“Does he know where I am? Before you answer that, there are things I have to tell you. I can’t leave here. I mean, I could if I wanted to skip out on not paying the rental fees I owe, but as it stands right now, I owe about five hundred dollars’ worth of back rental money.” Fisher asked her if she’d allow him to pay it for her. “I have the money now, but in addition to the money I owe here, I also have some truck issues. It’s ten years old and starting to show its age. I don’t think I can make it there with what I have going on. And it’ll cost me more to have it fixed than I have at the moment. Even with the money from Alexander.”
“My truck is brand new and can pull the camper if you’d like to sell your truck while here. The other option you have is, if you’d allow Peter to fix things for you, the truck and the camper will be new once he knows he can fix it up for you. You’re his world right now.” She looked at the little man sitting on the counter in her kitchen. Peter’s head was nodding so quickly it was comical. “Whatever you want to do, it’s fine with me. You’re my world as well.”
She didn’t say anything but continued to stare at Peter. When she spoke, it was soft and emotionally filled. “Mom and I went to the auction where this was being sold off. It was raining so incredibly hard that even with umbrellas, we were drenched. It was still early May. There was only one other couple there because of the weather. Anyway, I was able to get this one and a second camper for less than I would have paid for one of them on a lot.” She turned and looked at him. “We decided to work on the better of the two of them. Shining the outside up so that it gleamed brightly. Getting some of the parts from this one was easy, finding other things wasn’t so much. But we made that sucker look fantastic. We sold it for a lot of money, to us anyway, and used that money to fix this one up. There are so many memories here that I don’t know if I can part with it.”
“Then don’t.” They both looked at Peter when he spoke. “My lady, you can take it home with you now that the house is complete, and use it for your office for your job. It would be easy for us to make sure it was a good safe place for you to work.”
“I’ve thought of that too.” A spark of happiness lit up her face, and right then, he knew he’d make this work for her. Even if he had to carry the damned camper on his back. “You said the house was complete. While I’m not sure what you did, I’m excited to see it. I’m excited about everything, to be honest with you. Will you hold me, Fisher?”
“Forever.” When she got up off the floor and sat on his lap, he saw Peter disappear. “I have a ring for you too. Aurora gave each of us a stone to use to bring our mates into the family. By the way, she is going to come and see you soon. She said she wishes to meet the woman that took my heart.”
“I’d love to meet her. Someday.” The tiny camper tightened a little, and Fisher looked at the beautiful woman who was suddenly there. “What was that?”
“Aurora, I’d like for you to meet my mate, Piper James Prince. Piper, this is the lady of the earth and creatures, Aurora, the queen of the earth.” Piper and Aurora stared at one another for several seconds until Piper got up and stood in front of her. “I told you she was real.”
The slap to the queen’s face from Piper startled him to the point where he had to hold tightly to his cat. They never spoke, but Aurora looked to be holding back tears. Fisher asked what was going on just as the two of them hugged tightly.
“My mom died.”
The women sobbed and talked over each other. The two of them clung to each other for something akin to support. Fisher decided to give them time, whatever they needed. While he didn’t have any idea what was going on, whatever it was, he knew they needed each other in that moment.
Stepping outside, he noticed the camp manager coming toward him. Meeting him halfway, he told him he was just coming to pay the bills that Piper had. The man looked confused for a second, then nodded. In twenty minutes, not only did he have the debt paid off, but he also paid him an extra hundred dollars for being such a nice person about waiting.
Fisher sat in the chair outside the camper and waited. As he was there, the faerie that Peter had chosen for him, Snowflake, was to arrive. Things were moving along now, he knew. Slowly, but moving. He was as happy as he’d been in a long time.
Chapter 4
Louis tried his best not to draw any attention to himself as he walked up and down the streets. How anyone could enjoy this place was beyond him. The noise was too much, but the crowds of people, all of them seemingly having no concept of personal space, were making him crazy.
He’d read about Gatlinburg for years, how it was the gateway to the Smoky Mountains. What he’d not known or anticipated was how many touristy things were on the streets. Every block, it seemed to him, was another place selling the best of whatever they’d been selling. There were four, he had counted so far, that touted the best fudge. There also seemed to be a great many pancake houses.
Stopping just short of walking over a woman and her fifty kids, he looked to where he’d come from. Not even a block yet, and he was ready to pull out his gun and kill them all. She really didn’t have that many kids, but they sounded like that many to him. It made him happier than he’d been in a while that his daughter had been sent away to school when she was young. He’d missed all the whining and tugging on himself because he’d had the foresight to not have her around.
When he was able to move again, he made his way to the restaurant where he was to meet his sister, Mary, who had flown in yesterday. He’d driven down and wished now that he’d had the money to fly. Finding a parking space that he didn’t have to pay so much for was nearly impossible. Not to mention, the crowds of people were only second to the number of cars that went up and down the strip. Christ, he hated crowds of people.
Slipping around the woman, he nearly fell off the sidewalk when a huge man bumped into him from behind. He needed to have some sort of ring around him, Louis decided. Something, anything that would keep him from having to be so close to these people.
