Dimitri glanced at his watch. “All right. But be quick about it.”
They wiped the vehicle down in record time, and Peter successfully erased the log of their attempts from the mainframe. However, he was unable to obtain the sheriff’s password because a marked squad car with two officers arrived to retrieve the SUV.
Dimitri greeted them with a smile and wave. After the officers drove off, Dimitri laced his fingers behind his head and stared at the sky.
“They said the sheriff is awake and in stable condition. We won’t know for a while if he remembers what happened to him or not.”
The family considered this, then resumed their clean-up. Dimitri ordered patrols of the perimeter, too.
“We can’t let that go, guys. I’m sorry,” he said.
The most wonderful smells came from the garage and everyone’s stomachs growled as the spring sun warmed them and drew directly overhead. Unfortunately, the smell was only a teaser for the evening meal as sandwiches and fruit were on the menu for lunch.
Kat inhaled deeply of the delicious aroma and took a large bite of her sandwich. “How does Oksana do this with what little she’s got to work with?”
Steven stuffed his bite of sandwich between his teeth and cheek like a hamster. “We didn’t just buy groceries. We basically bought everything you’d need in a kitchen. Oksana got knives, cutting boards, pots and pans...you name it.” He nodded toward the garage. “You should see the set up she’s got in there.”
Kat blinked. “Really?” She took her plate and wandered toward the back of the garage. Her eyes bugged at the sight. Oksana did indeed have an entire kitchen set up. It was crude – she used every folding table they had in storage for counter space, but she had all the tools necessary to cook for their little army within easy reach. Oksana stirred a giant pot with great concentration while also frying up a mound of onions and garlic in a large pan. “Wow,” Kat whispered, then turned around and walked out with a shake of her head.
At least they were in no danger of starvation.
When Kat emerged from the garage, Claire’s car burst through the trees and screeched to a halt near the entrance. She launched out of the car and staggered backwards when she viewed the damage to their house for the first time.
“Holy moly!” she cried and pressed her hands to her chest. “I...I...Robert!”
Robert trotted up to her and she fell into his arms with a sob.
“It’s all right. We’re all right,” he soothed.
She looked up at him with tear-stained cheeks. “You could have been killed! Oh!” She pressed herself to him and grabbed his face in both hands. She kissed him so hard he took a step backward, then Claire hooked one leg around his thigh. Their hands worked over each other’s bodies in a way that let their audience know they forgot they had one. This went on for several minutes during which time they almost fell to the ground twice before Dimitri walked up to the couple and cleared his throat loudly.
“Uh...hello, Claire. Thank you for coming.”
The couple pulled apart with great effort and reluctance. Both of their chests heaved, and Robert wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He glanced around with a perplexed expression.
Dimitri gave the couple grace by glancing around at the landscape while they pulled themselves together.
Claire smoothed her hair and took a deep breath before she smiled at Dimitri. “I...Nothing could keep me away. I had a C-section this morning and got someone else to finish rounds for me. I came as quickly as I could.” She looked at the house again. “My God. How could someone do this?”
“They’re the Barotkoffs.”
Claire swallowed hard. “Evil. Pure evil.”
Robert took her hands and held them in his. “Yes, they are. But we’re all alive and well.”
Claire looked around wildly. “Where’s your mother? Is she all right?”
Robert’s eyes softened. “She’s fine. She’s right inside. Are you hungry? We were just having lunch.”
Claire blinked. “Did you order pizza or something?”
Dimitri chuckled. “You must be joking. Just as the Barotkoffs can’t kill us by blowing up our house, they can’t keep Oksana from preparing food.” He gestured to the garage. “Help yourself.”
Once Claire was convinced that they were indeed none the worse for wear, she joined the family for lunch and offered to help however she could. Dimitri thanked her but there wasn’t much to be done that a doctor could do.
“We need new clothes.” Dimitri nodded at the matching sweatpants and t-shirts that several family members sported. “Those just won’t do.”
