Everyone bowed their heads when the mayor asked them to. A short prayer later, others stood up to speak of the things that had happened to them this year, and how it had impacted the town.
Others did the same. There were great stories, as well as happiness at what had happened. One man—his name eluded her at the moment—said that while his garden had not done as well as he’d hoped, his neighbor had helped by sharing what crops he’d had.
Story after story was told similar to his. Women too stood to speak, talking about the quilts they’d been able to sell in the next town over, many miles away, but they had trucks now so it was easier to take things and bring things back. Another woman spoke of her herbs, and how she was able to sell them on the Internet, a new thing for the people living here.
When they were offered rooms to sleep in that night, Blaze fell in love with the blanket on her bed. Determined to buy it, she told Bryson that she wanted it for their child someday. It was the prettiest shades of blues and pinks that she’d ever seen.
“I think that’s a wonderful idea.” The two of them spoke most of the night on which one they thought was going to be queen of the castle. Someone would need to be there if only to keep poachers out. “I’m sure that it’s going to be Remi. I don’t know why, but she’d be just the ball buster that would be needed to be a queen.”
“No, it’s going to be Piper. She is the deadliest of the six of us. Though I don’t know what she’d be defending the castle against. There aren’t that many people around that want to storm a castle and take it over anymore.” They were both laughing about that when something occurred to her. “I’ve changed my mind. I think it’s going to be Jude. She knows that her mate might be here. I mean, she sort of felt someone today watching her. At least that’s who she indicated it might be that she was feeling.”
“You might be right. She told me the same thing about being watched.” They both settled in the big bed just as the clock in the great room of the house they were in struck midnight. “I almost hate to go home tomorrow. I know that we have to, but I don’t want to.”
“Neither do I. I want to stay here and watch the castle be finished. I want to visit Dante’s grave alone, and talk to her about the things that have happened since she changed us.” Blaze looked over at Bryson, the love of her life. “You would have loved her as much as we do. I know we say this all the time, that she was a great woman. But there is something that none of us mention. She laughed like a braying jackass.”
They were still laughing about that as they held each other tightly. It was nice to be able to snuggle up to someone she loved, Blaze thought. She’d not have it any other way.
~*~
Bishop walked down the stairs and wondered were Bethany was today. She’d mentioned something about going to the bank to get some of the things from the safety deposit box, but Bishop was sure she should have been home by now. Living in the big house afforded them so much in the way of having money all the time.
“A man by the name of Remington called here for you. I took a message, but all the woman that called said was that it was important that you called back.” Bishop ignored Parker for his coffee that she’d set in front of him. “Also, the bills are starting to pile up and the grocer won’t bring out any more food until he’s paid. That you’re drinking now is the last of the coffee in the house.”
“Do you have any at your home?” She told him that she did not. “Liar. I know you do. You smell of fresh beans. I want another cup even if you have to go to your house and get it for me. Don’t lie to me again, or you’ll find yourself out on your ass like the others.”
“Good to know. I put my resignation on your piled up desk two weeks ago. Yesterday was my last day.” She pulled on her coat and moved to the back door. “You’re nothing at all like your father was. He was a good man, and prided himself on keeping the household stocked and the people working for him happy. You’re a bully and a shithead.”
When the door slammed behind her, he didn’t even turn to look. Good riddance, Bishop thought. One less person to nag him about payroll. Not that he had any plans of paying her, but it was good that he didn’t have to hear her bitching about it.
Sipping his coffee, he heard the phone ring. Ignoring it for his morning brew, he was annoyed as fuck when no sooner than it stopped ringing than it started up again. Getting up from his chair, he picked up the phone and asked what the fuck they wanted.
“Good morning, sunshine. I do hope that you’re having a good morning. Because you’re about to have your entire life shit on.” He started to hang up when the man at the other end started talking. “My name is Bryson Andrews. And I’m only keeping you busy on the phone so that the police can come in the front door. You have fun now.”
He heard the front of the house explode when someone broke down the doors. He was headed there when he felt something touch the back of his head. Before he could do what he’d been told, get on the floor with his hands behind his head, Bishop was slammed down and his arms jerked behind his back so hard that he was sick from it.
“What the fuck is this all about? Do you have any idea what sort of laws you’re breaking right now?” He was told to shut up. “I will not. And you’re paying for that door when I have your ass in court.”
