The darker pieces were all made of mahogany. Christ, they too were well polished. The heads of them were just slightly worn from being picked up and moved. Fred had never seen such a set, and he wondered where she’d gotten it. Asking her, he couldn’t believe her answer.
“My grandda gave it to me. Actually, I think I remember winning it from him. But as his eyesight was failing, he told me to take it as a prize for sitting with him all the time. My brother and I, we play when we can. But I’ve recently married, so I’m teaching my husband how to play. He’s good, but he lacks the discipline to be great yet.” He asked if she taught him with this set. “Yes. A game is meant to be played, my grandda said. And if you only save the special for special occasions, you might not remember that it’s there. This one sets out all the time so we can play when we want. It’s my favorite pastime.”
Fred wanted to bargain with her, but decided that would show his hand in how much he liked the set. He was just greedy enough to play with her set in saying that they’d play two games, one of each color.
As soon as the game began, Fred realized that she was no mere player, she was good. They played for several hours. Her laughter rang down the otherwise empty halls. When she won, she didn’t gloat. And when she lost—which wasn’t all that often, as much as he hated to admit, even to himself—she didn’t whine or cry either.
They talked, mostly about the game, her grandfather, and some things of her life. Never once did she ask him about the upcoming trial. She didn’t pound him for any clues. They just sat and played until his dinner tray came.
“I have to get going.” Fred actually hated for her to leave him now that he’d found someone that he could enjoy. “I guess we have a big day tomorrow. I’ll be there, but I don’t think you’ll need anything I have to offer.”
She put out her hand, and before he could think that it might be a bad idea, Fred was shaking her hand back. All he felt was warmth from her. That and the softness of a female. When she was finished packing up the set, he asked her finally for her name.
“I’m sorry. I could have sworn— Never mind. I’m Cattie. Cattie Huffman.” She smiled at him, blinding him for a moment. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Fred. And thanks so much for the games.”
When she was gone, he sat back on the cot. It had never felt this lonely in here before. He’d had his thoughts and plans, but now, he felt almost like he’d lost something with her gone. Lying back on the little bed, he wondered if he’d look for her when this was all finally over. Then he decided that he’d not. She was special, Cattie Huffman, and he’d allow her to live out her days without him intruding on her life.
The rest of his evening was planning out his tomorrow. After the trial he’d have to hide out, and he figured that he’d just go to his hideaway and stay there for a while. No one knew about the place, so he’d be free to clean up his things. And he’d have to make a trip to the cemetery to gather his trophies, as the police would call them.
No one had ever suspected that he’d taken anything. Not a piece of jewelry for him. No little mementos that he’d have to keep in a box, or in his case a large bag. Fred was smart in what he took. A single pubic hair, just one, that he plucked out of her pussy so that he could have it to look at later. Fred had them all laminated, with their names on each little hair, and dated. Anytime he wanted, he’d just pull one out and remember what fun he’d had.
Killing his mother hadn’t been hard for him to do. He had no remorse for killing her. He didn’t feel like he’d owed her anything for bringing him into the world. Nor did he think she’d gotten more than she deserved. She had ruined him, as easily as if she had plunged the blade into his dick herself.
When the lights were turned off, he got up to use the bathroom again. He’d almost waited too long to go, not wanting the young Cattie to leave his company just yet. Pulling out his scarred and ruined dick, he looked down at it, remembering like it was yesterday waking up to find it like it was and his mother standing over him.
“You will not touch yourself again, Fredrick. Do you hear me? No more beating that thing with your hands and my Vaseline so that you can wave that nasty thing out in the wind.” Fred asked her what she’d done. “I did? I did nothing to you but bring you here so that you could be taken care of. And they’ve done it. They had to if they wished to be paid. And you’ll be a eunuch now, never to be able to play with it for the rest of your days.”
She left him there. His own mother had had him hurt badly, then she’d left, telling him as she laughed that she never wanted to see him darken her door again. And that if she even heard of him coming around her home, she’d do worse to him than she’d paid the surgeon to do, and without putting him to sleep first.
It had taken him nearly a month to be able to get around on his own, but he’d been stuck with the bag at his side for a lot longer than that. He worked at it, making himself pee when he felt the urge. But there were times, in the beginning, that he had to have help. It only took him a few days and many tries to understand how to do that personal thing to himself.
After he’d escaped, killing the surgeon, nurse, and anyone else that got in his way, Fred didn’t so much as peek his head out of his hiding space for three months. Food wasn’t all that hard to come by, not when he had his uncle’s gun and plenty of ammo. And there were enough apples and other fruit in the trees surrounding the place that he ate well during that time. And he got stronger.
Chopping wood that he didn’t need made his upper body stone hard. Walking everywhere, even when the pain was too much, gave him endurance. And then when he was as fit as he could be, he snuck into his mother’s home, cutting her into small pieces with a chain saw. He smiled at her screams until she died, and then took everything that he could find—money, food, and her car—out of the place before heading back to the hideaway and waiting out the backlash from her death.
