Tanner

by Kathi S. Barton

  Table of Contents

  Front Cover

  Chapter

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 1

  Tyrrell watched the little plane land. He’d been in Ohio for a whole day now, and he’d decided that it was a cute place. The town that he was staying in, a quaint little burg, had all the amenities that one might need—a grocery store, library, schools, as well as a doctor or two. The only thing that he could find fault with, and that wasn’t such a big deal, was that it lacked places to eat. Not that the few that were there didn’t cater to your every whim, but all he could get delivered to him was subs and pizza. Laughing, he wondered what his sister would think after living in a part of Ireland that was mostly farmland and sheep. She’d think she was living in a metropolitan area around here. He was at the end of the gate when she came into the building. Tyrrell felt his eyes fill with tears at the sight of her. She’d changed so much that he was surprised. It had been just over ten years since he’d laid eyes on her, but he had talked to her often. Giyanna had her red hair pulled back in a long braid that had pulled loose in several places, but she had the face of a porcelain goddess, freckles and all. He had missed her so much, and it occurred to him then that it had been far too long since they’d even spoken. They hugged for a full five minutes, both saying how much they’d missed each other, their words tumbling over one another like they used to as children. He had missed her so very much. And she him, she told him. “The flight was long and I’m exhausted. Hungry too. The food on the plane was good, but far too little to sustain someone for hours, I think.” He helped her with her luggage, just one bag and a carry on. “I didn’t know how long I’d be here, so I took two months off. It was difficult to find someone to watch my house, so you owe me half of that as well, Tyrrell.” She told him that she was joking, that she had it covered. “No, no, I told you that I’d go half. Just tell me what you want. Anything you need, I’ll do it. I’m just so very glad to see you. But two months and you have one bag? Are you planning to spend some time while here to shop?” She glared at him. “Ah, so you’re a better packer than I. I don’t doubt that either. I just haphazardly throw things toward the suitcase, and if it lands in it, it goes with me. God, it’s so good to see you after all this time. We should have done this years ago, Giyanna.” “Yes, we should have, but I’m telling you right now, I won’t be drawn into Rogan’s mess other than to try and get him a reduced sentence. What is it he’s been taken in for?” Tyrrell handed her a thick file as he carried her bag out to the car. “Restraining order violation? That’s it? Damn it. I thought for sure I could just let him float his arse to prison. How is Bridgett? Have you spoken to her yet?” “No, I’ve not, and your Irish is showing. But yes, there is more. Breaking and entering. Parole violation. Also, he has a list of other charges about a mile long that he’s been avoiding. And by avoiding, I mean that he’s been not seeing his parole officer when he was supposed to. Intoxication. Robbery. Selling stolen goods. They decided that since they know where he is right now they’ll hit him up for them all at once. So you might get your wish after all with him. But he’s been beating Bridget, and that has gotten him into the worst of it.” She was still reading over the file when she asked him where he was now. “Jail. Apparently, he was asked to leave the house that Bridgett was living in with him and he didn’t cooperate. He beat one of the men nearly to death, and the other man has a broken arm. They’re also charging him with the destruction of a government building. He tore up the house pretty good. His defense on that was that when Bridgett returned, she’d fix it up. And she is going to return, as he’s told everyone that will listen.” “He’s a moron and a bully. It saddens me on so many levels that she had to do this. Running away is seldom the answer, but in her case and ours it was the only way to survive him. And she had to take his children so far away to hide from him.” Tyrrell told her that he’d sent her some money. “I did as well. At least she’ll be able to feed them until she can get a job. I’m to understand that her brother is there with her, and he’s already lined up a job for himself. These people that are helping her...do you know anything about them?” “I’ve been doing some research, and they’re about the best thing this town has ever seen. They’re wolves that are wealthy beyond anything I’ve ever heard of.” She nodded as they drove to the local bed and breakfast. “One of them is an attorney that has been asked to take on the case, but he declined. Something to so with him being in private practice. I don’t know. But it’s probably just as well. He’s really the best they have around here. And as much as I’d hate to say it, I do not want Rogan free to run around any more than Bridgett does.” “I’m better as an attorney, I bet.” She laughed with him. “But I have to tell you, Tyrrell, I don’t want to do this. You have to know that.” He said that he’d do it if she would be the second chair. “I don’t even want to do that. I really dislike him. Rogan has been nothing but a bully since we were children. I’d just as soon he went to prison and never got out.” “When he called me, all I could think about was finding the state’s prosecutor, whoever that might be, and giving him even more shit to pile onto whatever they have on him. And as you can tell, there is a great deal of it.” She closed the file and leaned back. “Honey, you’re tired. Why don’t you take a long nap when we get there? That way when you wake, you’ll be fresh enough to go see him with me.” “I think I’ll sleep for a week.” He just grinned at her when she looked at him. “I want to spend time with you, and before I have to go back, I want us to go out and see the kids. Hopefully they’ll be all right out there. I have to admit, though, I’m so glad that she was able to do this. Even if she had to take them all the way across the country to do so.” “Bridgett is terrified that she’ll lose the kids if he’s able to get out. I don’t foresee him getting even visitation rights, but I don’t practice in this state, so things could be different. With him having a criminal record it might go in her favor. But they’re not hers, remember.” She said that she did. “The fact that they’re his might not go so well for her since she’s unemployed and took them out of the state. However, she has called the police on him several times, and I’m