Magic and Mayhem: Protecting Alabama's Kids (Kindle Worlds Novella) (SEAL of Protection Book 99)

by Susan Stoker

  “Not to her, obviously,” Jango said softly.

  Tommy looked around the large room fearfully. “I gotta hide.”

  “What? Why?” Fatty asked.

  “Because Abe is gonna want to hurt me. He told me I had to be respectful and I wasn’t,” Tommy said, more to himself than actually answering the cat’s question. He moved to the armchair in the room and got behind it. He pushed with all his strength until it moved. He shoved it up against the end of the bed. It didn’t exactly block the entire bed, but it would have to do.

  He straightened and looked around again. Seeing no other piece of furniture that he could move, he went to the dresser. Pulling the middle drawer until it fell off its track and onto the floor with a thud, he dragged it over to the bed. Tommy put it up against one side of the mattress, blocking off access to the space underneath.

  He went back and forth five more times, taking all of the drawers from the dresser over to the bed and stacking them up against the bedframe. When there was only a small space left, he grabbed two pillows and the bedspread from the top of the bed, and shoved them into the space under it. Then he pulled the sheet on the bed so it draped over the hole at the end of the bed that the chair didn’t cover. Finally, Tommy crawled under the bed, carefully pulled the last drawer into place, and stuffed the pillows into the space he’d used to get under the bed, sealing himself into the now-dark space under the large bed.

  “What’re you doing?” Boba asked in a muffled voice from outside the safe space Tommy had made.

  When there was no response, Jango repeated, “Tommy? What are you doing?”

  “Hiding.”

  Fatty turned to the other two cats and cocked his head in confusion. “I don’t think your hiding spot is very good. Anyone who walks in will know exactly where you are.”

  “Yeah, but they can’t get to me very easily. I’ll know where they’re coming at me from when they move one of the drawers,” Tommy said matter-of-factly.

  “Caroline said that Abe wasn’t going to hurt you,” Boba told Tommy.

  “Adults lie. He was really mad,” Tommy’s voice wobbled with both sadness and fright.

  “I think you should believe her. Especially after what she said about them choosing you,” Fatty said.

  “No,” Tommy said stubbornly.

  The cats all looked at each other, then jumped up on the bed one by one.

  “If you don’t mind, we’ll hang out up here. The mattress is much more comfortable than the floor,” Jango called out.

  “Whatever,” Tommy returned, clearly not convinced.

  When sniffles started from beneath the bed, the cats looked at each other. They hadn’t been around many human children, and they weren’t sure what to say or do to make Tommy feel better. They were good with bad guys and honey badgers and using magic, but not so good with inconsolable little boys. They were there to prevent what was going to happen soon from going bad…but this was a whole different thing.

  The three cats laid down and waited…for once not feeling inclined to lick themselves.

  7

  Caroline stuck her head into Tommy’s room later and told him dinner was ready.

  “I’m not hungry,” he told her.

  “Doesn’t matter. You need to come out and eat. Or at least apologize. Come on, I’ll be right by your side. It’ll be fine. You’ll see.”

  Tommy crawled out, reluctantly, missing the sad look Caroline gave him as he maneuvered around the drawers, and followed along behind her, his hands stuffed into his front pockets, head down, as they made their way to the large dining room. The table was piled high with grilled hotdogs, hamburgers, corn on the cob, more sliced watermelon, potatoes, and a plate full of chocolate brownies.

  Some of the kids were milling around, and Dude, Cheyenne, Alabama, and Abe were filling their plates with food.

  Without waiting to be prompted, Tommy quickly blurted, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude.”

  Abe and Dude didn’t look impressed, but Alabama and Cheyenne smiled at him.

  “It’s okay, Tommy,” Alabama told him softly. “I’m sorry if I scared you with my reaction. Look, Christopher sliced more watermelon.” She pointed to the platter piled high with the sweet treat and smiled openly, if a bit cautiously, at him.

  Looking at the juicy fruit made Tommy’s stomach hurt, and not because of the black ball of goo this time, and he merely shook his head. “It’s okay. I’ll just have a hotdog.”

