Sheppard: Marshall’s Shadow – Jaguar Shapeshifter Romance (Marshall's Shadow Book 1)

by Kathi S. Barton

  “Yes. I’m Harrison Elizabeth Parker. I’m twenty-seven years old, and I’ve been a—what some might call a hit man, for the last ten years. Just about the time I got out of college.” He asked her how old she’d been when that happened. “I was fifteen. But I didn’t get out the nice and normal way, with good grades and on an honor system. I got out because I read a great many books all the time, and could remember what was in them as well as what page number it was on. I cheated.”

  “No, you used the talents that you had with you. That’s not cheating, Harrison, that’s using your noodle.” She didn’t comment. Harris knew what she’d done. “All right, those questions are sort of answered. Now, I must tell you a few things.”

  “Someone has given me something to combat the drug that was in my system.” He nodded. “This someone, it’s more than likely your grandson that I met. Shep.”

  “Yes, he was the only one that could have saved you, being the oldest son of the oldest, and so far back I can’t remember. The line should have been broken when I only had the one child. Shep has...I guess you could call it a great deal of whatever was left behind that his father didn’t get. Him not being the seventh of anything, only in line for brains.” She laughed. Then she told him what she could do. “You trust me. Would you like to know why?”

  “No, I would not. Not now, at any rate. Where is Tamara?” Mr. Marshall laughed. She wanted to call him Sheppard, but something inside of her, in her heart, also wanted to call him Grandda. He told her she was out with Shep. “Good. She doesn’t date much, I don’t think. Not since her husband was found out to be such a shit hole.”

  Mr. Marshall said that he had to run to get him a drink of something. He didn’t drink coffee, so she figured that he was giving her time to get dressed. Sheppard was a wonderful man, and she was sort of sweet on him.

  Harris started to stand, but felt slightly lightheaded. Holding onto the foot of the bed, she made her way to the bathroom. It was time to scrub up and get a handle on what the fuck was going on. The small knock at the door had her reaching for her gun, but it wasn’t where she needed it to be. Someone had taken it. Harris would have to get it back, and soon.

  “It’s Grandda. See how that just rolled off my tongue? Anyway, there are clothes in the bottom of the linen closet for you to wear. Tamara picked them out for you.” Harris found them right where he said they’d be. She asked him about her gun. “It’s in the top of the same cabinet between towels. I don’t know why Shep put it in there for you, but he’s not been around guns all that much. Not like you have. The knife is there too, but wrapped in a washcloth. Your cell phone is in the safe downstairs. Shep got to thinking that it might have a tracker on it, and we put it in there for safekeeping.”

  Turning on the water when she was able to get all her things gathered up, Harris tried to think what was the last thing that was said to her about the job she’d done. She did worry about how much Mr. Marshall had been able to figure out, but knew him to be a smart man. The touch to her mind nearly had her screaming out loud.

  You’ve been told about me giving you my blood by now. Are you all right? Well, that settled one of the many questions that she’d had. It hadn’t been drugs like she’d been thinking, but the man’s blood. It occurred to her that she didn’t know what he was. I asked if you’re all right.

  Yes. I was thinking about what sort of shifter you are. And in answer to your question, no, I didn’t know about the blood until you mentioned it. I think your grandda is working up to things slowly for some reason. Harris could hear his frustration. What are you doing that has you pissy like a bear in a trap? Your date with Tamara not going well? Don’t hurt her, or I’ll kill you.

  Just as simple as that? You’ll just kill me? No suffering? Nothing like stringing me up so that I hang upside down while you beat me? You’re just going to kill me? She washed her hair, thinking about the man that had given her his blood as he prattled on. We’re not on a date. I wanted her to look at some buildings in the downtown area for her to start up a new place to sell her wears. And before your mind leaps there, not her body, but the things that she makes.

  Okay, first, my mind rarely if ever goes directly to sex. Secondly—well, this should have been first, but yes, I’d simply kill you. There is no reason for people to prolong the inevitable when it comes to ending a life. In my line of work, the faster the better. There is no talking to the person. No telling him why you’re killing him. Trust me, when I go after someone, they know why I’m there and what’s about to happen. Just plug one into his head or however I do it, and go on with my work. Too much hanging around can get your ass extinguished if you’re not careful. She felt his shock, almost like he was facing her, and she could read it on his face. What now? Have I pissed you off for some reason?

  No, not pissed me off. You really do kill people? Rolling her eyes, she got out of the shower and noticed that not only was her tat gone, but the wound in her side was all but gone too. Just the tiniest of scars was there, like it was still working on taking care that it didn’t mar her body. What is it that has you so distracted that you can’t keep up with a conversation?

  I had a tat. I hated it, got it one night when I was feeling down on myself and was drunk. But the fucker is gone. Also, you might well not believe this, but I’m healed. There is no bruising anywhere on me that would tell someone that I’d been hurt. What the fuck are you? He told her. No, you’re not just an ordinary jaguar. You’re something more. Your grandda said you were descended from a seventh son of the same all the way back, until your father. Why are you so special that you have all the magic that is supposed to come to one?

