Joseph: Bentley Legacy (2 page)

“I know, love. And it’s not just because of you that I haven’t been out there, it’s everything. I worry about you and the girls. I hate leaving you alone.” She snorted. “Okay, so you’re here with everyone else, but I still worry.”

“Just go. He needs you as much as I need you out of the house. Please? Besides, I’m going to the diner today. It’s the grand-reopening next week, and I want to make sure that everyone is ready.” Micah didn’t point out that everyone was ready now, but nodded. “I’m nervous no one will show up, and what will those people do?”

“I doubt very much that no one will show. You’ve been badgering people for two weeks now about the opening and— Ouch! That hurt.” She started to pinch him again, and he backed up. “Stop that. What are you trying to do, bruise my poor old body?”

“I have not badgered a single person. And I’ll have you know that Jimmy is nervous too. The poor man called here twice yesterday because he couldn’t remember something. He forgot how to turn on the grill, and then he called to ask me where the pancake recipe was. I tell you, he’s going to have a stroke, and then where will I be?”

“You’d be right there cooking for him until he was better.” He grabbed her hands when she reached for him again. “If you behave and let me leave here without another bruise, I’ll go now. Joey is nervous too, and it’s doubtful that you can take over for him. Plus, he has a big court thing going on tomorrow.”

“I know he is nervous. He called here last night and talked to your grandda. I think he’s headed out there as well. I understand that the barn shell is up, as well as they’re starting on the inside of the house.” Micah nodded. It was going to be a beautiful house. “And the horses, have they arrived yet?”

“Not yet. He would like for you to come out when he gets them.” Reggie said she’d think about it. Micah knew that she was still hurting from what had happened at the property. She’d killed two men bent on killing her and his mom, and had she not done what she’d done, they’d both be dead now. As it was, Reggie wasn’t able to go there until Joey had his own house finished. “He got himself some barn kittens, as well as a dog.”

“A dog?” He grinned and nodded. “What’s going to happen with that? The poor thing is going to be confused every time he smells the cat in Joey.”

“That’s why he got him as a puppy. If he can get this to work for him, I think we should get a pup for the girls when they’re old enough. They could have him to train and play with.” She only patted him on the cheek as she walked away from him. Micah was having a blast being a dad.

The girls were mirror twins, born to a woman who had died moments before they’d been born and who had not been able to see her daughters or even to name them. Her husband and other family members had been killed immediately, and Micah’s grandparents had contacted him to see if he and Reggie wanted to take them. Otherwise they would have been put into the system, and who knew what would have happened to them there?

He was nearly to his truck when Grandda came out of the house with a large box. Micah helped him load it in the back of his SUV and then waved goodbye to his grandma and mom as they watched them drive away. Micah looked over at his grandda as he just sat there, seemingly pissed off.

“Your grandmother is a pain in the ass.” Micah laughed when Grandda looked around to see if he’d been overheard. “Well, she is. And if she was here, I’d tell her that. Did you know that she’s got me on this diet? Why? I’ve lived a good long time without nobody telling me what to eat and not to eat.”

“I’m sure she just wants you to live a little longer. Anne and Alexis would tell you the same thing if they could talk.” Grandda looked at him with a twinkle in his eye. “You’re not going to get anything out of me in the way of food either, so just back off. I’ve been given orders too. She said if she even smelled mustard on your breath, she was going to hang me out to dry. And don’t even ask me what kind of mustard she’s talking about. We’re not going to the diner today.”

“I just was helping out the man, that’s all.” Micah had heard the story. He and Jimmy had tried every recipe on the menu—all the pies, cakes, and other confections before starting on all the soups and sandwiches. By the time Grandma had gotten there to pick up Grandda, he’d been nearly sick he’d been so full. And they were complaining about the fact that they’d not gotten to the french fries and steaks as yet. “He wanted to make sure that he had them down pat before they opened.”

“I’m pretty sure that had you just taken a taste of the things he offered you, it would have been fine. But I heard you’d eaten three banana pies yourself, as well as two cherry ones and three bowls of potato cheese soup, as well as five different subs.” Grandda smiled at him. “That’s not a good thing you did. You know that, right?”

