Marc (13 page)

Roy nodded. And armed with a few hundred
pain pills and a nurse to come by twice a day to change the dressing, he was
sent home. The bedroom that he’d been held in was completely empty of
everything, including his clothes. He found them in the room down the hall, dry
cleaning bags still on them, and his other clothing in bundles on the bed. And
something else he’d noticed; not one thing that belonged to Anita was anywhere
in the house.

That had been two days ago and he’d not
seen her since. There were others around the house now that hadn’t been there
before. The cook was new and wore a gun on her hip, and the men who worked in
the yard seemed to trim the same bushes every day. He didn’t care so long as
they kept him from being killed.

Moving slowly, he went to the sofa in
his office. He had to move like this every two hours or he got so stiff that he
wouldn’t be able to stand to piss. He was glad to see that his urine was a
great deal less red now, and it didn’t burn like he was on fire when he did. He
sat on the sofa and took a pain pill. Christ, he was hurting.

The phone ringing startled him awake,
and when he jerked, he cried out in pain. Sweat covered his body, and when he
reached for the phone, pain tore into him. When he answered, he sat here for
several seconds before what the woman on the other end was saying registered.

“Are you listening to me, Roy? I said do
you want to make a deal? I want you out of my life and that of my parents, and
if I do one job for you, will you leave me the fuck alone?” Jonny, Jonny had
called.

“One job?” His voice cracked and he
tried again. “You’ll do one job and you’ll do it the way I say?”

“Yes. But I want it in writing that if
you come near me and my family again, I’ll come for you.” She sounded
different, more confident. He wasn’t sure he liked it, but he was desperate and
could use the extra money she’d bring him.

“Yes, okay. You come here tomorrow and
I’ll have it all set up. Then when it’s done I’ll sign whatever it is you
want.” He tried to stand to go to his desk, but he had to hold on or fall. “Just
let me get to a pen and some papers to get the number you’re calling me from.”

Something occurred to him, but he was in
so much pain that it over-rode anything that might have filtered through his
mind. As he shuffled to the desk, he heard her talking, but again couldn’t concentrate.

“What the fuck is wrong with you? You sound
like you’re running a marathon or something. You were in better shape before
you hooked up with Anita.” He stopped moving. She knew. She knew was all he
could think about.

“Anita? I don’t know what you mean. She’s
just away on holiday, that’s all. And when she gets back here, I’ll have her
call you.”

“I saw you kill her.” He started to deny
it. Roy opened his mouth to tell her that he hadn’t killed her, not yet at any
rate. That her father had said he’d take care of it, when Roy remembered the
day that Jonny had left.

“I didn’t kill her. We were going to use
that against you, try to get you to see reason, or I would scare you with it.
But you’d left before I could. She’s not dead.” He laughed, then moaned in
pain. “I wish to Christ she was, but she’s very much alive.”

“And you know why she came to you, don’t
you?” He told her he did. “Well, guess what, so do I. And I have enough on you
right now to convict the both of you. You really should check your filing
cabinet to see if it’s locked before you let people run around your house
without supervision.”

The line went dead, and he ended the
call. He looked at the filing cabinet where he kept everything. It was never
locked, and as far as he knew never had been. She’d been through it, and even
if she took simply one file, it would be enough to put him away for a very long
time. Something his father had said to him many years ago came to mind.

“Son, the only advice I can give you if
you want to earn money on the backs of other people is never keep a record. Because
no matter who you think you can trust, no matter how safe you think you have it
stored away, somebody sometime is going to get it, and when they do, you might
as well put a bullet to your head, because you’re going down.”

Maybe he was, but he sure as hell wasn’t
going down alone. He turned on his computer and began compiling information.
Not just on the scam he was running with the exotic pets, but everything and
everyone he’d ever dealt with. And he ended it with the information on Anthony
and Anita Kidd.

“Take that, you motherfuckers.” He saved
it to two discs, then put it on a thumb drive as well. The discs went into his
safe, which he left unlocked, and the drive on his key ring. Someone somewhere
would find it and they’d be hitting the jackpot. Roy Dawson was done making his
peace.