  We don’t know. Can you please talk Tamara into going into business with me on this? I’m giving her an opportunity of a lifetime here. She’s acting like I’m trying to steal everything that she has. Not worried about the change in subject, Harris told him that was exactly what she was thinking. That Tamara didn’t trust men with her welfare. So how do you think I should proceed with this? She needs this. I think she’s that good.

  Then convince her of that. She pulled on the rest of her clothing and made her way into the hall just as she saw another man coming out of a room down the hall. Slipping her gun out, she put it to the back of his head when he walked by her. The man started laughing, and she knew without being introduced that he was related to Mr. Marshall somehow. He had the same laugh. I think I just tried to kill your brother. Do they all live in this house with you?

  No, and don’t be killing anyone. Please. My family is very dear to me, and I’d just as soon not kill you for killing them. Even if I could. He was silent for a few moments. That’s my baby brother Dean. He said that he’d not even known you were in the house, but he’s glad to know that you know how to take care of yourself. He’s only twenty-three, so please don’t kill him.

  I wasn’t planning on it, but what the hell does him only being twenty-three have to do with whether or not I kill him? Shep said that he didn’t know, but he didn’t want him dead either way. You have an illogical mind. I’m going to eat, then get going here.

  She closed him out. Harris wasn’t sure how she’d done that, but it felt good getting in the last word with the larger than usual man.

  Finding the kitchen, she could only stand and stare at the large warm room. It wasn’t warm as in it was too hot—no, it was warm in a friendly sort of way. The way Harris felt when she was at Tamara’s house when she came back from work. Comforting, she thought it might be called. The woman at the stove asked her, without turning, if she was hungry. Before she could answer, if the question was directed at her, Dean said that he could always eat.

  They were seated at the table when Dean smiled at her. He was a flirt, she knew that, and more than likely got laid because of his good looks. He was a charmer, just like his grandda. Harris wondered for a moment why she’d never thought that about Shep. Like it really mattered, she thought.

  “You’ve pissed off Shep.” The woman at the stove hit h
im across the hand with her spatula. All he did was grin at her. “You’ve upset Shep. And while I think that’s great, he wants me to tell you something.”

  “What on earth could he have to say to me? I’m finished talking to the idiot. Did you know that he asked me not to kill you because of your age? What a moronic thing to say. What did he want?”

  Dean told her. Dotty, the cook at the stove, dropped not only her spatula, but also the glass that she’d been bringing to the table.

  “What do you fucking mean, he’s my mate?”

  Chapter 4

  Shep saw her waiting for him on the front porch of his...their home. He’d been out most of the day, mostly to avoid her killing him, but now that he had to come home, Shep hoped that the old saying about not being able to harm your mate was true. It hadn’t been for his parents, but it might hold true for them.

  Before he reached her, she began talking to him. “Do you have any idea what it is that I do for a living?” He said that it didn’t matter to him. “Sure it doesn’t. But when I have to get up in the middle of the night to run out and blow some fucker’s head off, what are you going to say then? Oh, and by the way, I’ve talked to Tamara, and she said you need to give her a few weeks to think on working things out. So don’t bother her.”

  “Okay, I can do that. I would hope that you’d be safe, but other than that, the fact that you’d be able to come home to me is more than I could have hoped for.” She huffed and got up to pace. Shep sat where she’d been, his legs just worn out from all the walking on the dirt all day. “Is this going to take long? The reason I ask is, I’m hungry and exhausted. Plus, I’m not used to walking around all day where the floor beneath me isn’t tempered by the ocean floor.”

  “You work on an oil rigger.” He answered her anyway, even though it wasn’t a question. “Which one, and I can tell you if you’re going to be in business for that much longer.”

  “I don’t work there any longer, but I worked for Cranes Digs. Stupid name, I know, but it was a place that could pay well and make me work hard for it. I don’t like to be idle.” She said she understood that, but did tell him that he’d have been out of work soon anyway. “You killed Crane?”

  “Yes. Just before I was shot, too. He was dipping his dick into a great many men on the rig. Not to mention, he wasn’t playing well with the men in charge of such things. Such as, he was selling off his oil to people that the government didn’t approve of. But what got him into deep shit was kidnapping and holding one of the president’s sons as his plaything, so they’d let him do his thing.” Shep asked why they didn’t just talk to him first. “They had. It didn’t take, apparently. Were you one of his playboys?”

  “No. You said that you killed him. Did you know that the newspaper says that he fell in the shower? How is that remotely possible if you put a bullet in his head?” She didn’t speak, and he figured it out on his own. “You knocked him around and made it look that way.”

  “Something like that. The rig that you were on, it’s been shut down permanently, after the government bought it for about a tenth of what it was really worth. You’ll have to find yourself other means of supporting yourself, I guess. You might say that I know things.” Apparently she did. More than he did. “Why do you think that I’m your mate? You’ll notice that I didn’t say I am, but why do you think so?”

  “You have a scent.” She cocked a brow at him, much like his ma used to do when he’d been living at home. “You have this scent about you, a smell that calls to me. Also, when I gave you my blood, it didn’t just heal you, but shared some of the traits that I have. I think I picked up a couple of yours too. What are you?”

