Author's Note: 'West Columbia' refers to the new home of Marcus Williams, in Chicago.

The following morning
Saturday
West Ridge

When Josh found out, he flipped.

I was with Mindy downstairs, watching her do her morning exercises. I would have normally joined in, but I was still very sore from the attack last night. I had not told Josh about the attack, as I knew that he might do something stupid.

As it turned out, I was right!

"Morning, girls! How..." Josh broke off when he saw my face. "Did Mindy...?"

"No she fucking well did not!" I said quickly, then more slowly. "It was that Juno!"

Josh just seemed to freeze, then I saw anger building in his face.

"I'm gonna fucking kill her!"

"Don't be stupid, Josh," I cautioned and saw Mindy pause to watch the proceedings.

"I mean it, it's not just an idle threat – she's going to die!"

"Shut the fuck up Joshua; you're talking shit!" Mindy cut in.

"She is going to pay for what she did to Chloe, nobody does that to my girl and survives; not when I have the power to do something about it!" Josh retorted, glaring at Mindy.

I didn't mind being referred to as 'his girl', but the rest was just bullshit, although I liked the sentiment!

"Josh!" I warned, seeing Mindy's expression change.

"I'm going to do it and nobody is going to stop me!"

It was too late; I saw Mindy's eyes flash and then seconds later Josh was on his front and pinned to the mat. Mindy held his head down with her left arm.

"Now you listen to me, you little fuck, and you'd better listen good!" Mindy hissed. "Marcus gave you a second chance, he sees you as a son; how do you think he'd feel having to arrest your sorry ass?"

Josh never said a word.

"I gave you a second chance! Don't fuck things up, Joshua; 'cause if you do, you're back out on the streets again and last time I saw, you weren't doing so good!" Mindy finished.

Mindy released Josh and headed towards the stairs, passing me as she went.

"Sort your fucking boyfriend out!"

..._...

I was fuming.

Josh was gonna throw everything away and I knew that Chloe would not thank him for it! I was sitting in the living room when Josh edged into the room, cautiously and sat on the opposite couch.

I almost grinned at his attempts to give me a wide berth, but instead I glared at him.

"Mindy... I'm sorry, I was being really stupid and I didn't think..." Josh started.

"It's okay Joshua; we all make mistakes from time to time; I've made quite a few! I didn't mean to hurt you, or yell at you, but I wasn't about to let you throw your life away and Chloe wouldn't have thanked you for doing that, either!" I said.

"I know, I was just mad - when I saw the bruises..."

"That was why Chloe never told you about the attack last night."

"She's a very shrewd girl!" Josh commented.

"You killed Joshua yet?" Chloe asked, sitting down next to Josh and putting her arm around him.

"Thought about it, but the floor's clean and blood is such a cunt to get out of stuff!"

A week later
Saturday

Marcus moved into his new house today.

It was just down the street from our house and was also very similar to our property, but slightly smaller. Marcus had packed up his house, in New York and had had everything shipped to Chicago. It had all arrived on Thursday and we had all helped him to get things sorted out.

More disturbingly, I think Paige and Megan are moving in with him! Now, I don't have a problem with that and the house would be a much better environment for Megan, than the apartment; the house actually had a garden, kind of.

West Columbia

"What is that for?" I growled, casting a wary eye over the jar on the kitchen side.

"It's for me!" Megan said, scowling.

"Well, you do kinda need it!" I admitted, with an evil smirk. "I like the pink, too!"

"You can fucking talk, bitch!" Megan exclaimed, angrily.

"For fuck's sake, Megan!" I admonished her.

"Mindy, it's a dollar each time... For Megan... But five bucks for you!" Marcus said, with a grin.

"What!" I exclaimed.

"You are old enough to know better, my girl!" Marcus admonished.

I just glared at Marcus.

"I had to install a swear jar at D-JAK; it got full rather quickly! One afternoon, Mindy was so annoyed that she just stuck a twenty dollar bill in the jar and went through to the back and turned the air blue!" Paige admitted with a chuckle.

"You know, I can actually believe that!" Marcus said laughing.

Megan and I both scowled.

That evening

Mindy and I were sitting down with Marcus and Paige, at Marcus' new house. Megan was 'busy' upstairs.

"Marcus, err, with Mindy's permission, could you tell me about Damon... I mean, before Mindy came along and also before Frank D'Amico came along..." I asked.

Marcus looked and Mindy, looked apprehensive, but curious, and she nodded.

"I'd like to hear this too," Mindy admitted.

"No problem. I also know that Mindy would never ask about what life was like before things went to shit..." Marcus said.

I was surprised. Apparently Mindy had never asked about her Dad's life before everything fell apart.

"Damon was kind and caring... You look surprised Dave!"

"Sorry! Three words that I normally don't hear in the same sentence: Damon, kind and caring!" I commented dryly.

Mindy glared, but then her expression softened.

"He always cared for me and was always kind, but I wish I could have known him before..." Mindy said and I could see tears in her eyes and she cuddled into me.

Marcus continued.

"Damon was the best partner that a man could have. He taught me everything that I needed to know to stay safe on the streets of New York. Damon had the respect of Cops, civilians and criminals alike. In return, he treated everybody with respect. He was one hell of a ladies man, too! Everybody was jealous of him and if he was at the same bar or party as you, you always knew that he would get the hottest woman there!"

Mindy was starting to look a little uncomfortable and Marcus had noticed.

"Okay, Mindy! I'll keep your Dad's sexual exploits to a minimum!" Marcus grinned.

"At one party, as usual, he attracted the attention of the hottest woman there, in fact it was me that introduced them! They got on like a house on fire and started going out a couple of weeks later. Once or twice I had to pick Damon up from her apartment on the way to a morning shift! Damon loved Kathleen like none other and the feeling was mutual. We all knew that Kathleen was off limits to the rest of us!"

At that point I realised that we were talking about Mindy's mother.

"Their wedding was fabulous and Damon was the happiest man alive. The only time that I ever saw him happier, was the day that he walked into the squad room and declared to everybody that Kathleen was pregnant - with you Mindy..."

Mindy was gripping me tightly now and staring at Marcus, absorbing everything that he said.

"... It was only a few months later that Frank D'Amico started his shit and then came the bullshit arrest and show trial. There was almost a fucking riot at the station, when the result was known. Not a single Cop believed the charge, not a one! Unfortunately D'Amico's pockets were deep and he had blackmailed or paid off anybody and everybody to get the conviction to stick and then he recruited that other bastard, Gigante!"

"The respect that the criminals and Damon had had between them, helped keep him alive for those five long years in prison. Many of the criminals actually supported Damon and some must have helped train him and give him the extra skills that he needed for when he was released. When he came out, he was a changed man; he was the Damon that you knew, Dave. I never saw Mindy again, after handing her over to Damon. The two of them just vanished, completely. I missed both of you, Mindy, so badly it hurt. I missed the little girl that I had brought up and I missed my partner, the best man that I had ever known..."