Chapter 13

As soon as she hung up the phone she
stepped out onto the deck. Marc started to follow her, but Jack stopped him. She
nodded to Monica and Caitlynne as she went out to be with her. Jack was pretty
sure she knew how Jonny was feeling.

“You did well. I’m thinking old Roy is
pissing himself about now.” Jonny didn’t turn but kept looking out at the
woods. “It’ll be over soon and you’ll look back on this as a bad dream.”

“Is that what you do? Pretend that it was
all a bad dream and it’s not real?” Jack didn’t answer because she liked Jonny
and didn’t want to lie to her. “I don’t think you do that at all. I’m betting
when I get up in the middle of the night and see you wandering around the
house, you’re thinking of every hurt that has been done to you and the people
who did it.”

“I do that, yes. But I’m not going to
let it beat me. Every day that I can sleep a little better or a little longer
without being woke from a dream, I feel like I’m winning.” The door opened
behind her, and she saw Caitlynne come out onto the deck as well. “You think
any of us can live with every choice we’ve made?”

“I don’t expect you do, but these people
hurt what’s mine.” Jack was impressed with her answer. “And I’m going to make
them pay.”

“Will you be able to live with that
choice, Jonny?” They both looked at Caitlynne. “Killing another being, panther
or not, is a big decision. Even in the heat of the moment, a life or death
thing, it’s something you’ll have to live with for the rest of your life. Do
you think you can do that?”

“Hell yes.” Caitlynne applauded her. “I
don’t want you to think this is going to be fun for me, but when I think of all
those people he hurt and made suffer, I want to find him now and chew his arm
off.”

“This isn’t the first scam that Roy
Dawson has tried. It’s had the least impact on the murder count, but not for
lack of trying. We’re pretty sure that once an animal has served his purpose,
or sometimes when he wants out, Roy has them killed.  I think that you were
just lucky that you were just exotic enough that you brought him a great deal
of money.  Otherwise he would have killed you after the first time.” Caitlynne
handed her a file as she continued. “Ten years ago, Dawson was working for a
smalltime dealer named Fletcher. He wasn’t worth much in the large scheme of
things, but he was getting there. Dawson decided he wanted it all instead of
just a cut. What he didn’t know was that the man was only a part of a huge
picture, and he ended up working for a mobster for about two years. Just about
the time the mob boy turned up dead, Roy was flush with a great deal of cash.”

“What does this have to do with me?” Jonny
handed her the file, and Jack opened it. “It’s nothing to me who else he’s
killed. I just want him to stop what he’s doing now, to me.”

“Selfish but honest, I can live with
that,” Caitlynne said with a smile. “But what this has to do with you is this.
Two days ago Dawson was treated by one of my informants. He nearly wet himself when
Anthony Kidd picked him up at his home and took him to a warehouse. While he
was there, he treated Dawson. Someone had beaten him really badly. A whip was
used, as was a bat. He told Kidd that Anita had done it. And she’d not said a
word why. Then Dawson hands Kidd this note, and after he reads it he starts to
cry like a baby. My informant handed him a box of tissues, and he took it. Would
you like to know what it said?”

Jack nodded, too, when Jonny did. This
was huge, fucking huge. Anthony Kidd was the right-hand man to every dealer in
the country. If he couldn’t get you any drugs, then you fucking didn’t need
them. And when he said you were done, you were gone too.

“When I find my daddy dearest and get
all his money, I’m coming back for you. Both of you will suffer much more than
this little slapping around I’ve given you. Love you so much, A.”

Jonny sat down and looked at both of
them. Jack waited for Jonny to speak, and when she seemed to be in a trance,
she looked over at Caitlynne, her new boss.

“Could have handled that a little better,
I’m thinking.” Caitlynne snorted. “You think, I don’t know, maybe taking it
down a notch or two might have been a little easier on her?”