  Chatter went on around him at dinner, and Tommy tried to control the butterflies in his belly. He knew he’d messed up, and had no idea what was going to happen later. He didn’t think Abe was the kind of man to let what he’d done go. But he didn’t know him well enough to know what he’d do to him.

  After the dishes were done, everyone settled in the living room around the large television. Someone had put in a cartoon movie and most of the kids were avidly watching. The women were chatting softly amongst themselves. The cats had settled into the laps of Jessyka, Summer, and Fiona, and were purring loudly…full of pieces of hamburger and hotdog Alabama had cut up for them for dinner.

  “Come on, Bub,” Abe said softly, putting his arm around his shoulders. “Let’s go outside with the guys.”

  Tommy wasn’t sure he wanted to go outside with Abe and his friends, but he nodded anyway and allowed himself to be steered out the door and onto the large porch, which overlooked the ocean.

  Whatever was going to happen was going to happen now. Out on the porch, away from the women and other kids. Tommy was scared, but he straightened his spine and walked woodenly alongside Abe anyway. He thought he was going to throw up, and if he did, the black goo would go spewing out, but he swallowed hard, trying to be brave.

  Surprisingly, the three cats jumped down from the comfortable laps they’d been napping in, and followed behind them.

  Tommy thought to himself that it figured not only would he be punished, but that the cats he’d thought were so cool because they could talk, would witness it. They’d probably laugh their butts off later at him too.

  Abe’s friends kinda scared him. They were big and muscular, and Tommy could tell with just a look that they were ten times as deadly as the mean men his dad used to bring into the house. But the second he’d start to freak being around them, one of the babies or women would enter the room and Tommy could literally see the men change in front of his eyes. The hard looks in their eyes turned soft as they looked at their wives or kids.

  But that had been before he’d talked back to Alabama. Before whatever had happened to her had happened. Now the men just looked angry…at him.

  Abe led him over to a set of chairs and they both sat down. Tommy perched on the very edge of the chair, his fingers gripping the arms tightly as he waited for something to happen.

  The other five men settled down into chairs in a semi-circle around them. No one spoke for a while and the time let Tommy’s imagination kick into overdrive. He knew there was no way he could fight all six men off. He’d once managed to hurt one of the men his dad had let into his room, but there would be no getting away from these men. He looked around. There wasn’t even anywhere he could hide. He could try to run, but Tommy had a feeling any one of the men would catch him quickly. Even though they were old, they looked like they were in shape.

  The cool breeze from the ocean brushed against Tommy’s face and he breathed in the salty air. He would’ve liked this, hanging out by the ocean, if he hadn’t been freaked out and worried about what his punishment was going to be.

  Just as he thought he’d completely lose it, Abe spoke.

  “I thought we could all tell Tommy a bit about our wives,” Abe said, sitting back into his chair as if he didn’t have a care in the world. “He needs to understand a bit more about us. I think he believes our lives have been easy and smooth, and that our women, and us, can’t really relate to anything he’s been through.”

  Abe turned to look at the boy he’d brought into his home in the
hopes that eventually he’d be able to adopt him. “What you’ve been through was bad. Make no mistake, Tommy, I am in no way belittling what happened to you, or trying to downplay it. Your trust was broken by the man who should’ve moved heaven and earth to protect you. I simply want to show you that even though life sometimes sucks, you can rise above it.”

  Tommy shifted uncomfortably in his chair. It wasn’t what he thought Abe would say. He truly expected him to yell at him for talking back to Alabama earlier, and tell him that he’d be leaving and going back into foster care the second they got back to the house.

  He didn’t want to talk about anything that happened to him before he was taken away from his dad with any of these men. He was broken and dirty, and if they didn’t like him now, they really wouldn’t like him after they found out about what had happened. Tommy also didn’t really want to know about whatever it was they wanted to tell him. There was no way anything the happy-go-lucky women inside had been through could ever compare to what happened to him. No way.

  “Listen, young Tommy,” Fatty said next to him. “Don’t judge.”

