Samson

by Barton, Kathi S

  “The papers called her Lisa Dawn. I’m not sure if I ever read why she called herself that. She did when I was at the bank with her that day as well.” Allie laughed, but it was bitter sounding and cold. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

  “It’s not your fault. My middle name is Dawn. My mom’s middle name was Lisa. She thought it would be like having us there with her when she started calling herself that. I didn’t understand that. Not then or now. But she did it as sort of a dig to the two of us. Dad was never the sort of person to put his foot down, so it was left to Mom to be the one that did that sort of thing. I guess Serenity thought that it wouldn’t bother him so much. I don’t know.” Sampson said he was sorry again. “I am as well. I know in my head that I couldn’t have done any more than I did to keep them at home. But my heart wonders if I could have done a great deal more. I don’t know what it might have been, but I do wonder.”

  When William came back in with names that would be willing to take care of her brother and sister, she signed over the cadavers and stood up. Thanking William, she looked at Sampson and asked if he was going to go with her to the jail. Nodding, Sampson stood as well. This was going to be harder on her than the funeral arrangements had been, he knew it.

  ~~~

  Howie was brought into the room where she was, and Allie couldn’t believe how much he’d changed. When he’d left home, he’d been only twelve. In three years, he’d not only grown, but there was a hardness to his face that scared her just a little.

  “You sure took your time coming to get me out of here.” Allie asked him why he’d want to be out of the jail cell. “They’re trying me as an adult. While that scared me the other day, they said with a good attorney, not only could I maybe get a lower sentence, but perhaps get off altogether. You have the money for that, don’t you?”

  “What happened to all your ill-gotten gains? I’m sure you didn’t spend it all, did you?” He said that it was his now that the other two were dead. “No, I don’t think it works that way. If you have any of the money left, it’ll go back to the banks you three took it from. Or at least to the families that you hurt by killing their family members. And I’m not helping you get out at all.”

  “Why not?” Howie snorted, not waiting for her to answer. “Serenity said you’d be a selfish prick about it if we were ever caught. She said that you’d sit on your throne you built for yourself and lord over us until there was no way that we’d want to hang around with you. I’m guessing that you got all the insurance money from Mom and Dad, too, right? Well, that should be all mine since I’m the one that killed them for it.”

  “Watch it, kid. You’re biting more off than your ass can handle right now. Be nice, or I’ll show you how to be nice.” Howie asked Sampson who the fuck he thought he was, ordering him around. Then he said that he knew him. “You do know me. I’m Sampson Prince. For now, that’s all you need to know. Oh, other than I made you piss yourself when I knocked you down as my tiger.”

  “He’s my mate. And I’d not fuck with him, Howie. He’s going to be with me all the time now, and you are going to have to get used to us together.” She glanced at Sampson before looking at her brother again. “You don’t honestly think that by you murdering Mom and Dad, you’re entitled to their insurance money, do you? Christ, you murdered them. And if that wasn’t enough, you took everything out of their room to either hock or sell off. What sort of person does that to their own family?”

  “Family? Like you are? You’re nothing like me, Allison. Nothing, I tell you.” Allie told him that she was glad for that. “You would be. Serenity said that we was going to be famous, and we were. That we’d have money to burn when we wanted. You can bet your ass that we did burn some of it too. And you want to know what? It was fucking fantastic. I want you to do what I said and find me a good attorney. I’m your baby brother, and that is the very least you can do for me. I don’t want to go to prison.”

  “Well, I’m thinking that it’s a little too late to be thinking along those lines. And you were my baby brother. Right up until the time you pulled out Dad’s Glock and shot him and Mom. When you did that, you sort of sealed the deal for going to prison for the rest of your life.” Standing up, she was glad to see that Sampson did as well. “As for getting you an attorney, no, that’s not the least I can do. The least I can do is let you lie in the shit that you created all on your own. I told you when you called me the other day, I’m finished with you. You are no longer my brother. No more than Serenity or Heath were related to me.”

  “I faked it.” She didn’t bother asking him what he was talking about. “It worked too, didn’t it? Me pretending to be scared out of my mind and sobbing like a five year old. I’m not afraid, Allison. Because you want to know why? Because you’re going to do just what I told you to do and get me out of here. What do you think Mom or Dad would say if they knew that you left me here to burn? They’d be rolling over in their—”

  “I’m sure that they’d be rolling over in their graves if that was what you were going to say. But not for the reasons that you think. They were so disappointed in you three. But like me, they washed their hands of you and moved on.” Allie laughed at the expression of shock on Howie’s face. “The will had been changed before you killed them. They took your name, as well as Heath and Serenity’s, off everything they owned. Did you notice the lack of pictures on the walls of the three of you? How about the rooms of the other two? Did you see that they’d been cleared out? Not a stitch of any of your clothing. Nothing to say that any of you ever existed. Even though you lived there off and on before you murdered them, they never sat a place for you at the table. Never said a word to anyone about you. And the key to the house that you used, you had to break in because they’d changed the locks. You fucked up, Howie. Now you have to pay the ultimate price for it.”