“You think Roy will when he comes for
her? And you and I both have been in this business long enough to know that he
will. He’ll have to. Or he’ll send Anita after her. Either way, she’s going to
be in a shit-ton of trouble when it happens.”  She nodded, not agreeing with
how she’d said it, but that she was right about Roy. “Besides, I think she’ll
come out on top. She’s a kick-ass kid.”

“And she’s sitting right here.” Jack
grinned at Jonny. Yeah, she liked this girl. She was going to help her any way
she could.

“So, you’re going to marry Marc, right?”
Jonny nodded. “Good, there are some things you should know about me.”

The chair Jonny was sitting in began to
rise. As it moved around the deck, Jonny didn’t say a word but held on. When
she sat her across from her, Jack reached into her mind and captured a small
memory and smiled.

“You and Marc have been doing the nasty
in the woods.” The little push back didn’t bother her so much, but when she
felt her nose bleed, Jack stopped touching Jonny’s mind. She looked at her and
waited before she tried again. This time her head exploded in pain.

“Don’t.” Jack held up her hand to
Caitlynne when she started toward her. “Can you do anything but that?”

“No. I can lift a few items but not very
much, and sometimes when I’m PMSing, I can do a lot more, but not on the scale
you can.” Jack nodded at Jonny. “Oh, and I can hide really well.”

“Hide?” Jack looked at Caitlynne when
she asked. “What do you mean hide? My son can hide. Help me understand.”

“I can tread really lightly on anything.
Floors, ground, even leaves. I can move through anything like it’s not there.” Jack
sat up and stared at her. “I didn’t know I could do it until I had to escape
the house and there were a couple dozen men around. They never saw me.”

“Never saw you or never heard you
because you didn’t let them, or they just couldn’t?” Jack went to the door and
asked Dylan to come out. “Don’t hurt him, but let him read your mind. He won’t
hurt you, but he can dig deeper than any of us can.”

Marc came out with Dylan and she told
them what she wanted. Marc went to Jonny and held her while Jack told him what
she thought was happening. Marc started to nod.

“I’ve seen her do it. We were in the
woods and I couldn’t find her. I could smell her everywhere but not see her. She’s
really good. I’ve never seen a better tracker than her.” Jack smiled. “I don’t
like that look. What are you up to?”

“Let Dylan see if what I’m thinking is
going on.” She nodded to Jonny. “You’re not going to hurt him are you? Hurting
me was okay, but this is—”

“You hurt her?” Jack stood in front of
Dylan when he stood. He looked down at her, and she could see his cat. He was
the sexiest thing she’d ever seen. Kissing her mate quickly on the mouth, she
told him to behave.

Dylan sat down and glared at Jonny, but
Jack knew he’d not hurt her. She wasn’t so sure about Jonny, because, while she
seemed to have some control over her power, it wasn’t a great deal of it. Dylan
closed his eyes and sat very still for several minutes. When his nose began to
bleed, she started to tell him to stop. He held out his hand in much the same
way as she’d done to Caitlynne. She knew she’d been right when he opened his
eyes and looked at her.

“Incredible. She can manipulate your
mind so that you can’t see her even if you’re standing right on top of her. She’s
able to make you think you can’t hear or see her at all.” He looked at her. “How
do you do it?”

Jonny shrugged. “I just think that I’d
be a lot safer if they didn’t see me, and they can’t. When Marc and I were
playing in the woods, I could feel his frustration and…and I let him see me. I
didn’t want him to leave me again.”

“I didn’t leave you. I thought you’d
gone back into the house.” He kissed her. Jack felt her cat stir, and she
turned to the woods. Someone was out there. Then she saw Dylan stand.

“Go in the house.” Caitlynne had her gun
out, as did Jack. Marc shoved Jonny behind him and shifted. She did as well,
and Jack heard the door behind her open again and knew that the rest of the
Bowens were also coming out. George and Corrine were standing in the doorway.

“What is it?” Jack said she didn’t know,
her voice as low as George’s was. “I’ve sent the nannies to the basement near
the door with the babies. Corrine and I are going to go in the front to see if
there is anything coming from there.”

