“Oh, I think we can call it a day.” She was happy. It wasn’t going to cost her an arm and a leg to get this thing done and over with. “And I think I can assure that Ms. Fisher won’t have to come back to you for the money and property anymore. Melissa Tyler, I find you guilty on all counts brought before me today. Since you have willingly and without any encouragement simply told us all that you’re not above bribing me or anyone else that will get things moving for you, I find no reason to waste the taxpayers’ money on what I would think would be a short trial. You will be taken to federal prison upon leaving here, and—”
“Wait. That’s not going to work. I have to get home and take a bath.” He looked at her oddly again. “Seriously. Just let me write you out a check, and we’ll call it even. All right?”
“Bailiff, I want her out of my courtroom now. I cannot stand to hear her voice anymore.” Missy told him he was making a huge mistake. “And why is that?”
“I’m not going to go away quietly. I know people.” The judge asked her what sort of people she might know. “The kind that will take you to task if you don’t listen to what I’m telling you to do.”
“Did you just threaten me?” She just stared at him, knowing he’d get it sooner or later. “Get her out of here now.”
Missy thought things did end up well until she was put back into the van she’d come here in. Telling the person locking her into the seat that the judge had let her go, no one would answer her about when she was going to get to go home. People needed to realize this wasn’t the way things went. When she told them she’d pay, she would. Didn’t they realize how much she was worth? Apparently, she was going to have to have a talk with someone about this. They’d have to get her out of this mess, or she’d have to take action.
Missy sat back in her seat and waited. She tried to tell herself they were just running her by the jail to get something, but she had a feeling she wasn’t going anywhere just yet. Whatever happened in the next few hours, someone was going to pay. And it wasn’t going to be her. Missy wasn’t stupid like the cow Lily was. She needed to get her things in order and take her to court once again. It wasn’t that she thought she was above the law, but if there was money, that should count for something. Missy wasn’t going to be pissy, but this really was going to make her have to hold onto her temper a little tighter for a few hours, then all bets were off. She was going to have to make some serious promises with money. People were starting to get on her nerves just a little too much.
“Ms. Tyler?” She nodded, asking the guard if she was going to get to talk to the judge again. “No. He’s made his decision. I have a list here that I’m to read to you if you’d like. Or I can give it to you. So you know, it’s going to be recorded that I read it or handed it over to you.”
“What sort of list?” The guard nodded and pulled open the envelope. “Just give it to me. You’ll be stumbling over words, and we’ll be all day.”
Once she was handed the envelope, the woman just stood there. Asking her what she was doing now, she said she had to stay to see if Missy had any comments after reading it. Pissed off, she started reading the list, as it was called.
“This says I’m to give up the money, the cars, houses, and property that now belong to Lily. That’s not what we agreed on.” She asked her if the judge had said those words. “Well, no. But I was going to give him a kickback for helping me get the things back to the way I wanted them.”
“Apparently, he can’t be bought.”
The guard walked away. No matter how many times Missy called for her to return, she didn’t. Picking up the paperwork again, she read on. There were other things she was going to be giving to the cow, like her own bank account money and any and all homes she might own. But—and this was the real kicker—she was still going to be paying on the unpaid bills she’d accumulated while enjoying—it actually said enjoying—her time in prison.
Missy sat there thinking about what had happened. It occurred to her that she was in deeper shit than she’d ever been. Not only that, but she was also going to prison, and it seemed there was very little to nothing she could do about it.
“Maybe she was a little smarter than I was.” She’d never say that to the other woman, but she knew it to be true. “I’ve been royally fucked, it seems.”
Chapter 7
“That takes care of the newspaper articles that Missy took out slamming Rogue on her work. With that, along with a retraction from Missy’s attorney on all the trouble caused by her bribing the judge, the bill collectors you had before are being taken care of. You need to decide what you want to do with the house you shared with Mark, along with the accounts he has concerning the business. As Cass said, you can hire someone to take care of that if you wish.” Quin glanced at Rogue. Lily was still looking poleaxed, which he didn’t blame her for, but she needed to be shaken out of it before she had to make an appearance before the judge. “The money you wanted to be set up in your children’s names has been finalized as of this morning.”
“Lily, what’s the matter?” She looked at her sister, then at him. He had a feeling she’d not only not been paying attention to him but that she’d not been paying attention since she’d arrived a couple of hours ago. “Lily, we’ve been talking about your money and what needs to be done now.”
“I know I have a lot of it. Millions and millions. But right now, I’m having trouble getting around the fact that Missy thought I was stupid.” Rogue snorted. “Well, she said it several times to me. I think that wasn’t anything I missed.”
“No, you didn’t miss anything. However, what you are missing is the fact that you’re not in jail and that woman is.” This time Lily snorted. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you do that before. Are you perhaps taking on a new life?”
“No. I’m thinking that is the stupidest thing you’ve ever said to me. She’s in jail, and I’m not. She should have been there from the very beginning.”
