Cormac (9 page)
“Mrs. Peterson had filed a complaint with the
police department a few days ago. She said that Mrs. Harrison, Andi here, was
trying to get her fired for being a better cook than her. None of us took it
very serious, I’m sorry to say.” Ordan said nothing. He’d bet from now on they
did. “Ordan, I wanted you to know that there won’t be any charges against her. It
was plainly self-defense. If you talk to Mac, will you tell him that we will
speak to him when he comes home?”
“I will. And thank you.” The officer moved
away and Riordan came to stand beside him and his mom. “I think she’s going to
be a might upset if those biscuits go bad. All she kept telling me was that she
needed to get that mess cleaned up and the milk gravy started.”
“Storm is having the aunts take them to the
bakery to use. And Sally said she can make some gravy to go with them. Won’t be
as good as Andi’s, she said, but she’d make sure that the men had their bellies
filled up.” Ordan nodded. “Dad, we should have been prepared for this. We were
watching for her aunt and not Martha, and Andi got hurt.”
“Son, you can’t be there for everything.
Martha was off her noodle and she’d have gotten past you even if you had all
the guards around the place. And Andi is gonna be just fine once they get her
in surgery. Mac is coming home and we’ll deal with the fallout of this as it
comes. But there was nothing any of us could have done to prevent this from
happening.” Storm made her way to them and she looked grim. “Go see to your
wife. I’m afraid that she might want to pull her gun again.”
“She loves the girl too.” Ordan nodded. They
all did. But Storm would feel guilty about Andi getting hurt simply because
she’d told her that she’d be safe. “What do you suppose is going to happen now?
I mean, there are two murdered people here.”
“Nothing. Self-defense, he told me.” Riordan
nodded and put his arm around Storm when she came to stand with them. She told
him that everything was taken care of.
“I’ve called a few people and they’re taking
care of the clean-up here. We’ll close up for a few days, which I’ve been
wanting to do anyway to have the kitchen fixed up. June said it needed an
overhaul too.” Ordan only nodded as he watched the gurney with the body bag
being taken out. “Billy’s parents are on their way to the hospital. They’ve
been told what happened to him and, needless to say, they’re devastated. Martha
has a son and a daughter, and I’m trying to reach them, but they’ve never been
very close to her apparently, and I’m not sure the numbers I have are working
any longer.”
“Andi said she told her that she and you
talked and that it was a simple misunderstanding, and that she kept going on
about her job.”
Storm said that she’d talked to Martha and had
told her she was fired. “She acted like everything was all right, but then when
I was leaving, she asked me if Andi was still going to be working for her. I
told her again that Andi was going to be taking over for her, that she wasn’t
to come to work anymore. That she no longer had a job.” Storm shook her head as
she continued. “I guess I should have seen it then, that she was unstable. But
Christ, who would have thought she’d come here to kill them all? For a fucking
job.”
By the time Mac arrived, Andi was resting comfortably
and out of surgery. They were going to keep her for a few days, just to make
sure there were no complications, but everything looked good. Ordan looked
around at his family as they stood in her room with her, and couldn’t have been
more proud of them at that moment.
“They’re good boys, you know.” He told his
mate and the love of his life that he knew that. “I think when they all find
their mates, we’re going to need a bigger house. Most assuredly a bigger table.
Do you suppose we should see about getting out the high chairs and baby beds?”
Ordan thought that an excellent idea. “I
might even go out and dust off my tools, maybe make a few things for me and the
grandkids to play on. I’ve been thinking we might want to put up a swing set,
too, while we’re thinking about them.” He was warming to the idea now. “You
know, we should think about a pool out back. Might take a lap or two myself, to
keep me in shape to run after them all.”
As they sat and quietly made plans, Ordan
kept tabs on his sons and Storm. They really were good boys and he was very
proud of each of them, how they’d come together for one of their own. When the
captain of the police force and good friend, Oscar Miller, came in an hour
after Andi had been put in her room, he told them what he’d found out.
