"A.J., I've been thinking."
His brother stole a look at Rick, leaning back in his chair, hat over his eyes. A.J. thought over several possible replies, then went with the obvious.
"I'll alert the media."
"Oh, that's original." Rick snorted, tilting his hat back.
"Serious, with Robin due next month, Ian's too nervous for her to be alone with the baby when he's working, so he wanted to know if Laurie and I could stay with them for a little while." He continued.
A.J. knew what was coming; he'd been thinking about it for several weeks. There was no way Rick and he could keep the office running with one or the other of them off indefinitely.
"What would you say to us closing the office for the last two weeks of February, then depending on our clients, either making the business by appointment only or closing it." Rick finished, then sat up, looking at him.
A.J. took a deep breath, then smiled.
"I'd say that would be a good idea, Rick. I've been wondering when you'd bring it up."
A.J. got up then reached over and hugged his older brother, who reciprocated with a pat on the back. "After all," he added, "you wouldn't be good for anything worrying about Robin and Laurie wouldn't be able to sleep and that's not going to happen."
"Thanks, A.J.." Rick finally managed, clearing his throat. He looked around nostalgically at their licenses and pictures, then lingered on the one of him and his wife on their last anniversary.
Her smile. That's what got him every time. She was so happy in that picture, after almost eighteen years together, he still felt like king of the world with her.
"I love that photo of you guys." A.J. was standing next to him, then Rick glanced up to see his brother grinning.
"What? You look like the Cheshire Cat, so I like to see my wife happy."
"You were practically drooling." A. J. chuckled as he ducked Rick's hand aimed at his derriere.
"Okay, okay, I know you love Laurie, but you know," A.J. turned serious. "She'd walk through fire for us, both Temple and Linda worry how much she cares."
"I know that," Rick's eyes misted over for a moment. "Laurie would do anything for us, little brother. Now it's my turn to show her what she means to me. I want to give her the best Valentine's Day ever, she needs to know how much I love her."
"Well, I think she'll know when she hears we shut the office for the two of you to spend time with Robin."
A.J. reached over and squeezed his shoulder.
Rick patted his hand, then nearly fell over as the ringing phone surprised them both.
"Simon and Simon", A.J. answered, then a worried expression came over his face. "Just a minute, Chief."
Rick abruptly had a cold sensation in his stomach, then took the phone from his brother.
"Chief, what is it? Is Laurie all right?"
The calm voice on the other end eased his fear a little. "Yes, Rick, she's just fine. She's had a little scare this afternoon. She had a vision of Robbie in an accident, but I called him and he's okay. I thought it would be best if I brought her home."
"Thanks, Chief." Rick let out a breath. "I'll be right there, would you tell Laurie I'm coming?"
"Of course, son. She'll be glad to have you with her. Be careful and tell A.J. to watch the road for you." Chief Joseph told him, a wry note in his tone.
Saying goodbye, Rick shook his head. "A.J., the Chief told me to be careful and for you to watch the road, he knew you were coming with me."
"Is sis all right?" A.J. worried, as the brothers went down the stairs.
"Yeah, I guess the Chief was with her when she had a premonition about Robbie. He says he got a hold of him and Robbie's fine." Rick explained as they climbed into his truck.
As they approached the ranch, Rick "called" to his wife, "Laurie, sweetheart?"
Relief flooded him as she "answered", "Rick, I'm glad you're coming home, where are you?" He felt the joy in her thoughts, and he heard A.J. chuckle as he smiled and returned "just around the bend, darlin'. Be there in a minute."
"Better then a walkie-talkie, I bet!" his brother teased.
"Yep, and a lot nicer, too." Rick joked, as they pulled into his driveway.
Within moments he was greeting both the Chief and Rudy Wells, then picking Laurie up from the sofa and just holding her.
"Laurie, are you all right?' he asked, then felt her relax against him. A.J. dropped a kiss on her cheek, then went to poke up the fireplace.
"Yes, darling. Thank God the Chief was in his office, I thought I was going to faint when it hit." She told him then hastened to reassure him when he drew a deep breath in horror.
"I didn't, love, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you. I felt dizzy until the Chief helped me sit down, then I saw, oh it was awful." she stopped, putting her face in his chest.
Sitting down on the sofa, Rick held onto Laurie and stroked her hair as Chief Joseph told him, "Light saw Robbie following a speeding car, then the car spun around and headed toward Robbie. Just as she witnessed the two cars crash she came out of the vision."
"Sweetheart, I'm sorry you were frightened." Rick kissed her, then Laurie raised her face to his, then managed a smile. A.J. sat next to her as she told them, "I'm okay now, guys. The Chief called Robbie for me, and warned him in time. The man he was chasing had just robbed a bank, and Robbie listened to the Chief and avoided the crash. He should be here any moment now, he promised to stop by after work."