Quin leaned back in his chair and watched the two of them. He’d seen them fighting before. It was epic how they would resort to name-calling, then hug and sob, telling each other how sorry they were. He and his brothers would fight with fists and teeth. These two were so civilized it was almost boring to watch.
“What the hell am I supposed to do with all this money?” Lily continued. “Not to mention, I think I was told I have three houses, as well as a boat someplace, and some kind of winter home. What the hell is a winter home? And why on earth would someone want to go to a house in the winter months when it’s flipping cold?”
“First of all, you have a boat in Florida. I told you that.” Lily growled, and Quin had to hold his laughter. “Secondly, you have a winter home, where it is warmer than here, and you go stay so you can keep up with your tan.”
“I don’t tan, and you well know it.” Rogue said she was missing the point. “No. I’m not. I’m flipping overwhelmed, and I—”
“Fucking. Say it, Lily. You’re fucking overwhelmed, and it’s getting to you. You might feel a good deal better if you were to say the word once in a while. Or better yet, get fucked. Getting laid might loosen you up a little bit.”
Quin left the two of them before they turned their anger on him. Not that he would have minded so much Rogue being upset with him. But Lily would sob how sorry she was and hug and hold him, and she’d felt terrible. He would end up feeling worse than she did, and he’d only been an innocent bystander.
“I was just going to go and talk to you, but I heard the girls in there talking.” Roger asked him if he had a few minutes. “I have some things I’d like to talk to you about. None of it is earth-shattering, but I do need to talk to you.”
“Absolutely. Anytime, you know that.” Roger nodded. “I’m betting it has a little to do with the money that was put into your account this morning. I want you to know that had it been me, I’d have maxed out the account and given you access to more should
you have needed it.”
“I don’t need what is in there now.” Offering Roger a glass of tea, he poured himself some as well. “That’s a great deal of money. And while I’m aware that my daughters are wealthy, that doesn’t mean they had to share with me.”
“Yes, it does.” Roger asked him why. “Lots of reasons come to mind, but I’ll tell you the one that Lily and Rogue said to me. You’re going to be living for a very long time, and neither one of them wants you to ever be unable to take the children anywhere you want because of lack of funds or lack of time. This way, you can go and come with them as you please and not have to work around a schedule that might hold you back from enjoying them.”
“Still, that’s a great deal of scheduling.” Quin asked him if he’d had a good time at the park with them. He didn’t really need to answer him. It was written all over his face. “Oh, you have no idea. It was like a dream come true for me. I didn’t worry about money. I didn’t worry about the food we ate. It was such a wonderful trip that next year, I’m going to purchase a membership.” Roger sat there for a few seconds. “I get it now. I mean, just like that, it was as clear as day what you were telling me. Thanks.”
“My pleasure. But I’m glad I can talk to you. I wanted to ask you about your housing. I would love for you two to live here for the rest of your lives, but I do understand that you’d like some space of your own. I think you also mentioned you’d like to put in a little garden, as well as have enough room for your grandkids to come and stay with you.” He said the bedrooms were a must, but the garden was open. “I’m glad to hear that. There is a large piece of property at the end of my mother’s land that she would like to gift to you. She said she’s going to give it to you anyway, so you might as well take it.”
Quin handed him the envelope with the deed in it already turned over in Roger and Lexi’s name. When Roger read it over, he laid it down and started crying. Quin was all right in handling the tears of women, but men, not so much. He waited until the older man was able to regain control of himself.
“I don’t know what to say.” He told him to say thank you and move on. “Your mother, your entire family, has been a Godsend to my family. If not for you and yours, I don’t know where I’d be right now. Certainly not being able to visit with my daughters and grandchildren.”
“I’m glad to hear you say that. I thought for sure I was going to have to call my mom here and have her knock you around a little.” Roger laughed, saying he thought she’d do more than that. “You should also know that there are workers ready to start on the house as soon as you wish. There is no hurry, of course, but I wanted to let you know that.”
“Thank you. That seems so lame, but I sincerely mean it.” They talked about the house, as well as anything else that came to their minds. He liked Roger. Lexi too. They were a good couple, and they were having a great deal of fun being around all the kids. “The other day, Gabe asked Lexi if he could call her Grandma. I thought she was going to cry for a week. But after that, they all started calling both of us grandparents. I have to tell you, there is no sweeter word than being called that. I never thought it would happen for me.”
“You’re a lucky man, Roger. We both are.” When the women joined them in the kitchen, Lexi was with them. They’d been crying again, and he could only hope they got over this soon. It tore at his heart when they did that. “Roger and I were just talking about dinner plans. Do you ladies have any? Because we were thinking we’d like to take the most beautiful women in this house out.”
“Good save.” He grinned at Rogue. “We were just talking about that as well. While having dinner with you guys seems like a fun night, we were thinking it’s been a while since all of us hit up a restaurant. I’ve already contacted the rest of the family, and they’re going to meet us there at six. Even your mom is going to cut out early from the barn she’s been working with and meet us there.”