Finally getting to the restaurant where his sister was, he sat at the table and was thrilled to find a glass of water and a Manhattan waiting for him. Mary knew him well. Drinking the water straight down, Louis was ready for his drink and some conversation. Or he hoped a resolution to the situation about their mother’s estate. But first, Mary told him, they had to order. She was starved.
After finding out that Mary was going to pay for their meal, he ordered what he wanted instead of what he thought he could afford. Mary was good at keeping some money around for things like this. He’d never been as broke as he was right now. Not to mention the FBI was looking for him.
“I know she’s here. I’ve had a man following her for the last week.” Louis asked Mary if she was in a hotel. “No. Believe it or not, she’s in one of those really expensive campers. Streamline or something like that. No, it’s an Airstream. No doubt spending our share of Mother’s money on it so she can hide from us.”
Louis thought Mary was right, but he didn’t comment. Sometimes Mary could be pissy about repeating what she said, even if it were only to agree with her. When his salad was set in front of him, he knew this was going to be a good place to eat. Digging in while Mary filled him in on what Piper had been up to, he only listened to about half of it.
Louis didn’t hate his sister Piper. Not like Mary did. He really didn’t have any feelings about her at all. She was his sister, but they never hung out together. They didn’t get together when they were not busy.
Piper had been born so long after him that he didn’t have a thing in common with her. Not that he thought it would have made any difference. He barely got along with Mary most of the time. Unless they were plotting or arguing, they had little in common either.
Leaving Piper to care for their dad seemed to be the best way to have handled the situation back then. Not that he did it any differently when Mom got sick. Piper was there with the
m, so there wasn’t any reason for him or Mary to come and help her out with all the extra care they needed. And sending them money wasn’t something he thought he should have to do. Louis didn’t expect his children to bail him out when he needed cash. Though lately, he thought he might have to hit them up for something.
“Are you listening to me?” He said he was and repeated back the last thing he’d heard Mary say. Mostly it was always about Mom’s money anyway. “All right. But if you think you can bring yourself to add to the conversation once in a while, that would be great.”
“The money from the insurance should be ours like we’ve said all along. Christ, it’s not like Piper didn’t have a roof over her head and wasn’t sponging off Mom the entire time she lived there. Right?” Mary said she’d even driven their old car. “See? That is her payment. Just like we’ve been saying all along. The fact that there are bills from the shit that was going on isn’t our problem. Mom made the bills. Since she’s dead, they should just simply be paid off. It’s not like we want the world—just our fair share. That judge, he had it all wrong about the money we should have been paying for Piper to help our parents out. I think it should be divided five ways no matter what he comes up with.”
He’d been surprised by how much it would have cost if they’d paid for someone to come in and help Piper out once in a while. To add in that she should have been paid by them to clean up was stupid too. What did the judge think would have happened to the money if they’d had it to send to her? She would have blown it all, and they’d still have bills to pay.
“I do know she’s not paying for staying in the campground she’s in. The man I spoke to about it says Piper is in arrears for over five hundred dollars. Makes me wonder if there is any of the insurance money left. Did she spend it all, and we’re going to have to sue her for it? I hope to Christ, not. I don’t want to have to wait around for it while she gets her shit together. Does she even have a job?” Louis said he’d never heard if she worked or not. “Me either. But you can bet that if she has spent all our money, she’s going to get herself one. I don’t want to have to wait while she gets paid every week, but if that’s what it takes to teach her a lesson, then I’m all for it.”
There was no way Louis could wait that long. He needed money now. The foreclosure of his home was rapidly coming around. He’d not told his wife or daughter yet either. Louis was surprised lately that every time he pulled into his driveway, there wasn’t a bunch of bankers there with one of those large signs that said he was in arrears for house payments. Now he had to meet up with some guy about the scam he was running to make a little extra money through the harder months. Well, every month of late.
“I’m going to go there and have a few words with her today.” Louis asked if he could go. “If you’d like. But I’m doing the talking. I want her to tell me what the fuck she’s done with my mother’s fifty-thousand-dollar life insurance policy. I know she had one too.”
“Fifty grand? Holy shit, Mary, that’ll be nice to have.” She agreed with him. “I was thinking I’d take her camper for now. Just to have someplace to go for a few days. I’m under a lot of pressure.”
“You got caught, didn’t you?” He nodded and told her what he had waiting for him at home. “I can’t bail you out, Louis. As much as I wish I could, I’m in debt too. The last few times at the tracks, I’ve lost big time. If my husband finds out I’m gambling again, he’s going to take the house and all the other things I’ve come to love away. Including the nice car and spa time I have every month.”
“I know. That’s one of the reasons I’ve not asked you. I saw your husband Paddy the other day. He was talking to a buddy of his about how much he wanted to get out of the big house. I guess he figures with Peter going away to college, he’ll be able to sell the house and downgrade to a simpler home.” Louis knew that Mary had borrowed money against the scholarship Peter had gotten, just as he’d done with his daughter’s. There wasn’t any way for him to pay it back either. Not ever. “I’m guessing since he didn’t mention how he’d have to pay off the mortgages first, that you’d not told him about the loan you’d taken out.”
