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

by Kathi S. Barton

  “Why would that make any difference to me? I met her. She’s a ball buster, and the wrong type of woman for my son.” He asked him what she’d said to him. “You heard her, Dad. She threatened me about coming around. Not even the other boys will have a thing to do with me. That’s just not right.”

  “Why? Because they won’t give you money? I’m not either. Now get on away from here before I’m late to work.” James asked him why he was working. “I love to work. And talk. I can talk all day if I want to, and if I have me a captive crowd, then I’m in heaven.”

  “You’re expecting me to believe that someone is going to pay you to talk all day?” He said that he was bag boy for the grocery store. “That is a kid’s job, not an old man like you are. What if you get hurt? Then what will happen?”

  “Will you be concerned if I’m hurt, son?” He didn’t answer him, and that was answer enough for Sheppard. “You’re such a disappointment, James. More than I realized when you were growing up. Why didn’t you try and make it work out between you and Jill Ann? I already told you what a great woman she was.”

  “To you. You had her eating out of your hand. But for me, all she ever did was bitch and complain all the time. Like I needed to work when there was money in the banks.” Sheppard told him that the money was hers. “She was my wife. Why didn’t she share it with me?”

  “More than likely she didn’t think you were up to paying it back. You do know that you have to give as good as you get, don’t you? I mean, if you want something, then work for it to get paid. Money just don’t grow on trees.” James rolled his eyes at him. “I don’t have time for your tomfoolery today. Go on back to the rock you were living under and leave me alone.”

  “I need some money, Dad. I’m your son. Help me out so that I can have a decent meal.” He asked him what sort of meal that was to him. “A steak in a fine restaurant. A nice fat potato with all the trimmings. I want to have a slice of pie for dessert. Have a nice glass of wine too. You can spot me that much, can’t you? I mean, I’ve seen the improvements to the house that I used to own. Let me have some money.”

  “You never own diddly, you fool. All you did was waste money until Jill Ann had to put them boys to work to make up for it all. There wasn’t no point in telling you no, either—you just beat them all until you got what you wanted.” Sheppard laughed. “I guess you noticed that they’re all a bit bigger than you are, so you’ll just leave them be. Too bad really—I think they’d all take you on just to have you out of their lives.”

  “What a thing to say to me. I’m their father, damn it. Just as you are mine. Why don’t you just fucking fork over the money and let me be on my way?” Sheppard dug in his pocket for his little wallet. “That’s more like it. Thanks, Dad. It’s about time you’re starting to— What the hell is this? A quarter? What the hell am I supposed to do with a fucking quarter?”

  “I’d use it to call someone up that gives two hoots about what you want.”

  Laughing, he entered the grocery store. After getting his apron on, Sheppard was ready for his first day on the job.

  He wasn’t worried that James would hurt him. The boy had better know better. Here he was pushing near abouts sixty himself, and he acted like he was ten years old. Moron.

  Between customers he had plenty of time to think on things. Mostly it was about his grandsons, but he did have an occasion to think about James. He had been a disappointment since he’d been a teenager. Probably before that. It had occurred to him that his wife had hidden a great deal from him about their only child. And now here he was a grown assed man, and acting like the world owed him something.

  “Are you all right, Mr. Marshall? This isn’t too much for you, is it?” He told her that he was having the time of his life. “You look like you’re thinking hard on something. I saw you talking to your son. Are you worried that he’ll go to prison after he’s taken to court next week?”

  “I didn’t know a thing about that, Erin. What did he do that has him that bound up by the law?” She told him that she’d only heard about it yesterday, and told him as much as she knew, which to him was a great deal. “I had no idea that he’d resorted to stealing cars. Was anyone hurt when he wrecked it?”

  “Mr. Brown lost his job over it, but they gave it back to him when he told them what had happened. I guess James had been out with some buddies of his, no nicer than he is, and he was showing off. I only know that much because my dad is a cop. He said that he totaled that car so badly that they had to use two wreckers to pull it out of the river, then use the jaws of life to get Mr. Horn out. He died, you know. But they have yet to charge him with that. Daddy doesn’t know if they will or not because he wasn’t driving. Mr. Horn was driving it when it wrecked. But James, he stole the car. They have him on one of those house recorder things taking it.”

  He wasn’t sure that this little girl should be telling things that her daddy did, but he only thanked her. Sheppard wondered if any of the boys knew about it, and figured that Harris would know before anyone else. She was keeping tabs on James, she’d told him. When there was another break in what he was doing, he reached out to her.

  I knew about it. But since there was little to nothing that we could do about it, I thought it best not to ruin your good mood about it. Grandda, you have to admit, you’ve been in a really good mood for some time now. He said that he had been, and wasn’t upset that she didn’t tell him. He’s going to be jailed for grand theft, as well as other things. He was seen driving the car away, and since he doesn’t have a license anymore, they got him on that too. Sheppard asked her why he was out and about. There were four men that night, two we know of and two we don’t. For some reason, the police have it in their head that he was paid to steal the car. Which means to them that one of the other two are responsible too. I think they should get rid of all their asses, but that’s just me.