“I forgot they were putting up walls today. Brook said she’d been able to save a great deal of the wood, as well as some of the bricks that were used around it. I can’t wait until it’s ready to use.” Rogue told him it was supposed to be done by the fall. “I wonder if Mom would like to have something for the grand opening, like perhaps a huge Thanksgiving feast, and invite the townspeople.”
They talked about that all the way through the time to leave. Even on the way to the place, he and Rogue spoke about the things that had been found in the foundation, as well as how it had been a hoot to have seen the old bathrooms that had been in the thing. As they were pulling into the parking lot, he could see where the building was being worked on, and since they were early, they headed in that direction.
Not only were the walls all up but the inside of it was nearly finished being drywalled. They were leaving enough of the posts up, so it retained its natural look. But as Mom had wanted to be able to use it year-round, the walls had been insulated, and not just a furnace, but air had been put in as well. The large kitchen was nearly finished except for the stock being put on the shelves, and Quin loved that there were enough ovens and stovetops that even an army could be fed in there.
“There is going to be a gaming room too. Not for adults, but for kids. There will be beds and a fridge put in for the little ones.” His mom joined him in the room and showed them around what was going in and what yet had to be installed. “I’ve never had so much fun spending money for a good cause in my life.”
“It looks done for the most part. I can’t believe how much you’ve gotten done in a month.” Neither did his mom, apparently. “I guess when you have money, as you said, it’s nice to be able to spread it around a little.”
“The pool is going to surprise everyone, I think. Of course, it won’t be filled up this year, but next year it will be a nice place for families to hang out. There is going to be a snack bar too.” Mom thanked Rogue for suggesting it. “The idea came in that kids should be able to work in the place in the summer months for a tab when they come here. I love that it’s going to be a community thing.”
Mom wasn’t keen on charging people for the pool, but Cass pointed out that insurance and maintenance were going to be expensive. He also said if they charged even a little, it would be more of a treat than just something to do when they wanted to come over. Quin could tell she was still on the fence about it, but he knew Cas was right. There was no point in making things too easy on the town.
Quin spoke to his mom about Thanksgiving, and she was all for it. Her suggestion was that they cooked all the food and let each family bring their own place setting. It would save them on washing everything to be put away again. Even though there were two dishwashers in the kitchen, having people bring their own plates would keep down the cost of that as well.
“I’d suggest a sign-up sheet too. Not just for those who are coming, but for some people to come in and help cook, as well as cut up the food for this. It might go better that way where you’re not worn out from cooking about fifty turkeys while the other people are home relaxing.” Mom told him that was a great idea. “I would also like to suggest that we hire some of the kids at the school to help out. Cleaning up or even getting coffee and other drinks. I’d be willing to pay them if they wanted to use the money for band or whatever club they might be in.”
“Yes, that’s wonderful. I know that sometime in March, the band has already set up a time to use the building for a large garage sale. They’re renting tables for people to use. Also, they’re taking donations of items they can sell themselves. I know Ronan and Brook have said they’d supply the food for them to sell. Oh, this is going to be so good for the town, son. I cannot wait for it to be finished so we can get things moving in it.”
Quin hugged his mom as they were being seated.
The others were already seated and had drinks. Instead of giving them a hard time about being late, they asked about the barn and what kind of things had been done. Brook said she thought it was not o
nly going to come in under budget, but it might be ready as much as ten days earlier than she’d said. Not that there had been a budget to work with. Brook and her crew weren’t charging his mom anything for the work or the material.
Dinner was fun, loud, and friendly. With their ever-growing family, he was sure they were going to have to rent an entire restaurant when the time came to do this in the future. Perhaps they’d use the barn. Quin knew for a fact there were several large smokers and grills being put together for anyone to use. It might be more fun to do it that way, he thought, rather than having to watch themselves with how loud they were, and they could be themselves more. Quin thought it might be fun to even be able to shift for the kids once in a while. He thought both the human and shifter kids would have fun with that.
“I wanted to talk to you about something.” Ronan sat down next to him after their plates had been taken away. “There is some talk about town that there are two industries coming in. Have you heard anything?”
“No, but then I’ve been out of town for the last few days.” He said he’d seen his travel home. “Thanks. We’re planning our first trip in a few weeks. What kind of industries have you heard about?”
“One of them is a place that makes boxes. Custom ones that will have names on them. The other I’ve not been able to find out about. No one in the family has any knowledge of it either.” Quin told him it was probably that, just a rumor. “That’s what I was thinking too. Just something that would get people excited, only to disappoint them. Cass told me that you and he were going to go with Robby to talk to his son. I guess I never knew some of the things he’s been doing.”
“Me either, to be honest with you. If not for Billy, I’m not sure how much longer it would have been going on.” They talked about the young girl and her abilities. “She told me some things I think you should be aware of, especially before the next meeting. There are some rumors going around that you and Brook might have a little bit of an issue. Something about the new rules that have been put in place. I might have been aware there are new ones, but I won’t lie to you and tell you I’ve read them to any extent.”
Quinlan: Foster’s Pride – Lion Shapeshifter Romance (Foster's Pride Book 3) Page 10
