Sawyer spent the morning making arrangements to pick up his winnings. The people from the lottery office were excited to meet with him and wanted to splash his name all over the country, but he had other plans. He wanted to collect his winnings, and disappear quietly. Sawyer had also placed calls with several real estate agents looking for property that could accommodate his new lifestyle. He had another task he needed to handle before the circus he was about to walk into.
The parking garage was full, but it was a Monday morning so he expected it. Sawyer found an empty spot on the top floor and pulled in between a newer Mercedes and a pristine vintage '66 Aston Martin. Sawyer shook his head in disgust that the Aston Martin was sitting in the scorching Florida sun.
He took the elevator to the sixth floor and walked the short hallway to Weatherspoon Securities. Pretty little Sally sat behind the central receptionist desk. She was the pretty face that Darnell wanted everyone to see before seeing his gruff hardened mask. She was a skilled typist and her voice was soft and non-threatening on the phone.
Sally had just disconnected with someone when she saw him. She jumped out of her chair and ran to him, wrapping her arms around his neck pulling him down to her shorter level. "Oh Michael, I'm so glad you're alright," she started. "I wish I could have been in town to come see you, but I got back last night."
"Its okay Sally," he said. "How is your mom?"
"She'll be okay," she started with a grin. For her mother's fortieth birthday, Sally had purchased a tandem skydive. The first jump was it, she was hooked. She was like a tweeker who hadn't had her meth fix in a week. The woman was jumping almost every weekend, and on her first solo jump, the wind shifted and she flared too late and broke her leg in the landing. "Never thought she'd actually go through with the first jump, let alone the hours and hours to get a license."
"Why would any sane person jump out of a perfectly good airplane?" He said.
"Weren't you Jump Qualified?" She asked slipping back to her seat. She knew his military record, she was the one that did the background check on him when he was hired, and she had a photographic memory.
"You know darn well I was a Jump Master. But, I was
paid
to jump out of perfectly good aircraft; I never did it for fun." He said leaning over her desk. "That's just plain crazy." Nodding towards the office "the Colonel in," he asked.
"He just walked in five minutes before you did," she said reaching over and touching the intercom. "Colonel, Mr Sawyer is here to see you."
His deep baritone voice erupted from the box, "send that lazy, no good, S. O. B. in here, on the double." Sawyer grinned, hearing the smile in Weatherspoon's voice.
"On my way boss," Sawyer said kissing Sally on the cheek as he passed her desk. Sawyer slipped into the office. Darnell was on his cellular phone nodding and agreeing to whoever was on the other end.
Darnell Weatherspoon was as tall as the trees and just as solid, standing six foot seven inches, and rippling muscles. He had a hard gruff exterior and was as the black as night, thanks to a Haitian grandparent. At a distance, you would be correct to be afraid of him, up close down right terrified. He was an expert in two forms of martial arts, and training in his third discipline. He had taken to MMA like a duck to water, but never went further than local matches to keep him in tune. He spoke three languages, and was skilled in the art of etiquette, that he's able to rub elbows with royalty, and then drop by the block and hang out with the "homies". He had turned himself in Hollywood's wet dream of an action star.
He had a lucrative security firm that handled everything from mall security to diplomat protection to industrial espionage. There were even rumors that he had mercenaries on his payroll. But, none of that mattered to Darnell. He was a devout Southern Baptist, and was dedicated to his wife and five little girls.
Sawyer couldn't help but grin as he couldn't help but eavesdrop on this half of the conversation. He knew exactly who he was talking too. "Yes baby I understand. No baby, you can't have the cheerleading team over, yes I know you want onto the team, but bribery will not work in this case." The large man rubbed his forehead sighing deeply. "We can talk about this later when I get home, no there's no need to talk to your mother, she will agree with me. Yes baby, love you too, bye bye," he said disconnecting the line. Darnell slipped the phone into his pocket and looked at Sawyer, daring him to laugh.
"So boss, the bosses want you to bribe their way onto the team?" Sawyer said grinning. Darnell narrowed his eyes and glared at him. "Which one? Latrice?" She was Darnell's oldest daughter at sixteen, and would put the man in an early grave. "No, I bet it was Claire," Darnell's five year old.
Darnell snorted and he smiled as he dropped into his leather chair. "It was Claire," he confirmed.
"That little one always did have you wrapped around her little finger."
"She will most likely be the death of me," Darnell said. He leaned forward onto the desk, "You look good Gunny, lost some weight, got that gleam back in your eyes, how long have you been sober?" That was Darnell, straight to the point.
"Since getting out of the hospital, and I've had some time to think about things. I'm in a better place. The other night I had some drinks socially, but not to the excess I had in the past. I've been sober since." He said, reaching into his shirt pocket. He withdrew a plain white envelope and slid on the desk. "It's my resignation."
Darnell looked at the envelope as if it were a snake, and Darnell was terrified of snakes and spiders. Sawyer went on; "I recently came into a large amount of money and even though I can never thank you enough for taking in a drunk, I wanted to come in and do this face to face."
