Tanner

by Kathi S. Barton

  After his brother left him in the kitchen, he sat there staring at nothing for a long time. When Rogan came back through and went out the door, cleaned up this time, Tyrrell heard the car start in the yard and his brother left. Tyrrell had waited until he counted to fifty before getting up from his chair. He’d gone to his brother’s room and looked around. He wasn’t sure how much time he had, but he wanted to find something that he could show someone. Anything at all. Stepping into the closet, thinking he was not going to find anything, he found one of the floorboards moved. Pulling it up, he found more than he was looking for. “Tanner, I just thought of something that might help.” He nodded. “Tell Chloe that I give her permission to go through our old house. I had to pay the back taxes a few years ago. I didn’t know whether or not it should have been sold or not, so I’ve been keeping up on them now. As far as I know, there hasn’t been anyone living in the house in years. Rogan was in jail for something else when I was contacted about it.” “What is it, Tyrrell? You said it would help the case—what is she going to find there?” Tyrrell felt his belly churn up while he remembered what he’d found that day. And until that moment, he’d not thought of it at all. “Souvenirs.” Giyanna asked him what he’d said. Tyrrell raised his voice a little more. “Souvenirs from women, I think. Hair and jewelry. Pictures. He has it in a cigar box under the floorboard in the back bedroom, in front of the closet, at our old house. He more than likely has one where he’s living now. I don’t know how you can check there.” Tanner left them, saying that he was going to make the call. Giyanna came to sit next to Tyrrell, and he was glad, for now, that she didn’t touch him. All of a sudden, he felt dirty. She asked him when he’d found it. “You were at a school thing. I don’t remember what now. He wanted me to go with him. Told me that I didn’t have to do my homework because something was going to happen to me so it mattered little. Then a couple hours later, I was still at the table when he came in the house. Covered from head to toe in blood.” She put her hand over her mouth as he continued. “When he left the second time, I went to find the clothing that he’d worn, to see if I could make Mom and Dad believe us when we told him that he was mean to us. But I found that instead. I never thought of it again until just now.” “Oh, Tyrrell, it must have been horrible for you. and you should have told me.” He asked her what she might have done if he had. “I don’t know, but I could have helped in some way.” “It would have gotten us both killed if he had found out. Seeing it in there, hidden away like that, all I could think about was what I’d seen on the television the night before. That television show that Rogan used to watch, remember it?” She told him she did. “He more than likely watched it to get ideas or something. I don’t know. But don’t you think he’d do it again if he was still killing?” Tanner came into the room, and he looked grim. Tyrrell felt his pain and thought

  perhaps he might not sleep well tonight. He sat down across from them and told him what Chloe had said.

  “She wants me to go too? Why?” He told him. “Okay, I guess I can see where she’d have to have me on camera saying that I gave her permission. The house—I want it leveled after this is done. I don’t care if you use it for the fire department or what, it needs to be gone.” “I agree.” Tanner said that Chloe was on her way with her crew, and that Noah was going to go to the other house to have a sniff around for her. “You’ll need to be there at both houses, I’m afraid. I told Chloe that I didn’t think you’d want to be there when they took it out, and she agreed.” “Thank you for that. No, I’d just as soon not be there.” Tyrrell thought of what he would have done if he’d been older back then. “I wanted to follow him the next time. But going through my mind was the things that he’d taken, all the stuff that was there. Then I wondered if he would have put anything of Giyanna’s and mine in there when he murdered us. I was so sure that he was going to kill us after that, I took to putting bells on the door so I’d hear it when he tried to come in.” “That’s why you did that.” Giyanna smiled at him, but it was not a happy one. “I wondered about that for years when I thought about it. I thought you just liked the sound of them. Oh, Tyrrell, the things that we had to endure just to survive.” “If you don’t mind me asking, why did you two separate when you left the house?” Tyrrell looked at his sister before answering Tanner. “I mean, if it’s too painful, I understand.” “When we decided to leave, we both wrote out what we had seen and things that we knew. Neither of us read the others, but I had hers and she had mine. If either of us were to come up missing, we were to mail it to the newspaper.” Tyrrell continued when he drank the tea that was just brought into the room for them. “Being separate meant to us that it would have been harder for him to kill us both. This way, one of us, either of us, would have been able to avenge the other one. We were only just kids then. I think now that our logic was a little screwy.” Tanner spoke just as the sirens sounded in his driveway. “I think that you two are the bravest people I know. Hands down. And the fact that you turned out to be upstanding citizens is a miracle in and of itself. You should be very proud of yourselves. I know that I am.” Tyrrell didn’t feel that he should be proud of himself. He had let a killer go on for years, over a decade, without telling anyone. The way he felt, he should be in prison right alongside his brother.

