Hector was on the job before noon the next. I sat quietly in my chair waiting for him to dig up some explanation for the change in Stephanie. After about an hour a sly smirk slowly spread across his face.

"Clever girl," Hector chuckled.

"Report" I barked.

"There is a reason you can't find anything in her name. She set up an off shore cooperation by the name of Sugar Plum Enterprises. Apparently, all of her finances are handled by the lawyer in charge. I'm waiting to gather more information. If I can find out what bank it's attached to I can hack into the account and get a list of where any payments are going. That will get you an address. If there are any debit or credit cards issued on the account we can track her spending and where Stephanie shops." Hector explained.

"What about her job, how is she making money?"

"According to the IRS, she is self-employed. Hey Boss, why are you so interested in what's Stephanie up to after all of this time," Hector asked?

"Because Stephanie is living down here in Atlanta. He knew and wasn't planning on telling any of us," Lester announced angrily.

"You know better to come in here without knocking, Santos," I snapped.

"Shut up Carlos! "

"What is your problem, Santos?" I asked evenly.

"My problem is you! Why didn't tell me Stephanie was in Atlanta and that you saw her".

"When did you see her?"

"I ran into Steph yesterday at a cafe."

"Did she talk to you?" I asked?

"Of course, we had dinner together".

"By any chance did you get any contact information on her, like a phone number or an address,"I questioned?

"No, she said that she had just lost her phone. I gave her my number and she told me she would call," Lester told me.

I let out loud frustrated grunt. Hector burst out laughing as he stared at Lester incredulously.

"You bought that Santos? Girls do that all the time when they don't want a man to be callin em." Hector informed Lester.

Santos looked at me for conformation to what Hector had just told him. I nodded.

"Man, why would Beautiful do me like that? It's not like I'm you Ranger."

"How did Stephanie seem, Les? Was she alright" I asked seriously?

"Now why should I give you any information when you have been hiding things from us? Besides, if you know where to find her why don't you just ask her yourself"?

"Cause he doesn't,"Hector chimed in. "That's why I'm here."

"What do you mean? Just do a search on her!" Lester insisted.

"I have."

" And?"

"Nada."

"She has got to live somewhere."

"Vacant Lot."

"Where does she work?"

Both me and Hector remained silent. Hector cut his eyes to me and I shook my head no.

"Somebody's going to tell me what 's going on here! Now you and Hector are keeping secrets about Bomber,!" Lester demanded.

"I think she is trouble, Les. Stephanie is hiding from something or someone. Everyone I have talked to is telling me things about her that seem out of character for Steph. And..."

"Yeah ?"

"She's on the pole. Stephanie is working as a stripper." I said quietly.

The air left his body in a whoosh and Lester grabbed the wall to steady himself. Santos gave me a menacing glare before walking over and taking a swing at me.

"This is your fault man. You did this to her," Lester boomed as he walked out of my office.

"See, he took it better than you thought he would," Hector said.

"Lester has always had a soft spot for Stephanie," I said to Hector.

"Maybe she should have dated him," Hector remarked in a flat tone.

I shot him a deadly glare that would have made most men need a fresh pair of pants.

"Thought you had an appointment," Hector reminded me.

"I do. Keep searching" I said as I walked out of the door.

I was meeting with Marcus today to go over a training program. He had agreed to take a position with the company. Eventually, I was planned to have him fly up to Trenton and shadow Tank for a while so he could get the hang of the job.

When I arrived at the restaurant Marcus was seated at a table with the wall to his back. His chair was strategically placed in a position to see all of the stood to greet me when he saw me enter.

"Good to see you again, Martinez "I said handing him the contract.

Quietly he scanned the document and then looked up at me.

"I m ready to sign on the dotted line , but I committed to working at the strip club. I need to finish out my obligation and train another head bouncer. Is that going to be an issue? I can still train with you during the day." Marcus explained.

"I have no problem with a man who lives up to his commitments."

Martinez signed the contract and handed it back to me.

"So what happened with that dancer," I asked casually? "Did you report her?"

"Oh yeah !"

"Bet she was not happy about that at all."

Martinez let a smile creep though his serious demeanor.

"She's cute when she is mad."

"You gotta thing for her," I accused.

"Nah man, nothing like that. She interesting to watch. Shakes things up. Always good for a laugh. The woman does some crazy things."

"She knows you're laughing at her?"

"Yeah, and it drives her up the wall. "

"So the two of you are just friends," I asked?

"No, the woman gives me nothing but attitude most nights for no reason at all. Like I told you before,she is not real friendly when it comes to men. She puts on a good act when she is on stage or at the bar. But other then that, I don't think you will catch her hanging out with too many dudes. Fort Knox got nothing on the walls that she has built up around herself."

"Enough talk man, lets order," I said to both ordered grill chicken steamed vegetables and water. Both Marcus and myself ate in comfortable silence.

Hector was nowhere to be found when I went looking for him at the office. I dialed his cellphone. His cell phone rang several times before Hector picked up.

"Yeah Boss?"

"Where are you?"

"Me and the guys went out for a beer," Hector answered.

" You're supposed to be searching for information on Stephanie," I barked.

"Calm down man, I found something you might very helpful where your Babe is concerned. I'll bring you up to speed when I get back," Hector said before getting off the phone.