to understand there is a restraining order that he broke too. I’m thinking she’ll be all right, but I don’t want to promise her anything.” “She took them for safety reasons, and that alone will keep her from getting into trouble. That’s what I would do if I were on her side. Where, I might add, I wish I was.” He said that he did as well. “Oh well, so we’re here. When do we go and see the dumbass?” “When you’re rested. I think right now you’re not in the mood to talk to him, am I right?” Giyanna yawned and nodded. “You get some rest. I’ll go tell Rogan that we’re both here and see what he has to say for himself. I’ve been sort of avoiding him since I got here. For good reason, I think, but I still have no desire to even be in the same room with him.” Their brother had been cruel to them when they were children. It was the reason that they’d left home so young and never returned. Not even to talk to their parents, who Tyrrell had lost contact with years ago. He wondered if Giyanna had spoken to them, but she was exhausted, and he didn’t want to upset her more. “All right then, seeing him has to come first, I guess. But wait for me. I’ll go with you, and that way we can try and hold onto our tempers as a tag team.” She was nearly asleep when he laughed. “I’m really exhausted. I would have slept on the plane, but there was this kid behind me that I swear to you had daggers at the end of his shoes, and he was using them to hit me in the back. The entire trip.” Tyrrell glanced at her every s
o often to see that she was sleeping again. He didn’t envy her the trip back, nor seeing Rogan. As he’d said, he had no desire to see him either. And when he thought of that, it sometimes hurt his heart. They had never been close as a family, except for Giyanna and himself. But they were twins, so that helped a little, he supposed. She woke once the car stopped. He helped her into her room and then went back for her luggage. Giyanna was asleep on the bed when he got back. Taking off her shoes, he covered her up with the blanket at the end of the bed and left her. He’d talk to her when she was up and around. To deal with Rogan, they’d need all the strength they could get. He decided to go and see his brother, just to test the waters. The jail where he was being held was a nice one. It sort of reminded him of the jail on a black and white show that he’d watched in reruns as a kid. There was even a rocking chair down the long hall where the cells were. Rogan was in the last cell. It looked like he’d never broken his habit of being a slob since they’d left home. “Hello, Rogan. I’ve come to help you out as you asked.” Rogan just glared at him. “I could just go back home and tell Giyanna that you don’t need either of us.” “She came? Well la-de-da. The bitch wouldn’t even take my calls when I tried to call her and ask her to come here. She still a bitch like she always was?” Tyrrell told him she was never a bitch to him. “Yeah, because she has you all pussy whipped. Either of you bring me any money? I want you to bail me out. That’s the least you can do for making me sit around here and wait on one of you to come around.” “There is no bailing you out of this, Rogan. I’m sure you were told that. The judge didn’t set you one because he thought you’d be a flight risk. Not to mention there are too many things in your jacket for them to think that you’d not just hide out until they forgot about you.” He said that they’ve told him a lot of shit. “Perhaps it would do you better to listen next time. Giyanna and I are going to try to get you a reduced sentence, and after that—” “Reduced? That’s bullshit. I want out of here for good. I don’t belong in here anyway. You tell her to get me out of here, and all them charges they’re supposed to have on me dropped. Some of that shit is really old. There should be some kind of expiration date on them. Hell, even my milk has one of those.” Tyrrell just stood there. “Did you hear me, moron? I said for you to get me out of here. Right now.” When his brother stood up, Tyrrell backed from the cell. It was then that he realized that his brother was more of a mess than his cell was. And not just because he was in jail, but about three hundred fifty to four hundred pounds of fat was hanging out of the too small jumpsuit they’d given him, and his chins were touching his chest. His dirty hair, usually pulled back in a ponytail when he was younger, now hung down his back in a stringy mess, and he was bald on top. “When was the last time you had a bath?” Rogan just grunted at him. “You’ll need to clean up before we take you to court. And I’m warning you right now, Rogan, you piss either of us off too much and we’ll go back home. You’re not going to fuck this up by being yourself. You asked for us, and we dropped everything to come here and help you out. The very least you can do is behave.” “Don’t be a shit, Ty. It’s your big brother you’re talking to. Bridgett has to pay, and pay big. She took my damned kids.” Tyrrell told him they were better off without him. “What a thing to say to me. They’re my damned kids, and she had no right to do that to me. And I’m betting she took that fucking card with her too.” “Really? Tell me, Rogan, how old are they? Just one of them. Tell me how old the oldest is.” Rogan stared at him with that blank stare he always had when he didn’t want to answer. “You don’t know, do you? Then tell me. What are their names? I’m betting that you don’t even know that, do you? You’re a terrible person, and a worse father. And as far as I can see, nothing about you has changed in ten years. Your kids and Bridgett are better off where they are. They deserve more than they ever had in you. Instead of beating her to shit every time you could, you should have been telling her thank you daily for raising your children to be better people than you are or ever will be.” “I’m a good person. She asks me for it when I have to knock her around.” Tyrrell asked him how she ever did that. “By not doing what I told her to do. All I wanted was peace and quiet when I came home, and she couldn’t even do that. Always harping on this or that. Making me get out and find a job. What do I need a job for? The government, they take from you if you work, and that ain’t right. Also, when I have a job, I can’t go hang out with my buds. You know how much I like doing that—don’t you remember, Tyrrell? We have shit to do, my friends and me. And that brings me to her card again. She spends it on shit that I don’t want her to. Going to the grocery store and spending almost every dime of it so I can’t go and trade it off for other shit. Shit that I want.”

