“Hello, do you remember me from yesterday?” She held her hand out, and Leanne barely grasped it before letting go. “I was watching the babies while Wilhelm was at work. I have some paperwork for him.”
Leanne held her hand out. “I’m happy to give—”
“I’d really like to give it to him personally.” Juliette breathed deeply, and wondered why Leanne had such an acrid scent seeping from her. It was almost as if she felt panic or anger at seeing Juliette at her door. So Juliette did something out of character, and casually moved past Leanne. “Can you tell him I’m here please?” Juliette wasn’t pushy or bossy, but she could assert herself when necessary. “I’m sure he won’t mind.”
Leanne didn’t close the door, but held it open and spoke in an exasperated tone. “Mr. Sorenson has already left for the office this morning. He couldn’t sleep he said. Perhaps you can give him the paperwork there?”
It seemed Leanne wanted to get rid of her. It could be that she wasn’t a people person or had tasks to take care of that Juliette was delaying. But her scent, the way she kept shifting her eyes to the side, led Juliette to think that something was wrong. “I’ll just go see the babies before I leave,” she said as sweetly as she could. “I’ll stay out of your way.”
“Ma’am, I was just about to feed the twins their breakfast, so if—”
“I’ll do it for you,” Juliette said, and headed directly for the stairs and the nursery. “You can tend to whatever else you need to, or put your feet up and relax, how about that?”
Leanne hurried ahead of her, not trying to stop her physically, but practically pleading for her to change her mind. “It’s my job, ma’am, and I’m sure Mr. Sorenson expects me to do it.”
As they reached the nursery, she saw the bottles already prepared and the babies squirming and snuffling in their cribs. A warm feeling grew behind her breastbone, and she ached to feed them one at a time so she could hold them in her arms again. “Oh, I’m sure it’s fine, Leanne. If you’re worried, we can call Wilhelm and ask. He won’t mind.”
Leanne considered that for a moment, then shook her head. “No, that’s all right. You … you go ahead. If you need anything, just use the baby monitor to let me know. I’ll be in the kitchen.”
Leanne glanced over the cribs and left the room a little too quickly, the sharp smell of fear left in her wake. Was she really that worried about her routine being upended or that she’d get in some kind of trouble for letting Juliette feed the twins?
She picked up Thomas first and settled in the rocking chair with a burp cloth on her shoulder. She wasn’t sure at what point Leanne had been when she’d knocked, so for good measure she squirted a little of the formula onto the back of her hand to make sure it wasn’t too hot.
Tears welled in her eyes at doing what she’d always dreamed of, just not with her own babies, with someone else’s orphaned children. It still felt magical, though, and it pained her to realize that this life that she’d wanted, to be a mother, would have suited her as well as she’d always imagined.
She wiped the drop of formula onto the burp cloth on her shoulder, and wiped tears from her eyes.
A new scent caught her attention, now that the sour panic smell had faded from the room. She sniffed the cloth and the little dot of formula, and curled her nose. A tiny growl escaped her throat, and Thomas made the sweetest coo in response.
She squirted formula onto her hand, a bigger drop this time that ran down to her wrist and dripped onto the baby blanket. She sniffed it carefully, then dipped her tongue into it and shook her head.
“I’m so glad I stopped by,” she whispered to the baby in her arms. “This has gone bad. We need to get you some fresh food, don’t we?” she said softly. Surely Leanne was human, and might have not realized something was wrong until the babies ended up with sour stomachs, or worse.
She carefully put Thomas into his crib and went to find Leanne in the kitchen.
“This formula’s gone bad.”
Leanne was washing bottles in the sink, and kept her back turned. “I’m sure it’s fine, ma’am. I mixed it up no more than a minute before you knocked on the door.”
“Oh, I don’t doubt that, but something’s really off about it.” She unscrewed the nipple and moved to the counter next to Leanne to hold it out for her to smell. “See?”
Leanne reluctantly sniffed it and shook her head. “You’re right. Thank you for catching that. I’ll open a new can, and I’ll double-check the expiration date.”
“Thank you.”
Leanne took the bottle, dumped it, and got a clean one from a cabinet. “I’ll bring it to you, ma’am, there’s no need to wait while I heat it.”
