Dimitri chuckled. “No, sir. Nothing like that. No amount of money is worth going to prison over. As I mentioned to you last week, I am a law-abiding citizen and a licensed day trader.”
The sheriff’s smile faltered. “Hmph. Get to it, bubba.” He hooked his thumb toward his deputy.
“Get to what, sir? What do you want me to do?” The deputy gestured at the computers.
The sheriff scowled. “You’re in your twenties. Don’t you know about these new computers?”
Dimitri bit his lip to keep from smiling.
The men began to argue, so Dimitri excused himself and hurried toward the garage door. He leaned out and looked at Kat.
“You ready?” he asked.
Kat grimaced. “Uncle Dimitri, I will try. I am not promising anything!”
Anna and Christopher looked at Dimitri.
Christopher lifted a shoulder. “We’ll try again, too. But there are no guarantees. Especially if Kat is unsuccessful.”
“I can only ask that you try. Let’s hope it works.”
Dimitri returned to the office area where the sheriff had his deputy on his hands and knees under the table staring at the cables and cords. The sheriff scratched his head.
“What do you make of it all?” he demanded of his deputy.
“Uh...they’re computers, all right.”
When the sheriff noticed Dimitri had approached, he cleared his throat and nodded at the room.
“Well, that’s enough in here. Come on, deputy. We’ll move on to the house now.”
Dimitri nodded. “Yes, Sheriff.”
The deputy scrambled to his feet and joined his boss. When the men exited the garage, Dimitri moved to stop their progression and gave a quick glance at Kat.
Kat took a deep breath, scrunched her face up, and held her hands out toward the sheriff. The three men stopped in their tracks.
“Sheriff, did you find anything interesting in there?” Dimitri asked.
The sheriff shifted his weight from one foot to the other and hooked his thumbs in his belt loops. “No. Not in the garage, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to be found, son. There’s a whole lot of property here. We will keep searching.” He nodded at the deputy and they started toward the house.
Dimitri stepped in front of them again.
“Are you impeding my investigation, son?”
Dimitri looked shocked. “No, sir. I am just curious to know if there’s anything specific you’re looking for. Maybe I can help.”
The sheriff pointed at Dimitri, but then stopped with his mouth open. He shook his head once, twice, and third time.
“Are you all right, Sheriff?” Dimitri asked.
The sheriff grunted and turned toward Kat. “What is she doing there?”
Dimitri glanced at his niece. Kat’s arms were stretched toward the trio of men. She was tense and huffed with effort. “It’s called tai chi. It’s a form of Chinese meditative exercise.”
The deputy scratched his head. “I thought that was a type of tea.”
Kat ground her teeth and huffed harder.
The sheriff shook his head and stumbled backward. His face turned red.
The deputy grabbed his arm. “Sheriff? You all right?”
Dimitri felt vibrations in his chest and glanced at Christopher and Anna. Anna had her chin dipped and she focused on the deputy.
The deputy’s hand dropped from the sheriff’s arm and his jaw went slack.
Christopher’s chin dipped, and he focused on the sheriff. The sheriff smacked the side of his head and grunted.
“No! No, no, no!” He shook his head violently. “This is...not...”
Christopher slipped on his sunglasses and walked toward the men. “Is everything all right, Sheriff?”
The sheriff drew in several long breaths and clenched and unclenched his fists.
Dimitri glanced at Kat. Her forehead was beaded in sweat and she trembled. He noted the faintest shimmer that surrounded her. She nodded once. Dimitri leaned toward Christopher. “Continue.” His voice was barely above a whisper.
“Sheriff, how do you feel?” Christopher asked.
“I feel like...like...” the sheriff huffed.
Christopher’s nostrils flared. “Do you feel like you’re done here?”
“Yes.” The sheriff’s face went slack, then he tensed and scowled. “No! No! You’re a threat. You’re...”
Christopher sighed impatiently and intensified his efforts.
