Rodney: Marshall’s Shadow – Jaguar Shapeshifter Romance

by Kathi S. Barton

  Just as she was handing out other paperwork that had come into their hands, Grandda walked in with about a dozen women that had been hurt while working here. Not just mentally by Nurse Handy and her aptly named crew, but also physically. Being on the list of this woman meant you quit or you were hurt badly.

  “I’m sure all of you know Mr. Marshall,” Harris continued. “With him today are past employees of this establishment. There are a great many more of them, but these people could travel here today. These women are no longer in the medical field, thanks to the treatment they received here. It proved too much for them to have been harassed by this woman. Not just at work, but she also caused them a great deal of issues at their homes. Husbands left them. Wives were told about nonexistent affairs.”

  “My God. What have you done to us? Do you have any idea what this is going to cost us? Not just monetarily, but with our reputation as a good hospital?” Doctor Whit looked around the room, shaking his head. “I had no idea. You were right, Mrs. Marshall. I’ve been a lazy doctor if this has been going on under my nose. You’ll have my resignation by the end of the day.”

  “I’m not asking for you to quit, Doctor, but to know that you’re coming up on some serious lawsuits that will be won by them. These women alone will drain the hospital of all the profits that have come to this place in the last several years. And they deserve it. What I want you to do is to make sure this doesn’t happen any longer.” He promised her it would not. “I’m glad to hear that. These women are good nurses and will, with one condition, come back here to work.”

  “Let me guess. They want me fired. Well, it’s not going to happen. I’ve been here for nearly thirty years. Well before any of you should have been sticky on a sheet. I’m in charge of this place, and it wouldn’t be where it is today without me. Firing me would be monumental to closing this place down, and then what will all you whiney asses do for help? You’ll not be able to run this place without me.” All six of the other department heads stood up. When they looked at Handy, Harris was sure they were going to tell her they did need her. Harris was going to kick their asses if they even tried that shit. “You all should be giving me a raise. Do you have any idea how much work it takes to make sure we have only one race here? As well as no foreigners? A great deal, let me tell you. This worked for us once when they weren’t even allowed around white people. It’ll work again, but only if you get your head out of your asses and let me do what I do best. Christ, you’d think I was breaking all kinds of laws here. I’m only bending the ones that matter.”

  “Mrs. Marshall, if you’d be so kind as to call the police—or if you can, arrest this woman—I’d greatly appreciate it. Not only has she admitted to being a bully, but she’s been promoting biases against people of different cultures and races as well. I, for one, would like…. No, scratch that. I would love to see her out of here as soon as possible.” Harris thanked Doctor Whit and went to the door that closed off the other part of this large office. Her men were there, recording the events of the meeting, as well as standing ready to arrest whomever she told them to. “Thank you.”

  As they were dragging Handy out, she was calling the men taking her out every racial and religious slur, as well as a few that Harris was sure she was making up. Christ, this had turned out a good deal better than she ever thought it would. Looking at the women that were still there, she started to tell them thanks for coming in as well. But Doctor Whit spoke before she could.

  “I would like to offer you all your jobs back. I’m not sure where we’ll put you for now, but I assure you that I’m going to be more observant than I was before. As well as taking an interest in the things going on around here.” The nurses, all of them, said they’d like that. “If you know anyone else that has been fired or hurt by Handy, I’d appreciate it if you were to ask them to come to see me. Or any other of the men and women here.”

  That took another three hours. Each of the department heads spoke to each of the women that had come in and not only put them on the shift they wanted but also told them they’d work on other benefits that might be coming to them. They would get paid their full benefits while they’d been off, including seniority and any vacation pay they might have had coming.

  Bella and Grandda had gone to get drinks while she ran quick security checks on the people that were there. By the time they were finished up, the hospital had a good staff coming in now, as well as three nurses that were going to work on getting the nursing department overhauled. Which meant that by the end of the day, more would be terminated for their parts played in this entire mess.

  Reaching out to Rebel, she was asked if she could talk to her later, as she was in the insurance office with Sheila. Harris had forgotten they were headed there today and told her good luck. It sounded to her like it wasn’t going well, and she might just run over there when she was finished here. It couldn’t hurt. Or better yet, she’d have their attorney go. Ricky was just saying how he needed to get out more.

  Calling him was no problem. He said he’d be there in less than ten minutes, and he’d only sit back and let Rebel handle it unless she asked. He’d heard about the incident with Cort, and everyone was a little afraid of the other woman. Not her. Harris loved that she could get all witchy when necessary.

  But almost as soon as he got there, he called her back. “They’re arresting Sheila and Rebel. Neither of them are fighting the police, who, I might add, are just as confused as I am. But you should meet them at the jail. Also, you should go and pick up Lach. I think Thomas has been letting the people at the office know he’s a mite upset with them.” It was humorous, whatever was going on if Ricky’s voice was any indication. “Oh my, Harris, this is more fun than it should have been if you ask me.”

  Taking a few of her men with her, she told them where they were headed. Apparently, they had already heard about what was going on and filled her in on it. Yes, Ricky had been right. It was a good deal funnier than it should have been for an insurance payoff.

