Theodore: Xavier’s Hatchlings ― Paranormal Dragon Shifter Romance

by Kathi S. Barton

  “Just scared me.” She looked at Theo as he stood behind them. “Honey, something is wrong with your husband. Look at him.”

  All she did was reach out and touch her hand to his. The calmness that came over Theo was immediate and profound. Shaking himself, as if he were shaking off bad memories, he said he was all right now. Pem asked Theo if he was sure.

  “Yes, I’m sure.” He leaned closer to her. “You have more strength than you did before, love. You might well have hit him with that. Not that I’m complaining, but just letting you know that the next time it comes to slapping the piss out of him, you should put more of your new powers behind it. That kid is going to be trouble.”

  Patrick was brought in about then. He looked around the room as if he was looking for someone, then sat down. He looked over at her and nodded but didn’t speak to her, his own mother. MaryBeth didn’t bother asking him how he was either. The sooner they were able to get out of this place, the better she’d feel.

  “Mrs. Black, I’m going to have to ask you to take your children out of here. There isn’t any reason for them to be witness to this, and I think they’ve caused enough trouble for one day.” The attorney for them, William Kasen, looked at her and smiled. “I’m sure you all wish to get this over with.”

  “My children go where we are. If she’d not hit him, then things would have been just fine. I’m going to press charges before we leave here. Pem abused my son.” Mr. Kasen rolled his eyes. “You think this is some sort of joke?”

  “No, I don’t. But since I’ve been in here, those boys of yours have broken the water fountain, torn the shade down from the window, and pulled out my paperwork, so I had to redo it all. The two of you have sat there like nothing was going on. I don’t know where you got your parenting skills, and usually, I’m not one to judge, but they’re not good kids. Now, you are more than welcome to go out with them. Your name isn’t mentioned in this will reading either. You either leave with them, or I have them escorted out by these fine officers here.” Caroline was torn. MaryBeth could see that. She’d very much like it if she left with the kids. But in the end, she decided to stay. “Very good. Now. I’m here to read the last will and testament of Harold Brook Black.”

  MaryBeth knew what was in the will. Her will said basically the same as his in that they had left the same things to the same people. She only wished that Harold hadn’t had to die for her to have to deal with this. The love the two of them shared wasn’t like the marriages she’d witnessed by other people.

  Last night Pem had married Theo Manning. It hadn’t been much more than them signing the paperwork to make it legal. Theo had put Pem on all his properties and credit that morning, and he’d even given MaryBeth a credit card with her name on it. MaryBeth didn’t know what she’d do with such a thing, but it was nice to have the security of knowing it was there.

  She looked at Pem when she quietly said her name. “Grandma, he’s asking you if you’re all right.” She said she was. She was musing. It made Pem smile. “I’m so glad to see you happy. You’ve no idea how happy that makes me.”

  “Of course, she’s happy. What the heck was Dad thinking in leaving her all that land? It’s not like she’s going to farm it or anything.” She was glad to see that leaving Pem everything had upset Austin. “I’m going to contest this will, so don’t go getting all settled in that place. It should have come to me. Not you.”

  “I’ve already sold it, as of last night. So, it’s a moot point now.” Austin and Patrick asked her what she was talking about. “The land that the house sits on. The acres that we bought long before you two were born. I sold it to the Manning Foundation yesterday. I’m glad for it too. I’m a very wealthy woman.”

  “Good, then you’re going to be the one that I get money from. Like I pointed out, it should have been mine in the first place. I’ll have you know that you’re going to be out on your butt, Mom, just as soon as I find an attorney that is willing to do this. Not that I think any of them wouldn’t want to take on a case this large, but I want it.” MaryBeth just stared at her son. “Oh, come on now. You can’t really believe that Patrick and I shouldn’t have gotten anything from the estate. You and Dad had to think this was a bad idea to leave everything to Pem. What sort of things did he expect my children to have if not the money?”