“No. And if I can get the money from Mom’s insurance, that will go a long way in me trying to win back everything I owe.” He asked her if she was going to gamble her part away. “You make it sound as if I’m going to lose it all. I’m not. I’ve gotten smarter about a great many things, and gambling everything isn’t the way to win anything. I’m hedging my bets by putting money down on a lot of different things. That way, if only a couple of them pay off, I’m still ahead of the game. I like being ahead.”
“Yes, I do as well.” He’d never understood the desire to gamble. Having odds and stuff like numbers wasn’t anything that he ever understood. Sometimes when Mary would go on about her odds and the money she’d win if they hit, it was all like a foreign language to him. He also didn’t point out to her that she rarely if ever won anything close to what she spent. Ever. “When are you going to go to see her? I don’t have anything going on, but I would like to know I have a place to sleep tonight. You don’t think she’ll object to being put out of her camper, do you?”
“Of course, she will. That’s the fun part of doing it my way.” Louis nodded. Not really agreeing with her but just going along. “Once your things blow over, you and I will burn it. That’ll make me feel so much better. Just knowing that piece of shit she had Mother spend money on is gone will make my entire day.”
Mary picked up her cell phone when it rang, but put it back down when she saw the picture. It had gone off several times while they’d been eating. Louis knew who it was. Paddy. The ring tone that Mary had set up for her husband was a theme song to some old fifties show. Louis didn’t know the name of it, but he could remember the plots of the show. Two women living together and working at the same brewery while trying to fend off two odd men that had stranger names than the show had. Now that he thought about it, Louis thought one of them was called Squib or Squishy. Something like that.
“Does he leave you a message?” She nodded, but he could see she was entirely too upset for it to be loving messages. “What does he say, Mary? Anything I can help you get out of with him?”
“No. I mean, I don’t know what he’s saying in them. I know he’s leaving me messages, but I’ve not listened to any of them. I’m worried he’s found out something, and I don’t want to have to deal with it until I can tell him it’s taken care of. That’s why I need this money so badly. To not lose my marriage over this. I’m going to point that out to Piper too. Her inability to do what is right for us is costing me my marriage.” Again, he didn’t say anything. Louis knew for a certainty that Paddy was even pissed off at Mary before their dad had died. “After today, I’ll have a nice sit down with him and show him how hard I’ve been working on getting things back to normal. I’ve been thinking about gambling too. I need to slow down and only do it a couple of times a week instead of every day. You think he’ll agree to that for me?”
He didn’t but assured his sister it was very good of her to cut back so much. Paddy didn’t believe in gambling. Nor did he like the fact that his wife was deep into it. If he knew half the shit Louis did about his wife’s gambling, he would have divorced her years ago. She’d been skimming money from his business before Mom had gotten sick. Lately, he knew she was taking a great deal more than she could ever cover. And once Paddy figured that out, he’d have her arrested and put in jail rather than send her to a gambling clinic this time.
Once the check was paid, they headed out the door. He was dismayed to see the traffic of people coming and going. Being in a quiet restaurant had given him a breather from thinking about it. Now that it was getting later in the day, the crowds seemed to have tripled. Louis hated people.
It took nearly an hour to get from the place he’d met his sister to the parking garage she was using. While he was sure she was supposed to pay for the ticket to par
k before she entered, Louis knew her well enough to know she’d skipped out on that. He wished he were half as savvy about shit like that as Mary was.
The campground was still another forty minutes away, she told him. Belting himself into the seat never seemed like enough when Mary was behind the wheel. She took corners too quickly, drifted off the road while talking to him, and even took out a mailbox on the way to the place. Never once did she slow either her mouth or the car. Louis wished he’d remembered that when she’d asked him if he wanted to drive. He would the next time they were out together.
It was dusk when they pulled into the parking lot to the campground. There wasn’t anyone at the front office by then, having closed up at five. He supposed they were out the door before the second hand passed the twelve. He would have been if he’d had to work anywhere.
The place was nearly empty as they drove around. He’d been looking for the lot number three on his side of the car while Mary did the same on her side. By the time they’d made their way around twice, he was sure she’d had the number wrong. There didn’t seem to be a single three in the entire park.
“There it is.” He looked to where she was pointing and saw that not only was there no camper in the place, but there was a lone bag of trash out by one of the stones that divided the space from the road. “Where the hell is she? She was here just this morning. My spy told me she was staying put because she hadn’t the money to pay the bill. What could have changed in the last few hours?”
“Maybe they had her towed.” It sounded logical to him, but Mary just glared at him. “It could have happened. Or, you don’t think she used more of the money that is supposed to be ours, do you? Damn it. She’s spending it as if it belongs to just her. If she keeps this up, there isn’t going to be enough for her to have any of it.”
Fisher: Prince of Tigers – Paranormal Tiger Shifter Romance Page 5