After a moment, Leanne left the kitchen but stopped outside the doorway. Leanne’s scent could be caused by anything, but her strange monotone voice when she took the bottle, and the way she wouldn’t look Juliette in the eye told Juliette something was very wrong.
Juliette stood outside the doorway and moved her head enough so that she could just watch Leanne at the sink. It felt ridiculous to spy on her like this, but she couldn’t shake the feeling of dread that came over her. Maybe she was paranoid, or simply didn’t like Leanne and therefore didn’t trust her, but all her instincts told her this situation was not right. The hair on the back of her neck stood up, and the tiger inside her struggled to get out, but she managed to control herself.
As she watched Leanne dump liquid Benadryl into the fresh bottle of formula, her tiger got her wish. Juliette lurched and snatched the bottle out of Leanne’s hand. The nanny started to protest, then realized she was caught and tried to push past her, Juliette drew back her arm and whacked Leanne hard enough to send her flying backward. Leanne sailed across the kitchen and crashed against the refrigerator. She blinked in shock. She opened and closed her mouth, but no sound came out. Her eyes skittered up to Juliette and widened in fear.
Bitch tried to hurt those babies, Juliette fumed. How dare she?
“What do you think you’re doing, Leanne?” Juliette’s voice was sugary-sweet but unraveled at the end as her beast slipped over. A ghostly growl reverberated in each syllable. “I knew something was amiss when I smelled that sour stench. Thomas and Leah also had stomachaches yesterday and they were too agitated to be put to bed. Now I know you’ve been drugging them with Benadryl. Do you realize what you’ve done? Werecubs and pups are sensitive to antihistamine. It’s toxic in a large dose. You could’ve killed them!” Juliette snarled savagely. A tigress growl reverberated to the kitchen ceilings. Slowly, the mask of her humanity vanished as her inner beast surfaced. Juliette felt her face tighten, her mouth and chin elongated and her feline fangs burst out from her gums.
Leanne squealed. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I just want them to sleep a little longer. My mom used Benadryl on us when we were little and we’ve turned out okay.” She shrank in the corner, cowering in fear.
“Stupidity breeds stupidity. It’s not okay to drug babies, any baby, because you don’t want to be bothered taking care of them like you should. If you think you’re going to get away with a serious offense, you’re sorely mistaken. You’re going to pay dearly you stupid bitch.”
“I’m sorry! I won’t do it again, I promise!”
“Sorry? Promise? Tell me why I should spare your life, you wretched piece of shit? Leah and Thomas are helpless babies. You’re supposed to protect them, keep them from harm! That’s what you’ve been paid to do! And you know they’ve just lost their parents. Don’t you possess a heart, a little compassion for them—you miserable excuse for a human being?” Juliette roared. “Ugh. I’m so mad I can’t think straight! Maybe I should rip your gut out and strangle you with your intestines until you repent for what you have done!”
“No! Please, I’m sorry!” Leanne practically groveled for her life. “Forgive me!”
Juliette saw dark as her inner beast took over. But then a pierce of wailing grounded her back to reality. She recognized Leah’s cry from the nursery. She
turned around and found Leanne with her claws. The nanny had pissed herself from terror. The stench of fear and urine assaulted her nose. Ugh. Juliette tossed her unceremoniously like the piece of garbage she was. “I guess today is your lucky day. Leah has just saved your life, scum. But I’m going to report you to the police so you can’t do this to any baby in the future.”
Chapter Nine
Wilhelm yawned and stretched his arms over his head. He planned to review a few more files, then see if he could nap on the leather couch in his office. He hadn’t started to feel sleepy until he’d gotten to the office and began working. It made sense, because the office felt more like home to him.
The flurry of incidents that happened yesterday wore him out. If he could catch a nap, the rest of his day would probably be better. He only hoped every time he closed his eyes he didn’t see his brother’s frowning face, disapproving of him in some way or another even from beyond the grave. Fuck it, Halgar. When he’d managed to push aside his brother’s memory, Juliette’s face showed up every time he’d started to doze. Thoughts of her kept him awake for more pleasant reasons.