  “Frankly, Austin, I don’t think you have a leg to stand on, but you go on and try suing the Mannings for the land. Theo and his family made me a very generous offer, and I took it. I did speak to Mr. Kasen about it, and he said that since Pem is listed as the sole heir in both of our wills, and she agreed to the sale, then I could do whatever I wanted with it. So, I did.” Austin told her what he’d told Pem, not to get too comfortable. “Why, thank you for caring, but I am very comfortable with where I am now. I’m living with Pem and her new husband, Theo.”

  “Oh, so that’s how they took advantage of an old woman without the sense that God gave a rock. They bamboozled you.” Austin laughed, and she felt her temper rise up. Old woman indeed. “That’ll make things so much easier for me when I take them to court. That money will soon be in my bank account, and the land will be as well.”

  “What about me?” Austin looked down his nose at his younger brother. “I should get some of that money too. I’m his son as much as you are.”

  “Yes, but you can’t afford an attorney, while I, dear brother, can.” Austin laughed again, and when Theo joined him, Austin stopped laughing. “What do you find so funny, Mr. Manning? The fact that I’m smarter than you? Or is it because you just realized that you attached your horse to a broken-down piece of crap woman and a girl that doesn’t know enough to get in out of the rain?”

  “You are certainly one for turning a phrase, aren’t you? And the respect that you pay your mother is astonishing. I’m going to let you in on a few things while we’re finishing up here. One, your mother is a smart woman. Smarter than I think you’ll ever be. Pem is a billionaire. Yes, you heard me right, billion. She had millions even before she…how did you put it? Oh, attached me to a person who doesn’t know to get out of the rain. Well, this is what you might like to call a storm of all storms raining down on your head. Not only do I have more money than you do since you’re running on an empty account right now, but I have a great deal of power to back it up with. Money power is the best thing ever, don’t you think?” MaryBeth watched both her sons as Theo continued. “The property and the house are sold. As of an hour ago, the house has been torn down, and construction has started on the new hospital. If you’re interested to know, it’s going to be called the Harold and MaryBeth Black Memorial. Also, this is something you should heed right away. You ever talk to my wife and grandmother like that again, I will not just ruin you, but I will kill you as well.”

  If Austin was going to say something back to Theo, he was stopped by the officer coming into the room. He looked at them all, now standing, and asked to speak to Theo. Before she could ask the younger man what had happened, the door behind Theo was closed. A uniformed officer was now standing in front of the door, blocking anyone from following. Sitting down, she was terrified out of her mind, thinking of all the things that could have happened. Pem took her hand into hers and told her that Theo would tell her when he knew something.

  ~*~

  “Theo, this is bad. Really bad.” Theo, his mind centered on the two people in the room upstairs, nodded. “We didn’t have any idea he was carrying. Who would have, I ask you?”

  “I don’t know. But just remain calm when you talk to them. This isn’t going to go well, no matter who was at fault. I’m not saying it was you, but you have to remain calm, or that will go badly for the department. All right?” Captain Amos Shiller nodded and took in and let out two more breaths. “Are you ready to go in and talk to them? I’m going to talk to my wife and her grandmother while you—”

  “No. Don’t leave me.” Theo just looked at him. “I’m sorry. But I don
’t want to tell them on my own. I need you to be there with me for moral support. This is bad. Really bad.”

  If he said that to him once more, he was going to knock his block off. This was bad. Any idiot could see it was a fucking mess. As they entered the room where his new family was, he went right to Pem and held her hand. He’d not been able to tell her anything through their link. He just didn’t know what to say. Captain Shiller asked them all to have a seat.

  “We’ve had an incident downstairs in the bullpen—where the officers meet up for the day and the detectives get their notes gathered.” Theo cleared his throat. “Yes. All right. Officer Gray, one of my veteran men, was showing your sons around the office. They were headed back to the cells when a man was brought into the station. He was a little wild, and Officer Gray shielded the two boys with his body.”