“We’ve only just started looking through Martha’s
home, but I wanted to come and tell you that we’ve found some things there. Her
son is on his way in, but I don’t think he’s going to be able to shed much
light on the situation. And the daughter just hung up on me, telling me that
she didn’t care if her mom was dead or not. It meant nothing to her.” He looked
uncomfortable and Ordan was almost afraid to have him tell them what he’d
found. “Her home has been…what I mean to say is that we’ve found…the things—”
“Oh for fuck sake, just tell us, Oscar.” Ordan
had to cover his mouth when Storm spoke. “Does she have dead cats hanging from
the ceiling? Are there bodies all cut up in her fridge? What the fuck did you
find?”
“Money. And a great deal of it. I would say,
just in the kitchen alone, we’ve uncovered about fifty grand.” Ordan started to
ask him if he was kidding. “There are stacks of it everywhere. Some of it has
been put in neat stacks in those zip bags, more still just with a rubber band
around it. The canister set on the counter was filled with twenties, some of
them dating back to the twenties and thirties. No change, as yet anyway, but
cash galore. There was a stack of it in the fridge, as well as an entire top
shelf in the freezer.”
“And you say that it’s all over the house?” For
an answer, the officer pulled out his phone and let them flip through the
pictures. Riordan laughed as he continued looking at them. “And where does this
money go? I’m assuming the kids are going to take it.”
“No. When I talked to her son, I mentioned
that there was a large amount of cash in the house. He asked me if I knew what
they were going to do with it, as you did. I told him that she was his mother,
what did he want done with it, and he told me we could burn the house down with
it inside if we wanted. He wanted nothing to do with it.” Storm left the room when
her phone rang, and Ordan wondered what had happened. The chief sat down then. “I
had to convince him that she really was dead and that he needed to come up and
ID the body. He said he would so his sister wouldn’t have to, but I don’t think
he’s planning to stick around.”
Ordan just glanced at Andi, knowing that it
would be the same with her should her aunt pass, or he thought when. The woman
was going to piss off the wrong people sooner rather than later, and there
would be hell to pay. He’d heard about the encounter Liam had had with her and
had wanted to hunt her down for himself. But his son had taken care of himself
and he supposed that was all that really mattered.
After they’d gathered their things up to
leave, knowing that Andi was in good hands with Mac and the few guards that
Storm had put around them, he drove him and Bri home. As soon as he was out of
the car, he was heading to the work area that he’d played around with when he’d
been younger. As he was thinking of all the projects that he wanted to get
started on, he thought of the first time he’d been able to put something
together that didn’t look like a kid had slapped it together. A rocker.
“I still have it, you know. It’s in Riordan’s
old room. I think he has some of his college things on it.” Ordan looked at the
love of his life and asked her how she knew he’d been thinking of that. “The
look in your eye. You get that same look when I pull out the Christmas
decorations and you find one that one of the boys made for you. Like the one
that is shaped like a hammer that Liam made you one year.”
“Yes, he was seven. I’d taken him with me to
the hardware store to pick up something or another, and he found the
instructions on how to make a birdhouse too. We spent the better part of the
weekend going back and forth for each thing he’d find to make. I think we had
more birdhouses than most of the whole block did.” She pointed to just over his
head and he had to laugh. His Bri saved everything.
There hanging above his head were ten of the
worst looking bird houses he’d ever seen. Each of them got a little better, but
all in all they were a mess. Only one of them had been painted; the rest had
had things screwed or glued to them to make them decorative. He thought even
the other boys had gotten in on the project by finding things to stick on them.
“When the grandchildren come, Ordan, I don’t
want to spoil them too much. And we will never go above their parents’ heads on
something that they said no to.” He didn’t even bother telling her she was full
of malarkey, but listened to her as she said the stupidest set of rules he’d
ever heard. “And we’ll spank them when they need it.”
“Okay, that one I can agree on. But you know
as well as I do that we’re going to spoil them as much as we can. When their
parents say no, we’re going to go it anyway.” She said that they might make
them upset about that one. “Okay then, we do it anyway if we don’t tell their
parents. I like that one. I think you can agree, we’re going to have a blast
with them. If they ever get here.”