Claire snorted a laugh. “I kind of figured that would be high on the priority list.” She lowered her voice and nodded toward Christopher. “Especially him. He looks the most ridiculous.”
“I can hear you,” Christopher replied without looking up. “And just so you know, it was the largest size they had.”
Four members went clothes shopping after lunch, among them Kat and Christopher, and were gone for several hours. Claire refused to leave, and nobody asked her to. While she interacted with the family, she thought about how she never wanted to leave Robert again. The sight of the tremendous damage to their house had brought her life into sharp focus.
As the sun touched the treetops and elongated shadows, Claire drew Robert aside.
Robert happily followed her into the tree line and out of sight of the others. When they were about twenty yards into the woods, he pulled her behind an especially large birch tree and pressed her against the trunk for a passionate make-out session.
When they were both breathless, she pushed him away to gaze into his eyes. “Robert. I don’t ever want to leave you again.”
“I feel the same way.” He pressed his lips to hers, but she pushed him away.
“I mean it, Robert. From this moment on, I don’t want to leave your side. When I think about what could have happened...I can’t breathe. Do you understand what I am saying?”
A slow smile spread across his face. “Yes, I do.” He lifted her hands to his lips and kissed each finger, then gazed into her eyes. “Claire, I have never met anyone like you. You fill my mind and my heart like nobody ever has. You are my soul mate and the love of my very long life. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” He dropped to one knee. “I’m sorry I don’t have a ring for you yet, but will you do me the honor of becoming my partner in life? Will you be my wife?”
Claire burst into tears and dropped to her knees. “Yes!” she cried. “Yes! Yes! Yes!”
They fell over in a passionate embrace and didn’t emerge for some time. Dimitri and the others knew better than to go looking for them even though dinner was ready. When the pair eventually rejoined the group, several members averted their gaze or hid smiles behind their hands at their disheveled appearance. Oksana and Anna were wholly oblivious as they were engrossed in setting up the food and drinks. Granny grunted and shook her head. She liked Claire and knew she couldn’t turn the cultural clock back, even if she wanted to. Stanley McBarker, however, did give the couple a sound barking out while perched in his salvaged bed near Granny.
Peter sauntered over to Robert and plucked a leaf and a small twig from his cousin’s hair. “Did we fall down and not be able to get back up?”
Robert smacked his hand away and laughed. “Something like that.” He turned to Claire, who had the good grace to blush. “Let’s go talk to Mom.”
Claire smiled as they approached Granny.
Kat, who now sported normal, well-fitted clothing, as did the rest of the group, nodded at the couple as they pulled Granny aside and out of earshot of everyone else.
Kat leaned toward Christopher. “What did you think about Claire’s reaction when she got here?”
Christopher grinned. “It was understandable.”
Kat smirked. “You want me to wrap myself around you like that?”
Christopher wiped his mouth with a napkin. “I would love that very much.
One day, but not in front of your family.”
Kat bumped him with her shoulder. “Hey, I made the offer that one time. You turned me down.”
“I didn’t turn you down. I said I would wait until it was right.”
She glanced around and lowered her voice. “I know. After we’re married, right? Which will be when, by the way? Inquiring minds want to know.”
Christopher lifted a brow. “Minds? As in plural?”
Kat giggled. “Nope. Just this one.” She tapped her head with her index finger.
Christopher leaned over and nuzzled her neck with his lips. She shivered. “When the time is right, and I promise it won’t be long.” He tipped her chin up and held her gaze. “You will be Mrs. Christopher Barotkoff.”
Her breath caught. “I can’t wait.”
He brushed his lips over hers. “Until then, I won’t leave your side.”
Kat’s heart skipped a few beats. “Maybe you’ll become Christopher Wolff instead. What do you think about that?”
A shadow passed over his features. He ducked his head and speared some carrots. “I don’t deserve the name Wolff.”
Kat’s brow puckered. “What do you mean?”