  Chapter 9

  Tanner was there to mark and seal up the evidence. And there was quite a bit of it too. Giyanna had elected to stay outside while Tyrrell and he went in with the police to look around. The house held bad memories for them both, and he’d not want to be there either if he could help it. “The floorboard there is the one that I found it on.” The recorder was running when Tyrrell got down on his hands and knees to show them the place. “There was a box in there. An old cigar box that was closed up with a rubber band. I don’t know how many pieces were in it, but it seemed like a lot to a ten-year-old kid.” When Tyrrell was asked to move back, Chloe went to the place and put a crowbar in the slit in the floor. It wasn’t necessary—the board came up out of its resting place without any trouble. The camera zoomed into the place when Chloe put her flashlight right over it. Then everyone backed away. “I can see the boxes.” Tanner asked if she had said boxes, as in plural. “Yes, I can see three on the top of the wood that’s in there. I don’t know how many more until we start pulling them out.” One by one the boxes were taken out, and Tanner watched the inventory of them. There was so much of it that Chloe had to have one of her officers go back to the stationhouse and bring more evidence kits. He ended up bringing back a case of them. As each piece was removed from the boxes, Tanner would sign off on it with Chloe across the seal. It was a long and tedious process. They pulled out seven of the boxes, all of them cigar boxes, and all sealed up with a rubber band. There were pictures in each one of them. Chloe thought they went with the people that he’d taken the things from. She had a picture of each body that they’d been able to find but one. “It’s of Giyanna.” He looked at the little girl in the picture when she handed it to him in the evidence bag. “You think his plan was to kill her and add something of hers to this box?Tanner, there is even a picture of his parents in these things. What a cold and heartless bastard.” “You’re not going to be any happier either.” Noah appeared in the room with them. “I’ve been to the McGowan house, and have found three hiding places that you’ll need to go to. The reason that I was able to find them is that he was sloppy on a few of them, and I could smell blood. I’m afraid that those pictures aren’t going to be that easy to identify.” “Did you look at them?” He said that he’d only looked into the first one he’d found, to make sure that was what it was. Chloe thanked him for his help. “You’re a good man to have around, Noah. I don’t think we tell you that often enough.” “Thank you, my lady. Coming from you, that’s a high compliment indeed.” Noah asked to speak to Tanner, and he met him in the front room. “What did you find out?” “I’m sorry, Noah. With all this going on, I forgot to tell you.” He told him he completely understood. “You got both build
ings for a grand total of a buck. I paid it already, and all you need to do is show some kind of improvement in the next six months. If not, then they take it back and sell it again. That’s the way we’ve done all ours down in that area.” “Much better than I had hoped. And the people there—have you spoken to them?” He told him what he’d learned as well as where they were staying. “Good. Thank you. Now, I’m going to go and see them again. The young woman, she’s his granddaughter then?” “Yes, her name is Jenny. I think she’s taking care of him. He sort of raised her, I guess, when her parents were killed.” Noah nodded and asked him if he could get the crew started for him, that he had plans drawn up already. “Yes, Benny brought them by my office this morning before I went to the courthouse. I think it was in the bag that you got them.” “Giyanna, she’s all right?” Tanner told him that he didn’t think so, not yet at any rate. “When this is over, you should take her on a long trip. I have a great many houses that the two of you can stay in, and I know that Joe would want you to look at hers as well. Take a few months off and see the world with your lovely bride.” “I think I will.” He nodded and said that he’d be at the other home when they were ready, for him to call for him. “I will. And thank you, Noah, for everything.” “You are so very welcome, young Tanner. I will have a word or two with your mate, then I shall go and take care of my needs until you need me.” Tanner watched him walk into the yard and go to Giyanna. When they embraced tightly, he felt like he needed a hug too. But duty called, and he was trying to make sure that when this went to court in the morning, it would only be a matter of how long Rogan was going to be gone rather than if he was going to prison. When everything in both houses was cataloged and put into the box, it too was sealed up, and then he put his name over it as well as Chloe did hers. They both stood there for several minutes, neither of them speaking. All he could think about was how many pieces were in the box. How many lives were torn apart because of one man. “Take her out to dinner.” He said that he was going to do that. “Then take her home, make love to her all night, and help her forget. That’s what I’m going to do.” “I’ve talked to Scott several times. He didn’t want to bother you, but he could feel that you were upset.” She said that she had spoken to him too. “He’s taking you out as well. Why don’t we double up? Have some laughs and enjoy the fact that we’re living.” “I can do that.” She looked in the bedroom that had been stripped of all the furniture earlier this week. The entire house was devoid of anything that made it a home. “I’m going to talk to the city about having this house dozed, and then not have anything else put here. Perhaps a garden in memory of those that lost their lives.” “I’ll help.” She said she figured that he would want to. “Chloe, will he get the death penalty for this? I mean, it’s no less than he deserves.” “Doubtful that we’d be that lucky and someone take him out for us. Sadly. But I have a plan. I’m not going to tell you what it is, but Noah is going to help me.” He nodded and said that he understood. “Good. I’ll call you after I get a shower and burn these clothes. I don’t ever want to wear them again.”

