Carroll: Morgan’s Leap – Leopards Shapeshifter Romance

by Kathi S. Barton

  “I thought that as well. But she said that just like every trial we hold, there is always something that had to be there for whatever it was come to a head, even though they look innocent.” Scout asked him what had happened. “Nothing, but she told me this great story to make me remember. A couple was having marital problems. She called the police and had him arrested while he was at work. A possibility of him losing his job, his pension, and anything else he’d gotten while working was something she’d not thought of. She claimed he was beating her, knocking her around a great deal. There were even documents from the hospital to prove she’d been hurt. However, come to find out, it wasn’t the husband at all, but the woman’s boyfriend. She thought if she were to get a divorce from her husband, she’d get half of his earnings—half of everything, including taking the house. When she found out he wouldn’t get jack for being an abusive spouse, she dropped the charges. Humans are very odd, I think.”

  “That’s the story?” Carroll finished up the story, telling him how when she had him arrested at his workplace, his employers had gotten into his computer and found all kinds of child pornography. “So they were both ass hats and should have been put in prison anyway.”

  “Yes. They were both terrible people, but the man, even though he was innocent of the crime of beating his wife, was guilty of something more serious.” Scout asked him how that was pertaining to what he’d asked him. “It pertains to everything. Don’t just look at what you’re given in any situation. But branch out, think outside the box. At least that’s what I got from it. Never look at anything without looking at all of it.”

  “Okay, I get it. But will you help me look into the gems? And not get me in trouble with your wife? She’s very protective of us, and while it’s not necessary, it’s wonderful having someone other than Mom care if I get my finger smashed or not.” Carroll told his brother he was weird. “So? You get to have her with you all the time. However, when she’s with one of us, we’re the center of her attention. I’m looking forward to having a mate that will look at me the way Hanna does you. It’s mushy and very heartwarming at the same time.”

  “I was wrong about you.” Scout thanked him. “You’re not just weird, but insane too. How did I not notice that before today? I guess you’re better at hiding it. But Hanna has brought it to the surface. Hopefully, she’ll let you live with us when the rest of us have mates, and you’re sitting in the corner trying to pick up pieces of your insane life while we have fun.”

  “You’re not right in the head.” They were entering the kitchen then, and Carroll kissed Hanna on the cheek. “Oh, you’re making cookies? I want some too. I’ll be good if you promise to give me some to take home.”

  Carroll went into his office while Hanna told Scout how many cookies he could have. Carroll wasn’t worried about not getting any of them. There was his own stash in his bottom desk drawer that he was never going to share with anyone. Taking one out, he began looking up gems as he munched on it, keeping an eye on the door while he did so.

  Carroll knew that there were opals and diamonds and that they were raw, not cut. He’d not seen them yet, the pile that had been brought here, but he’d bet they were all beautiful. Not as lovely as his pretty bride, however. Still looking at prices when his brother came to the office, the two of them set to work. Mom was going to join them, he told him, and bring some of the gems with her.

  “Good. Because looking at this without reference is not really helpful. We’ll need a scale as well as a ruler.” He had both in his desk and pulled them out. “This might be more than we can handle on our own. You’re aware of that, aren’t you?”

  “Yes. I thought it would be a simple thing, just looking them up. But it’s not. I should have known that, but I was hopeful.” By the time Mom showed up, they were more confused than anything. Laughing at their lack of progress, Mom told them she’d find someone she could trust to tell them the gems’ value. “That might be better than us fumbling through this.”

  So while Mom made some calls, he and Scout talked about the calls Hanna was going to make to the Mission family. Something he would have done if asked, but he was so much happier that she was doing it. They’d need a little compassion, and he didn’t have it in him to do that with those women. Glad for the distraction of the gems, he knew he needed to get back to work. There was still a great deal to do with the rest of the land they worked.

  Chapter 8

  Allison hated spending her time in the courtroom when she had so much work to be done at her office. Well, lab anyway. She did have an office but spent less time in it than she did her home. It was a sore spot for her brother, she thought with a laugh, that she worked harder than he did. They’d had a tiff about it last night.

  “Because you’re a man?” He told her that had nothing to do with it. “Then what, pray tell, has your nuts in a vise about how much I work? You’d rather I was broke and living on the streets?”

  “At least then you’d be out of the basement of your workplace and meeting people. When was the last time you were out on a date? I bet it’s been months.” She didn’t tell him she’d been out the Friday before and that it had ended badly for the man. “Allison, you’re a young, beautiful woman. I want to see you happy, with a man in your life. Well, not just any man, but one that will be able to get you out and about once in a while.”

  “Are you happy?” He told her he was, very much so. “Good. I can live vicariously through you.” He huffed at her. “I just have it in my head that I’m not ever going to have enough money to keep me cared for when I’m old and gray. I don’t care about dating. Men—not you and Tony, but all the other men I know—are intimidated. Some of them are just out for a quick fuck, then never call again. I can do that shit on my own without a man.”

  “Allison Mission. What a thing to say.” She told him it was the truth. “I know you can, and more than likely do, but I don’t want to know about it. Tell Tony. That’ll embarrass the hell out of him. Do it when he gets here.”

