Three Mates for Judith (6 page)

“That’s fine. You go ahead and ask.”

Judith didn’t think her mom was offended. She knew her mom wanted this all sorted out as badly as she did. Her mom had been very good about missing her friends, but Judi knew how much Cherise would have preferred her usual round of social events and nice dinners to sitting in front of a roaring fire roasting hot dogs on sticks.

“Do you have any joint bank accounts or joint investments your husb—Lewis might have been using these past few months?” asked Naftali.

“No. I think that was one of Lewis’s problems with me. He thought I lacked trust in him by not putting the house and the farm and other things in our joint names. Of course, he had plenty of his own money, anyway, but it wasn’t that. It was more that my father wanted what had been his to stay in the family. So that meant passing it down to Judith, not to Lewis. I always knew Lewis had been married before.”

“Did you think he might give the land to JJ?” asked Nelson.

“Hell no. I didn’t know JJ existed. Or LC. I still don’t know if Lewis knows about JJ. But because he’d been married before, and because originally he hadn’t wanted to marry me, I suppose I didn’t trust him completely. Maybe it was a failing in me, after all.”

“Of course it wasn’t, Mom. He two-timed you. I’ve told you. JJ’s seventeen. Do the math.”

Her mom nodded but looked down at the tabletop and twisted her coffee mug around. Judi wanted to punch her father for taking her mom’s self-confidence away because of his inability to be faithful.

“So Lewis doesn’t have any sources of income associated with you?” asked Naftali.

“No, he’s always had his own business, and it seemed to provide him with a very comfortable lifestyle.”

“Did he contribute to the household expenses? Pay the utility bills or whatever?”

“Oh no. But he’d take me out to dinner and buy me gifts sometimes.” Cherise looked thoughtful. “Actually, when you put it as bluntly as that, I suppose I mostly supported him. I hadn’t really thought of it before. He exchanged his car for a new one every two years without fail, and he always had plenty of new clothing as well, all of which he paid for himself. But I paid everything to do with the houses and our family bills.”

Judi hadn’t known that either. And she did know it was almost always her mom who’d bought her birthday and Christmas presents. She’d just assumed her father paid some of the bills like other people’s fathers did. Apparently not. He was a fucking leech. A marriage was supposed to be sharing and partnership. Right now it was looking as though mostly her father had taken everything he could get and given very little in return.

The sooner he was out of all their lives, the better.

Judi stared some more at the three men still questioning her mother. She noticed Mr. and Mrs. Davey had left the kitchen and guessed they had work to do elsewhere. Tomorrow was the cookout, and she was looking forward to the party, but likely there was a lot of work to do before it happened. She had nothing to do this afternoon, so she’d help them cook and prepare whatever was necessary. And tomorrow, at the cookout, she’d take a good look at the men there. Maybe there’d be someone worth kissing. Or even doing more than that. It was a damn long time since someone had romanced her, and if there were other men as good looking as these three sitting at the table with her, well, she was ready to party herself.

Naftali’s lips were constantly twitching into a grin. They looked eminently kissable. And Nahum’s eyes sparkled with good humor. Nelson was more serious. Maybe he’d spank her ass, and she’d decide whether or not she liked that.

* * * *

Sam and Jake had stayed awake for the first shift overnight, one guarding the front door of the farmhouse and the other the back door. Nahum and Naftali had taken the middle shift, which was when they thought there’d be trouble if it was going to happen, and Nelson was alone for the final shift. Logic insisted there wouldn’t be an attack so close to daylight, especially when the staff were liable to be up early to prepare for the cookout.

Nelson didn’t think there’d be an attack at all overnight. It’d come after the cookout, after dark, and very likely in the confusion and noise as the pack prepared to get in the coach and go back home. If he was planning to attack, that’s when he’d do it. Everyone would be moving around. If the bad guys did it right, they could abduct the Alpha then without anyone even noticing because everyone knew he was going to camp out somewhere. Most people would assume he’d gone to his tent.