“I know. But damn, it was fun. He kept telling me I was doing him a service. I gotta tell you that it’s been a while since I’ve been a service for anyone.” Micah knew the feeling. He’d been feeling a little left out himself lately. “I gotta find me a job, son. If I don’t, I don’t know what I’m going to do. The grandbabies are great, but they don’t have it in them yet to go fishing and play some ball with this old man.”

Micah decided to talk to the others. His grandda had been a cop, like his dad had been. And he was sure that had Dad not been killed so young, the two of them would have been having a grand old time with the babies. And if not for the fact that they couldn’t hold a bottle, much less a pole, they’d be fishing with them too. Christ, Micah missed his dad right now.

“We’ll think of something. And you coming out to Joey’s with me, I do appreciate that. Reggie said you talked to him yesterday.” He nodded. “Is he okay? The house is on schedule, right?”

“It is. A little ahead if you ask me, but he’s…well, I’m thinking he’s a tad lonely out there. He had Garth and Tony out the other day, and when they left he said the trailer he’s staying in was just too quiet. I’m thinking I might stay with him a couple of days, see if I can get into some trouble with him.” Grandda stiffened when he looked out the front window. “Holy Christ, he must be using magic to get this place done.”

Micah looked out the window too. He’d been glancing at the gates when he went through them and didn’t see the house at first. But he could see what Grandda was talking about. The house was framed in, the outside walls were up, and the porch, a huge wrap around, was having the railing put up. From where he sat, Micah thought the house looked finished. They both got out of the truck just as Joey came out of the house. He did not look happy.

Chapter 2

Joey greeted his brother with a nod because he could not get off the phone. The woman that he’d hired last week was going on and on about his appointments that he had missed. He tried to tell her three times that he’d had no appointments, and if he had them, she’d not told him.

“I do know what time I was coming into the office today. Four o’clock. I have several appointments to deal with, and then I’m going to stay in town to be there for my court appearance in the morning.” She told him to hang on and put him on hold. Joey looked at Micah as he muted his phone. “I swear to Christ, I’m going to murder this woman. She’s useless.”

Joey wanted to quit his job. He’d been thinking about it for days now, and he was closer every minute to doing just that. He knew that he could open his own law firm and work on the cases that he wanted to work on, but the thought of being unemployed, even for the month it would take him to get set up, scared him shitless. It wasn’t as if he couldn’t afford to take the month off. He had a great deal of money, but he was afraid all the same. When he’d had enough of holding, he just ended the call and hugged his brother and grandda.

“You said yesterday that you had some stuff in the works. You still tossing that around?” Joey nodded at Grandda. He’d told him yesterday in a long call what he wanted to do. Grandda, of course, had supported him, even going so far as to tell him he’d help him out if he needed it. Joey told him he didn’t need it but appreciated it. He’d yet to tell Micah.

The house was something that he could change the subject to, and he did it smoothly. There were still workers all over the house, most of them in his bedroom and the kitchen, but the rest of the house was coming along nicely too. There was a lot to do, but at the rate these guys were going, he’d be in the house in two weeks rather than two months. Joey was getting tired of the little trailer that he was currently staying in. He wished now that he’d not sold his house to Garth and had continued to live in it, instead of out here without much in the way of room.

They were coming down the stairs again when his phone rang. He was tempted to not answer it, but he did. As he made his way to his makeshift office, he told Micah to check out the back deck.

It was an hour before he got off the phone with the firm he worked for. And in the end, he had given his verbal notice to the partner that had called. It seemed that his secretary, Miss Gross, had gone to him complaining that her work was not appreciated. Paul Simmons had called to see what the problem was with her, not him.

“It’s not working out.” Paul told him he’d find him someone else. “No, I mean with me working all the time. The commute alone is about an hour one way. And my heart is no longer in it.”

“We can’t lose you, Joey. The firm needs good lawyers like you. Just let me find someone to replace her and we’ll work this out. Hell, if you want to have Tabby for a while, I can spare her too. She’s head over heels in love with you anyway. And if you want to work from home two or three days a week, I can live with that too. I need you. And Emmett will be so upset. I’ll set things up for you.”

Joey had felt like a large weight had been lifted from his shoulders when he actually said it and knew that there was no turning back. “I can’t…I just can’t do it. I love what I do, but I’m just exhausted with all this. I’m going to take some time off, finish my house, and raise some horses. I might put out my own shingle, but for now, I need to rest. I need this for me.”

Paul told him he understood.