Before he could answer, Dimitri clapped his hands together. “Can I have everyone’s attention, please?” He glanced around while the family quieted. “Robert and Claire have an announcement to make.” He held his arm out toward the two, who held hands and grinned. Granny stood among the group with a broad smile and tears in her eyes.
Robert and Claire walked over and stood in front of the family. They made googly eyes at one another, then Robert turned to his family and blurted, “I proposed to Claire and she said yes!”
Whoops and hollers erupted, and Granny beamed and lifted her hands to the sky in thanks. Hugs and back slaps were exchanged. Robert took the ribbing about not having a ring with good nature. Kat felt a twinge of jealousy; she wanted to announce her own engagement, too.
“Hey, I’ll get her whatever ring she wants. Believe me!”
Claire threw her head back and laughed.
Kat hugged Claire. “Congratulations. Welcome to the family.”
“It’s about time someone trained this dog.” Peter gave his cousin a playful shoulder punch and hugged Claire.
She laughed. “He’s the best dog I ever met.”
Oksana embraced Claire and murmured in her ear for a long time. When they separated, Claire had fresh tears streaming down her cheeks. “Yes, I most certainly will remember. Thank you, Oksana. I love you, too.”
Oksana patted Claire’s cheek and moved away to let others embrace her. Oksana tapped Anna’s shoulder, whispered in her ear, and the two women hurried toward the make-shift kitchen.
The last to embrace Claire was Granny. The family parted to let her approach the young woman who would be her daughter-in-law.
Granny sobbed and slowly moved toward them. “I prayed for this day! I prayed hard and long for this day. It has finally come. You make me so happy!” She turned to Robert and cupped his cheek in her palm. “If your dear father, my beloved Anatoly, could be here, he could not be happier for the beautiful young woman you have chosen. Finally! I will live to see grandbabies!” The group laughed. Granny gathered the couple in an embrace. As all three heads pressed together, the family applauded.
Oksana and Anna rejoined the group carrying trays of small plastic cups filled halfway with a burgundy liquid. “A toast! Everyone take a cup.” Oksana nodded toward Dimitri. “It is wine, but it is a special occasion.”
Dimitri smiled. “Yes, just this once everyone can have a cup.”
Kat and Steven, along with the rest of the family, both took a cup as the tray passed by.
Dimitri held his cup high. “To Robert and Claire. May you both have a very long, very happy, very blessed, and very fruitful,” he winked at Granny who beamed, “marriage. To the happy couple!”
When Kat swallowed her meager mouthful of wine, she grimaced and coughed as it burned its way down her throat. Steven followed suit, although he tried to hide his reaction. His reddened cheeks gave him away.
“Ack!” Kat cried and shivered. “That’s horrible.”
Christopher patted her back and laughed. “That’s because you’ve never had alcohol before, Kat. This wine is quite good, actually.”
Kat stared at him.
He glanced at her and started laughing. “Your expression is priceless, Kat. Just priceless.”
Kat smacked her lips. “I need water. Ack!”
When the festive evening wound down and sleeping arrangements became the topic of discussion, Robert and Claire were the first to announce that they were going to get their own hotel room.
Granny placed her hands over her ears and shook her head. “I don’t want to hear. You two should go to the courthouse tomorrow and make yourselves right in the eyes of God!”
Dimitri nodded. “I agree with Lila Mae. At least stay at the same hotel that we have booked, all right? We need to stay together as best we can. Now, who is staying here and who is going to the hotel?”
Once sleeping arrangements were settled – and evenly distributed for the protection of the property as well as the family – everyone prepared to leave or settle in for the night.
It would be another long day tomorrow.
KAT AWOKE TO THE SOUND of birds chirping and the crunch of tires from an approaching vehicle. She stretched, yawned, and groaned. She had run an uneventful patrol before midnight with Anastasia. They had been relieved by Steven and Alexander. She lurched to a seated position and squinted at her surroundings. Mariya was curled on her side and sound asleep against one wall of the tent, but otherwise the space was empty.