  They left after that, and Tanner held Giyanna’s hand as he drove them home. She was quiet, and he knew that he should say something. But what? As soon as he got them home, Ruben met them at the front door with a silver tray in his hand. Giyanna said she was going to get started on her shower and went up the stairs. “Sir, there is a message for you from the lady queen.” He asked which one. “The faerie queen. She wishes to have a minute or two of your time. She said it would only take that little time from you.” “All right but tell her that we’re taking a shower and then going to dinner with my brother and his wife. We need to...today was difficult on us, and we need something different.” He said that he’d tell her. “Ruben, could you do me a favor? Could you ask the lady queen for some flowers for my wife? Just whatever she can gather up for her. I’d like them to be in the house when we return from dinner.” “I’m sure that she can come up with something. She has a romantic heart too.” He nodded and wondered what the fuck he was doing now; his mind was a fog. “Shower, sir, then dinner. I shall see you when you come down.” He went up the stairs wishing now that he’d not made plans. But the moment that he saw Giyanna standing in the bathroom without anything on, he knew that he could at least fulfill one of the things Chloe had told him to do. “You need a massage.” Giyanna turned and looked at him. She’d been crying again. “Oh honey, I’m so sorry you had to go through that today. I’d not wish that on anyone ever. I love you, Giyanna. So very much.” “Make love to me.” He nodded and kissed her tenderly on her mouth. When she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, he held her to him. She was chilled, her skin cool to his touch. “I need to warm you up first.” When she smiled at him, he sat her on the counter. “First thing I have to do is massage your arms for you, get your blood flowing.” Taking her hands into his, he rubbed them until they felt warmer. Then moving up her arm, he made sure that he touched her breast whenever he could, made her nipple peak to a hard tip. Leaning down, he took the tiny nub into his mouth and suckled just the tip until she jerked his head up by his hair. “I need hard and dirty.” He stared at her. “Take me like this is the last time you’ll get to fuck me and you want me to remember.” That he could do. Turning her around so that her ass was to him, Tanner willed his clothing away and slammed his cock into her pussy from behind. When she cried out, he took a handful of her hair and jerked her back so that she was watching him fuck her. Her breasts bounced with each stroke, and it made him want to take her harder just to see them move. And when her hands came up and filled with them, he didn’t know if he wanted to beg her to tweak her nipples or watch her play. “Harder, Tanner. I want you to make me yours.” He leaned her back down now, holding onto her ass with both hands. As he fucked her, Tanner leaned over her and licked her back, her shoulder, then her neck just under her hair. “Bite me, I want to come.”