  They were leaving, and she made it all the way to the door on the other side of the cells before she collapsed. It was a good thing that Sampson had been there, or she might well have hurt herself falling. Before she could figure out that they were moving, she was sitting on his lap in an office.

  Allie had been playing at being strong for so long that she lost all hold on her emotions. She knew that she’d look like a mess when she was finished sobbing and wailing about what Howie had said to her, but for now, it was nice to have someone hold her, be the heavy for a little while.

  At some point, she must have fallen asleep. Waking up, warm, and cozy in Sampson’s arms, she looked up at him. He’d leaned back his head with his eyes closed and seemed to be sleeping. Looking at his strong jawline, she wondered how many men had hit it and how many women had swooned over it.

  “Not as many as you think.” He grinned when he looked down at her. “I can read your mind. Well, not just yours, but anyone’s. You can, too, if you want, but I’d wait on that. At least until you get better at it. It causes serious pain if you do it wrong. How are you feeling?”

  “I don’t know.” She sat up, and he let her. Allie paused in getting off his lap when she felt his erection under her bottom. Standing up, she got as far from him as she could go and still be in the same room with him. “Nothing is going to happen until I say so. I’m not easy, nor am I going to sleep with the first man who’s been nice to me since I started dating.”

  “You’re right. Nothing will happen until you’re ready. As for men not being nice to you? If you give me their names, I will gladly show them how to treat a woman. Or more than likely kill them. No one will treat you badly again.” She asked him about the woman at his mom’s house. “Harper. That would be her. Yes, she can be nasty, but I do believe that my mom has had a talk with her. Mom might be small in stature, but she’s not anyone to mess with. Not even on a good day. She’s a tiger as well.”

  “So I heard.” She wondered for a moment where Morgan was and dismissed it. He was more than likely at home with his partner sleeping during the day. He a
nd Kenny had been her only friends for a long time. “What can you tell me about the robbery? I mean, I’ve read the accounting of it in the paper, but I have a feeling that it’s, for the most part, been glossed over a little here and there.”

  “I was in line at the bank. Your sister was there, and your two brothers were in front of her. I thought that she had a baby in her arms, the way she was cradling it, but obviously, she didn’t. I think she was trying her best to pick a fight with me. Or at the very least, have all the attention on her. She picked at me about my breathing on her. I was just in the mood to not take her shit. I don’t like banks.” Allie told him that she didn’t care for them either. “So, when she pulled out the gun, pointing it at my chest, I told her that it wouldn’t do her any good to shoot me. Also that I was going to kill her and the other two. I sliced open her throat, then killed your brother Heath by breaking his neck. Howie ran. My cat wanted to play, so we chased him down. It wasn’t until my dad came into the bank ahead of the cops that I left him there. He also pissed his pants. Your brother, not my dad.”

  “That’s what I thought. I mean, she would taunt people when she was younger until they hit her. Then she’d run to Mom, telling her that I hit her. It didn’t usually work for her, so I have no idea why she kept at it, but then that was Serenity.” She didn’t look at him as she paced the room. “I’m the oldest in my family. Well, compared to you, I’d be just an infant, but I was born first. My brother was next, Heath. He was two years younger than me. Serenity was next, about eighteen months after Heath, then Howie came along about ten years later. I think that was why his turning on my parents had me hurt so much. He was a late in life baby, but he was very much loved by us. Serenity got into his head. Heath was always the quiet one, but he talked to Howie too. That was all it took for him to run away one night. Mom had him brought back just before he turned twelve, and that was when he killed them.”

  Stopping her pacing, she looked at Sampson when he said her name. “Would you like some dinner? I’m starved. We can go to my parents’ house, but I’d rather it just be myself and you for a little while.” Allie asked him if they’d be mad about him and her. “No. They’ll be very happy for us both. But I’ve not told them. Not even my dad, when I spoke to him earlier about Billy. I thought it would be fun for us to get to know one another over a nice meal so that when they do find out, we’ll have had a moment of peace without my family wondering when we were going to get married.”

  “I’m not ready for that.” He said that he knew that as well. “You would, wouldn’t you? I mean, you’d marry me right now if I said yes.”

  “Let’s just have dinner. After that, you can point out my flaws that you will know by then.” Allie felt her face heat up. “I was joking. I’m hungry, aren’t you?”

  They left the police station, and no one said a word to them. Allie wondered if he’d done that, made it so no one would notice that they were there, but she decided that it wasn’t really an issue and let it go. There were a great many more issues she had that were real and happening right now. Not letting people know they were around didn’t seem as important as it might have a week ago. Besides, she was hungry.

  Chapter 3

  Howie sat on his bunk and waited on his meal. He didn’t want the stuff that they’d brought to him and told them to take it away until they had a better meal for him. There was a certain power in being able to order people around like that. And sending back meals, even when there was nothing wrong with them, was something that his brother had taught him.

  “You send it back for minor things. Like there is too much blood on the plate for you to enjoy your meal, even though you’d asked for it to be rare. Serenity will send hers back for no reason. Just telling the waitress or waiter that it isn’t right. That’ll get your food spit in every time.” His sister pointed out that they never spit on her food. “Sure, they do. Especially when you send a perfectly good cut of steak back because you weren’t ready for it yet.”

