Jade (Rare Gems Series) (8 page)

Jade looked at Quentin when he didn’t deny loving her. When he kissed her hand
, she expected him to say something glib. But all he did was stare into her eyes.

“We will own the house by tomorrow morning.
There are some papers you have to sign but other than that, we can start moving in tomorrow. I don’t have a great deal of stuff. How about you?” She shook her head, not sure if she was answering him or trying to clear the cobwebs from her brain. This was too surreal.

“
I think we should find a place to talk.” Sloan sat Angie down as he spoke. “I have some files, too, that I’d like to go over with you, as well as some information on Roger that you might find useful.”

“I need to
talk to you about that, too. I think he’s on the run.” Quentin buckled Angie in the car that he’d rented for them for the day. “He’s been shot, too. Silver. Thanks for that bit of information.”

“You shot your brother with silver?”
He told her a cop did. “Whoa, you had your brother shot? What the hell for? Because he is bonking Debra? Are you still in love with her?”

Quentin kissed her nose before explaining to her.
“No to all that. I didn’t have him shot. He was shot fleeing the scene of the crime. He’s stealing my money by skimming the books. The cop who shot him is a were, too, I only just found out. Did you know that you have about fifty percent of your police force as weres? Never mind. Anyway, as for him bonking Debra? Christ, I’m glad it’s him and not me. I’m having enough fun just trying to keep up with you.” She flushed and heard Sloan laugh and change it to a sudden coughing fit.

“I was just asking.”
He kissed her again, and she blushed more. There was something about this man that had her all twisted up in one moment and made her a bowl of Jell-o the next.

The trip to the pack house was made mostly with Angie talking about school and that she had to be registered soon.
Jade was thinking about how she’d been in her first grade and smiled. The little girl was going to be a big hit with the teachers. Jade wondered where she was going when she thought of the man who she’d killed.

“She wanted to go to the school that Emerald was teaching at. I guess she doesn’t want to do that now.”
Quentin glanced at her, then back at the road as she continued. “Emerald said that two of the other kids dropped out because of what had happened.”

“She wants to go there.
I didn’t even try to talk her out of it.” Jade looked at Quentin as he continued in a low voice. “Any school that she might want to go to will have something that will scare her. But she likes Emerald and she had a very good time that day despite what had gone down. She said that she needs to go there to protect the others.”

“She would too.”
Quentin asked her if she’d see if Emerald had any room in her class for Angie. “I’m pretty sure she’d make room even if she had to put her at her own desk. Angie was a big hit there.”

As they pulled
into the drive at the house, she saw her other sisters just getting out of a big car. Jade knew that Opal was out of town at a wholesale market, but it looked like everyone else was there, including Diamond and Thad. She’d not seen her sister since she and Thad had returned from their honeymoon.

Dinner was loud and fun. Each of them had welcomed Sloan with open arms as they had welcomed first Thad
, then Quentin. Jade was fixing a plate for Angie when Sloan sat down beside her.

“They don’t know
, do they?” She didn’t bother looking at him or even asking him what he meant. “You might have told your family that Kent was a vamp, but not that he abused you nearly every day when you were together, did you? Why?”

She wanted to tell him that
it was none of their business, but that wasn’t true either. The real truth was she’d thought she was in love with Kent and that he was her mate. But that had been another part of his abuse, giving her that thought then taking it away when he’d found what he needed. And then when he’d started hurting her, she’d been too embarrassed to tell anyone.

“Because he hurt more than my body.
He hurt my pride and my heart.” She looked at him then. “I’m going to make him pay if it’s the last thing I do.”

“Good for you. Now let me tell you what I have on the bastard.”
Sloan, Blair, Quentin, and Jade all retired to the office after dinner. Several hours later, they still had no working plan, but they did have an agreement. Kent Ballard was going to find out he’d fucked with the wrong girl.

Chapter
8

Roger woke to the sound of a vacuum running. He tried pulling a pillow over his head, but the noise just wouldn’t go away. Finally he rolled to his back with the intent to get up and tear the person apart, and felt the wound in his chest tear open and pain radiate throughout his body.

He lay there as still as he could until the pain either killed him or receded.
Roger opened his eyes when he smelled someone come into the room. It was his father. The low growl spilled from his lips and his father stopped moving.

“I got you a pain pill and something to eat.”
Moving a little more into the room, his father set the tray he had in his hands on the dresser next to where he lay. “I brought you some in earlier, but you were still out. I got you a cleaning crew here wiping the place down. Sort of dusty.”

“I like it that way.”
The scent of female hit his nose, and Roger felt his cock stretch. She wasn’t his but she’d do. But if he was honest with himself, he wasn’t sure what he could do once he got her beneath him. “How long have I been here?”

“Three days.
I got most of the silver out, but there’s a bit more in there. That bullet tore the hell up when it hit your ribs. I might be able to get it out if I had something to hold you down with, but I’m not going to try it again now.” His father turned his head to show the huge bruise that was on his face. “You got me pretty good there once and I damn near let the silver take you, but I’m figuring you have a plan and we might be able to profit off it. This about your brother?”