  “Good for him. If you expect me to be sorry if he was hurt doing that, you’re going to be disappointed. That’s his job, after all.” Pem told Caroline to shut up. “I will not. I should have known something like this would happen. This is the worst town I’ve ever been in.”

  “There’s more.” They all looked at the captain. “As he was shielding them from the man, Stanley—he’s the oldest, I’m to understand—drew a weapon from the back of his shirt and fired two shots at Officer Gray, killing him. Three other officers were shot too. When it was realized that Stanley was the one firing at them, two more officers tried to talk him into putting the gun down. When Stanley fired, killing another officer, they had no choice but to fire back.”

  “Oh my god. No. You shot my son? He is only a little boy. Is he on his way to the hospital? He’d better be getting the best of care. And I’m not paying for it either. To think that you had me—”

  “Shut the hell up and listen to him.” Theo looked at Amos. “Go ahead. Tell them the rest. You’re doing fine.”

  Nodding, Amos looked at the couple in front of him. “When Stanley went down, we thought it was over. We were heartbroken for sure, but then David picked up the gun and began firing the rest of the clip at anyone he saw. He was as calm as his brother had been. Firing the gun as if he’d had plenty of practice at firing a weapon.” Caroline stood up, and Amos told her to sit down. She did so. “Do you by chance own a gun? Either of you?”

  “We both do. And we can discuss how my sons got hold of a gun from one of your men after I go and make sure they’re all right.” Amos laid the gun, in an evidence bag, between them. “That’s my wife’s gun. Where did you get it?”

  “Stanley had it on his person. There is also a second clip that we took from him. Have you, either of you, taken your sons to an armory? To learn how to shoot a gun?” Caroline answered this time. “You know that there is a reason it’s against the law for children to be taught how to fire a gun. They’re too young to know that dead is dead. And paying off someone, as you put it, to let them get into such a place will get them shut down as well. My goodness, do you have any idea what sort of mess this has caused? I have five bodies in my station house now that I have to blame directly on the two of you.”

  “I want to see my sons. Neither of them had better be hurt too badly, or I’m going to own this town.”

  Caroline stood up and was let out of the room. Austin followed her. Amos looked at the three of them as Patrick was taken back to his cell. The idiot was laughing the entire time.

  “They’re both dead.” MaryBeth looked at him and put her hand over her mouth in shock. “Stanley drew first and was killed when he fired back at one of the officers that was talking to him. David was killed the same way after he killed another officer and a bystander. Seven others were hurt in all the fire.”

  “He would have used my gun.” Theo told MaryBeth to not say a word. “No. No, I won’t. But she knew this might happen. Something would happen. When he took my purse, and it emptied, all I could think about was that I was so glad I’d done what was asked of me.”

  “Yes. I told you, however, that she can only see bits and pieces. She was talking to me while I was down with the others. Aunt Carson said now that it is over, she can see the chain of events fully. Had you had your gun on you when he took your purse, he would have killed all of us. Or at least tried. Even his little brother. Then he turned the gun on himself, she told me. Had he used your gun, MaryBeth, you would have been guilty of aiding and abetting. Aunt Carson is coming back here with my family to help with the clean up of this. I’m so very sorry for their deaths.”

  Theo saw that Amos was talking to William. There was going to be big fallout from this. They might even try to make it sound as if William had set the boys up because he’d told them to leave the room. Amos was telling him, in greater detail, what had happened. Pem asked if they could go and see to her uncle and aunt.

  There was wailing going on as soon as the elevator doors opened. Theo heard it as soon as they stepped into the elevator, but he’d not mentioned it. Both Caroline and Austin were being held back from touching either of the boys, which wasn’t going well. One of the many officers still there said if they didn’t behave, he was going to jail them until the forensic officers were done with their job. That didn’t shut them up, but it did have them standing back.

