Cowboy Baby Daddy

“Good morning, old man!” Tony said, as he slapped me on the back.

“What’s gotten into you?” I said, shooting him a warning look. “Your wife let you back in the house or something?”

“Better than that, she agreed that we need to have more sex,” he grinned. “Last night was the first of what I hope are many more nights of hot and spicy horizontal mambo sessions!”

“What are you — in high school or something?” I said disgustedly.

“Who pissed in your cornflakes, G?” Tony asked, dropping his voice.

“Fuck you,” I muttered, as I marched into the station and went to store my gear. I knew it wasn’t fair of me to be pissed at Tony, but I also knew that as my best friend, he’d take it better than some of the other guys.

Tony followed me into the locker room and waited silently as I stored my stuff. He sat on the bench across from my locker, playing with a yo-yo. I turned and watched him toss the spinning orb and yank it back on its string a couple of times before I spoke.

“Nina’s missing,” I said flatly.

“Holy shit, G! Why didn’t you call me?” Tony said, as he tucked the yo-yo in his pocket and stood up. “How long she’s been gone?”

“Since last night,” I said. “I went to the Celtics game with Emily, and when I got home, Nina was gone.”

“You sure she’s not at a friend’s house?” he asked, his brow furrowed in concern.

“Yeah, I called every girl she’s friends with,” I said. “None of them know anything about where she is.”

“That’s bullshit,” Tony protested. “Girls always know what other girls are doing!”

“Not this time, my friend,” I shrugged.

“Called the police?” he asked.

“Yeah, they know,” I said. “Put out an Amber Alert this morning on the off chance that she was actually abducted, but there’s not much else they can do.”

“Why did you come in?” Tony asked. “I mean, Chief would have given you the day off.”

“If your daughter was missing, would you want to sit around useless while other people searched?” I asked.

“Good point,” Tony said. “Gonna tell the other guys?”

“I don’t know,” I sighed, as I reached up and rubbed the stubble on my cheek with one hand. “I don’t want anyone thinking I can’t do my job.”

“They won’t think that, man,” Tony said, draping an arm around my shoulder. “They know you better than that.”

“I don’t know where my daughter is, Tony,” I choked out the words. Tony nodded and squeezed my shoulder, but thankfully remained silent as I did my best to swallow my fear.

“They’ll find her, G,” he said quietly. “You just have to trust that they’ll find her.”

“Find who?” Cal asked, as he entered the locker room.

“Shut the hell up, Rookie!” Tony yelled. “No one invited you into the conversation.”

“Jeez, just trying to be friendly,” Cal said, as he pushed his bag into his locker and slammed it shu

t with a bang that reverberated through the tiled room.

“My daughter is missing,” I said plainly.

“Oh man, I’m sorry, Blake,” Cal said.

“What the fuck? I thought you weren’t going to tell anyone!” Tony said, as he dropped his arm and backed away.