“Why are you here? And how did you find me?”
There was no way that Roger was going to discuss money and his brother with this man. First of all, his father and brother hated each other with a hard passion; and secondly, whatever profit that Roger made was going to be his, not a split with the man who sired them both.

“I went to see that man your brother hung out with, Galloway
, and they told me he moved up here about three months ago. I figured if he moved here, your brother can’t be far behind. Then I went to see that woman.” Roger stilled in reaching for the tray of food when he mentioned a woman. “You remember her, Debra Winters. Heard tell he was sniffing around her.”

The tray went flying as Roger leapt at his dad.
He wasn’t sure if his intent was to kill him or not, but he did hold him against the wall for several minutes until his wolf calmed down. The word “mine” kept pounding in his head, but he doubted his father would understand. When he did finally drop him to the floor, Roger sat back down on the bed and took several deep, slow breaths to keep his animal from getting the better of him. Roger wasn’t sure if his dad was aware of his change or not.

“You better get control of that thing or he’ll get your ass into trouble.”
Roger nodded, guessing at some point someone had told him. “I got you some more broth. Didn’t know that girl was something to you.”

After his father left him
, Roger staggered to the bathroom to clean up. There was still blood seeping from his wound and he was weak from it. More than likely from the silver that wasn’t removed. Turning on the shower, he reached for Debra just to see where she was. He touched her mind while laughing.

“You
have some money burning a hole in your pocket?”
She growled at him, and he laughed harder.
“What the hell are you shopping for negligees for? You coming here to model them for me?”

“No, your brother and that other woman, the wolf
, are hooked up. Did you know that? They bought a fucking house together.”
Roger let the soap he had in his hand slip from his fingers when he heard what she said.
“Not to mention there’s a warrant out for your arrest. What the fuck were you doing skimming money from him? Did it ever occur to you that you’d fucking ruin everything for us?”

“Quentin is
n’t seeing the girl. She’s his mate?”
His blood ran colder as he thought of the implications of what his brother might be doing now, especially with a mate that was already a wolf and was related to the alpha. He’d never be able to go back and get what he felt was his.

“How the hell should I
know? They have a house near the pack place, or whatever it is you called it, and they have enrolled that brat in the school. Fucking bastards are going to ruin everything for us, aren’t they?”
They already had, but he didn’t say anything to Debra as she continued to rant. “
Then there’s the whole thing with that green house. That fucker is making so much money now…hell, Roger, I went there to talk to that bitch and there was a line out the door of people paying. And all of them so happy about it that I wanted to fucking puke.”

“Happy? About what?”
He finished with his shower and was drying off when she answered him. How the hell had he managed to get that much inventory? Then he remembered that he’d doubled the orders, thinking to have some fun at his brother’s expense. Well, that backfired on him, too.

“I need you to come to my place. Bring a van if you have one. I have to get out of here
. And there are some things we need to collect, too. Fucking bastard is going to pay for this.”
He went into the bedroom naked to see the woman who’d apparently been making his bed turn and stare at him. He stroked his cock but didn’t touch her.
“Debra, when you get here, I’m going to fuck you hard, baby. I need to bury my cock in you so deep you’ll feel me every time you swallow.”

She moaned
, and he reached for the girl. There was no reason he couldn’t have a little fun before she got there. And Roger was always up for some fun.

“Suck me.” She nodded and dropped to her knees in front of him. When his father came
into the doorway, he stared at Roger for several seconds before moving away, but not before pulling the door closed. As soon as the woman closed her mouth over his cock, he rocked hard into her. Christ, he needed this more than he’d thought. Fucking her mouth and thinking of how he was going to kill Quentin had him coming hard after only a few minutes. When she cupped his balls, he moaned.

“You want some of this?” She nodded
, her eyes glassy with need. “Lean over the bed and I’ll fuck you. But you say a word, one word….” Roger pulled her head up to his mouth and licked the pounding pulse. “…one word and I’ll tear your throat out and leave you here for the rats.”

“Please.”
Roger tossed her on the bed and he was slamming his cock into her pussy even as she bounced. He’d only meant to fuck her until he came again, but when she wrapped her legs around his hips, he knew that he had to have more. She whimpered when he licked a path from her throat to her nipple. Then he bit down just hard enough to break the skin. Blood filled his mouth, and he sucked harder. Lifting his head, he looked down at her and smiled.

“You’re going to get more than you bargained for
, I think.” She nodded. “It’s really too bad that you picked today to clean here. I can’t leave you around as a witness.”

He was pounding into her when she started to fight him. It was too late for her
, and he was pretty sure she knew it. By the time he was throwing back his head coming deep inside of her, she was already as close to death as it came. Roger tore out her throat as the last of his cum shot from him, and he licked the blood up almost as fast as it poured from her throat. Sated and feeling better than he had in a while, Roger went back to the shower to clean up again. He was dressing when someone knocked on the door.