  They had fun the rest of the night. And Tony, her brother’s husband, was right there with her on the fact that men were idiots and wanted only a quickie. She had her own set of rules when it came to dating and men, and so far, everyone had been sorely lacking on about all the points she had.

  When she heard them call her name as an expert witness, she stood up. Allison had nineteen such cases today, and she wasn’t going to waste any time fucking around with the defense side of the table. Not that she cared one way or another who she was working with, but this guy, Lance Jackson, was one that she had disliked from the moment she came into the courtroom an hour ago.

  After being sworn in, she opened up her tablet to the right file. Of course, Lance had something to say about electronics in the courtroom, and she had to show the judge that not only was she not on the Internet, as Lance was accusing her of, but she had all her files for today where she could get to them.

  “I guess the morgue is set up much differently than when I was there. I worked my way through college by being a MedTech that would retrieve bodies.” She only stared at him, something she’d learned right from the start. Only ever answer things from an attorney that was in the form of a direct question. Otherwise, you were screwed. They’d lead you down a merry path, and you’d be so messed up by the time they were finished that they’d have you thinking you did the murder and were out on the grassy knoll in November. She waited for him to get to his point.

  “Dr. Mission, you said you were a doctor. What sort of doctor?” She listed the medical degrees she had. “You must have been a child prodigy then. I’ve never met someone so well qualified before.”

  She continued to stare at him. When he turned to the judge, asking him to make her answer the question, she looked at him too. This might be the highlight of the day, she thought.

  “He didn’t ask me a question. Stating that I might be a prodigy isn’t a question. Not to me
ntion, it has nothing to do with my being here today.” The judge looked at Lance when she did. “Ask questions or not. I have a busy schedule today, and you’re not helping.”

  “Are you a child prodigy?” She said she wasn’t a child at all. “Christ, you’re going to be a pain today, aren’t you?”

  “Yes.” She held onto her laughter when the judge laughed too. When he didn’t scold her for being honest, Allison decided she was going to have a great deal of fun today after all. Waiting on Lance, she looked down at her watch to see what message had come in. Her brother and Tony were sending her emojis of happy faces. If they only knew how happy she really was.

  “All right, Doctor, what were your findings on case number sixty-seven?” She referred to her notes, then told him what she’d found. “Was it murder?”

  “I’m not qualified to answer that.” He asked her why not. “I’m only the coroner in this. I don’t determine the outcome as to who might be guilty or not.”

  “I see. So what you’re telling me is that you don’t know anything about this case other than the body of the man you worked on.” She only stared at him. “What is it you do there, Doctor? Besides thinking up ways to make sure you aggravate the attorneys that work with you.”

  “My job.” She looked at the judge. “Is this going anywhere, sir? I mean, he’s already insulted my work ethics, disrespected me on what I do for a living, as well as tried to make me answer questions that have been answered. Several times.”

  “You’re right. Mr. Jackson, either get to the meat of why you’re here or sit down. We, as she’s pointed out to you several times, have a full docket today, and you not understanding what she’s here for is getting on my nerves as well.” He looked over at her. “Doctor Mission, will you please tell us your findings on the body that we’re all here to talk about?”

  Reading from her notes, she told them what she’d found. Also that the toxicology report was still pending. For fun, she even told the courtroom what she’d found in his stomach, as well as how long it had been since he’d eaten food. The lack of responses from the attorney didn’t matter. She’d been asked to tell them, and she was doing that.

  “How long do you think he had been dead before being found?” Allison gave them an estimation on it. Lance, of course, wasn’t happy with that. “I would think with all your education, you’d have a better idea than just an estimation.”

  Nothing from her. But she did want to point out that he’d not know at all if she was not there. When he huffed again, she smiled at him. That, of course, sent him on a rant about how she was purposely giving him a headache.

  “All right. I give up. Whatever she’s holding back from me is beyond anything that I can deal with. I’m finished with this person.” She looked over at the other table, sure that this attorney was going to have the same fun with her.

  When he stood up and smiled, Allison thought she could easily lay at his feet. It was that good. Clearing her throat, waiting on him to speak, Allison glanced down at her notes. She didn’t want to be caught drooling on her tablet over a man that would more than likely be pissed off before she gave him what she’d gathered for this pretrial.

  “Doctor Mission, why is it hard to determine what time Mr. James died?” She told him he’d been lying in the sun for several hours, and decomposition had been rushed. “What, if anything, would that do to a fresh body?”

  “The breakdown would have been quicker. Also, any kind of wounds that might well have been on the body before it washed up on the shoreline would have been a place where insects or any other kind of animal would have been able to smell.” He asked her, in her estimation, how long the body had been dead. “Anywhere between forty and fifty hours.”

  This man knew what he was doing. He never once insulted her but asked simple complete questions. She was able to let him see pictures she’d taken when he asked, as well as some of the wounds she would have associated with water damage. In less than two hours, they were moving on to the next case. Allison had a break and was out the door before anyone else.