  I just saw James. He was begging me for enough money to go out and buy himself a nice steak dinner. On me. She said that sounded like him. I have a girl here that I’m working with. I don’t want her to get into trouble, but she was telling me all about what happened at the police station that her daddy is a cop with. She even told me details that I’m sure the public shouldn’t be knowing. Like Mr. Horn was driving when the car was found in the river.

  I’ll have a talk with him about it. I’ve decided to take over the running of the department. There are too many things that are going left unsolved. Not that they’re a bad lot, they’re just a lazy bunch. And if they’re sharing information with their kids, who in turn tells the county, it’s small wonder that they can catch anyone. Just knowing that the police are after you would make someone run, don’t you think? Sheppard agreed with her on that. I’ll keep you informed if you want. Don’t talk to him about it unless he talks first. But, like most of the town, he probably figures that he’s free and clear since most crimes don’t get solved or taken care of.

  I can see that too, my dear. I’ll just let Erin tell me all about it, and see where it goes here too. He laughed. She might give me more than you have. She seems to be well informed for a cashier.

  Sheppard really was having a good time. The people that came in, they all remembered him from when his wife would shop there. A lot of them told him that they’d thought it was wonderful that he’d push the cart for her and load them on the belt to be run out. They asked if he’d put the groceries away when they got home.

  “She’d not let me do that. I put them in the wrong places, she told me.” He laughed, thinking about her fussing at him about where he put things. “My missus would get a little mad when she’d find things that should have been in the cabinet in the refrigerator, or things in that contraption in the freezer part.”

  The rest of his shift was easy for him. He was on his feet a good deal more than he was used to, but he walked a great deal, so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been for him. Walking home, he saw people that he’d just worked with having a cookout or such.

  They
were having steaks tonight. Grace had come over and asked him what he wanted with his. All he could think about was apple pie. She said that she could surely have him one of those made. He knew that she could. It was one of the best things that came out of that kitchen so far as he was concerned. Sheppard surely did love living with Shep and Harris. They knew how to treat an old man.

  He was nearly home when he saw his son again. Thankfully he’d not seen him yet, so Sheppard stepped around the corner and watched him talking to another man. Sheppard didn’t know who he was, this other man, but he was large, like fat large, and he drove a silver Porsche. It would be easy to trace, he figured, since there wasn’t that many people that could afford them anymore. And this one looked to be in perfect shape.

  After the big man hit James, he got into his car and drove away. Good thing that James was fast on his feet, or he might have gotten run over. Taking a picture of the license plate number, Sheppard went on home. He’d give it to Harris. She’d be able to do a great deal with it, he thought.

  The more he thought about it, the more he didn’t care. If James got himself mixed up with other people then he would have to deal with it. Besides, Sheppard knew that his Harris would take care of the shit. Smiling about it, he deleted the picture and walked home.

  Chapter 12

  Shep followed Harris through Benson’s house. He was his cat in the event that she might need him to make Benson piss himself. It was fine by him—he could be with her and try and keep her safe.

  Benson hadn’t been heard from in a couple of days, and Howard had wanted her to check on him. Harris knew that he had killed himself—or worse yet, had been killed by Maron before he’d been arrested. The meeting with Maron still bothered Shep a little, but Harris said that it was no less than she had expected.

  “Who the hell are you?” Maron had been pissy as soon as they walked up to his cell. Being that he was on the government payroll, he was in a federal prison, which sounded much better than it really was. He had a guard at his door at all times, military that couldn’t be bought, as Maron told them. As well as very little time out of doors for him. That was another point that he made to Harris, AKA, Danielle Kane, the butler’s niece.

  “You killed my uncle, Gilbert Kane.” He asked her who that was. “My uncle was your butler. Didn’t you even try to learn his name before you shot him?”

  “It was an accident. Just as I’ve been telling these people here. I was dealing with a bitch and he came in the room just as I ran her off.” Sure he had, Shep thought. “When he opened the door, I thought it was her and fired at him. I didn’t mean to, but apparently that doesn’t mean anything to these people.”

  Maron went on and on about how he’d made a mistake, one that anyone would, and Harris kept getting more and more mouthy with him. She was never mad, but she wanted him to be pissed off enough to say something. He never did, as a matter of fact, but Harris sure had enjoyed herself. He had too, and still laughed about it.

  Now she was checking on the other man who had been a part of this shit. The house was deadly quiet, but neither of them made a sound. Just as it looked like no one was home, Benson came out of the basement with too large sacks in his hands.

  “Hello, Benson. Are you going someplace?” Harris didn’t look like she was anything but a well formed woman. Her hair was covered, face and hands too. The only thing that he’d been able to see of her was her eyes. And those did not look happy to be here. “I asked you a question, dumb shit. Where are you going?”

  “Who the fuck are you? And how did you get into my home? I’m calling the police.” Harris pointed to the cell that was laying on the counter by him. “Get out of here. I didn’t allow you in, and I want you out of my house.”

  “You see, that’s not going to work for me.” She put down her hand, and Shep moved to stand beside her. It had the desired effect in that Benson screamed. “This is why that doesn’t work for me. You see, you’ve been up to no good, Benson. As of this morning, we have stopped your caravan of trucks coming into and out of the States, and you’d not believe the shit that we found on the fuckers. Were you about to start a war? Looks like it to me.”

