“You think you’re a man of worth, Blake? A man with means? What will you do if—or I should say when—they become the environment that they were born to? Will you buy them out of it because you can?” It didn’t seem like a fair question to him, so he only looked at Dylan. When she cleared her throat and started forward, Judge Holloway stopped her. “If you’re thinking that you can scare me into agreeing to this, then you might as well get back in your seat, Mrs. Whitfield. I’ve seen too many kids come through here, getting with families as good as yours and still ending up on the street. Or, and this happens all the time, they’re going to murder the family in the middle of the night then take all their worldly goods from them. I’m not going to allow this to continue. Every time I see a child like those two coming in my courtroom with a family, I’m going to stop it. It’s my duty to make sure that they stay in the rathole that they came from.”
“Rathole? Well, I guess it sucks to be you then.” She turned to the bailiff at the door and nodded her head. Turning back to the judge, she started forward again. “I’m afraid that I’m going to have to ask you to step down, sir. You’re not fit to be dealing with anything, especially the adoption of children. I have an order here from the law board that states that I have jurisdiction in this courtroom. Some of the things you’ve been saying are not within the boundaries of your job.”
“Who the hell do you think you are, coming into my courtroom and saying these things to me? You’re not going to do a damned thing to me.” He picked up his gavel and slammed it down hard several times on his desk. Dylan laid some paperwork in his dais. “You think to bring me down because you don’t agree with my methods? Let me show you how I feel about your fucking paperwork.”
Dad started to clear the others out. But when the judge pulled up his robe, Dad and the rest of them paused as they were leaving. Judge Holloway was naked beneath it. Pulling out his penis, he began to piss all over his dais and the files and paperwork there.
“Do you see this? This will let you know that I’m in charge here.”
When he reached under his dais, he started waving a gun around. A shot was fired from the back of the courtroom. The gun in the judge’s hand went off as he was falling backward. Evan ran to see to the judge when Blake realized that he was in pain.
“Ivy, come here quick.” He saw his dad’s face in front of him, but Blake was having a hard time saying anything. His dad told him to hush up. “That fucker shot my boy. Help him. I beg of you.”
“Dad? What will Mom say?” There were more voices around him. He was sure that he wasn’t going to die. He was, after all, an immortal. But everything going on seemed to tell him otherwise. Blake looked at the face in front of him but had no idea who it was. “I don’t want to die. I just got sons.”
“You’re not going to die; do you hear me, Blake Anderson Whitfield? I will beat your bottom if you do.” Blake struggled to tell his mom that Dad had cursed. “I heard him. And I think that’s a good name for that man who did this to you. Why, if I had a gun, I’d go up there and shoot his wiener off him, then make him eat it.”
“Eve, it sort of loses its power when you don’t use the right terms.” Ivy, at least he thought it was her, laughed. “This is what you have to say to make it stick. If I had a gun, I’d shoot that fucker’s dick off and shove it up his fucking ass. See? Doesn’t that make you know that I’m serious when I say that?”
“Ivy, honey, please don’t teach Eve how to curse.” Dylan this time as Blake was fuzzing out. “She’s so much more fun when she doesn’t use the right words. She can still make her—”
Whatever was said next, he didn’t hear it. Blackness seemed to have swallowed him up, and that was all there was to it.
Chapter 2
“You’re very pretty.” Shadow thanked her mom and asked her if she knew who she was. “I don’t know. A pretty girl that comes to sit with me every day. Don’t you think this is a pretty room? Is it yours?”
“No. It’s the Whitfield’s home. Do you remember me telling you about them? You saved the little girl Beatrice. Remember that, Mom?” Mom picked up the stuffed bear that she seemed to never be without now. “Her mommy gave you that when you saved her. Remember?”
Shadow didn’t know why she was feeling so lost today. She really wanted her mom to look at her and tell her that she knew who she was and what she was doing there. It was a lost cause; she knew that. For the few days that they’d been here, all her mom had talked about was how pretty the room was and that her feet hurt.
Thinking about the marks on her mom’s legs and arms, she knew that it had been her uncle that caused them. Somehow, he’d gotten Mom to go with him, and he’d taken her from them. They didn’t know where he would have hidden his sister, but as sure as she was sitting there, Shadow knew that it had been Thomas. The door opening had her standing up to protect her mom.
“I’m here to help you out with your mom.” Shadow told the woman, one she’d not met before, that she had it. “I’m sure you do. You’re very good with her. But my name is Sunny. Everyone just calls me Sunny. Anyway, I don’t know if you’ve heard about me, but I can touch things and know something about it.”
“Yes, I think Evan or one of the others told me you could do that. I’m sorry, but I don’t know what sort of help you can give my mom when she can’t remember herself. I’d rather just leave her alone. All right?” Sunny sat in the chair and smiled at her. “I’m not in the best of humor today, and I don’t want to shit on the wonderful hospitality that we’ve had here. But I’ve said no. I mean it.”