Kat swallowed hard as she pressed and pushed the ice out of her body and through her fingertips toward the sheriff. It felt like exhaling with empty lungs – nearly impossible. A wave of nausea washed over her. Her knees wobbled, and she almost collapsed. She clenched her teeth and locked her knees.
“I can’t keep this up much longer,” she spit through her teeth.
“You can do this!” Anastasia hissed in encouragement. “You’re making a difference.”
A low moan escaped Kat’s lips as her trembling intensified. She pressed her lips tightly together and gave it everything she had. She planted her feet and lurched her torso toward the sheriff.
Christopher’s intensity matched her own. The sheriff’s head snapped back, and he stared at the sky with a shocked expression. He teetered back and forth. Dimitri grabbed the sheriff’s hands to steady him. He did not want the sheriff to pass out again which would bring more questions and possibly more investigators.
Dimitri’s touch seemed to snap something in the sheriff and he pitched forward with a shout and fell into Dimitri’s arms. Dimitri shot a look of concern at Christopher and shook his head.
Christopher relaxed, and his eyes returned to normal. Anna put her lips to the deputy’s ear and hurried to whisper something to him. Then she, too, relaxed.
Christopher looked over his shoulder at Kat. She had collapsed on all fours and her chest heaved. Anastasia knelt beside her and murmured in her ear.
Christopher rushed to her side.
Kat’s voice shook. “I’m...okay.” She was pale, trembling, and doused in sweat.
Christopher cast a quick glance at the sheriff and his deputy, then he bent down and scooped Kat up in his arms. He hurried into the garage with her and out of their sight.
The sheriff shouted, “Are you trying to dope me or something, boy? I was around in the seventies! I know about you potheads!”
Dimitri sighed and stared at the ground.
The deputy placed his hand on the sheriff’s arm. “You almost passed out, Sheriff. I saw the whole thing. If Mr. Wolff here hadn’t caught you, you’d have landed on the ground and maybe hit your head.” He squared his shoulders. “I think you owe him your gratitude, sir.” The deputy nodded at Dimitri.
The sheriff puffed out his cheeks and shifted his scowl between the two men; his traitorous deputy and the handsome troublemaker with the smooth tongue.
The deputy cleared his throat and moved his feet apart. “Are you sure you’re all right, sir? You were just released from the hospital yesterday. Maybe you’re still not well?”
The sheriff huffed and puffed.
“Sheriff, we are not going anywhere. Please feel free to complete your task when you feel better.” Dimitri gestured around the property. “We can’t exactly pack up and leave. We wouldn’t dream of it even if it were possible. This is our home.”
The deputy convinced the sheriff to leave, and the two departed within the span of a few minutes.
Dimitri watched them go and shook his head in frustration once the squad car disappeared into the trees. He headed into the garage in search of his niece.
“How are you feeling?”
Kat sat slouched against the wall and cradled a cup of hot tea in her hand. Her face was still pale, and tendrils of her mahogany hair stuck to her glistening neck. Christopher sat next to her with a protective arm wrapped around her.
She shook her head. “I’m sorry. I tried.”
Dimitri sighed. “I know you did, Kat. That’s all I asked you to do.” He glanced a
t Christopher. “Thank you for trying, too. I don’t think we’re going to be able to undo whatever the Barotkoffs have put into motion with the sheriff.” His brow creased, and his gaze became distant.
Anna joined the group and cradled her own cup of hot tea. “I am sorry I failed.”
Dimitri gave her a wry smile. “You didn’t fail. You shifted the deputy and he convinced the sheriff to leave, at least for now. That’s something. It bought us some time.”
“Time to do what?” Anastasia asked. She sidled up to her father and crossed her arms. “We don’t even know what is going on or what we are supposed to be doing.”
Kat’s eyes darted to Anna and she saw terror in the girl’s eyes.
Dimitri’s shoulders slumped. “I’ve no idea.”