  “What should we do?” He told Pem he didn’t know that any of them could do anything. Not yet, anyway. “They’re just little boys, Theo. What would have made them do such a thing as fire on officers?”

  Theo, honey, I have them both here with me. Your cousins have found their way to me and are here demanding answers. He asked his mom if she was all right. Yes, dear, I’m all right. Shaken, as you can well imagine. How are Pem and her lovely grandmother? They’re not hurt, are they?

  No. They’re taking it as hard as you can imagine. Austin and his wife are throwing around lawsuit threats, but nothing that I’d not expect. What are they saying? If you can tell me. She told him she wanted to speak to Pem as well. All right. But be gentle with her, Mom. She’s hurt by this too.

  Theo held onto Pem as his mom asked her if she was all right. After telling her that she was more worried about her grandma, she told her what she’d told him. That Stanley and David were with her.

  Stanley is pissed that he’d not been able to kill his grandma when he had the gun. I’m telling you what they’re saying to me. I want you to know I’m not one to sugar coat things. Is that all right? Pem said she’d not have it any other way. Good girl. I’d not tell your grandmother much of what I relay to you. Please don’t. I think it would break her heart more.

  It would, I think. Tell me why he wanted to kill my grandma. Mom told them both what Stanley had told her. I don’t understand. What was his problem with having her around when he rarely saw her?

  He said she was a drain on society. I believe they might well have heard that from their parents. David is talking to me now. He said it’s unfair that Stanley got to kill more people than he did. Their plan was to trade off the gun for each of them to have the same amount of kills. Pem looked up at Theo as his mom continued. They thought they’d not be killed because people would underestimate them and fob them off. Well, Stanley is saying that they bet no one does that again.

  Do they know they’re dead? Theo told Pem when she asked him what he meant by that. Sometimes the dead just think they’re hurt or that nothing happened to them. When that happens, they have to figure out what happened to them before Mom or Dad can help them.

  I don’t believe Stanley is aware yet. However, David is. Or he’s figuring it out on his own. I don’t know if you’ve seen the bodies yet, but David was shot several times in the chest, one of them in the heart, and Stanley was shot three times. One of the bullets hit him in the head. He was dead before he fell over. Pem started crying softly. I’m so sorry, Pem. I should have thought about that before speaking.

  No. It’s all right. I need to know before I see them. Not that knowing it will make it any better, but this will help.

 
Theo held onto both women as they cried softly. Caroline was finally able to hold her boys, and she pulled them into her arms, sobbing loudly. He was sure he might well have been doing the same had they been his children. They planned this, didn’t they? They planned to come here and make a name for themselves at great cost to a lot of people?

  Yes. Mom told him that they’d be landing soon, and the jet was going back for his dad and the rest of the family. They’d be there until the funerals were over, to support Pem and MaryBeth. When Pem said she was going to take her grandma outside, Mom spoke to him again. Theo, I don’t have to tell you to keep an eye on them. Especially Pem. She’s going to take this harder later when it hits her that they’re both gone.

  I promise you, I will. There will be a lot of lawsuits from this, I’m thinking.” Mom told him that he could count on it. “I’m assuming too that Aunt Carson has a recording of everything that went down today. She might well need to use them when this goes to trial. I have no idea why, but I have a feeling that somehow, Pem and I are going to be sued over this too.

  I’d say that’s a good bet. I’m having Carson find you a good attorney. I’ll give you a name when she has one for the two of you.” She was quiet for a moment. Stanley has figured out that he’s gone. He’s actually threatening me for not sending him back. The boy has some big balls for one so young. I’ll give him that. Before I send them on, because I’m sure they’re going to cause trouble in the world of the dead, I’ll talk to Pem about seeing them. She more than likely won’t, but I want her to make that decision.

  Mom told him they were landing now and would be at his house shortly, and he told her how much he loved her. After telling him that she loved him as well, the connection was closed. As he was going to find Pem and her Grandma to take them home, Amos asked him if he’d hang out for a bit.