  Heath was smarter than Serenity. Hell, he thought that he was the smartest man in the world. But he also had his flaws. It was what made him a better bad guy than the other two. He learned from their mistakes.

  Sure he’d messed up at times. The first time he’d tried to kill a man, he’d only wounded him. That had pissed off Serenity because all the man did was lay there and moan about himself. Serenity had killed the man by putting a bullet in his head. Then she’d told Howie to do the next ones until he got it right. It took him two more tries, but he no longer jerked when the gun went off.

  Howie was sure that Allie thought his parents were his first kill. She was so far off the mark that it made him laugh. When he’d get away at night, he’d find his sister, the smart one, and they’d rob something—a liquor store, or even an all-night restaurant so that he could have some fun too. Then he’d gone to Serendipity and Heath for good.

  Howie wished they were all together now. Not dead, just hanging out together like they always had after a robbery. Laying back on his bed, Howie smiled when he thought of the look on his sister’s face when he’d told her to get going on getting him an attorney. Sometimes, his brother told him, you had to stand up to bullies and make them see reason. When that didn’t work, then you beat the shit out of them or simply killed them. There was no in between with some.

  Howie knew that once it got out that his sister had abandoned him, he’d be reaping in the sympathy. Asking her for help that he knew he’d not get was a ploy to be able to tell the newspaper what she’d done to him. No one would like her any more than he did. But the best part was, he’d be able to get out and start up his own band of killers, and rob places as quickly and as violently as he could.

  As he laid there, he heard someone coming down the hall. It was either his sister to ask him if he really wanted her help or his food. Either way, he was going to have fun with this shit. Sitting up, he looked at the guard. Howie was a little disappointed that Allie hadn’t come back, but she would. The tray that should have had him a nice steak on it was empty except for a bottle of water.

  “What’s this shit? I asked you for a steak and a baker. I’m a growing boy, and I need to have my protein.” The man just walked away. “Did you hear me? I need you to take this thing back and bring me what I told you I needed.”

  He wasn’t going to beg for a meal, but this was just one more thing that he could add to his list of things that were happening to him because he was a kid. Work with what you’ve got, he’d been told. And if all you’ve got is your face and age, then you worked it out so that you got the best of everything, because no one will help you simply because you asked them to.

  Smiling, Howie laid back down on the bed and thought about all the fun the three of them had had out in the wild. They were never without a roof over their heads. Meals were expensive, and cars were fast. Even though he never had his license, he’d been driving a long time. Things, Howie thought, had been so much better on the outside than when they were living at home or in jail.

  “Howard Sheppard?” He didn’t rise up but looked at the man standing there. Fancy suit, briefcase? His sister had gotten him a lawyer. “My name is Randal Wilson. I’m here to represent your—”

  “It’s about time. And here she had me convinced that I wasn’t going to get a thing from her. You know how old I am?” The man said he did and started to speak again, but Howie cut him off. “Good. Now here is what you’re going to do. I want you to contact the local newspaper and tell them that the police have a fifteen year old boy in their prison and that they’re going to try him like an adult. That won’t work for me. If they try me like an adult, then I’m going to go to prison for a very long time. I don’t think that is in the best interest of all concerned. Mostly me. Also, don’t just go local on this. I want all the big papers there, as—”

  “I’m not representing you. I’m here on behalf of Allison Sheppard. She and her future husband have asked me t
o come to tell you that you are on your own concerning this and all the trouble you’ve gotten yourself into since you were born.” Howie asked him if he was joking. “Why is it, you suppose, that people ask that of you when you’re telling them something they don’t want to hear? No, I’m not joking. I’m telling you that you’re on your own now. You act and play like an adult, then you should be tried as one.”

  “Well, that’s a shitty attitude. You’re going to at least get the news people in here, aren’t you? I mean, I need to tell them how people are treating me. And how someone sliced open my sister’s throat with their hand. Also broke my poor brother’s neck. All the while, I was right there. I think I’ve been traumatized by this shit.” He laughed. “Well? What are you waiting for? Get your ass in gear and get them in here, doofus.”

  “Doofus? Well, I suppose that I should understand a child of your paucity of experience treating someone older and more perceptive than them in that fashion. Not to reference, discussing someone the way you are when you want something from them.” He was not only talking too fast, but he wasn’t allowing Howie to think about what he was saying before he moved on. “I’ve come to tell you that you have a pending order to stay three miles from Allison Sheppard Prince, as well as the rest of her family.”

  “What are you going on about? I’m her only family.” The paperwork was shoved at him, and Howie had no choice but to take it. The man started to walk away. Howie was getting mightily sick of people doing that to him. “Hey? Did you hear me? I said I’m her only family.”

  Howie sat back down. It was funny, really, knowing that his sister was playing with him like this. He knew that it was only going to be a matter of time before she came around. Howie had been her little brother for far too long for her to abandon him now. Even his mom used to say that Allie took better care of him and loved him more than she did.