His dad opened the door when he bid him entrance.
He looked at the bed, then at him. There was something there in his eyes, but Roger wasn’t sure what it was. At first he’d thought it was horror, but then he thought he saw a gleam in his eyes. Could it be that his dad was a sadist, too?

“Good thing I got that whore with a stolen
credit card or you’d be cleaning this mess up.” Roger nodded, not sure what to say at this point. “Come on. Her car is still here and we can use it until something better comes along. Oh, and I already took her money. No cards, but that might be pushing it a bit.”

They were in the car driving toward the mall where Debra was when he thought of his
brother. There was going to be hell to pay on his end, and Roger could not wait to make him pay up.

“Quentin has taken on a mate.
A very wealthy and very powerful mate. The alpha’s family as a matter of fact.” His dad nodded. “I might be able to dodge them for a little while, but Quentin has my scent all over his business and they’ll be able to track me. I have to lay low for a while.”

“I got just the place. I’ve been holed up there for a few weeks. There’s power and
water, but nothing fancy. Got me a bed, too, but we can work out getting something more. The entire building is empty of people but filled to the top with shit that nobody’s been using for a while.” Roger nodded. “And so you know, that girl you just killed, she’s with some service. They’ll be looking for her sooner or later. The house in your name?”

“No.”
Roger laughed. “I put it in Debra’s. Boy, she’s going to be pissed when they come knocking on her door.” He was still laughing when they got to the abandoned apartment complex. His dad told him he’d show him around then go out for some food.

“Most of the lower windows are knocked out
, but I’ve got me a nice place on the upper floor. Kitchen and fridge. Not sure why the power is still running here, but there you have it.” As they entered, his dad continued telling him about what else he’d discovered. “It was slated to be torn down about six years ago, but for some reason it’s still here. Budgets, I guess.”

The elevator even worked
, and they rode it up in relative ease. When it came to a smooth stop at the upper floor, Roger got out. The place was…nice, he guessed. His dad had done a good job cleaning the place up.

“I had to sneak in a few things that I took.
Like the sweeper. It was something I needed, so I took it. Same with the plates and stuff. Microwave was a little harder to come by, but I was able to get it fairly easy.” He smiled at him as if he’d just won the lottery. “People hanging out their laundry gave me my linens and stuff.”

The apartment that he was led to wasn’t locked
, and his dad explained that the keys had been taken. “I’ve got this one here and you can have the one across from me. I cleaned it up, but it doesn’t have the right things yet. We’ll work on getting you that as we go. Also, there isn’t a phone here. I don’t have much use for one anyway, but I pick me up one here and there if I need it.”

Roger went to the couch as soon as his dad uncovered it. It was ugly in a cheap apartment sort of way
, but it wasn’t too bad. He laid his head back and closed his eyes. This was something he could get used to, he supposed. When he heard his dad talking, he looked at him and realized he was calling someone. He was telling them about the car that had been abandoned with the key in it and told them to have at it. Nice way to get rid of the evidence, Roger thought. He wondered if he’d ever have any energy again. Closing his eyes, Roger let sleep take him.

~~~

“When?” Quentin sat down at his desk and wondered how the hell this had happened. His father was out of prison. “You said he’d been released. When and how the hell does something like this happen without someone telling me?”

“He was released a month ago. And we’re still trying to figure out how it happened.
There was a mix-up with his name and—”

“No fucking shit there was a mix
-up. He was supposed to serve two life sentences then serve twenty for grand theft and all the things he did to me. What the fuck are you doing down there? Do you have shit for brains?” Jade put out her hand and he slammed the phone into it. This was beyond stupid. And now who knew where his father was and what the fuck he was doing? He listened to Jade speak to the man from the prison.

“Yes, I understand
, but he’s under a little stress right now. I said I understand, but that in no way makes what happened less incredibly stupid.” She sat down and picked up a pen. “Give me your name. Because when we take the state of Texas to court when your mistake kills someone else, then we’ll have a list of the idiots that let him go. So, you refuse to give me that information. No problem. I’ll send my sister down there to speak to you. You’ll wish to Christ you had done it then. In fact you’ll be beg…what’s that? Oh yes, that would be very helpful. I’ll give you an email address to send it to.”

He watched her
recite her email address to him and hang up. “What did you just get from him? I’m assuming the threat of your sister coming down there scared him just a little.”

“Yes, he knows Sapphire apparently. She called him earlier today when I let her know what was going on. I think he’s afraid of her.
I would be too, if I had to tangle with her as a human.” She stood up and went to his side of the desk and sat on his lap. “He’s going to send me the names of all the people who worked there and their department. I’m not sure that’s legal or anything, but we’ll have it. I’m thinking we can look it over and pick out a couple of names and see what they might know. Someone let your dad out.”

“Daddy?” The
y both looked at the doorway when Angie stepped in. When Jade tried to stand up, he held her on his lap. She was much too comfortable where she was anyway and stayed put for him.