  Chapter 4

  Rodney tried his best not to laugh. It was hurting him in the ribs and his throat to hold onto it, but he figured if he let out another burst of laughter before he got Rebel and her sister home, he’d end up a dead man. But just glancing at them both, as he was also trying not to do, would make him start laughing all over again.

  He hadn’t any idea what Rebel had in her hair, or for that matter, what was all over her shirt and shoes. But to him, all he could think about was that slimy guy in those Ghostbuster movies. She’d been slimed.

  Sheila was in worse shape in that she had the sticky substance on the same places as Rebel but was also wearing something that smelled to him like hand sanitizer, as well as some kind of smelly spray stuff. Neither of them were in the best of humor either.

  “Did you tell him that you wanted to get the rest of the money?” Grandda didn’t even bother trying to hide how funny he thought this was. “I tell you, honey. You look like you’ve gone a few rounds with some kind of yuck machine, and they didn’t turn it off in time. What is that stuff?”

  “It’s slime from Thomas. If you laugh at me one more time, Grandda, I’m going to make sure you get it on you the next time.” Grandda told Rebel she’d not do that. She loved him too much to get him all slimed up. “You have no idea where this shit is right now. I can feel it going up the crack of my ass and oozing its way into my butt. Not to mention my boobs feel like I’ve bathed them in this shit.”

  “Now, darlin’, I’m sure that’s a personal issue there.” Rebel growled at Grandda. His calm voice was what was the funniest. “It’s a very pretty color, though, don’t you think? I mean, they got it all wrong on that movie. Can’t think of the name of it right now, but they had it green. The fact that it’s all sparkly white makes me think of rainbows and such. I wonder how it tastes. Is it any good?”

  “No. No, it’s not good. It tastes like slime mixed with rosemary. I have no
idea why that particular herb, but that’s what I taste as it slides its way down the back of my throat to my belly. I can’t even imagine what it’s going to represent when I have to shit this crap out of me.”

  Rodney laughed. Even had he been able to stop it, he wasn’t sure he would have wanted to. He had to pull over to the side of the road and get out. He was hurting so bad from it all. Sure that he broke a couple of ribs while holding it in, he wasn’t able to calm himself when Rebel got out of the car with him.

  “What the fuck do you find so funny?”

  Instead of answering her, he pulled out his phone and let her see the pictures he’d taken while she’d not been looking. Christ, he’d not had this much fun in a very long time. He was glad he’d sent them to a safe place when she began deleting them. He was going to pull them out and look at them when he was having a bad day. He was sure he’d laugh just as hard anytime he got to thinking about them.

  “They said they weren’t going to have to pay her that money because the check they gave her said paid in full. Did you know that?” He said he’d not heard anything more than that the office had been wrecked. “Yes, well, I might have forgotten how much of a temper Thomas had when he was done wrong. But how he was able to do this is beyond me. I think one of those men in that office has a broken arm. I know I was having a hard time just standing up in there with this shit all over everything and anything it could get into.”

  “Honey, don’t. If you talk about the office or what is going to happen when you shit, I’m going to die. Maybe not from not laughing, but you will surely kill me if I laugh anymore.” She glared at him. “Come on. You have to think this is funny on some level.”

  “I think I should murder you in your sleep. Or better yet, I should rub myself all over you and see how you like feeling this way.” His cock stretched at the thought of her rubbing any part of her over him. “You’ve just shown me your cat. I’m assuming he’s wanting me as well. I do want you. Very badly. And if we didn’t have people in the car with us, I’d take you right here on the side of the road.”

  “You’re hurting me. You know that, don’t you?” She smiled then. Not a lot of humor was in her look, but he could tell she was enjoying herself. “All right. I have a plan. We’ll take your sister home, then take Grandda and go home. The first one that is naked gets to do whatever the other wants.”

  “Deal.” She opened the car door then closed it. Pulling him to her, she kissed him like he wanted to be kissed. There was so much in the way she moved her body over his that he was sure anyone watching them could tell. “You had better not be called away or any other thing. Do you hear me?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  They both got into the car, and he pulled out into traffic. Rodney was glad no one asked him anything. He wasn’t sure he could have answered anything important right now. His thoughts were centered on one thing, and that was having Rebel naked under him. But Grandda spoke about what was going on with all the projects he had going on. Mostly to do with the money he had coming from his job.

  “I know the family has a lot of projects going on, but I got me an idea that I can hire a crew of workers and do some odd jobs around the town. People like me, up there in years, could use a little extra cash at times. Well, not me, but some of the others I know.” Rebel asked him what sort of odd jobs. “I was thinking like mowing a little bit of a lawn. Or picking up something at the grocery store for a shut-in or something like that. I was even thinking that some of us could go over to the nursing home and read a bit to some that can’t see much anymore.”

  The three of them talked about that most of the way back. The drive back to the house was spent talking about the insurance scam too. That’s what it was, too. A scam. He was glad Harris was on top of things. Otherwise, the women of his little family would be hurt. Rodney was sure that once she started digging, she’d find this had been done before by the insurance company.