Nevertheless, Nelson had stayed alert, constantly prowling around the first floor of the house, not following any pattern in his movement and his standing still to watch and listen. But nothing happened, and it was after dawn now. He could hear people moving around upstairs, having their showers and preparing for the day. Mrs. Davey appeared downstairs and began cooking breakfast. He put the coffee on for her himself before leaving to resume his pacing.

Nelson’s day was busy, especially after the pack arrived, but although he and his brothers stayed close to Judith and Cherise, and Sam and Jake remained beside the Alpha, Nelson felt no sense of danger. He remained convinced it’d happen toward nightfall. Sam and Jake agreed.

However, Naftali said, “You’re all thinking logically. Lutterworth’s strength is in doing the unexpected. At coming from an angle no one anticipated. Think of him getting the kids to steal things for him. No one had thought of that, but he did it. We need to be thinking outside the box now and alert for the unexpected.”

Nelson nodded. In a crisis he was supposed to save the Alpha, and he would. They each had their appointed target, and they’d stick to it. But he thought Sam and Jake would be fine guarding the Alpha, and he’d much rather grab Lutterworth before he caused any trouble. So what the fuck would the man do? Come in with a gang of kids to cause a diversion while he abducted Cherise or the Alpha? Damn, he wished he could have some clue as to what might happen.

He tried to look at the pack through an outsider’s eyes. The cookout was in the grassy backyard of the farm. There was a large open space, and lawn chairs and several sturdy wooden benches were in a circle around the fire pit where meat was cooking on a spit. As was typical at these events, the women were sitting in one group while the men tended to stand around the fire, and everyone was taking a turn at checking on the meat or turning the potatoes and corn cooking in the coals of the fire.

Some children and teenagers were kicking a ball on the far side of the yard, and several adults were supervising them while standing and talking, longnecks in their hands.

A steady stream of young women came in and out from the farmhouse kitchen, carrying platters of fruit and bowls of salad or more sodas and beer to fill up the tubs of ice sitting on a table with the food.

No matter how hard he looked, Nelson couldn’t see anything that laid them open to danger.

Two older men were sitting on the front porch of the house, where they had a good view of the driveway and the gate to the road. If anyone tried to enter the property, they’d give him a warning. A few other older men were scattered through the farmland, ostensibly looking at the crops, but they were actually keeping watch for observers or potential danger. Again, they were far enough away from the house that there should be ample time to get the women and the Alpha to safety before anyone reached them, even if they were in a vehicle.

Nelson’s gaze constantly drifted to Judith. His job would be to protect the Alpha if there was an incident, but right now Sam and Jake were sticking to him like a second skin, so Nelson was free to let his gaze go where his heart and his thoughts were, and they were with the dainty blonde. She was completely at home with the pack, most of whom she’d only met very briefly before being returned to the safety of the pack lands.

She was bright and friendly, chattering away happily to anyone and everyone about any topic under the sun. He liked that she seemed content to be among his people. If—no, when—he and his brothers asked her to be with them, it would be important that she could relate to the panthers. He supposed they wouldn’t live in the warehouse anymore. They’d likely have to live somewhere that suited her work. Not that he had much of an idea what her work was. Something to do with business and investments. He didn’t even know if she had an office in town, but if she did, she hadn’t been to it in months and was apparently able to telecommute from just about anywhere, which was what she’d done while she and her mom were safely hidden away from Lutterworth up north.

That just reminded him once again that she was no longer safe and his job was to care for her.

The Alpha moved over to the center of the cookout area and gave a shrill, piercing whistle. Instantly, all the noise stopped, and people came across to him. Nelson knew the food wouldn’t be ready for at least an hour yet, so he guessed what the Alpha was about to say.

“It’s time to run. We’ll be running as a pack. That means no one, no one, goes off by themselves or with just a friend or two. We are running as a
pack
. Is that understood?”

