperwork for an upcoming audit.”
Matthew stood and walked over to his younger brother and looked him straight in the eyes. “What did you know about the disappearance of two agents a couple weeks ago?”
I’m warning you, stay out of my business brother.”
“Are you threatening me, Mike?” Matthew stared angrily at Michael. “I can’t believe you’re threatening your own brother.” Matthew watched his brother began to squirm and added, “Their bodies were found in an alley a few blocks from the bus station.”
“I was not threatening you. I am trying to protect you, Matthew.”
Michael blinked and turned away from Matthew as he quietly spoke, his breathing becoming rapid, “You’re my brother and I love you. I don’t want you to get hurt, so please take my advice, and stay out of my business.”
“I love you, too, little brother, and I want to help you. I can get you out of whatever mess you’re in if you will just open up to me. Tell me everything I want to know about the Cabaras and their friends.”
“I don’t need nor want your help, Matthew. I have everything under control; let it go.”
Michael began to walk away, but Matthew took hold of his arm. “Think about what I said, Mikey. I have friends in certain positions that can help you, but you have to meet me half way, man.” Matthew looked into his brother’s eyes and could not see any of his words sinking in, but continued speaking, “You are supposed to be watching out for Sara, your son, and your unborn child. You aren’t doing such a great job little brother, but together we can work this out.”
“I’ll think about what you said, Matthew. Can you promise me you’ll take care of Sara and my children if something does happen to me?”
“I will.”
Matthew watched his little brother walk away from him. Matthew decided he needed to be alone to clear his thoughts before returning.
***
Saturday morning Justina had driven to the orphanage and helped by assisting with breakfast and laundry. She was proud of the fact she had helped several children find homes with some of her clients. Each time she checked on those families, she discovered both parents and children were satisfied. Justina felt as though this was her most important work above all else. It served as a reminder of where she came from and made her appreciate what she had now.
Justina shook her thoughts away as she heard her elevator bell ring. She hoped things would go well with Nick tonight. They could never seem to get a break. She stood and walked out into the foyer and waited for Nick to exit the elevator.
Nick held in his hands a bouquet of roses. He gave her a twisted grin.
“Oh, Nick, they’re so lovely. Thank you,” Justina kissed Nick tenderly on the lips.
“They aren’t as beautiful as you, but I know how much you like them,” Nick pulled her into a full and firm kiss. “I wish we could stay in, but I promised Father I’d be there for Isabella’s cafe’s one year celebration.”
Justina smiled, “I understand. We’ll have a private dinner here soon, okay?” She retrieved her purse and coat from the arm of the sofa.
“Sounds good,” Nick took her by the hand and led her out of the penthouse and toward the elevator.
At dinner, Justina felt out of place at Isabella’s Cafe.
“You look utterly bored this evening,” N
ick grumbled at Justina.
“I’m just tired this evening; I’ve had a long week.”
“I’m a little tired, too, but I was looking forward to seeing you tonight,” Nick slipped a kiss to her as he led her to the dance floor.
After the dance, Justina excused herself, but as she walked down the hallway, she had difficulty in finding the ladies room through all of the reconstruction.
When she decided to choose a door, but she quickly realized she had made a poor choice because she saw a man standing in the corner of the room looking through a desk.
“I’m so sorry. I was looking for the bathroom.”
“It’s all right, miss; not a problem. My name is Charlie and I’m the assistant accountant.”
“I’m Justina Lindsey,” Justina pushed her hand out to Charlie’s hand and shook it.
They were shaking hands when footsteps could be heard coming down the hallway.
He suddenly pulled her close to him while pushing something into her hands as he whispered, “Take this and get the hell out of here. Don’t let anyone know you have this, especially the Cabara clan.”
Justina tried to pull away, but he held her tighter. He pulled her to a door opposite from the one she had entered. “Please, Justina, do this for me. Keep this for a few months, then go to the F.B.I. Office in Dallas, and give it to Fred Cummings. Now go before they catch you here.”
“Are you going to be all right?” Justina asked as fear filled her over his well-being. “Come with me.”
“Don’t worry about me. Go through here and when you leave that room, take a left, it will lead you back to the dining room. Now go, and remember you can’t tell anyone about this or you could be in great danger!” Charlie shoved her through the open door and closed it. He quickly turned to face the men who had just walked into the room.
Justina’s mind swirled, she quickly made her way through some boxes and to the door leading the way out, she stopped and dropped down behind the boxes and sat there, silent. Her heart raced and she was terrified, but something told her to hide and observe what was about to happen to Charlie.
She peeked around a box when she heard loud voices and wrestling occurring in the other room. She peered through the glass window into the office where Charlie now stood with Marcus and Nick. They were pulling Charlie from off the floor. Nick shoved him into a chair sitting in front of Robert. Two men and a woman stood behind them.
Robert glanced over at Nick and Marcus, “Boys, what do you think I should do with this thief?”