AN EERIE DISQUIET ENGULFED the family with each passing day. They continued the clean-up and general contractor interviews. Dimitri had plans drawn up to show how the house would be remodeled, but his attention was drawn to the family’s bank accounts. They were diverse and wide-ranging. The Wolff family had holdings all over the globe, and it would take the most intelligent and diligent of accounting forensic minds to unravel them all, if anyone ever tried to. When Lila Mae entered the family decades ago and then eventually came into her inheritance, her fortune was absorbed into the family’s vast holdings. Under the watchful eye of Dimitri and a few of the other members, primarily Peter, they had never wanted for funds. They were still obscenely wealthy by any standard, but Dimitri and Peter picked up on a disturbing trend.
“What do you think is going on here?” Peter frowned and pointed to the graph that showed the activity on one of their European accounts.
Dimitri ran his index finger back and forth over his chin. “Pull up our other international holdings, just the major ones. Let’s compare those to the indexes in the world markets.”
Peter clicked on the keyboard and shrunk the graphs to fit side by side. “There’s no pattern directly related to our holdings, but there is a lot of volatility in the futures markets which trickles down to the other markets. It stems from the United States as well as the European markets, but I don’t see anything coming from Asia except that they’re all connected, of course. But the greatest source of anxiety seems to be in Europe.”
Dimitri stooped and squinted at the screen. “It looks to be centered in Eastern Europe, do you agree?”
Peter studied the graphs more in depth and let out a breath. “Maybe. But what’s in Eastern Europe?”
They looked at each other. They had no idea.
Peter’s eyes flitted to the security screens. “Wow. Our friendly neighborhood sheriff is back. He seems to have brought more friends with him this time.”
“Great.” Dimitri sighed and rubbed his face. “Let’s see what conspiracy he’s dreamed up this time.”
Peter chuckled and clicked on the keyboard. “I’ll keep running the data on this.”
“Please do.” Dimitri patted his son on the shoulder and turned to greet the sheriff once more.
The sheriff dispensed with all pleasantries and barked orders to his entourage. The men he brought with broke into pairs and fanned out toward the back of the property along the tree line.
Dimitri sauntered up to the sheriff with a broad smile. “Morning again, Sheriff. I trust you’re feeling better this week?”
The sheriff glared at Dimitri. The deputy from last week stood next to the sheriff and offered a tight smile. Dimitri suspected he got a pretty good chewing out. “I’m in perfect health, thank you very much. We will continue our investigation now, boy. Don’t get in my way and no funny business, ya hear?”
Dimitri held up his hands, palms toward the sheriff. “Yes, sir. I understand. As always, if there’s anything we can help with, we’re happy to be of service. I do need to ask, though,” he pulled the warrant out of his shirt pocket, “did you get a new warrant, Sheriff? This warrant covers only the buildings on this property, not the property itself, and it looks like your men are headed out into my trees.”
The sheriff gave a donkey bray of a laugh. He dipped into his patrol car with a grunt and produced a sheaf of papers. He shook them in the air with a grin. “Why, of course I did, boy! I know the law and around these parts, I am the law! Here ya go.”
Dimitri accepted the papers and scanned each sheet. “Very good, Sheriff. Thank you.” He lifted his eyes to the men. “Can I offer either of you a cup of tea or coffee? Oksana made a fresh pot of both not too long ago.”
The deputy smiled and made his way toward the garage. “Don’t mind if I do.”
The sheriff glared at his deputy’s back.
Dimitri smiled at the sheriff. “Oh, come on. You’ve smelled what my wife can cook. What’s one cup? It’s probably the best you’ve ever tasted.”
The sheriff took a slow deep breath, then exhaled. “One cup. But I don’t know how good your wife can be, Wolff. You’re both too young to know much of anything.”
Dimitri gestured toward the garage. “After you, Sheriff.”
The sheriff reluctantly moved toward the garage. Dimitri pulled his cell out and tapped a quick text.
Once the three men were well inside the garage, two by two, several members of the Wolff family slipped unnoticed into the woods, including Mariya. Her strength was returning, and she was eager to get back into the groove of things. Their absence went unnoticed while the sheriff and his deputy had Oksana, Granny, Rebecca, and the two animals to distract them. For his part, Stanley McBarker took an immediate dislike to the sheriff and continuously let him have it. Sweetie strategically threw up a hairball onto the sheriff’s shoe.