  “When you first saw us, you didn’t know we could talk,” Boba added.

  “I think you might be surprised,” Jango said, before turning his attention back between his legs, happily slurping away.

  “Okay,” Tommy muttered, keeping his eyes on the waves and not looking at the cats or the men around him.

  Wolf didn’t beat around the bush. “Caroline was blown up, kidnapped, stalked, beaten, knifed, thrown into the ocean to drown, and then finally shot at.”

  Tommy gasped and looked up at Wolf in shock. “She was?”

  “Yes. But not once did she beg for her life. She simply continued to fight back, not giving up. She’s the strongest woman I know, even if she doesn’t think so. I’ve learned never to underestimate her.”

  “Fiona was kidnapped and sold to bad people so they could have sex with her,” Cookie said bluntly. “I rescued her, but she still deals with what happened to her today. She gets scared if she sees someone who looks like one of her kidnappers.”

  Tommy couldn’t breathe. He felt his breaths coming too fast, but didn’t bother to try to control them. He felt one of the cats jump up into his lap and he grabbed hold of the fur ball, but didn’t look away from Cookie. He bit his lip, then asked, “They touched her when she didn’t want them to?”

  “Yes, Tommy. For a long time. Months. I didn’t know she’d been taken, but the moment I found her, I was impressed with how tough she was.”

  “How is she dealing with it?” Tommy asked. He really, really wanted to know the answer. It was vital.

  “She has me. And her friends. We love and support her and she knows she’s safe with us. That we have her back. I won’t lie, she was in bad shape for a while. She still remembers what happened, and when she has bad dreams, I hold her and let her talk about them. If she doesn’t want to talk, I simply hold her and let her cry. I love her, Tommy. I’d do anything for that woman. Anything.”

  Tommy nodded, but before he could ask another question, Mozart spoke.

  “I met Summer when she was working up in Big Bend Lake at a motel. She was a maid. I went home to work, but when I went back up the mountain to visit her, she was living in an outdoor closet with no electricity or running water. She was starving and frozen, but she didn’t want any help from anyone. Even me.”

  “What happened?” Tommy asked, his eyes wide, his hands busy petting the feline in his lap.

  Mozart grinned. “I convinced her to accept my help.” Then he got serious again. “But then the person who killed my sister when she was around your age, kidnapped Summer to try to make me sad. Luckily I got to her in time and she’s okay now.”

  “What happened to your wife?” Tommy asked Benny, his eyes wide.

  The other man laughed. “Well, it’s more what happened to me. Her ex bashed me on the head and took me deep into the trees in a park. Then he sent her a picture of my bleeding head and told her if she didn’t meet with him, he’d kill me.”

  “Holy cow,” Tommy breathed.

  “Yup. She came to my rescue.”

  “But…she’s handicapped,” the little boy protested. “How could she save you?”

  The six men around him all chuckled. Benny smiled at Tommy and said, “Don’t let her hear you say you think she’s handicapped. Yes, she was born with one leg shorter than the other and she limps, but she’s never let anyone tell her she can’t do something. She’s more capable than some of the people I’ve met in the military.”

  Tommy then turned to Dude…the scary man he definitely didn’t want to make mad. He’d scared him earlier today when he’d put his hand over his mouth, but thinking back on it, Tommy had to admit that the big man hadn’t hurt him. At no time was the hand on his face cruel, and he didn’t shake him as he held him still. Tommy realized the second he met Dude earlier that Abe really didn’t have to warn him about being respectful to this man or his wife and daughter. Tommy had read the dangerous vibes coming off of him loud and clear.

  “Cheyenne had a bomb strapped to her chest by bad guys, not once, but twice,” Dude said succinctly and without embellishment. “Not only that, but when we went to New York for a conference on explosives, another member of the family decided to try to blow her up a third time.”

  “And you saved her?”