“I won’t bother her at all. In fact, I already know who took her, where she was being held, as well as how she got there. If you want to know what I do, then you’re going to have to take that chip off your shoulder before someone flips it off. Or they hurt you. Now, as I was saying, I’m here to help you. Shut up and sit down right now.” Shadow did sit, but she wasn’t happy about it. “Thank you. First things first. Mr. Green would like to speak to you as soon as you are able to get away. I don’t know him, so if I were you, I’d take someone with me when you speak to him—if you want to speak to him, that is. Next, my brother-in-law was shot this morning, and the rest of the family are at the hospital. He’ll be fine, but he’s a good man, and I hate that it happened to him. Third. Your uncle took your mom out of the yard by shooting her with an animal sedative. I didn’t know what the drug was until I told Evan, and he told me what it was. He said that your mom is lucky that he didn’t miscalculate the dose that he gave her. It wasn’t for cats as in the domestic kind, but for big cats like we are.”
“How did you know this? I mean, you never touched her, did you?” Instead of answering her, Sunny pulled out some tape and rope that she’d not seen before. “Where did you find this?”
“Evan treated your mom when she came here. Her feet were badly cut and bruised. After touching the bloody water that he cleaned her wounds with, I saw where she’d been held. The ropes were there, and the spots of blood that were on the other pieces that were found have been sent to the lab for DNA testing. I believe your mom got in a few rounds of her own when Thomas tied her up. His blood is there as well.” Shadow sat down on the bed and looked at her mom. “You’ve met Dylan. She’s making sure that the crime scene is taken care of and that all evidence is being cataloged and filed. She’ll make sure Thomas is in a jail cell soon. May I ask you why he’d want her disposed of? His thoughts, not mine.”
“He has it in his head that he’s going to run for the presidency. I have no idea why he thinks he can win, but he’s got a real hard on about not allowing Mom to be seen out and about because he thinks she’ll hurt his chances. The last time I spoke to him, he said he was going to have Grannie put in a nursing home.” Sunny laughed. “Yes, well, he only said it. I doubt Grannie would go along with it any better than I would have. I think he killed my husband too.”
“He did.” Shadow didn’t s
ay anything more. It hurt her deeply that what she’d thought all along was true. “You believe me.”
“Yes. And I want to apologize for treating you...well, all of you, as I have. You’ve no idea the amount of stress I’m under. I just found out an hour ago that I lost my job, too. I don’t know what I’m going to do now.” Sunny asked her why she’d not spoken to Mr. Green. “I don’t know. I guess...no, that’s not right. I have a feeling that he’s going to tell me what the other guy told me about my hobby I have at home. That I shouldn’t quit my day job. That I’m better off leaving this kind of work to the professionals. Something like that anyway. I’ve been down this road before.”
“I see. However, I don’t think that a person would wait around for three days to talk to you if he were going to insult your work. The man asks several times a day if you’re ready to speak to him. Again, I doubt very much he’d be this excited just to tell you to find yourself another line of work.” Shadow asked her if she was serious. “I am. And while you’re meeting people, I’d like for you to meet my brother-in-law Blake. He’s the one that was shot this morning.”
“Why?” Shadow didn’t wait for her to answer but clicked off reasons she thought Sunny might want her to meet the man. “Is it because you heard from Thomas about me being a stiff bitch? No, you don’t seem to like him any better than I do. Could it be that you’re setting us up? Don’t do that. As I said, I have enough shit going on right now that I’m dealing with.”
“No, I’m not going to set you up with him. I want to see if he’s your mate.” Shadow was glad that she was sitting down when Sunny answered her. “I take it from the look on your face you’re not too keen on having a mate. I can’t tell you how wrong your perception is, because I don’t know what it is. But of all the Whitfields in this family, Blake is the most dependable, nicest, as well as the most quiet one of them all.”
“And that’s supposed to make him more of a match for me? My husband Cole was a quiet man. He was smart and dependable. A sweetheart to all that knew him outside of our home. But he was a whiney jerk most of the time who was so controlling about where things were placed, how they were placed, and why they were moved beyond where he wanted them that he drove me insane until I just got to the point that I worked a great deal of overtime to get away.” Shadow wiped at her tears. “I loved him, don’t get me wrong. When things were in their proper place, he was fun and loveable. But once things were not as he wanted them, he would obsess over their placement for days and days. It wasn’t that I wished him killed. Never that. But I had been on the verge of divorcing him. I’m sorry.”
“For what? Being human? No, never apologize for that. You are a wonderful person, and it drove you crazy. I think it would have me too. As far as I know, the only weird thing that Blake does is snort when he laughs. Come to think of it, I’ve not heard him laugh for a while, so he might have stopped that too.” Shadow asked her why he didn’t laugh much before she could think it was none of her business. “I don’t know, actually. He really is a loner. I know that he works hard on the ranch. Or he did. I think they’ve sold off all the big boy toys that they use, and have sold off all but a couple of horses. He’s a real plant person. There are plants and flowers all over his home. I think the last time I spoke to him, he was figuring out a greenhouse for the back yard.”