"That's my girl." Rick looked up at Rudy, who had been watching the two Simons with a concerned eye.
"Rudy, what can we do, I don't want her sick from these visions." The older Simon felt ill himself, what if Laurie had another heart attack?
"As long as she remembers to breathe and not hyperventilate, Missy should be fine, son." Rudy assured Rick, Laurie put her arms around his neck as she told him, "I'll be okay, Rick. Please don't worry. Now that I'm rested, let me start dinner."
"No you don't, sweetheart." Rick wagged his finger at her. "You stay put. I can still cook, you know.
Chief, can you stay? Rudy brought some fish for grilling."
Laughing as she pretended to pout, Chief Joseph nodded. "Yes, thanks Rick. Let me make some fry bread, I'll even show A.J. my secret recipe."
A.J. chuckled. "Well, it was worth driving with Mario Andretti here after all, lead the way, Chief."
As the two men left the room, Rudy leaned down and hugged Laurie as she softly said, "Thank you for looking after me, Rudy. I do feel better now."
"That's all the thanks I need, Missy. You just relax, I'd better call Oscar and let him know you're okay."
Their friend answered, then left the room as she kissed Rick under his ear and whispered, "I love you."
"I love you too, my princess." He kissed her back, then added, "I want to talk to you about something, Angel. But it can wait until after dinner. "
"All right, love. Let me put something warmer on, though. I'm cold." She replied, then giggled as Rick swept her up and carried her to their room. "Your wish is my command." he murmured, then closed the door behind them.
"Yes, Mr. Ferguson, we'll be closed from February 14th through the end of February." Rick heard A.J. speaking politely as he came in the office door.
Putting a fresh cup of coffee in front of his brother, he went to his desk then took a sip of his own drink, only to nearly spit it up as he heard A.J. say tersely" Now just a minute, Mr. Ferguson, we are not in breach of contract, because we never signed a retainer with you."
"Let me talk to him, A.J." Rick mouthed, upset that their largest customer was being so difficult.
His younger brother shook his head, then grew red as he retorted, "No we are not going out of business, we are simply taking a vacation. If you have a problem with this, we'll be happy to recommend another security consultant."
Rick got angry, then said aloud, "Let me explain things to Mr. Ferguson."
Hitting the conference call button, he heard the normally placid CEO say, "Obviously the rumors of your company not doing so well are true, what other reason would you have for endangering our business relationship."
"Simple, Mr. Ferguson." Rick broke in, trying not to swear." My daughter is having her first baby, I want to be there for her when her husband goes back to work. I guess it's a matter of my family coming first this time. If you like, I'll have my brother send you a final invoice and a list of other firms you may choose to work with."
There was a clearing of throats at the other end, then another voice broke in. "Mr. Simon, this is Mr. Andrews, I'm Mr. Ferguson's partner. I apologize if we offended you and your brother. Thank you for the services you have provided to our firm."
Rick took a deep breath as A.J. said in an even tone, "You're welcome, Mr. Andrews. Our final report will be in your hands tomorrow. Goodbye."
As he ended the call, Rick just sat back, a dazed look on his face. "Rumors? What rumors? Who's been spreading stories about us, A.J.?"
"I don't know, but I mean to find out, Rick. What I don't like is Ferguson believing anything like that, he's always been so easy to deal with." A.J. frowned, then a steely glint appeared in his eyes.
"I'm going to call Ron, he's got a few ears out there, he'll let us know if someone's spreading lies about us."
Within a minute A.J. was on the phone with the chief of detectives, then Rick heard him say "What?"
Without asking, Rick once again conferenced his friend in time to hear him trying to calm A.J. down.
"A.J., listen, no one believes it, I'll try to see who came out with that, but that's what one of the officers heard at the city hall meeting."
"Ron, it's Rick, what did you hear?" the older Simon held his breath as an obviously upset Ron Johnson repeated, "One of my lieutenants told me there was a report at City Hall that you guys were going out of business because you're being investigated by the DA for an attempted shakedown."
"Oh, my God, Ron, we've never even gotten so much as a parking ticket." Rick replied, aghast.
"I know, I know. I'm going to call over to the DA myself, this isn't anything you can just ignore. Once I speak with him, we'll know whether or not you should issue a public statement and also find out who's spreading this story." Ron added.
"Thanks, Ron. I had no idea something like this would happen. Just because we wanted to close the office for a couple of weeks." Rick sighed.
Making arrangements to talk later, Rick hung up, then looked at A.J..
"I have a bad feeling about this, someone must want to get back at us pretty bad."
"I don't know, Rick. Maybe it's an isolated incident." A.J. mused as they go ready to leave the office.
As the brothers walked out to the parking lot, A.J. stopped short, then turned white with anger.
"Rick, I think you're right after all." He admitted, pointing at the four slashed tires on his sports car.