“You take some time off. We’ll still be here when you come back. After a couple of months, if you still want to go down to part time, we’ll work that out too. I really don’t want to lose you.” Joey thanked him but told him that he’d give him his resignation when he came in later. “I’ll file it away for you. You can think about it. I’ll let Emmett know, but I don’t think he’s going to be any happier about this than I am, okay?”

As far as Joey was concerned, he’d put more than enough thought into it already. As he sat there, trying to make his heart believe what his mouth had done, he smiled. For the first time in a long time, he felt like he was free.

Joey went to find his family. He found his brother in the kitchen on his cell, and Grandda was on the back deck. Joey went out there.

“Just beautiful here.” Joey told him that he loved it. “That there lake, you gonna stock it? I have me a hankering to go get me a hook wet. I’ve been thinking about it since them little girls came into our lives.”

“I never thought about it, but I think that’s a great idea.” Micah came out a few minutes later, just as Grandda was describing the boat that Joey should get to use, and he could tell that something had happened. “What is it, Micah? The girls? Mom or Reggie hurt?”

“No. I just got off the phone with a woman by the name of Chris McKenzie. I talked to her this morning after she called Garth by mistake. They’re coming here.” Joey nodded and held onto the railing that was still a little wobbly due to the fact that it was still being put in. “You remember her sister, Angel?”

“I do. What does she want? Did you tell her that you had nothing to do with the disappearance of her sister? Or anything else that happened that day?” Micah sat down on one of the large empty spools of wire that he’d been using as a table when he came out. “What is it, Micah?”

“She’s coming here. Apparently…I guess when Angel died, her body went to them. I don’t know how that worked yet, but I plan to have some answers. She’s not upset, but she seems to think that her sister left her something with me. Did you see anything when I got to you?” Joey felt his heart tighten in his chest when he thought of how terrified he’d been when Micah had appeared before him naked and bloody. “I told her what I knew, but there was nothing else. She and her stepfather are going to come out here for a few days. She’s a lawyer too, I guess.”

“What do you suppose she wants? And why on earth are they coming here?” Grandda asked, and Joey was glad. He wanted to know as well but was still dealing with his own fears. “She’s not thinking of suing you, is she? You tell her that you’ve done not a damned thing wrong.”

“I did, and she’s not worried about that. She’s more concerned with her sister’s legacy right now. I think…it might have to do with my bad dreams.” No one said anything to Micah as he got up to pace. “Since that thing happened, I’ve not been sleeping well. I don’t know what the dreams are about for the most part, but I wake up, and wake up Reggie too when I scream. She has to hold me for hours afterwards. And then I have to get up. It’s getting bad, if you want to know the truth.”

“And this is only since you were at the offices where she worked?” Micah nodded at him and leaned against the house as Joey continued. “I’ve not been sleeping well myself. I don’t know what it is that keeps me awake, but I do know that I’m scared out of my mind.”

“You two think it has to do with that case and how it was just left open?” Micah shrugged and Joey told Grandda that he had no idea. “Who is this girl? I mean the one that died. What do you know about her other than she may or may not have been involved in the money business?”

“She wasn’t involved. Not…she was not human, or not wholly human. Power nearly vibrated off her, but I don’t know what she was.” He picked up a pencil that had been laying on the band saw and then a sheet of paper. “She had this sigil on her hand. Strange place to have one, I know, but she had one on her right hand that covered most of it.”

As he spoke, describing what the sigil looked like and the colors of the sigil, he drew it. The shape of it was nothing Joey had ever seen before, and the more detail Micah put in the drawing, the more Joey realized how hard his big brother had been looking for it. When he was finished, Joey took it and studied it. Taking the pencil from Micah, he made a couple of small adjustments.

“You’ve seen it?” Joey nodded at Micah, then shook his head. “Then what? Because I have to tell you, this thing is key and I have no idea why.”

“It’s in my own dreams. Someone…and I have no idea who…but someone has it on them and they’re coming after me and another person. I don’t know why or where we are, but that thing is the only item that I can remember from my own bad nights. That and some of the creature that wears it.” Joey looked out over the expansive yard behind him before continuing. “There’s this thing. It’s large and it has some human features, but not enough to say that it’s like us…and it’s powerful. Like magically powerful. And it scares the shit out of me.”