“I have no doubt that they’ll arrive. But
getting anyone to tell us that date might be a small problem.” Yeah, he’d been
hinting around about them for a week now and nobody was saying a word. “I guess
we could go with plan B. And just start buying baby gifts for them and hope
that they get it then.”
“I love that idea, love. Very much so. And
we’ll start by giving some of their baby things to them. Starting with the
rocker in Riordan’s room.” She nodded and smiled. “Yes, ma’am, we’re going to be
bouncing them on our knees by next Christmas.”
Mac wasn’t sure there was a place to be had
on this chair that wasn’t uncomfortable. He’d tried stretching out, but his
body was too long and he sort of hung out of it in strange ways. Not to
mention, his long legs would take up most of the empty space between him and
Andi, so that every time one of the nurses came in to check on her, he’d trip
them up. When Andi giggled, he looked at her and straightened up so he could
reach her hand.
“They said you’d be out for a little while
longer.” He had no idea why he was whispering—they were the only two in the
room—but she pulled his hand to her mouth and kissed it, so he was okay with
whatever happened now. “How you feeling? They said that you could have another
shot for pain when you woke up.”
“I’m fine for now. It makes me all woozy.”
Nodding, he held her hand tightly in his. “Did you hear anything more about
Billy’s family? Are they going to be able to stay here for a few days?”
“Riordan and Storm put them up in their
house. It was a little hard to convince them they had plenty of room, but
they’ve decided to stay. They’re just waiting on his body to be released to
them. And Ennis said it might be a few more days yet.” She nodded and closed
her eyes. She’d been doing that since everyone had left. Wake long enough to
ask him a question or two, then drift off again.
“Did those men get their food?” He had to
think what she meant, and told her that Lynn and Sally had taken care of them. “Good.
Hopefully I can go back to work soon. I really like working there.”
“Storm is having the place renovated for the
moment. It shouldn’t take more than a week, she said.” Mac didn’t tell her that
they’d had this conversation before, and that he’d argued with her that she was
going to have to wait a while before he wanted her going out again. “Craig was
in earlier and said to tell you to have a speedy recovery.”
“He’s a nice old man.” Mac had discovered
that as well. The man was in his late eighties, yet lived alone and did all his
own yard work, as well as cleaned up after himself. “Did he tell you that he’s
been eating at the diner since before we were born?”
“Yes he did.”
Her eyes drifted closed again when he thought
of his talk with Craig. He’d been in two wars in his lifetime, lost a son to
one as well. His wife of nearly fifty years had gone to bed one night and hadn’t
woken up. He’d been doing for himself since. And he loved Andi as much as a man
could a daughter, he thought.
“That woman of yours, she’s about the
sweetest thing I done ever did see. Talked to me like I was a person, too, and
not some old fool like some of them younger people do.” Mac told him that he
was in love with her. “Well, of course you are. Plain as the nose on your face
that you are. Couldn’t have asked for a better mate either, I’m thinking. That
Stormy, she’s a pistol too. I’m sure your brother has his work cut out for
him.”
“Actually, he lets her do what she wants. He
says it’s because he loves her. But I think it’s because he’s scared shitless
of her. So are most of us, if you want to know the truth.” Craig laughed loud
and for a long time. “How is it you know her? Stormy, I mean.”
“She might not want people to know that she’s
army, but all you have to do is look to see it. So when I figured out what she
was, I did some checking and found out a bit more. She’s that woman, ain’t she?
The one that brought down them big wigs?” Mac said that she was, but she was
very hush-hush about it. “I understand that. People, men mostly, will come here
thinking that she’s not all that. And when they’d find out that she’s the real
deal, then it’ll be too late for their sorry asses.”
Mac hadn’t been sure what he meant and waited
to ask him when the nurse came in to take Andi’s blood pressure and vitals. As
soon as she was gone, the door barely closed behind her, Craig started talking
again.
