The Rescue Mission Saga: Finding Forever

In rural Georgia, on a backcountry road sat Stud Bar; Damon thought he was clever. Matt Donovan rolled his eyes as he unlocked the door and entered into the large room. Other than the eery glow cast over the bar by the three large stain glass windows, the bar was dark. Matt made his way behind the bar. It was long. It extended the entire expanse of the bar. He found the group of light switches under the bar; so he squat down and flipped them all to the on position.

Upon standing, Matt looked out over the bar. He wasn't at all surprised at the sight before him. Like the Mystic Grill, Stud Bar was covered in cherry wood paneling. There were sleek black high tables and high back chairs with thick cherry wood colored cushions. The long bar was cherry wood and the liquor and aged spirits lined the wall behind him on lit shelves in front of an extremely large mirror. The barstools were high back cherry wood with thick black cushions. The lights were bright but cast a comfortable glow over the entire bar.

"The place even feels like Damon," Matt said aloud with a chuckle.

He was there alone; which is exactly what he wanted. He wanted to be able to look at the books alone without any of the employees knowing. So Matt made his way to the back toward the office. The door read PRIVATE MANAGER OFFICE and under that read MATT DONOVAN. Damon had told him that he had had a guy come in and update the door but seeing it was a crazy feeling. He shook it off and unlocked the door. The office was also very Damon. Leather couches, black desk, cushiony leather office chair and a metal tray of Bourbon and glasses. The room was also wood-paneled. Matt cycled through his keys and unlocked the file cabinet and pulled out the books. He sat down at the desk and opened them up. Glancing at the first columns, Matt furrowed his brow.

"These are clearly cooked," Matt said aloud. He went through the books line by line and after a few hours, he came to the conclusion that over the past four years a total of $28,000 dollars has been taken. He powered the computer on and sent an email off to Damon about his findings and Damon hit him back and told him to find out who it is and let him know and he'll handle it.

Matt made a mental note not to get to acquainted with whoever took that money because they're as good as dead.

Matt put the books away and went back out to the bar. The sky had darkened and people started trickling in slowly. A tall guy with shoulder-length blonde hair and green eyes entered first. He just sat down at the bar. He was followed by two women. One was a leggy blonde and the other was mocha-skinned and beautiful. They also took seats at the bar. They were followed by an older couple. He had a balding head and blue eyes and a blonde goatee and she had a head full of spiral curls, dark brown eyes, and chocolate skin. He held her stool out and they were seated.

"Hey; I'm Matt Donovan," Matt said with a smile. "I'm the new manager."

"I'm Joe Denvers," the balding man said, "but everybody calls me Denny. This is my wife Sasha."

"It's nice to meet you both," Matt smiled.

"You too," Sasha said returning his smile.

"I'm Becky Conway and this is Adler Holmes," the leggy blonde said introducing herself and the beautiful girl seated beside her.

"Hey," Matt nodded.

"Hey!" Adler beamed.

"I'm Wes Godlin," the blonde guy said.

"Nice to meet you," Matt said.

"Don's not here yet," Adler said rolling her eyes.

"Who's Don?" Matt questioned.

"Acting manager," Denny answered.

"And grade A a-hole," Becky added.

"Well, I'll deal with him when he gets here," Matt told the group, "let's get ready for this shift." They all nodded and rose from their stools; everyone except Adler. "Can I help you with something?"