  His wolf took him a little then and he felt his teeth shift in his mouth. Snarling at her when she begged him again, he bit down into her shoulder hard and knew that he’d touched bone. Her screams were of both pleasure and pain, he could tell when she told him she was coming. And when she slid her fingers over his cock as he took her, Tanner felt his own climax not just take him, but explode over his entire being. Even his wolf whimpered a little. He couldn’t move, which he supposed was a good thing. Had he taken but one step, he would have fallen on his ass, bringing her with him, he was so weak. Laying his head on her back, he felt when she started to giggle. “You think nearly killing me is funny?” He smacked her hard on the ass. “I’ll have you know my wolf is now afraid of the bathroom.” “I’m so glad that you found me.” He let her up, and she turned in his arms and he held her. “I want to take a shower. Will you scrub my back?” “I will.” They had the water on in minutes and they were both under the spray. “When I took a shower here this morning, I could have sworn that there was a single jet and it didn’t come from the top.” “I love this more.” He did too, and washed her back with the loofa that was in there. “We’re having dinner with Chloe and Scott tonight?” “Yes. I think we’re having something like steak or perhaps pizza. It depends on what you want.” She said that she could eat either, and was starving. “Yes, draining me like you did, that would make you hungry.” They made love again in the shower, this time slower but no less wonderful. When they got out, he dried her back and she did the same for him. Dressing for himself, he looked over at Giyanna to see what she was wearing. Tanner was pleased that she had on jeans and a T-shirt, because that was what he wanted to wear after being in a suit and tie all day. When they exited the bathroom, Giyanna in front of him, he ran into her when she stopped moving. He started to ask her what was wrong when he looked around. The entire room was filled with flowers. There were vases of them, baskets with violets as well as small periwinkles. He could see roses in taller vases of every color he’d ever seen. And some that he hadn’t. On the bed there were chocolates too. Big boxes of them that looke
d expensive and imported. When she moved deeper into the room, he followed. Everywhere he looked there was more to see, more color and more flowers. “You did this for me?” He told her how he’d asked the faerie queen to bring her some flowers. “They’re beautiful. No one has ever gotten me flowers before.” “I would have thought men would have been trying to ply you with them for all your life.” She turned and hugged him before squealing and heading to the chocolate. She had three pieces of the darker chocolates before he could even choose one. When they went downstairs, there were more flowers there. But these were plants, not cut flowers. There was a basket of herbs for the garden. Perennials as well as annuals. He was blown away by how much she had done for him, Tanner knew that he would owe her a great deal. And it would be worth every bit of whatever she wanted, just to see the look on Giyanna’s face as she darted from place to place. When they sat in the living room with the queen, Tanner thanked her as many times as Giyanna did; she had made her and him very happy. When she smiled at him when he asked what boon he would owe her, he knew that he was in deep trouble. ~~~ Giyanna loved the restaurant and the company. After making love as they had done, the flowers in the house, and now this, she was feeling much better. Chloe was good company for when the men were talking, and they spoke about all sorts of things. From going to see the twins soon to what they were going to do for the Fourth. It was a huge holiday for the pack, as well as the Calhouns. “I guess they roast this huge hog, and people come from all over with covered dishes and desserts. I’ve never been to one, but I’ve seen pictures of it. It’s an all-day event.” Giyanna said she was looking forward to it as well. Chloe told her that she was bringing something that their cook had made. “I don’t cook at all. Do you?” “A little. I’ve been working at getting my life together so much that I sort of worked all hours, even when home, and never bothered with a good meal.” Chloe told her that she’d not be able to skip meals now that she was going to have a baby. “Does everyone know?” “We can smell the difference on you. It’s nice that you are. The next time that I ovulate, we’re going to have one too. I can’t wait.” She asked her what kind of cop she’d been. “Beat for a while, then undercover. That’s how I ended up here. Best thing that has ever happened to me, finding this family.” “That’s what I was telling Tanner before we left.” She thought of the boon that the faerie had asked for. It wasn’t much, not for what she’d done for her. “We’re going to put in a garden of just flowers. And the faeries are going to help with the greenhouse all year round.” “They’re wonderful, aren’t they? Having this little person around that you can just talk to and not have to worry about him or her judging you. There are a lot of them at the house, and a couple at the police station.” Giyanna said that they were staffed at the house. “You should ask one of them to be your assistant. They’re very helpful with things. Big or small, they can help a great deal.” “I will.” By the time the pizzas arrived they were well into their third pitcher of tea. She’d never drank it without sugar before, but it was really good once she got used to the taste. Just as they were piling their plates full of the wonderful food, Chloe’s phone rang and she stepped away to answer it. Giyanna looked at Scott. “Is everything all right?” “She’s always on duty, being the chief. But I think this was some results that she was waiting on. I don’t want to bring you down or anything, but they took the car in and were running tests on it.” She nodded and thought of what that might mean. “It’s all for the case to make it stronger, Giyanna. She wants this as rock solid as she can get it. And the fact that it could well be over tomorrow is going to be good for a lot of people.” When Chloe came back, Giyanna asked her what was