“There are men who get in their heads that a
woman just ain’t as good as they are. And when they think one of them is about
to show them, they gotta come on down and try to knock her around. I’m thinking
if anyone ever tried that with Stormy, they’d be picking the pieces of them out
of the carpet for a long time.” Mac laughed and said he thought so too. “This
one, she’s gonna live a good deal longer if you convert her. I know you’re a
tiger and she will be too, but you should do it soon.”
“I was going to when this whole thing with
her aunt is over. I’m afraid that she’ll try and hurt her while she’s incapacitated.”
Craig snorted. “You don’t think so?”
“I think if you have a weapon, use it. Don’t
wait for something to peck you on the head for you to remember you have a hat. Don’t
put your coat on after you’ve discovered that it’s pouring down rain and you’re
standing in it. You have all the tools to keep her safe, use them before it’s
too late.”
So now he was sitting here, thinking that the
elderly man was right. He didn’t want to have to wait for a peck on the head to
remember he forgot his hat.
“What are you thinking on so hard?” He told
her what Craig had said when she woke again. “I’d like that as well. Storm told
me that if I was a tiger, I’d only have to shift and I’d not be hurting this
much.”
“I can get you something for pain.” Andi told
him she was fine, really, just making a point. “I don’t want to hurt you baby,
not with you being so weak right now. When you get healthier and are walking
around…well, then we’ll do it. I’ve never done it before, but Riordan has and
he said that while it broke his heart to hurt Storm, she did well.”
“Good to know.”
When her eyes drifted closed again, he leaned
back in the chair. He had other things to tell her, not important, but things
she would have to know. After talking with Jim’s doctor and with Ennis, he
thought he had a better understanding of their childhood. And he wanted their
children to have the best.
“Mac, let’s have a baby soon. I want lots of
babies to love and hold.”
The statement startled him, and he watched
her face to see if she was dreaming or really did want to have children. They’d
not talked about them other than him to tell her what his dad wanted. When she
looked at him, her face full of confusion, she asked him if he was all right.
“Yes. I think so. You want children?” Her nod
had him smiling. “You want to wait on being a cat when we have them, or now? You’re
not in heat, how we create children, but we can give it our best try if you are
set on it.”
“I want to be able to beat Storm at
something.” Her eyes closed again and she yawned as she continued. “Do you
think she does anything wrong? I mean, she can shoot, cuss, and cut a man to
ribbons with her mouth or the knife I have never seen her without. I bet she
even spits well. Don’t you think?”
“I think you have her beat on a great many
things. Like she can’t cook anything, not even to boil water.” Andi nodded.
“And to me, you’re much more beautiful as well. Not to mention, I don’t think she
can wear heels, much less those sexy boots I love you wearing.”
“We should get married too.” He nodded,
telling her that they had the license when she was ready. “Now. Like as soon as
you can get someone here to do it. I want to be your wife in real life, not
just what people think.”
He sat there for several minutes while she
slept. He knew that he should get up and make the marriage happen, but for the
life of him, he couldn’t get out of his seat. He was going to get married. And
soon. That looped around in his head several times as he watched Andi. When the
door opened behind him and he looked at his brother, Mac got up and pulled Liam
in his arms to hold him. Suddenly everything was just too much.
“You okay?” Mac nodded. “Okay, but you’re
kinda freaking me out a little. Tell me what’s happened and I’ll fix it for you,
but you’re scaring your little brother here.”
“She loves me.” Liam said he was pretty sure
they all knew that. “She wants to get married to me…to me…and then have my
babies.”
“You’re weird.” Mac nodded and sat down. “Okay,
the reason I’m here is Mom sent me. She wants to know if she can take a few
things that are yours to your house while you’re here. I’m not sure what it is
but I’m to come here, ask you and get a key, then go over and help her load it
up. I’d be more afraid of her than I am of anything coming in this place to get
Andi. She sounded like she was on a mission and we’d better not fuck it up.”
“Of course. It’s probably some of my old
clothes or stuff from school.” He gave his brother his keys. “You should go
with me in the morning, by the way. I need a bigger car and I don’t want to
have to go alone. Dad and Mom are going to keep an eye on Andi for me while I
do it.”