Fred was not just a careful man, but he didn’t kill anymore, not unless they touched him. Then he would quickly take care of their remains and go on as if nothing had happened. His life, as far as he was concerned, was about as perfect as he could have wished for.
Chapter 11
Aaron didn’t have much knowledge about being an attorney. He had one, of course, but he didn’t use him all that much. What he did understand was that this trial was going to be a slam dunk, Forrest said, and he was thrilled to death to be there for it.
Because of their relationship, Forrest had had to step down as the attorney for Emmi. It didn’t bother him that much, he told them, but he had been worried about things not going the way that he wanted. Then Cam stepped up.
“I have a doctorate in law.” Everyone looked at the young man, then he smiled. “I have a lot of degrees, really, but I think this one might be able to help us all. Especially Emmi. Since we’re not at all related, I can represent her. And while a lot of people know that we’re all friends, Fred does not. And Cattie said that she’d sit way in the back, and since her name is different than mine now too, we should be safe.”
But just to be sure, they ran it all through Samuel Bask, including how they’d found out most of the information that they now had. By the time they were finished, the man was regretting not being in on this one. He was nearly giddy with excitement for them.
“You guys need to be in business for yourself on this. I mean, I don’t think they had this much information when someone was shot and they saw the man do it. Holy smokes, gentlemen, you are seriously going to blow this sucker out of the water.” To keep things really on the up and up, Jake wasn’t at this meeting. In fact, they didn’t even tell him about it. “I’m retiring. Don’t tell my buddy Jake yet. I’m sure he’s going to be doing a good job, and I just don’t have any heart in it anymore.”
“I’m sure that once Jake starts to settle into his job, which even you have to admit hasn’t been an easy transition, he’ll do much better. But I must tell you, I thin
k he’s figured out that you fooled him.” Samuel laughed with the rest of them when Forrest spoke. “He’s loving the perks too, that you set up for him. His grandma, she’d be happy, I think.”
Aaron knew for a fact that she was happy. Jenna was there now with them, and she was having a good time telling them to tell the judge that she was. The man had been sweet on her, but Aaron didn’t find that surprising. It seemed to him that everyone had been sweet on the woman. And those that weren’t had hated her with a passion that held no bounds, her son one of them.
The rest of the afternoon was spent at the house. They were still ordering things to fill it out; many of the rooms had sat empty for some time. So they were also having the walls painted, as well as any plumbing work done that needed to be updated. Paying Jake and Forrest to buy the house made him feel better. Renting wasn’t that bad, he supposed, since he’d known that he was going to own it eventually, but ownership was better.
Brody was having a clinic put in at home. That way if there was an emergency with the pack or one of them, he could easily take care of it there rather than having to go all the way to the hospital.
Aaron was enjoying his time settling in as a house husband. So far he’d taken a few cooking classes, and was having a great time with those. And Howie was having fun showing him how to cook things too. Who knew that chopping an onion could be so messy and a blast as well?
Jordan was settling in well. With his mother gone, the boy had seemed to relax a great deal. Walking to the library when he wanted. Making friends with the neighborhood children. They were mostly shifters of one kind or another, but that didn’t seem to matter to him. Children had the least amount of prejudice of any people he knew when it came to making friends, and Aaron thought that everyone could learn from them.
The phone was ringing as he entered the kitchen at lunchtime. After saying his name, he waited for someone to speak. When there didn’t seem to be anyone there, he hung up. Halfway to the sink to wash up to make a salad, it rang again. He thought it was a wrong number, so said just his last name this time.
“Dad?” Aaron held tightly to the counter when he told Jordan it was him. “I’m at my regular school now, and they want to speak to you and Dad. I don’t want to be here anymore. Can I go back to my other school?”
They’d moved him to the local school when his mother was no longer a threat. Aaron and Brody both thought that the move would be better, as it was closer to home too.
“Are you all right, son?”
Jordan started crying, and Aaron reached for his coat as he tried to get him to tell what had happened. Cattie walked in with Tyson just as he started speaking again.
“They want you to come here because my teacher is saying that I’m a degenerate. And that you and Dad are sick-o’s. Dad, I’m so sorry. I didn’t do anything.” He asked him where the teacher was now. “She’s in the classroom. I’m not allowed to return because of you and Dad. I don’t understand.”
“You wait right there, Jordan. I’m coming. Is there anything in the room that is yours?” He said that she’d boxed it up. “I see. I’m coming. I’m sorry, but this isn’t going to be pretty, son. All right? I don’t want to embarrass you, but—”
“Dad, just come and get me, please? I don’t want to be in her room no more. She made me feel really bad because you and Dad love each other.” Aaron told Jordan he was coming. “All right. I love you, Dad.”
After telling him he loved him, Aaron hung up and had to stand there for several minutes just breathing. Cattie asked him where Brody was. Aaron really wished he was there, but he was in surgery right now.