  “That wasn’t on the check I got from them.” He looked in the rearview mirror at Sheila when she spoke. “I took a picture of the check when I got it from them. I’ve looked everywhere, including the memo part where they told me it was, and there isn’t a note there about it being paid in full. I have it right here, and it’s not on there.”

  “You should contact Harris.” Something he’d learned today was that Sheila was terrified of Harris and Bella. They’d done nothing to her, but he thought it was more like the fact that they were no-nonsense women and their wealth. Rodney was glad Rebel was encouraging Sheila to talk to them more. “She’ll be able to get with the bank about it. I know most banks take pictures of the checks they cash, so I’m betting they have one of yours.”

  “I’ll do it if you’re there too.” Rebel said she wasn’t going to be able to do it today but that Sheila should get on it as soon as possible. “All right. I really could use the money until you get your practice set up. I hadn’t realized we owed so much in bills. Then, after getting a small treat for the kids, something I’d do again even if we had only gotten ten dollars, it was gone. That’ll be good money for us, and this will make a nice nest egg for the kids when they want to go to college.”

  So it was settled. Pulling out her cell phone, Sheila called Harris. He could tell she was nervous and stumbled over what she was trying to say, but she finally got it out. Then when she told Harris her bank information, Rodney thought it had gone better than even Rebel had thought it would.

  “I have a picture of it now. But I don’t think they’ll believe me. Especially after today.” While he could hear Harris speaking on the other end of the line, he couldn’t tell what she was saying. But when Sheila thanked her several times, he knew it had gone well. After closing the connection down, Sheila sounded as happy as he’d ever heard her. “She told me she’d get me the money. No matter what they say. It’s good to have someone on your side that will fight for you. Don’t you think?”

  By the time they were dropping Sheila off at her home, Rodney had taken three more calls. One of them was asking him if he’d come to the school tomorrow morning to greet the dentist he’d set up. The second one was telling him that the building he’d put his practice in had been updated with new signs, as well as three more rooms that were to be added to the rear of the place had been started on. He thought that was exciting.

  Taking the third call, he’d been almost afraid to answer it. It was from a number that he didn’t know. Answering it with just his last name, he waited while the person on the other end decided to either speak or get off the line. When the male voice asked if he was Rodney, he asked who the person was calling for him.

  “We went to college together. Had a couple of classes. Not that we were friends or anything, but we did have the— Sorry. I’m digressing here. I’m looking for a job as a physician. I’ve just heard there was a shakeup at the hospital where you’re from. I applied there before but wasn’t…let’s just say I wasn’t what they were looking for at the time. I was interviewed by a woman by the name of Beth Handy.” Rodney glanced at Rebel when the man mentioned Beth. “I’m getting ahead of myself. My name is Howard Benson. I’d very much like to move to your area and raise my family there. I’m sure you’re going to have to do a full background check on me. I’d be doing the same thing.”

  “Doctor Benson, I’m not in charge of the hiring at the hospital.” Howard, as he was asked to call him, said he’d been given his number to call. “Can you hang on just a moment? I’m driving. Or better yet, how about I call you back when I get home? That’ll be in about ten minutes or so. I should be able to run down what’s going on. I’m usually the last to know.”

  The man laughed. Rodney didn’t know why, but he thought that was a good sign. “I’ll tell you what, Rodney. If you’d be so kind as to give me your email address, I’ll mail you all the things you need to do a background check on me.” Rodney gave him his toss-away account email address, the one he used for strangers or just
to check prices on things. “All right. I’ll look forward to hearing from you. Thanks so much for your time.”

  After hanging up, Rebel placed a call to Harris to see if she knew what was going on. When she said she’d just put the ad in the paper about hiring new staff, he was surprised. Rebel asked her if she’d given Howard Rodney’s number.

  “No, I’d not do that to you without telling you first. I’m betting it was someone at the hospital. Though why they’d do that is beyond me. But I can and will do a check on him for us. That way, we can start filling the positions as soon as we can.” Rebel asked how many people had quit over the Beth thing. “Six nurses, but I was going to have to fire them anyway. They were part of the trouble your family was having. Five doctors have also been terminated, not by me, but by Whit. He’s cleaning house, it looks like. Which is something he should have done a while ago. He’s also setting up a whole new set of rules to go by there. I think keeping him on was one of the better calls made with this thing.”

  “I’ve never had any trouble with him. The reason for that is I never saw him. He was forever out of his office on one thing or another.” Harris said he’d told her that he was going to be working the halls more, as well as being in his office during posted hours. “If he’d done that in the first— No. He’d have not done anything, I don’t think, if I had gone to him.”

  “More than likely not. But he is a man on a mission now. It could be that he gave the man your number in order for you to do just what you did. Call me. I don’t know, but I’m pulling him up as we speak.” She went over the things she’d found as they pulled into the driveway. With them sitting in the car, Harris finished up with the background she had found. “Of course, I’ll do a deeper look into his life. But as for what I have about him now, he’s not perfect, which is something you don’t want to find, but he does look like a hell of a doctor.”