Wilhelm shook his head and opened another file on his laptop. The Benedict account. Everything should be in order, he’d only need to—
His cell phone’s ring drew his attention. At first, he didn’t recognize the number, then the area code clicked in his mind and he realized it must be Detective Frasier, the policeman who’d handled his brother’s case. They’d spoken yesterday after Wilhelm had called about the accident, and something about his unwillingness to go into detail bothered Wilhelm, so he’d asked the man to call back today. “Detective Frasier, good morning.”
“Sorry for calling so early, but I wanted to touch base with you before the day got away from me.”
“I was up, it’s no problem.”
“Mr. Sorenson, does your brother have any enemies?”
“Enemies?” Was that a standard question when someone died in a car crash? “Not that I know of. Why?”
The detective breathed loudly into the phone. “What about his wife? Could there be a jilted lover, or—”
“Detective, I wouldn’t know anything about Carol’s life. As I told you yesterday, my brother and I have been estranged for the past few years. Why are you asking me this?”
“It’s probably nothing, Mr. Sorenson. Only a hunch. Something about the accident just doesn’t sit right with me. The Medical Examiner just handed me the autopsy report. He didn’t find any substance that might cause your brother to be impaired while driving. Nice weather, no drugs or alcohol in either of their systems, one-car accident. I’m probably just being over-cautious, but I like to be thorough.”
All the sadness and loss Wilhelm had felt since finding out his brother was gone began to bubble into something else—anger. And purpose.
“Are you suggesting that my brother was murdered, Detective?” He forced himself to lighten his grip on the phone in his hand.
“I’m sorry, I can’t rule that out yet. I think it doesn’t sit right, that’s all. I have a couple of my best technicians going over the car in impound. Like I said, I want to be thorough, but there’s no need to be alarmed. I’ll let you know if I find anything that points toward foul play.”
“Thank you for the update, Detective. I really appreciate it.” Wilhelm wrote instructions for Gunther to have his corporate Gulfstream readied for tomorrow’s flight. Gunther had come in early, right after delivering the rent paperwork and flowers to Juliette. He called in his beta. “There has been a development about Halgar’s accident.” Wilhelm gave Gunther the short version of what Detective Frazier had briefed him on moments earlier. “I’m going to Aspen to inspect the scene of the accident with my own eyes. I’ll cancel my afternoon meeting,” he stated.
He called Gunther in and instructed him to ready a plane for Aspen in the morning. With all that settled, he tried to focus on the Benedict file again, but found himself unable to stop considering the possibility that his brother’s accident was actually murder.
At the very least, if he met Frasier he’d get a better sense of whether the man knew what the hell he was talking about. Maybe he saw something that was overlooked with the initial investigation. Maybe this was all for nothing.
No matter, he had to find out.
The sharp ring of his office phone snapped him to attention. Gunther knew better than to send calls through until at least nine. It wasn’t quite seven. He pushed the button. “Yes?”
“Wilhelm, it’s Juliette on the phone,” said Gunther.
That put a smile on his face. She was probably calling to thank him, maybe even scold him for bothering to give her flowers. Juliette was always a welcome distraction, so his morning just got a whole lot better.
“Hello, Juliette,” he said after he clicked over to the call. “I take it the paperwork is in order?”
“Wilhelm, you need to come to your brother’s place now.”
“Why?”
“I’m here right now. I came by to see you this morning and to see how the cubs are doing. I caught Leanne pouring liquid Benadryl into their formula. She’s been drugging them so they’d sleep longer.”
“What?” Wilhelm shot to his feet.
“I called the police and they’re on their way. I need you to be here when they come.”
“I—I’ll be there as fast as I can. Please convince them to wait for me.”
“Nobody’s leaving until you say so.” The growl low in Juliette’s voice raised Wilhelm’s hackles. He’d never heard her so furious or so determined.
“I’m on my way, Juliette.”
“Hurry, please.” The connection ended.
Wilhelm swore. First the detective had a funny feeling about his brother’s accident, and now Juliette caught the twins’ nanny trying to—
No. This all had to be some sort of nightmare, a bad joke. He rushed from the office, shouting instructions at Gunther as he passed.