  “I saved her,” Dude confirmed. “Then she almost died having my child. Look, I know society tells boys that they need to be tough and strong and not give a shit about anything other than themselves, but I’ll tell you straight up, I cried the first time I saw Taylor. Cried like a baby. She was so perfect, and I know how hard both she and Cheyenne fought to bring her safely into this world. I’ll protect them both with my life. I’ll protect them from anyone who says mean things, and I’ll do whatever it takes to keep them happy for the rest of my life. I’m bigger and stronger than them, so it’s up to me to make sure they’re safe.”

  Tommy felt kind of grown up when these men swore around him. They were treating him as if he was an adult, not like a little boy. “What if your wife dies? Then what?” Tommy asked carefully. “You can’t always be there to protect her. Maybe she’ll get in an accident. Maybe someone will come in and shoot her when she’s shopping. You can’t be by her side all day every day.”

  Tommy held his breath as the scary man eyed him. He honestly wasn’t trying to be mean, wasn’t trying to be a jerk. He knew firsthand that love couldn’t always keep people safe. Look what happened to his dad after Mom died. He didn’t care about anything after it happened. Not even his own son.

  Dude leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees and looking Tommy in the eye. “You’re right. Shit happens. Abe has told us a little bit about what happened in your life. I don’t know what kind of man your dad was…actually, no, I do know. He was weak. I’m not saying that to be a dick, Tommy. I’m saying that because it’s the truth. You want to know what will happen to Taylor if Cheyenne is somehow killed? I would love that little girl even more, enough for both me and Shy. I’d continue to protect her the best I can. I would tell her every day how much I love her and how much her mother loved her. I’d never, ever, do anything that would hurt her. And, if for some reason, I did do something stupid, she has five uncles who live right here in California, and one that lives on the other side of the country, who will step in to make sure she’s safe. They’d kick my butt and make sure I got my act together when it comes to her.” He paused a moment. Then asked, “Understand?”

  Tommy nodded and ducked his head, fighting back his tears. Fatty, who had been sitting calmly in his lap, purred, and head-butted his chin gently.

  Abe spoke then, ignoring the tears the little boy under his care was trying so hard to hold back. “Then there’s Alabama, Brinique, and Davisa. It’s time you heard their stories. I know you’ve heard a bit in passing, but you need to know the whole story. Alabama is gonna be upset that I’m telling you…not because she’s asha
med of what happened, but because she thinks you’re too young. But I know you can deal with this because of what you’ve already had to deal with in your life. I wish to Christ you were too young. I wish that you had nothing more to worry about than what toys you want for Christmas or what food you want to order at the fast food place we’ll stop at on the way home tomorrow. But that ship has sailed. If you don’t want to know, if you don’t think you can handle it…tell me now and I’ll tell you only a few generic details.”

  Tommy looked around at the other men and swallowed hard, shoving the black ball down his throat. It meant a lot that Abe was treating him as though he was an adult. He probably didn’t deserve it after what happened earlier, and Tommy somehow knew what Abe was going to tell him was going to be awful, and would explain what happened with Alabama in the kitchen, but he needed to know all the details. “I can handle it,” Tommy told Abe softly.

  Without any other word of warning, Abe started talking. “Brinique and Davisa lived with their mother, who was addicted to drugs…much like your dad was. Their story is so similar to yours, it’s almost eerie. The only difference is that I don’t think either of them really knew what love was. They didn’t know their father and their mom was always mean to them. They learned that the only people they could rely on was each other.

  “Men started to try to touch them under their clothes and their mom didn’t do anything to stop them. Brinique guarded her sister from that as best as a four-year-old could. Luckily, the police learned about their situation and got them out. They haven’t seen their mother since that day…and I don’t think they even care. Simply because they hadn’t ever seen any kind of love from her.”

  “They didn’t do more than…touch?” Tommy asked in a small voice. Brinique had mentioned the bad men the other week, but he wanted clarification.

  “No. We don’t think so. It’s tough to get details out of kids who are that young, but the doctor seems to think they weren’t.”

  Tommy swallowed hard against the lump in his throat. He’d heard Brinique say she’d been touched, but he was suddenly very glad that was all it had been for her. He wouldn’t wish what had happened to him on anyone else. Ever. He nodded.