AN: Thanks loads to all the wonderful reviews! I hope this next chapter doesn't disappoint you. By the way, y'all really got me tickled when you gave me the "favorite line" reviews g>

Chapter 2 – A Little Fun Along The Way

Anthony Davis was a gentle man who seemed to genuinely care that Jennifer was missing. He readily shared payroll information, work schedules and anything else he could find in Jennifer's personnel file. Samantha knew immediately he had nothing to do with her disappearance and couldn't wait to shove the information down Martin's condescending throat.

When Vivian joined them with another clerk, she asked, "Can you tell me anything about Jennifer's friends? Anyone she was dating, or seemed particularly close to?" The clerk just shrugged her shoulders and answered, "No, but then we worked different shifts, so I only saw her for a few minutes when I was leaving."

Nodding, Vivian continued, "What about her brother…did he come by the store much?" Mr. Davis was surprised. "I didn't know she had a brother. But, there was that one guy who hung around quite a bit. He might be someone to talk to. I think his name was Willie. I don't know what a nice girl like Jennifer saw in the likes of him. He seemed like a trouble maker to me, and always had one or two other punk-types with him."

Vivian asked, "Do you know where we could find this Willie fella, or maybe have a last name?" Anthony shook his head, "No. Sorry. I only heard them call him Willie, but they might have hung out around the Empire Records store down by the airport. I heard them talk about it a lot."

Thanking Mr. Davis, Viv and Samantha turned to see Jack walking towards them.

"Anything worthwhile?" he asked. "I got nothing from her apartment."

Viv shook her head, "Not a lot, but we need to find this guy named Willie who seemed to hang around her. Mr. Davis said we might look into a record store out by the airport."

-xxx-

As they rode out to find the record store, Samantha sat in the front seat as Jack drove. She was sitting turned halfway around facing Viv in the backseat as she flipped open her phone and said, "I'll see if Danny was able to find her brother. Judging from the pictures in her apartment, I think he is close to Jennifer."

Jack nodded. "Okay. Tell him where we're headed too. Oh yeah, and see if Martin found anything interesting in the phone records."

Samantha involuntarily wrinkled her nose at Jack's request, causing Vivian to burst into laughter."Oh Jack. I don't know who's going to dislike that conversation more….Samantha or Martin! Maybe I should make that call."

Jack was now chuckling with Vivian and couldn't help but steal a glance at Samantha, who wore a rather indignant look on her face. "You think you can talk to him without chewing his butt?"

Samantha turned red from a combination of embarrassment and anger. She didn't like being the point of laughter, but she knew they were just teasing. Tossing her hair back, she jut out her chin and said in her best cheesy voice, "Yes Jack. I promise to work and play well with others."

Flipping her phone open, she hit the office number and waited. "Hmmm. I can't get a signal. We must be too close to the airport. Lucky for someone."

Stopped in traffic, Jack watched her with pure amusement. When he caught her eyes, his grin turned to a soft smile. His stomach flipped. God she's beautiful.

She returned his gaze and felt like she was the head cheerleader in high school with the captain of the football team. Am I still wild about this guy?

When they found the record store, no one was overly impressed. The building was run down and filthy. Five young males loitered outside dressed in stereotypical gang fashion. They eyed the black sedan cautiously and slowly started gathering into a bunch.

Samantha rolled her eyes, "This ought to be interesting."

Vivian laughed, "Oh bless their little hearts. They actually think they are filled with testosterone."

Jack chuckled, "All right ladies. Be nice. Remember you represent the US government. No hitting the boys unless necessary. Put your game face on and let's go see what they know about Willie."

Sauntering up, Jack flipped his badge. "Special Agent Malone. How are you fellas doing today?" Three of them ignored Jack completely and moved around him, close to Samantha and Vivian. The muscles in Jack's jaw tensed immediately when one got way too close and looked Samantha up and down.

Reminding himself she was a trained agent and knew perfectly well how to handle herself, he continued coolly, "This is Special Agent Johnson and Special Agent Spade."

The one closest to Samantha sneered, "Yo suit. You travelin' with a fine lookin' posse." The others chimed in with their best bravado efforts.

Get back you little snot-nosed punk. She's not just another agent. She's Samantha.

The one closest to Samantha kept pushing his luck and was reaching up to touch her hair as he said, "Yo suit. I'm down wit da 'special' part of dis one."

It took all of Jack's control to stay put.

With cat-like quickness, Samantha caught the boy's hand and spun him around, twisting his arm up to the middle of his back. At the same time, she kicked his feet wide apart causing him to loose his balance.

She leaned toward his ear and with an icy cold tone hissed, "Do not EVER think you can touch me or ANY of my colleagues. Got that tough boy!" She punctuated her message by twisting his arm tighter and pushing it further up his back as she spoke.

The young man yelped in pain. "Get her off of me, man! Ouch! Damn! You're gonna break my fuckin arm!"

Jack now used all his control to keep from smiling proudly.

He continued, "Any of you gentlemen happen to be Willie, or know where we can visit with him for a while?"

The older one in the group perked up. "I'm Big X and …Willie. Nah man. You won't find that crazy fool round here. We don't mess with his type of game, but I bet the local boys in blue got his mug on file."

Vivian chimed in, "And what type of game would that be?"

Big X hesitated.

Viv continued, "Look we don't care what you have going on here for 'recreation', but this girl has gone missing and we hear Willie might know where we could find her." Handing a photo to the young man, she waited.

Big X studied the picture of Jennifer and said, "Yeah. I seen her a time or two wit him. She don't seem like the type…if ya know what I mean. Rumor has it he deals in pieces and got a couple a old warehouses to deal and hang. He ain't never been tagged fo da big stuff though. But I'm tellin' ya, if dis girl know what he got goin' down, you gonna find her floatin' down the Hudson."

Jack nodded and handed over a few of his business cards. "Do me a favor will you Big X, and give me a call if you or any of the guys hear anything on this girl. Thanks for your help."

Big X stuffed one card in his pocket tossing the rest on a windowsill. "Give you some free advice suit. Willie find out you messin' wit his game, it won't matter what it say on yo card. He'll take you out without thinkin' twice."

As they drove off,the group of males continued to mill about. No one noticed one of the boys casually pocketing one of the business cards and quietly scampering down the street. He was the same young man who took a quick picture of Jack on his cell phone.

tbc