  “You have no right to do that. Who are you?” She didn’t answer Benson. Shep really hadn’t expected her to. “I’ll give you one of these bags of money if you just go away and never say a word. You’d like that, wouldn’t you? I mean, it’s a lot of money.”

  “I have enough, thanks.” He told her that no one could never have enough money. “Only bad guys think that. Where did all this come from? You haven’t sold off the guns you have yet, so that can’t be it. Drugs? Well, those have been stopped too, haven’t they?”

  “Did you stop them? Do you have any idea how much trouble you’ve gotten me into? Christ, I have buyers all over the country wondering where their shit is. Davidson told me to send it off as soon as I was informed that it was here. Now, listen here. You just leave now after telling me where my things are.” She only sat down at the table and Shep laid at her feet. “How the hell does someone get a jaguar that big to do what they want it to do? That must have cost you a fortune. How about I buy him off you? Any price, you name it.”

  “He’d only eat you alive, and that wouldn’t be any fun for me, now would it?” She petted him on the head and he purred. “You work for someone. If you’d just played along like I wanted, then I’d have him too. But you had to go and do the silent thing, and so I had to come and see what you’re about. I don’t think anyone thought that you’d be alive. I hoped you would be so that I can hurt you, but you were leaving town without saying goodbye to me. How mean is that, Benson?”

  “You’re not going to hurt me. I’m the vice president of the United States.” Harris told him that he was the VP, past tense. “No, I’m him. You can ask Howard about it. He’ll tell you.”

  “You see, everyone thinks that you’re dead. That you killed yourself. I can’t let an opportunity like that go. It’s the perfect thing for me to use, don’t you agree?” His face paled and he dropped both bags. “Are you getting it now? Do you know who I am?”

  “Cora Banks. The government hit man.” She nodded and told him that he got extra points for knowing her. “You’re here to kill me. Who hired you?”

  “Who do you think hired me? You do know that I’m freelance now. Now that you’ve tried to have me killed. Also, I think you know who hired me, don’t you?” He nodded, and this was what they’d been waiting on. Someone to come clean with who they worked for. Harris stood up and took out her gun. “He did say that I could have fun with you before you ended up on the wrong end of a rope. I think suicide by hanging is so overrated. I was thinking more along the lines of putting you into a tub of warm water and slicing open your wrists. The water will start out pink. Then after a short time, it’ll get darker. After—”

  “You have to let me go. I’ll do whatever you want, just don’t kill me.” She said that her contact was promising her a million dollars for making him look good. “I’ll give you four. I have it right here. Take one of these bags, and that’ll be four million. That should be enough.”

  “I don’t know. It sounds good, but what if he doesn’t use me again for a job? What will I live on?” He told her that she could kill Mr. Tanager and that she could have all his money. “You think that would be all it takes? What about my travel time?”

  “He just lives in Columbus, Ohio. I don’t think it’ll be that much of a hardship for you where you live. Just go there, kill him, and you can live in his big mansion on Twenty-Fourth Street.” He grinned like the deal was a done one. “It’s really nice. I’ve been in it before when I was in the area. Not as nice as the one I have in DC, but it’s nice. He hasn’t any family, he told me once, and spends all his money on whatever he wants.”

  “Tanager on Twenty-Fourth Street—have you got it?” Benson looked around and asked her who she was talking to. “The people that work for me and Howard. You might remember him—he’s president of the United States.
Which I believe trumps your VP status. By a great deal, I think.”

  The army guards came in just as she was stretching her arms above her head. Shep kept an eye on the man—he was much too casual about what was going on. And when he pulled his gun, Shep was ready to leap at him when shots were fired. They weren’t from Harris, he knew that. She had thrown her body over him to protect him, he thought.

  Harris had been told not to fire unless he fired first. The two men that had their rifles out and aimed at Benson were not moving, but they had both fired at the same time, blowing Benson’s head off, and his bags had dumped all over the kitchen.

  The clean-up was long and drawn out. They were marking things which were put into a catalog of events, and things were being recorded too. It wasn’t until he’d been allowed to shift and to dress that he realized what they were doing. Searching the entire house. And they were not being very neat about it either. Sofas were cut into. Walls were marked with cans of spray. He had to ask one of the people searching why they were doing that.

  “It means that we’ve checked the wall for safes. Most of the time it’s not as easy as moving a picture and there it is. Sometimes they are buried in the wall with plaster over them so that when they leave in a hurry, they just knock out a wall.” Shep thanked him. “You’re a cat, correct?”

  “Yes, do you need me for something?” The man, the one that he thought only reported to Harris, said he needed someone to sniff out the basement. They were looking for bodies. “My wife, she’s looking outside, isn’t she?”

  “Yes, but to be honest, Mr. Marshall, I’d like to get out of this place. It’s giving me the creeps. This guy had a great job, and he fucked it all up for the love of one thing. Power.” He asked him about money. “Money usually comes with power, but you have to have the power first. It smells of treason around here.”