“Yeah, heard that you might be on the market
for something like that. I wanted to ask you if I can buy your car. It’s not
what I want exactly, but I do need something smaller with all the trips back
and forth to the office that I’m making. The truck, while fun to drive, is hard
on gas and dating.”
Mac thought of the first time he’d had sex
with Andi in the front seat of his car and had to smile. Yeah, his brother
would find out soon enough that things didn’t work that well either. He told
him he’d let him have it if he promised him that he’d go with him tomorrow.
As they sat there, whispering back and forth
about this and that, Mac got a phone call that he took out into the hall to
answer. The Stokes had been trying to reach him for a few days now, and he was
running out of excuses to not talk to them.
“He’s suing us. I know that it’s not the way
to start a conversation, but I thought I’d let you know that right up front.” Mac
asked Bryon who. “Elton…he’s suing us for loss of wages. Anyway, we’ve talked
to our lawyer and he said if we can prove that he was the reason our business
was losing ground that it would go away. I’d really like for this to go away.”
“I can’t come out there right now. My wife is
in the hospital.” Bryon told him he was very sorry and asked him if he could do
anything. “No. She’ll be home in a few days, and if I come out there, then
she’ll have to come with me. I’m not leaving her again.”
“I don’t blame you one bit. So you’ll come
out? You’ll help us?” Mac was cornered and he knew that he’d been neatly
played. “We can put the both of you up and pay for all of your expenses. It
would help us a great deal, and I know that we treated you poorly when you were
here, but you did open our eyes to a lot of things.”
“All right, but I’m not sure when. Like I
said, my wife is still in the hospital.” He made arrangements to call them in a
few days. Before he hung up, however, he did ask about the lines and why they
weren’t running better with Elton gone.
“They have no idea how to run them. I mean,
one of them told me that they’d only been showing up to work because they got
paid, but Elton had refused to set them a job other than sweeping and making
sure he was warned when you or my sister and I came around. He had the entire
crew afraid of losing their jobs.” Mac said he could see that happening and he
had tried to tell them. “Yes you did. And you have no idea how much, every day,
that we wish we’d have listened to you. Our shipping is so far behind right now
that I’m terrified of losing more orders than we have already.”
When he got back in her room, Andi was awake
and eating a light dinner. She was joking around with Ennis, who had come by to
check on her with Liam. When they left, he told her what the call was about.
“You should go out now, not wait. It’s not
like I’m going anywhere soon.” He told Andi that he wasn’t leaving her again,
not ever. “And what do you think you can do while you’re here? I think that
even your mother would knock me around if I got out where I could be hurt
again. How long do you think you’ll be gone? Seriously, you have all the hard
part done; you know what the problems are and you can go there, fix this for
them, and be back in no time. You’re going to just worry about them if you
don’t.”
“No, I won’t.” But he would and he knew it. “What
if some crazed woman comes after you again? What am I supposed to do with me
all the way out there?”
“I’m pretty sure that I’d be fine. And if it
makes you feel any better, I’ll promise you I won’t leave the house and I will
be a good girl.” He just snorted at her. “Okay, how about I go stay with
Riordan and Storm? She’s way scarier than anybody else we might know.”
“True. And she does have a gun and isn’t
afraid to use it.” He was beginning to see where she might be fine, and he did
want to help the Stokes. “You promise me that you won’t leave the house unless
it’s on fire? And you’ll do what Storm tells you to do, no matter what?”
“I promise. Now make the flight arrangements
and go. The sooner you go the sooner you can get back here and we can get
married. This will give your mom some time to arrange things too. I’m sure she
already has a list of things to do.” Which was also more than likely true.
Riordan and Storm were leaving for China for
a week and he didn’t want to go. But his dad and mom said that they’d take care
of her, and even Mason said he’d be hanging around as well. When they were all
ganging up on him, Mac made arrangements and left that night. He hated to go,
but she was right, he’d worry and if he left now, he’d be back all the sooner.