  Just as she was sitting at one of the many tables outdoors for lunch, the other attorney asked if he could join her. When she nodded, he put the largest sub on the table and sat down himself. Before she could comment on how much she was enjoying working with him, he spoke.

  “My name is Marley Golden. I’m a last in line substitute for the man who was supposed to be in the courtroom working with you today.” She nodded and told him what her full name was. “I have several messages for you from my family. It was only my intention to come here and tell you what I knew, then move on. But I was asked by my boss to come here and work with you on that case. I’m sorry. I’m telling you a lot of information, but I wanted you to know exactly what I was doing.”

  “I see. Well, not really, but I’m guessing you’re going to get to that.” He nodded and told her he was sorry. “It’s all right, Mr. Golden. I’m sure you are a good attorney despite being a little sneaky. What is it you have to tell me?”

  “Your mother was Rachel Mission, correct?” Allison looked around to see if she was somehow lurking in the area. “I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but she died several days ago. Massive stroke brought on by stress and her diabetic illness.”

  “She’s really dead.” He said she was, then handed her a clipping that must have been in the newspaper. “I’m not going to tell you I’m all right with her being gone, but I think you might well have already figured that out.”

  Reading the obit, she was glad to see that neither hers nor her brother’s name were mentioned in it. Asking him if she could send it to her brother, he let her. She laid the clipping on the table and took a picture of it with her tablet. Sending it to her brother and Tony, she wasn’t surprised to hear from him almost immediately.

  “She’s dead? How the hell did you find out?” Allison told him she was going to put him on speaker and introduced him to Mr. Golden. “I’m not at all surprised that she had a stroke. She was always bitching about how we needed to do things for her because of her heart. I wouldn’t have thought she’d had one, to be honest.”

  Allison asked Marley what they expected them to do. She had a feeling it was more than him just coming here to tell her about their mother’s death. He would want them to come home or something. She wasn’t going to do it no matter what anyone said about it.

  “There is a will, but I don’t know anything about it. I’m sure, like her sister-in-law—who is in jail, by the way—she didn’t have too much to say about her children. Did you know that Blanche has a daughter?” Butch told Marley they knew her, and if he wanted them to, they’d get in touch with her. “Please do. I’d like to know if she has any intention of going back to Ohio or not. I’m sure, after hearing the two of you talking, that neither of you will be there either.”

  “No.” She and Butch answered Marley at the same time. But it was her that continued. “We left home and vowed never to return. It wasn’t as bad as a lot of kids have it at home. It was especially bad for Meredith, Blanche’s daughter. She was older than us and let us live with her until we got up on our feet. Our mom treated our cousin much worse than she did us. At least we had food on the table at least once a day, as well as groceries in the fridge. Meredith would have starved if not for Butch and I helping her out.”

  “Blanche told my sister-in-law that her daughter wouldn’t come home to see her. She said it was her fault.” Allison thought that was a lie, but didn’t blame the man for relaying what he’d heard. “Is there anything I can do for the two of you? It’s at my disposal to help you in any way you need or desire.”

  “I can’t think of a thing. How about you, Allison?” She told them both that she didn’t know what it could be either. She was happy to know her mother wasn’t around, but she’d not wish death on her. “That’s sort of the way I’m thinking. While I had washed my hands of her years ago, I wouldn’t have wish
ed her to die like she did. But then, stranger things have happened. I want to thank you for coming out here, Mr. Golden. It was very nice of you and your family to find us and let us know.”

  “It was actually my pleasure. Your sister is a hell of an expert witness.” They all laughed, and Butch hung up, telling her he’d talk to her later. “What do I tell them about the will if you or your brother are mentioned in it? I’ll do whatever you wish.”

  She ate some of her salad before answering Marley. Allison had no desire to go there for any reason. But she’d rather go than to have Butch go. He was still having a hard time telling people he was in a same-sex marriage, something that few knew about him. Finally feeling like she should say something, she shoved her plate away and looked at him.

  “I’ll go if they can make it so it’s only me. Butch would go too if it came down to it, but I’d rather him not to have to. He’s saved me a few times—this time, I’d like to save him from what he might encounter back home.” Marley asked if it was because of him being gay. “Yes. For the most part, he’s had to hide his true self away from everyone. Butch is finally getting to the point where he can introduce Tony to people. I don’t want anything to make that go away for him.”

  “I wouldn’t either. He seems like a very nice man, and I’d want what is best for him as well.” She didn’t know if he was mocking her or not, so she said nothing. “You’re not at all like I thought you’d be. After you giving Lance a hard time, I thought for sure your ‘only questions get answered’ rule was going to be in your personal life as well. I did love that you had him chasing his ass a few times. It, if you ask me, is a good way to deal with attorneys. Never answer what you don’t have to.”

  “Thanks. When I first started out, it was hard for me not to fill in the quiet time they would give me. Twice I hung myself by giving away too much. I actually learned how to do that from my brother. Butch is the best kind of attorney. Unreadable.” She laughed. “I have to admit, it was pleasant talking to you there. You know your stuff as well.”