  “I happen to be just a plain human that has a super brain. Not that I use it all that often, but I have it.” He asked her why she’d say something like that. “Because I should have killed you when I had the chance. But I didn’t, so now I have to figure out a way for you to fall in the tub when you shower.”

  “You could take a shower with me, and that would solve both our problems.” Harris told him that she didn’t have any problems. “Sure you do, if you think that I’m going to be letting you stand outside my shower ready to do me in.”

  “You’re an ass. Other than this scent thing, what else? I know a few shifters, and scent is something that they don’t rely on. It’s been fucked up before.” He said his parents were a prime example of that. “I met him, your father. He’s a dick.”

  “He is at that. Mostly he’s the reason that I left here. Not because I had to work—none of us do. But to get away before I murdered him. My mother made me promise that I’d only come home when one or both of them were dead. She died first.” Harris asked if his father had killed her. “Not that I’m aware of, no. It was an accident. Drunk fuck ran a red light and T-boned her on the driver’s side. She was waiting to turn into the grocery store parking lot when it happened.”

  “I’m sorry for your loss. Mr. Marshall, he calls her his Jill Ann. He’s told me some things about her.” Shep knew this too. After figuring out what Harris was to him, he had had a long talk with his grandda. “I’m in deep shit here, Shep. I don’t know who is after me or why. I have to be out of the public eye for a while. At least until I can figure this out.”

  “What do you need to do that? As I said, I don’t have to work. I have more money than I can spend in a couple of lifetimes. You tell me what you need and I’ll see about getting it for you. From there, we can figure out what we’re going to do about each other.” She said that there wasn’t going to be an each other. “There has to be, Harris. I know you don’t want to believe that, but if you have shifter friends, then you have been told why it’s important to keep mates together.”

  Harris shook her head, and Shep stood up. Her backing away from him pissed his cat off, but they had to work at this slowly. She wasn’t timid around him, and in thinking that, he knew that she could hurt them both badly if they took a single misstep. In any direction.

  “You just don’t get it, Shep. I could be shot at any time from anywhere.” He looked around, seeing nothing, but knew that wasn’t the point she’d been trying to make. “Damn it, don’t you get it? In the crossfire, one of your family or you could be murdered by this. I don’t want that to happen.”

  “I don’t either. We should talk about this and get what you need to get things in gear for you. First things first. What is it you need to call or text message someone to get your answers?” Shep held onto his laughter when she stomped into the house. He didn’t want to change a thing about her, but was excited for her to mold him into whatever she wanted. Shep was already half in love with the spicy woman.

  She was at the kitchen table when he found her, filling out a list of things she was going to need. The number one item was a secure phone. He had no idea how to make that happen, so called up his brother Oakley.

  Oakley was their go to man when they had computer issues, as well as when anything was wrong with their cars. He was very smart about both, naturally. He’d not taken any classes or done any kind of work before he’d been able to take apart and revamp their old computer at home. Just the other day Shep had seen him working on Trenton’s car. It had just stopped running, he’d been told. In less time than it took Shep to figure out what he wanted for supper, not only was the car running, but Trenton said it was running better than it had before.

  “I have to talk to your grandda. I think he might have a way for me to get some of this without it causing anyone to look in this direction.” He asked her what Grandda might have that he didn’t. “Friends.”

  Leaving the list behind, Harris went to talk to Grandda. Looking at it, Shep had no idea where to even begin on such a thing. Not only did it have secure network, but it also had things like a router that would bounce. There were many other things too, things that he was sure even Trenton might not have heard of.

  When she came back she seemed stunned. Asking her what had happened, he started to worry about her when she just sat ther
e. After a few minutes of that, before he could figure out if slapping her to get her attention was a good idea, she looked at him.

  “Your grandda is well connected, did you know that?” Shep said he didn’t, as a matter of fact. “I think you guys all need to gather around him and give him a good time. He’s feeling stuffed.”

  “I don’t understand. What do you mean, stuffed? Like he’s full?” She shook her head and looked at her list. “I’m all for taking Grandda out. He’s a lot of fun when he’s with us boys. But you have to explain to me what you meant by him being stuffed.”

  “When I was a child, my parents were the kind of people that other parents envied. They were good to me. Of course, they traveled a great deal. Most of the time they’d take me with them. We had a good life. They made sure that I was well dressed, loved, and had what I needed. They loved each other and me. Coming home from a trip to someplace, Dad brought me back a bear. His name was Alexander. Anyway, when Mom came to tell me good night, on the last night that I saw her, I told her that when I got older and had my own home, I was going to keep her and Dad safe. Then when they passed away, I was going to stuff them like Alexander and put them on my couch. She laughed and said that she’d like that. Hugs and kisses from me all the time. I think your grandda is feeling like he’s already been stuffed and put on the couch, but no one is hugging him anymore.”

  He didn’t know what to say to that. Neither the story about her parents—the first time she’d mentioned them that he knew of—or the feelings on his Grandda. Instead of asking her more about her family, which he really wanted to, Shep asked her why she thought that of Grandda.