“Shut up and listen.” He was advised his rights to an attorney when he felt the sickening pain of his head hitting the floor. “Do you understand these rights?”
“Yeah, you mother fucker. Do you understand what the fuck I’m going to do to you when I’m up from here?” There was female laughter, and he tried to raise up his head enough to look. But it didn’t take much. He knew the woman standing over him like he did his own sister. “What the hell are you doing here, Ellen? I thought when you were kicked from my house you were told to stay five hundred feet from here.”
“I was, when I thought that you were in the right. But now that I know you changed the will your dad had to suit yourself—well, you can say that I just don’t give a good fuck what you want anymore.” Bishop asked her what she was talking about. “The original will. The one made right after your father and I were married. The one that said that I got everything and that you and your lovely arrested sister get squat. Bishop, your dad, he said that he’d bailed you two out enough, and that he thought you and he were even on anything that either of you hoped to get from his estate.”
“You fucking lie.” She knelt down and showed him what he’d been looking for since he’d moved into the house the second time. “You doctored that up so that we’d not get anything. That’s going to cost you. I might even let you back in here as our servant, Ellen. Christ, to think that for years we called you Mom.”
“Yes, and I was your mother for a long time, Bishop. I raised you until your father thought that you’d lived here long enough. It was both a sad day and a wonderful, uplifting day when he tossed you both to the side of the road. I have to say, now that I know what sort of people the two of you became, I might have not been all that sad about him doing that.” Bishop told her that she’d made him do it. “No. I wouldn’t have done that. But as I said, I’m so glad that he did. Aren’t you going to even ask why your sister was arrested?”
“I don’t care what she’s done. I’m more concerned right now about how much I’m going to enjoy beating the fuck out of you when I get these cuffs off.” He was sat up with his arms still behind his back in a set of cuffs. “You’d do well to get these off me so that I don’t have to have you in a pair of them, Ellen. I don’t care for the way I’m being treated.”
“Well, isn’t that just too bad for you?” Ellen started walking around with another man. He was holding a file in his hands and pointing out all the things that were missing from the room they were in. “You’ve been very busy, haven’t you, Bishop? I do hope that you’ve had fun while you were living it up in my home. Because where you’re headed isn’t going to be anywhere near as ni
ce as here. Oh, you’ll also be happy to know that I hired the staff back and paid their salary. That wasn’t nice of you to not pay them when they worked so hard in trying to keep the two of you fed and taken care of.”
“You do that and I’m going to have to fire them all over again.” She didn’t speak to him, but did talk about the pieces that Bishop and Bethany had sold off for more money. For some reason he had never been able to get into the bank accounts. Now he knew why. “Where did you find the will?”
Not only did she not answer him, but Ellen left the room to see what else they’d gotten rid of. There was a great deal of it too. Some of the bedrooms were devoid of anything but the carpet on the floors. Even pictures that had been in their family for generations were sold off for cash.
“Mr. Wolf? My name is Kendal Windsor. I’m the new pack leader.” Bishop asked him why he’d care. “Well, for one thing, I’m here to take your ass to jail. After that, we’ll be the ones that take you to prison when you’re found guilty of stealing from this house. Then there is the other matter of dues that you owe the pack. You were told that you and your sister would have to pay up or be taken care of. You’re very lucky that Ellen paid them, or I’d get first crack at your ass.”
“Like I care.”
But he did care. Bishop also knew that he was in deep shit over this. Not only had he and Bethany doctored the will that had been around when their mother was, but they’d been made aware that they might not now or ever own the things that they’d been selling off.
As he sat there, Bishop wondered if he could play on Ellen’s good nature. When she came back into the room, he gave it his best shot. “Ellen…Mom…I’m so sorry about all this. I guess we were saddened by the death of our dad. Can’t we just start over and try and work this out?”
“No.”
She walked away again, going to the dining room. He knew it, too, was devoid of any furniture.
As he was being none too nicely pulled up from the floor, he was out the door before he could try again. Something had to give in her heart. Ellen had always been a sap when it came to him and Bethany.
There were three large furniture trucks in the front driveway when he was being taken to the cruiser. As he was put in the back seat of it, the doors were opened on the first one and he could see that it looked like it was filled with the things that they’d sold off. As the dining room table and chairs were unloaded, he had to smile. It must have cost her a fortune to get all that shit back.