  “Yes, I’m sure that you having your shit is much more important than your children you want back having food in their bellies when they need it. What must she have been thinking to take the card and use it for what it was intended for?” Tyrrell just looked around the cell and shook his head. “Is this the kind of mess you left her when you got into her house? If so, it’s a small wonder that she didn’t leave you long before this.” “Not for lack of trying, I’ll tell you. Once a week she’d leave and take the kids. I’d have to beat her hard after that. And one of the kids. That’d be all it took to bring her in line. Of course, all they did was whine when I hit them, but that’s what she needed— and it’s always her fault too.” He laughed like it was a huge joke to hurt one of his own children. “And she was starting to hide the card on me. Or spending it all before I could get me a handle on it. I think she has another mail box or something. If she does, I’ll find it. And that card should be mine. I’m the reason that she gets it anyway. That card was as high as it was because of my kids. Damn it, I should have had it when I wanted it.” “You don’t want her to spend it on food for the children?” Rogan told him how they got government handouts all the time. “I see. And how much of that do you eat? Of this government food? You look like you eat more than your fair share of it.” “I think you’re not being nice to me, Tyrrell. You know I don’t like that. Come over here and let me plunk you like I used to do when you was a kid.” Rogan laughed at him when he took another step back. “You’re a pussy. It’s a wonder that you ever made it alive out on the streets when you left me. And don’t think I’m not mad about that either. The two of you left me without any kind of help around the house. You should see that place now. It’s going to shit. I go there sometimes when I need some breathing room. It’s mine, you know.” Tyrrell knew just who owned the house and why. He hated it, but when the bank had called him and not Rogan, he did the only thing he could think of and paid the back taxes. And in return, he was given the deed to the house so long as he kept up on the taxes. “Whatever. You clean up and Giyanna and I will be back tomorrow. And you’d better be nice to her, Rogan. If she leaves, then I do as well.” Rogan told him they’d better do right by him or when he was out, he’d take care of them too. “It’s tempting to not do right by you. As far as I’m concerned, everyone is better off with you right where you are.” “That ain’t right, Tyrrell. We used to have fun as kids.” Tyrrell asked him when that was, and Rogan looked like he was thinking about it. “All right. I used to have fun. But you and Giyanna, you begged me to hurt you. Just like Bridgett did all them times. Then she goes to the police, so they’d tell me to stop. Not going to happen, I told her. She belongs to me. And both of you were always stashing away cash and not letting me have it. That ain’t the least bit fair. I’m the oldest, and you should be proud to have me as your brother. And giving me all that you had, that’s only fitting because you should want me to have it.”