“Me too. No creature that I can remember, but there is the feeling that I’m going to be hurt by something that scares me.” Grandda sat down on the chair and said nothing as Micah continued with what he’d been experiencing. “I swear to you when I wake up, covered in sweat and my heart feeling like it’s about to leave my chest, all I can think about is that if it touches me, whatever it is, I’m as good as dead.”

“I can’t close my eyes without thinking of this and other stuff.” Joey looked at his grandda and brother. “And so you know, I just quit my job. I’m going to turn in my resignation tonight.”

He had no idea what to expect. Joey thought for sure that Micah would caution him on not having a steady income. Grandda would go on about how he needed the money for a rainy day. But neither of them did that. Micah grabbed him up and swung him around in a huge circle, and Grandda hugged him over and over, telling him how proud he was of him.

“You should have done it about a month ago.” Joey nodded at Micah. “Hey, does this mean I’m fired too? Christ, I hope so. If I have to talk to that dumb woman you have in your office again, I might have to make her a casualty of work. She’s about as stupid as anybody I’ve ever met.”

“Paul said he’d take care of her. He thinks that I’m going to take some time off and then come back after I’ve rested up. I told him I’d give him the resignation tonight by leaving it on his desk, and he told me he’d keep it on file until I was ready. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that it was never going to happen. I’ll have to call Emmett, of course, but that won’t be as bad now that I’ve done it.” Joey felt better than he had in a while. Lighter, as well as full of energy. “I can’t believe how well you guys took this. I mean, I have no idea what I expected, but this wasn’t even close to it.”

“Mom is going to be happy too. She’s been really worried about you. She told Reggie the other day that you’d never make it to forty at the rate you’re going. Burning the candle at both ends. And Miss May? She was crying the other night when I told her how hard you were sleeping when I left you.” Micah patted him on the back and then hugged him again before continuing. “Christ, I’m so glad you did this on your own. I was trying to think of a way to convince you to do it.”

Joey talked to them for another hour until Grandda remembered the large trunk he’d brought out. It was filled with carpet samples and wall paper scraps. Mom had sent them to him to help him out after spending the day at the decorators. She told him she’d rather pick out the barn siding than to have to go through that again. Joey laughed at the note she left him telling him he was on his own.

“I guess I should just paint all the walls white, put down brown carpet, and hope that no one notices that all my furniture is from the local salvage place. I have no desire to do this either.” They were still laughing when they ordered pizza and beer to be brought out by his brothers. They were going to break in the deck tonight.

~~~

Chris hated to fly. She sat in the seat with her hand gripping the arms so tightly that her fingers hurt. When her dad put his hand over hers, she realized how tense she was when she gave a little scream. He only laughed at her.

“You’re going to love this. A private plane is nothing like a commercial one. You’ll see as soon as we’re up ten thousand feet.” Chris groaned. “Trust me, you’ll love it.”

“I highly doubt that.” But even as they made their way to their turn in line to take off, she could feel the difference. First of all, there wasn’t a body smashed up against her so tightly that she could hardly breathe, and the carpet under her feet was thick and the seat warm. She glanced at the woman coming toward her with a blanket and pillow.

The blanket was better than the one she had on her bed. The pillow, while small, was nice, firm, and the case on it was silk. Glancing at her dad, she thought of all the things he’d given up to marry her mom, and now he was getting a taste of it again.

Allen had come from money. Not like billions, but his mom and him had been millionaires. His mom had been a great investment banker and had turned the little money that they’d been left when Allen’s father had died into a good amount. He’d had his own jet, a nice driver, as well as luxuries that had made it so he’d never had to work a day in his life. Then he’d met and fallen in love with her mom.

Mom had been a hard worker, and Chris and Angel had been everything to her. When they needed something extra for school or for anything else, she’d take on a second, sometimes third job to get it for them. They weren’t spoiled, but they were happy. Their father had left them with nothing, less than nothing, as the house that they’d lived in was a rental and their car had been taken the week after he died. Chris had been all of eight when he died, and she and Angel had felt nothing but relief for his passing.

It wasn’t like he was mean or cruel to them. But he was incredibly lazy. Sometimes he’d go for months at a time without any job or income. There would be times when he’d be laid off, but mostly it was because he’d gotten fired. He was lazy, pure and simple. His passing had left them with nothing more and nothing less than when he’d been living.