She nodded and watched the tree line. A
shadow of a person came into view, and Jonny growled low. Jack didn’t move but
reached out to the cat and spoke to her.

Go out there and think whatever fucking
thought you have to so he can’t see you.
She leapt off the deck to do as she
asked. Jack grabbed a handful of fur before Marc could follow her.
If she
gets distracted because you’re with her, you could get her killed. Stay right
here.

He growled, and she let him go. When he
didn’t move, she knew that he would heed her wishes. She’d pay later,
especially if something happened to Jonny, but for now she could live with it.

The person kept coming toward them, and
Jack could see that Jonny was standing right beside the person as he walked. When
Jonny touched her mind, Jack nearly burst with happiness.

He’s not armed that I can smell, and he
does smell. Like a dog…no, a wolf and a… Is there such a thing as something
that can be everything?”
Jack told her it was a shifter.
Well, he stinks. And
he…can you see him?

Yes, and you as well. You’re selective
about who sees you apparently.
Jack put her gun away when the man was
within the light. “Everyone, I’d like you to meet Chris Reutter. He’s a shifter
I know from way back.”

“Hey, kid. Wow, you sure hang with some
impressive cats. I figured you’d be with a male, and here you are.” He grinned
when Dylan growled. “Your mate, I presume?”

“Yeah. What the hell do you want, and
more importantly, how the hell did you get in here?” She watched as the others
went into the house, no doubt to dress. Dylan didn’t move from between her and
Chris. Jack nodded her thanks to Jonny as she went by.

“I shifted to a hawk and flew over the
fence. Nice system if you’re only able to be two or four legged. But anyway,
I’m here because there’s this guy looking for you guys. A guy by the name of
Kidd, know him?”

“Could. What’s he looking for us for?” Chris
walked up on the deck and bowed before Dylan. The two of them stared at one
another for several minutes, and Jack was ready to hit them both. Males and
their testosterone.  Dylan nodded and went to the door and slipped inside the house.

“Nice guy. He’s very much in love with
you. He threatened me, did you know that?” She nodded. “Hum. He wants your
family actually. He’s got someone he wants dead, and he wants a few cats to do
it.”

“How did you find out?” Before he could
answer, he was invited in the house by Corrine. Chris looked at her, then back
at Jack. She nodded. She was too exposed out there, and turned to see Caitlynne
still standing there.

“He’s not nervous, nor does he seem to
be lying, does he?” Jack shook her head at Caitlynne. “I’m pretty sure he’s
going to give us more than we have, and it’s going to piss off Jonny more.”

“Probably. But that’s not necessarily a
bad thing, is it?” Caitlynne shook her head. “I didn’t think so either. Let’s
go see what he wants.”

~~~

Walker and she were sitting at the table
when Marc came in the room. She had been talking about his dad and how he’d
tricked her. Walker was a good guy, and he never seemed to talk down to her. She
liked this brother best of all. Walker smiled at Marc, and Jonny wondered what
he was going to do.

“Jonny was laying out her plan to get
back at Dad. I told her I’m all in. What do you think of it?” Marc looked at
her, then Walker. “She didn’t tell you, did she?”

“Not all of it, just the basic outline.
Dad will have a shit when she does it to him. I can’t wait.” Walker nodded and
left them alone. She looked up at him.

“You ready?” He nodded. “Good, because
I’m not. Do you think that meeting him on his own turf is a good idea?”

“I don’t just think so, but so do the experts.
Caitlynne and Jack seem to think this is the best way to get him out of your
life.” He took her hand into his. “And I’m all for us getting on with our
lives.”

She nodded. She would be too. And to be
able to live in one house would be nice instead of moving from one to the other
all the time. They’d been bouncing between their house and Khan’s for nearly
the entire time she’d known him. Then there was Walker’s house. They were going
to go there for Memorial Day. She just wanted some quiet time.

“Where would you like to go?” His
question startled her. “On our honeymoon. Where would you like to go? France,
London, or we could take a long cruise.”