A car door opened and closed.
“Morning!” an unfamiliar male voice called out. “How are y’all doing this fine morning?”
“Can’t complain, officer. What can I help you with?” Dimitri replied.
Kat scrambled into her clothes and pulled her hair into a ponytail. She unzipped and pulled back the flap to peer outside. A uniformed police officer approached her uncle and Kat sighed. What did they want now?
She slipped on her shoes and ducked out of the tent. The officer’s gaze turned to her and he squinted.
Kat smiled and waved, then hurried toward the garage and the smell of bacon.
Christopher brightened when he saw her. She strolled over and wrapped her arms around his waist. He pressed a kiss to her temple and handed her a paper plate. “Did you sleep well? Hungry?”
She accepted the plate and scooped a large spoonful of fluffy scrambled eggs onto it. “Very. How long have you been up?”
Christopher rubbed his eyes and stifled a yawn. “Not long.”
Kat placed two strips of bacon on her plate and moved toward the drink table. “Did you see who pulled up?”
Christopher glanced over his shoulder. “Yup.”
“I wonder what he wants.”
“I hope the sheriff didn’t remember what happened. That would not be good.”
“Nope.”
The pair moved toward a bench and placed their plates on their laps to eat. Most of the family did the same, but the small group that had gone to the hotel the night before hadn’t arrived yet. There was a table set up with four chairs along one wall, but the family saved those for Granny because of her age, Oksana and Anna because they helped prepare the meals, and the fourth chair was reserved for Dimitri as the head of the family.
They finished their meal before Dimitri wandered into the garage with a concerned look on his face.
Kat glanced behind her uncle. “What did he want?”
“He was here at the request of the sheriff. It would seem the sheriff doesn’t remember the details of what happened yesterday, but he is highly suspicious and sent his deputy to talk to me. In his words, the sheriff is mighty ticked off about something. The fire marshal is scheduled to arrive today to investigate.” He rubbed his face. “I don’t know what we’re supposed to do with
this. We have always tried to keep a low profile and now this.” He swept his arm toward the house.
A loud, obnoxious air horn sounded. Kat jerked and dropped her empty plate. “Gah!”
Dimitri turned and peeked out of the garage. “The dumpster is here. It’s late, but it is finally here.”
Christopher plucked Kat’s empty plate off the floor and stacked it with his own to place in the garbage.
The hotel group, comprised of Granny, Peter, Robert, and Claire, arrived a few minutes later. They all looked refreshed and eager to tackle the day.
The family made tremendous progress in their clean-up efforts well into the afternoon when the fire marshal’s red truck arrived. Dimitri sighed, grumbled something in Russian, and moved to greet the two men that emerged.
Dimitri completed his introductions and gestured for Anna and Christopher to join him when Anastasia and Steven returned from their patrol and burst through the trees. Steven headed into the garage for a drink of water. Anna and Christopher donned sunglasses as they approached the trio.
Anastasia sidled up to Kat. “Who are they?” She put her hands on her head and worked to slow her breathing.
“Fire marshal and an arson investigator,” Kat murmured.
Anastasia’s eyebrows rose.
The two men gestured to the house several times and shook their heads just as often. Finally, the arson investigator walked to the back of the truck and pulled out a metal box roughly the size of a fat briefcase, then moved toward the house. Dimitri dipped his head and placed his hands on his hips. He murmured something to Christopher and Anna. Christopher dipped his chin and stared at the fire marshal. Kat felt vibrations in her chest.
Anastasia rubbed her rib cage and let out a deep breath. “Let’s hope it works this time.”
Anna moved away from her brother and toward the arson investigator. She smiled as she approached and pointed at the house while she talked to the man. He lifted a shoulder and shook his head. Anna moved in front of him and dipped her chin.
Revelations: The Shifter Series: Volume Three Page 4