His voice was full of authority, and everyone from the oldest to the youngest answered immediately, “Yes, sir.”

“Very well. The ladies will change in the house. Judith and Cherise will show you where to go. The men will change among the trees once the women leave us.”

Nelson watched as the women ushered the children inside with them. He and his brothers would be remaining here with a few of the older men to guard the humans and those who didn’t want to run. Sam and Jake would have more than enough people with them to guard the Alpha, and there were a few designated men who were going to watch out for stragglers or those inclined to disobey.

He would have liked to run, but Nelson was a security guard, trained to protect others, so staying was a much more sensible use of his skills and abilities right now.

The children who remained behind, with the few women who were watching them, plus a handful of humans, settled in the living room, and Nelson could see the two older men on lookout duty through the window. While Judith settled the children in front of the TV and switched the Disney Channel on, Cherise took a platter of cheese, crackers, and fruit, and put it on a coffee table near the women. Nelson was leaning against the wall, keeping an eye on everything when movement out front caught his attention. As it did, his cell phone rang.

“Could be trouble,” came the laconic voice of Tony, one of the guards.

“I’m watching.” Nelson waved to Naftali.

Originally the plan had been to put the women and children in the bus as they’d be easy to supervise there, but that had presumed the driver with the key to the bus would be around. Nelson hadn’t been outside to see where the man who’d driven the bus had been standing to know which pair of jeans to search for the bus key.

Ah fuck.

Nahum was already racing out of the room, so maybe he’d know. Naftali was watching the road outside the farm. A black SUV had stopped there, as if it was waiting for something or someone. Or maybe the driver was simply a law-abiding person who’d pulled off the road to answer his cell phone.

Just then his own cell phone rang again, and a voice whispered, “Might be trouble out back. Looks like an SUV parked at the edge of the property.”

“It is trouble. There’s one parked out front as well. Stay out of sight and follow them. We have to be able to prove Lutterworth was doing something illegal, not just sightseeing or that he didn’t notice the fence.”

“On it.”

His phone clicked off again, and Nahum was back holding the bus keys. Nelson cleared his throat took a deep breath and spoke loudly.

“Children, do you remember on the way here we said we might play a hiding game? Now is the time we’re going to play it. Stay close to your mom and go into the bus. Naftali will go first. You mustn’t make any noise. When you get to the bus, go to your seat and crouch on the floor in front of your seat. Let’s go.”

Some of the moms looked frightened, but the children moved swiftly and silently. Most of the younger ones seemed to think it was a good game. The older ones looked puzzled, as if they sensed there might be danger.

One of the last people to stand up was Maia. Maia was seven and a half months pregnant with triplets. As she passed him, she said very softly, “I might, just might, be able to get down on the floor. But likely you’ll need a crane to get me up again.”

Nelson grinned at her good humor. Getting her up again was the least of his worries. Protecting her and the triplet babies she was expecting was much more important right now.

Judith and Cherise followed Maia out the door, Nahum hurrying them along. Nelson did a brisk run through the rooms, to check that no one was still in the kitchen or the bathroom or mudroom, and then he followed everyone onto the bus.

Instantly, Nahum locked the door. Cherise was sitting on the floor in the back row, and Maia was lying with her head on Cherise’s lap. It wasn’t ideal, but if someone looked inside the bus likely they’d see quite a few of the people. The aim was that, since no one was sitting up on the seats and since everyone was at the cookout, no one would consider the bus as being the hiding place. They’d look in the house first.

The real problem was that most of the pack, especially the men, were running. Even if they shifted into human form, they’d be naked, and that would be obvious by all the clothing scattered around outside. Sam and Jake would have no way of knowing they were leading the Alpha back into danger by returning to the house, and the men didn’t even have boots on to move over the ground easily as humans. By the time they stopped and got dressed, Lutterworth could have kidnapped the Alpha and gone anywhere.