Taken to the courthouse instead of the jail, he saw his sister there too. Unlike him, she’d been put in prison orange. He decided then that he needed to tell her to never get arrested again. Orange was not her color.
The courtroom was emptied except for the judge, the two of them, and several armed police officers. Ellen came in just as the doors to the back were being closed, and she wasn’t alone. The men and women with her looked not just wealthy, but powerful.
“We’re here today to read the last will and testament of Bishop Wolf Senior. Now that we have the correct will, we can proceed.” Bishop objected. “To what? The fact that you lied to a sitting judge and said the one that you found was the correct one? Or the fact that you’re going to have to pay back not just the estate, but also your stepmother for the things that you sold off in her home? What is it, boy?”
“I’m not paying her shit. She’s the one that was left out of the will. Not my sister and I.” The judge only stared at him. “We messed up, all right? I think that we can resolve this like adults and put this all behind us. Besides, when I was leaving home, or being dragged around like an animal, I saw that she’d been able to get the stuff back.”
“Your Honor?” The man with Ellen stood up. “My name is Lord Bryson Andrews. Ellen was my stepmother for a great many years before she married Mr. Bishop. I’d like to give you an accounting of the money that was spent on retrieving her things, as well as the expense of finding it. For the furniture that had been sold, not including the things that we’ve not been able to find, it comes to just over six point three million dollars. The time and effort put forth was just over—”
“Hey, wait a damned minute.” Bishop looked at his sister. “We did not get nearly that much for the shit that we sold. Even if we were to have to pay that back, that’s well above the amount that we got for it.”
“You’re to sit down and shut up, the both of you, so that I can figure this out for your sentencing. There will not be a trial simply because the two of you have admitted to me that you’ve done this. Besides, I’m not going to waste tax payers’ money on a trial of two people that should have been in jail long ago.” The judge looked at the man, Lord Andrews, again. “Go ahead, Your Lordship. Give me the rest of the numbers.”
Ten million dollars? There wasn’t any way. But just as he was opening his mouth to object again, an officer came to stand behind him. The heavy hand on his shoulder was painful, not to mention scary.
“All right. This is how this is going to go. You two will pay all this money back. I’m well aware that you have no money or jobs, and the likelihood of you getting one from prison is nil. So you’re going to spend your days working for the jail system at one hundred dollars a day.” It wasn’t much, but between the two of them they’d have some cash, Bishop thought. “In doing so, all money from your jobs from prison will go directly to Ellen Wolf. All of it.”
“Wait a fucking minute. Are you saying that we’re going to work in the prison, or that we’re going to be working while in prison? Neither one of those are an option for me. I have a social life, and that will just kill it.” The judge told Bethany to shut up again. “I will not shut up. I have something to say on my behalf. She should have worked harder on getting the right will and we’d not be in this shit right now.”
“You’re a moron.” The judge looked at Bishop after calling his sister that. “You too, if you want to know the truth. As of this day, you will be taken to prison, where you will spend the next, if my math is correct, one hundred and ninety years behind bars to pay off the bills and things that you’ve done to your stepmother.”
The banging of the gavel sounded so final that Bishop just sat there. They’d never get out. Never have any more fun. Not even get any of the money that they had to work for. This fucking sucked. As he was taken away again, Bishop realized his mistake. He’d fucked with the wrong person. And now he had to pay.
Before You Go…
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Kathi Barton, winner of the Pinnacle Book Achievement award as well as a best-selling author on Amazon and All Romance books, lives in Nashport, Ohio with her husband Paul. When not creating new worlds and romance, Kathi and her husband enjoy camping and going to auctions. She can also be seen at county fairs with her husband who is an artist and potter.
Her muse, a cross between Jimmy Stewart and Hugh Jackman, brings her stories to life for her readers in a way that has them coming back time and again for more. Her favorite genre is paranormal romance with a great deal of spice. You can visit Kathi online and drop her an email if you’d like. She loves hearing from her fans. [email protected].
Follow Kathi on her blog: http://kathisbartonauthor.blogspot.com/
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Queen’s Birds of Prey: Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance (Queen's Birds of Prey Book 2)
Blaze: Queen’s Birds of Prey: Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance (Queen's Birds of Prey Book 2) Page 17