  “By letting you have all we had? You think that’s the way it should be?” Rogan said that was right. “No, it’s not right. Giyanna had to go to another country to get away from you. And I had to change my number over and over to get away from you too. You’re not a nice person, and I don’t care that you are my brother, I don’t like you at all. And it’s doubtful that
you care, but you should know that as soon as this trial is over, I’m going to wash my hands of you completely, Rogan. I’m no longer going to answer the phone when you call.” Tyrrell left him after that. All Rogan could focus on was how much he’d been wronged. It had been that way their entire lives. He wanted, he took. When he was hurt, everyone was hurt. And he had been a bully, a bastard all his life. Tyrrell went back to the bed and breakfast thinking that it was a mistake to have come to this town for him. He just hoped that they lived, first of all, and didn’t live to regret this. Rogan was going to cause them trouble, even from behind bars. ~~~ Tanner looked over the calendar to figure out what was going to happen today. Mostly it was just over the phone meetings that he had to take care of for Noah. Then he had a luncheon with his mother on her projects. Life wasn’t as boring as he’d thought it would be taking on a single client. “You have a call on line one. Its Chris Bentley.” Excited to have his day interrupted by the witch, he picked up the phone. He’d drop everything just to talk to the wonderful woman. “Hello, and how the heck are you? You should see my house. Myra did a fantastic job of it.” She laughed with him. “I’m sure that she told you. But anyway, what can I do for you today, my dear?” “I have a favor to ask of you. There is this fellow that you’ve been dealing with. Rogan McGowan. I’m to understand that you and your family have taken his wife and children under your wing, so to speak. You’ve sent them away to keep them safe, right?” He told her what they’d done. “Sending her away is the best thing for her, I think. She’ll be safe, and the children will as well. But it’s her that this is about. She needs to never return. No matter what happens, do not let them make her return. She’s safe, and that’s what she needs to be from now on.” “I think that you’re right. Being here, that’s not terribly safe for anyone, but especially her and those children. I mean, you just said how she’s going to be fine out there.” Chris said that Bridgett needed closure on this, but she could get that from a distance. “I’m afraid that she has to deal with her husband at some point. But I will try my best to make them see the big picture when it comes to her returning.” “Yes. Otherwise, those poor children will become a ward of the state and never have anyone to love them as she does. She’s terrified of men, and with good reason, I think.” He could understand that and told her so. “Also, I know that you can’t help with the attorneys representing Rogan, but they’re in town, and not from around there. They’ll need someone to show them around. I was wondering if you could get one of your brothers to help them out.” “Is this a ploy for me to meet my other half?” She asked why he’d think that. “I don’t know. I’m the last of the Calhoun men that is unattached. I have my house in order. I’ve a good job, money in the bank. I’m surprised every time I see someone new in town that she’s not falling all over me saying that she’s the one.” They both laughed, and he was embarrassed that he’d voiced that out loud. He really had been worried about that. Not worried, but concerned enough to start avoiding the grocery store, as well as any place that had a crowd of people. “Yes, you are, but I’m reasonably sure that you can find yourself a mate all on your own. Besides, they’re Rogan’s sister and brother.” He wondered if they were like him, but said nothing. “The woman, I think her name is Giyanna, is from Ireland. Been living there since she was about seventeen. The brother, Tyrrell, he’s been living in Texas for the most part, moving around where the job he has takes him. They’re both single—yes, I’m aware of that—but I don’t think that she’d be suited to you. Not with you being so close to your family.” “Which, I’m saying this because you’ve always been there for us, she’s going to take me back with her because of her being my mate. And I’ll be singing ‘Wild Irish Rose’ and eating haggis with every meal.” They both laughed. “Is she? My mate? I’ve never come right out and asked you before, and you did promise me that you’d never lie to me.” There was a pause there, and he was sure that he had his answer. So, when she finally did speak, he wasn’t the least bit surprised when she told him she was. “I wanted it to be something that you took care of. I did.” He said that he understood. “I don’t think you do. But that’s all right as well. She’s been hurt, and badly so, by her brother, Rogan, and hasn’t had a moment’s peace since leaving home. Giyanna lived with an elderly aunt until she passed away, and in all that time, she never dated. Not once since she moved there, and that’s just sad. She’s a wonderful woman, and you couldn’t do better than if I had picked her for you myself.” “Is she afraid of men as well? I mean, is she going to hurt me if I touch her in the wrong way? I don’t want to make her upset with me right away. I’ll save her being pissed off at me till when we’re together for a little while.” Chris said that she was more than afraid of them. “Because of Rogan. And this guy, they’re here to get him off? To let him out with people that he can and will harm? Or are they only going through the motions with him?” “It’s not like that, and it is. Her and her brother are here to make sure that he gets a fair trial, but they’d just as soon he ended up in jail for the rest of his life too.” He asked why they were helping him then. “Family, I think. And maybe a little bit of closure. You know more than most what you’d do for your family. And I think that the only reason that they agreed was so that they could have time to see each other. Tyrrell and Giyanna are twins, and used to be very close.” “I understand that. I don’t like it, but I understand. And since she’s going to be my mate, no matter how much I’m not ready for her, I can’t take the case against him. Not now.” Chris thanked him. “Don’t thank me yet. I still must convince her that I’m her mate. And knowing how well that went over for my brothers, she’s not going to go easy on me.”