“I’LL SHIFT INTO A SAPLING,” Kat whispered to Christopher. “You go do your thing with those two.” She dipped her chin to the two men that walked slowly through the trees and swept their heads from side to side while they inspected the ground.
Christopher pressed an ardent kiss on Kat’s lips that had her heart beating erratically, then set his face toward the men. Kat took a deep, settling breath and crouched low to creep closer to the pair from the side. She glanced at Christopher and smiled when she saw his eyes glowing. When the two men slowed to a stop, she hurled herself toward them and shimmered bright. She shifted midair and planted her sapling form into the ground about ten feet behind them without making a sound.
“Afternoon, gentlemen.” Christopher’s voice was nonchalant. Kat heard the smile in his voice. “What exactly are you looking for out here?”
Christopher wandered toward the men and brushed his hand over Kat’s tender leaves as he passed by. She shivered.
“We’re looking for anything out of the ordinary,” one man replied, his voice flat and his eyes distant.
“What sort of ‘out of the ordinary’ would that be?”
“Personal effects, half-buried things,” the second man’s flat voice responded.
“We got a tip that we may even come across a body or two,” the first man said.
If Kat could have, she would have sucked in a sharp breath.
Crap! she thought. There were bodies buried here. Lots of bodies. The electrocution victims the Barotkoffs had sent. All of them were here except the first one. They had called the authorities for that first victim.
Christopher froze and frowned. He muttered a few expletives before addressing the men again. “What else?”
The second man spoke up. “The sheriff only told us to sweep the property and flag and immediately report anything we find. He didn’t tell us anything else. We’re volunteers.”
“We were told not to miss a square inch of the property. We have to check all of it.”
Christopher took a stand in front of the two men. His eyes were white. “Did you overhear anything on the radio, or see anything the sheriff or his deputy may have written down?”
The men shook their heads and stared off into space.
From her vantage point, Kat thought Christopher looked angry and...agonized? Kat thought about the bodies they had buried on the
property. She hadn’t participated in the burials; her uncle and others had taken care of it. Did Uncle Dimitri know where they were all buried? How many were there in total? Had they been buried in one area or scattered around? Were the graves marked? At this last thought, she shivered again.
“...you didn’t find anything. Do you understand me?” Christopher was saying to the men. Kat shifted her focus back to the trio.
“Yes, we understand. We will keep sweeping the area, but we won’t find anything,” they droned in stereo.
“You never saw me out here, either. Is that clear?”
“Yes.”
Christopher nodded at the men, then hurried around them, plucked Kat from the ground and rushed them both into the trees until they were out of sight.
Once Kat shifted back to herself, she turned to Christopher in horror. “They’re going to find the bodies. What are we going to do?”
Christopher ran his hand through his hair. “No, they won’t. I have to get to every pair of men and do the same thing to them that I did to these men. Head back, Kat. There isn’t much time. I’ll text Anna and have her do the same.” He kissed her hard, stared into her eyes for a moment, then took off into the woods.
Kat watched him disappear then pulled out her cell and tapped a frantic message to her uncle before she headed toward the garage. When she arrived, she caught her uncle’s eye and he excused himself from the table where the sheriff and his deputy sat. The sheriff watched him go with a suspicious stare before his attention was drawn to a tray of sweets Oksana offered him.
Kat and Dimitri moved out and around the side of the garage.
“What are we going to do, Uncle Dimitri? What if Christopher and Anna can’t shift them all? What if they find the bodies? Even finding one body would be horrible!”
Dimitri patted her arm. “Let’s hope Anna and Christopher are successful. In the meantime, act normal, Kat. That man is suspicious of everything.”
Kat took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay. Normal.”
Dimitri put his hands on her shoulder and stared into her eyes. “Everything will be fine, Kat. I promise.”
He hoped to keep that promise.
Revelations: The Shifter Series: Volume Three Page 6