“Sunny, I don’t want another man in my life. I have things to take care of now that I’m not doing well at juggling.” Sunny stood up then hugged her. “You’ll be sending him in here to meet me soon, won’t you?”
“Nah, I’d never be that sneaky. I’m more of an open the door and shove him in sort of person. So with saying that, Blake is staying here with Evan so he can keep an eye on him while he recuperates. He has two adopted sons that are here, as well. If I were you, I’d meet them first. That way, you can run off if you don’t care for them.” Sunny went to the door. “I don’t foresee that happening, just so you know. They’re good kids. And Blake loves them very much.”
When she was left alone with her mom again, Shadow watched her sleep. The pink bear that she’d been given was snuggled up under her chin, and Mom was sleeping like a baby. She’d meant to ask about the little girl and why her mom had had to save her, but she figured that it was safer for her to stay up here. At least until she could take her mom home again.
When dinner was called, the little phone in the room making a tinkling sound that she’d heard before, it woke up her mom. Smiling at her, Shadow felt the world lift from her shoulders when her mom touched her face and called her by her name.
“You’ve grown up so beautifully, Shadow. I’m so glad that you take such good care of me.” Shadow cried, and her mom pouted her lips at her. “Don’t cry, honey. Please. I know who you are right now, but I don’t want to make you cry.”
“I’m just so happy that you’re here with me.” Mom looked around and frowned, and just like that, Mom was gone again. “Are you hungry? I am. We might as well go down before someone brings us up a tray.”
“Am I supposed to be here?” Shadow said that she was and stood up. “I’m hungry too. Do you think I can see a baby today? I so want to be a mommy someday.”
Instead of telling her that she had been the best mom ever, they got dressed up into better clothing and made their way down the stairs. Before she was at the bottom, however, her mom heard a baby and took off in that direction. Hoping for just a moment of peace, she made her way to the living room. There was a man on the couch staring at her.
“Hello. I’m probably the only Whitfield you’ve not met. I’m Blake.” She nodded and started to back out of the room. “Please don’t leave me. I’ve been sitting in here for a couple of hours with orders not to move but to rest. I don’t know how they expect me to do that when all the fun is in the kitchen.”
“They said you were a loner and didn’t talk much.” She didn’t move but didn’t leave either. When he smiled at her, she let her temper show. “I’m not easy. Nor am I going to take any bullshit from you or anyone else in this house. I’m here because my mom was hurt, and nothing more.”
“All right. Would you like to sit down?” He indicated the couch across from him, and she went there. There was still the smell of pine in the room, and she wondered if it was a candle or they’d had a real tree. “I was shot this morning. That’s why I was resting. I think I’m glad you didn’t coddle me when you came in.”
Her face heated up in embarrassment. “I’m sorry. No less than five people have asked me to come and meet you to see if you’re my mate or not. I was married before, and I’ve no plans to do that again. I didn’t mean to take it out on you.” He just looked at the television for a moment before looking at her again. “Aren’t you going to say anything?”
“I’m actually not sure what to do. You’ve been snipping and snapping since you found me in here. In the event you didn’t see it, I didn’t hunt you down. I was in here well before you came down. Also, I’m afraid to say anything to you about the mate thing.” She tried not to snap again and asked him how he was to know if she was or not. “I know now.”
She waited for him to say more, but when he didn’t, she got up to stand in front of him. Shadow wasn’t sure what her plan had been before going to him, but when Blake stood up, she started to back up. Before she fell back on the blanket that had been on him, he caught her.
~*~
Blake knew that she was his mate. He’d known the moment that he’d met Grannie. She’d smelled so wonderful to him that he’d thought it was her. But then she told him about her granddaughter.
He hadn’t been sure what her feelings on the situation would be, but almost as soon as she came into the room being a royal bitch, he knew. Blake also knew that she’d been married before, that the marriage had been less than perfect, and that her husband had been killed by her uncle. Thomas had a lot to answer for, it seemed.
“I’m going to let you go. Please be careful,
or you will fall. All right?” He could see the confusion on her face and felt sorry for her. She’d had a lot of blows to her mind the last few days. When he let her go, she took a step back from him. Blake was all right with that. For now. “Bryant Green is coming toward us. If you’d not like to speak to him, tell me, and I can turn him away.”
“He has some news on my work.” When she moved to the other couch again, he sat down. Blake pulled the blanket back up over his lap to hide his erection. Christ, he’d only touched her and wanted her badly enough to take her with his family just in the other room. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me today. I think I slept badly.”
Bryant came into the living room and smiled at them both. When he sat down next to Shadow, he felt a low growl come up from the bottom of his feet. For some reason, even after the man moved, his cat was not happy with him.
“I’ll just sit here in the chair.” Shadow told him that he’d sit right next to her. “No, I don’t think that’s a good idea. If he doesn’t kill me, the rest of them will. Tigers are extremely possessive. I’d like to speak to you, but not at the risk of being mauled to death.”
“You said that we weren’t mates.” Blake told her that he’d never said that. “Well, you implied it, and that’s the same thing to me.”
Blake: The Whitfield Rancher – Tiger Shapeshifter Romance Page 2