going on, if it had anything to do with the case. She nodded and smiled, and that made her breathe easier. Something was going right. Not that it hadn’t been from the start, but to have something else to keep him locked away was very good. “There is enough DNA in the car that it looks as if he carried about six of the victims in it. His fingerprints, as well as your father’s, are all over the car. No one else. And trust me, they looked.” She looked at her. “This is going to finish him off as far as him ever getting out. He’ll get life plus if I know my judge.” Giyanna started crying, and Chloe told her she was sorry to have sounded so happy. Trying to tell her that wasn’t it, she hugged her and tried again. She was just so happy. “You guys went to bat for us from the very start. There wasn’t any kind of hesitation on your part—you just jumped right in with both feet and hit the road running. I know that’s a lot of clichés, but you understand me.” They said that they did. “I love you guys. You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I can’t thank you enough for all that you’ve done.” She was a sobby mess but knew that this was the right thing. Rogan would be put away and not be able to hurt anyone else. And that was her biggest fear besides him hurting her brother and her. That he would get out of prison and exact revenge on them for all that was held against him. After dinner they sat and talked some more. It had been so very long since she’d had the kind of relationship with a person where she enjoyed their company. They really didn’t talk about anything that was life changing or was going to save the world. Just two couples getting together to enjoy themselves. “I heard that you’re going to work for Jas. She’s hell on wheels if you don’t mind me saying so.” Giyanna told her that she was especially looking forward to trying to get donations for the upcoming charity auction they were getting together. “What’s the cause? I might have some things at the station house that we’re cleaning out. Some old holsters and stuff like that. People collect them, I think.” “Oh yes. That would be wonderful. And kids like those sorts of things as well. But the cause is for more money to put into the fund for Christmas food. I never realized that you’d have to start so early in getting ready for that.” Chloe told her that usually Jas started in January. “She told me she’s a tad behind this year. And Christine has said that she’d help too if I were to help her with the backpacks that they’ll put together.” “We all work on those.” She looked at Scott when he spoke. “Last year we put together enough backpacks to give one to each and every child at the elementary school. It certainly helps when parents are stretching every cent they can to make it. I’m hoping that this year will be a little better, however. With a lot more of the town working, we’ll have less worry that someone will go without.” “Sterling is going to donate a painting for us to auction off. And he’s called in some of the patrons of the gallery to come and bid on it. And the other things too.” Tanner told her a little about his paintings. “He’s been working hard, I’ve noticed, for the upcoming show that he thinks is going to be a dud.” They all laughed. Apparently Sterling thought that of every show. Giyanna had seen some of his work when she’d been by his studio, and she thought while very dark, it was the best that she’d ever seen. As they made their way home, she thought about the trial in the morning. She knew that Rogan was going to be there; he’d been warned by the judge to keep his mouth shut or he’d send him back to jail. She had a feeling that Rogan thought the judge meant if he kept his mouth he wouldn’t have to go back. Her brother Tyrrell had decided that he was going to go and sit with her. Tanner was going to be there, as well as the rest of the family. They might be the only ones there, she thought with a laugh. The Calhouns alone would fill the small courtroom. Giyanna was exhausted when they got to the house. It had been a very stressful day, and she knew that tomorrow was going to be just as bad if not worse. Tanner told her that they’d get themselves a hot tub about the time that Ruben came in to bring them warm scones and tea. It was the perfect ending to the day. “There is one on the back deck, sir.” Tanner asked Ruben what was on the back deck. “The hot tub. The house again. But I think it might have put it in earlier today. When you returned from the house. It’s a lovely item and it’s ready to go. I have taken the liberty of putting towels in the cabinet that is out there as well.” “Thank you.” They walked out onto the big deck and found the hot tub behind the trellis that was hanging
full of wisteria. The smell alone was enough to have her melting. It was perhaps her favorite flower for the out of doors. Tickled, she turned to Tanner. “This is a bit of heaven if you ask me.” “I agree. And the fact that it’s all warmed up for us is like a bonus too.” He stripped off his clothing and slid into the water. “Christ, this is heaven, and I’m never leaving here. Come on and join me, love. This is wonderful.” After all the times they’d had sex, and it was a great deal, she was still shy about being naked in front of him. So when she was naked, she hurried to get into the water so she’d not be too exposed. He laughed when she moaned. “You are the oddest little thing.” She smacked at him, splashing warm water over his head. “I’m seriously thinking that this is something I could enjoy all year round. And in the winter, it’ll be even better. Don’t you think?” “They had one at the gym where I would work out once in a while. I never used it. I don’t know, but I didn’t know the people that had used it before me, and had no idea what sort of things they might have done in the water.” He made a face at her. “See, we have our own germs in ours.” “I wanted to tell you something before I fall asleep. I have moved a couple of people into the house on Silliman Street, and was wondering if you could go by there sometime and welcome them to the neighborhood, as well as show them around. The name of the granddaughter to the man who will be working for Noah is Jenny. The man’s name is Rich. They’re the Farleys.”