*
Wilhelm saw three police cruisers lining the mansion’s driveway, blocking in Juliette’s white Toyota as soon as he rounded the curb. She must have been watching for him, because she flew out the door as he stepped from the car.
“Thank God you’re here,” Juliette said as she rushed toward him.
Her beautiful face was paler than normal, her eyes darker. He could smell lingering musk around her, as if she’d just shifted. Weretigers left a signature primal scent only noticeable to other shifters if they had transformed recently. The scent on Juliette almost drove him to shift too, his own tiger eager to respond to Juliette’s tigress. Especially when Juliette broadcasted a strong signal of distress.
She’s overwrought, he thought. “Are you all right, Juliette?”
“I’m fine. Leah and Thomas are fine too,” she said. “Uhm, Wilhelm, I might need a lawyer.”
That got his attention. “What did you do?”
“Leanne accused me of battery.”
“Oh? Did you ‘batter’ her?” Wilhelm couldn’t help let out a tiny amused tinge to his voice.
“Only a little.” Juliette held up her thumb and forefinger. “I lost it when she confessed she and her mom used antihistamine on babies so they’d sleep longer. So, I bitch-slapped her a bit.”
“Did you injure her?”
“No, I don’t think so. Physically, I mean. Emotionally, I can’t say. She soiled herself. I shouldn’t be surprised, I guess. The other side of me isn’t pretty.”
“I beg to differ. Everything about you is beautiful.”
Her eyebrow arched a little.
“Don’t worry. If need be, I’ll defend you myself.”
“You? Are you a lawyer?” Juliette seemed surprise.
“I passed the bar exam but I’m not practicing. Let’s go see them.” Wilhelm gently tugged her elbow and escorted her to the mansion. The thought that she saved Thomas’ and Leah’s lives and that she could look so upset at what almost happened when the kids were nothing to her, moved him. She and Wilhel
m weren’t even what one would consider friends, since their interaction generally only consisted of him visiting Bonbon most mornings for a pastry and tea and another attempt at getting Juliette to go to dinner with him. He was only her landlord.
But in that moment, it didn’t matter to Wilhelm. As he reached her, he instinctively wrapped her in a tight hug. “Thank you. Thank you so much,” he whispered.
Her arms looped around him just as tightly, and Wilhelm realized he was accepting comfort as much as giving it. He’d almost lost the only family he had left, if not for this amazing woman.
It seemed like the most natural thing in the world to stand there holding her, their breath slowing as they relaxed into each other’s arms. God, it felt so right, more than anything he’d ever done.
“Mr. Sorenson?” An officer took a few steps out of the front door.
They let go of each other and turned to the officer. “Yes,” Wilhelm said.
“We’d like to ask you some questions.” The officer moved to the side and gestured to the door.
And then Juliette’s hand slipped into his. He glanced at her, and gave her a slight nod, everything about him feeling brighter, stronger, with Juliette gripping his hand. They walked into the mansion and only let go when another officer approached Juliette and asked her to repeat her story one more time.
By the time the officers were satisfied that there was cause to arrest Leanne, Wilhelm had heard Juliette repeat her story, exactly, at least three more times to different officers. One was concerned about Leanne’s bruises and pressed to make an assault case out of it. He antagonized Juliette in such a way that she quickly lost her cool and snarled viciously. In front of a very pissed-off weretigress, the cop startled and quickly groped for his weapon.
Wilhelm interfered. “Excuse me, officer. Ms. Crabtree is an outstanding member of society. She reacted this way because our kind is very protective to our young. She’s not the villain in this case—that woman is.” Wilhelm threw a venomous glare at the nanny. “But if you’d like to arrest and charge Ms. Crabtree for assault and battery, be my guest, but I assure you, I’ll get Ms. Crabtree out on bail before the lunch hour. If your case goes to trial, I’ll do anything in my power so that no jury can convict her for trying to protect my innocent infant niece and nephew, who you know just lost their parents in a car accident yesterday. So if you are finished here, please take that woman into custody while Ms. Crabtree and I address a more pressing matter. We have to take the babies to the hospital for exams. We don’t know what kind of damage that woman inflicted on them by drugging them daily.”
Single Weretiger DILF Page 5