“I’m coming with you then.” Cattie sat on the chair after pouring herself some tea, but Tyson looked as fired up as he was. Not that Cattie wasn’t, but she was letting the two of them handle things. “There are laws that prohibit that. I wonder if she’s aware of how many of them she broke. And she singled out my nephew. That is not going to happen. Also, I’m calling in Jake and Forrest. Hell, they’ll all want to be in on this. Damn it all to fucking hell.”
By the time Aaron, Tyson, and Cattie were pulling into the school parking lot, not only were Forrest and Jake there, but so were all the other men. Quincey was there, as well as Scott. This woman was in for a rare treat, Aaron thought with a grin.
As soon as he walked into the principal’s office, she laughed. Mrs. Hersey had an idea that Ms. Adams had bitten off more than she could chew today. And when she asked them to follow her to the conference room, several more teachers came in to join them. All of them, it seemed, had heard what was said to little Jordan Downs. Brody showed up just as the teacher joined them in the room.
“Just one more moment, please.” Mrs. Hersey said that one more person was joining them.
Ms. Adams was looking like she’d won already. Her face was pinched up, and she had a glint in her eye that told Aaron that it didn’t matter what was said in here, she wasn’t going to back off. The school superintendent, Mr. Donald Black, showed up and sat in the back of the room without anyone seeing him. Aaron nodded at him and he put his finger to his lips. Aaron was just fine with that too.
“I’m here to talk to you about my son and something you said to him—”
“You can beg me all you want to take him back in my room, but I won’t do it. I have rights just as much as he does.” Aaron said that wasn’t why he was there. “I don’t even want that child in this school, to be honest with you. He’s living with two men that are sleeping together. That’s a sin.”
“To you.” She told Aaron it was to most people. “So you say. But you can’t say those things to him in front of his classmates. You’re making him a target when you—”
“You made him a target when you started having relations with another man, you pervert. And having all these other ‘friends’ in here with you? It just shows how many of you perverts there are in this town. Had I known there were this many faggots around here, I swear to you that I’d never have taken this job.”
She sat down with a flounce. That’s all Aaron could call it, and he sat up straighter in his chair. He’d only been a pervert, as she called him, for a short time, but he’d been around the world and back to know that this woman wasn’t really any different than most when it came to homosexuality.
“You don’t have to take him back in your class, Ms. Adams. I just want you to apologize to—”
“No. That’s not going to happen either. I know my rights, and I won’t—”
“If you cut me off again, I’m going to press charges against you for being prejudiced against my son.” She opened her mouth again while starting to stand. Aaron had had enough. Slamming both his hands down on the tabletop, he shouted in a roaring voice at her, “Sit down and shut up!”
The room snickered, and he looked around at them all. It was now as quiet as a church in the room, and he stood up beside Forrest and Jake. She was going to get a lesson in what the perverts did for her before she even opened her first book this school year.
“You will find that we’re just people like you are.” She shook her head, but didn’t get up or say anything this time. “We love each other forever. And we raise our children in the same manner that you would. Jordan is a good kid. Smart, and loves both of us very much. You’ve, by your own voice, made the other children, who were accepting of both him and us, think about what we are. By you saying those things in your class, where others could hear you, you’ve given them voices that they hadn’t formed yet. By you pointing out that Jordan is different for having two men love him, he can be bullied. You, yourself, have bullied him. As well as showed the other children that it’s all right to do what you do, no matter how wrong it is.
“Jake and Forrest are also perverts, as you call them. Jake is a judge of the county, Forrest an attorney. This school year they donated the funds for the new teachers’ lounge that you have. As well as the garden that is being
put in behind the school that is just for teachers to go to.” Aaron went to stand behind Cam and Rick as he continued to tell her what she was saying was hurting only herself. “Cameron is an FBI agent that is running the local offices right now. Doing a great job of it too. Rick is an author. His first book is going to be made into a movie. Their money bought gift cards for each teacher this year, in the amount of five thousand dollars each. That doesn’t include the items that Cam’s sister, a cop, as well as her husband Tyson, a cop as well, donated for the teachers to use every day. Crayons and paper, tissues, as well as glue and other supplies, so that you’d have them and the teachers wouldn’t have to use the gift card for anything but making the rooms brighter and more enjoyable for you to use.”
He went down the line to each of them there that had come together in one way or another to make the school much better funded, as well as a clean place to be daily. When he stood behind Brody, he put his hands on his shoulders.
“Brody is a doctor. One that donates his time to come in each week to make sure that the students are healthy enough to come to class. He brings in toothbrushes for them that he gets wholesale, as well as toothpaste for them. Both he pays for.” She smirked at him. “I work for the government. I go out, take pictures and other things of animals that we once thought extinct. I have also arranged, with the principle as well as the superintendent, to have a week in the summer that kids will get a chance for one on one time to be up close and personal with some of these animals. To mention only a few, we’re having a giraffe brought in. A lioness and her cubs, as well as a rhino. They’ll be well supervised, as will the children. We, perverts as you called us, have made your job as a teacher much better than anywhere else in the state.”
Brody Page 14
