Harman Griffin had had a bit of bad luck. Calling out a group of disgruntled women had him in the hospital recovering from a bash to the head. If he hadn’t been immortal, he wouldn’t have survived the ordeal.
He had gotten to know Carrie and Katie Donahue, cousins, while in the hospital. He had a feeling that one of them was his mate, but he wasn’t sure. Normally, her scent would be a dead giveaway, but Harman was born unable to smell or taste anything. There had to be some way to figure it out….
Edwin Griffin was looking forward to his retirement from the Army. But it seemed his superiors were having trouble letting go. As a wolf shifter and an immortal, Edwin’s senses were keen. He had no intention of “keeping in touch” or to continue working for them, for that matter. Something about them felt off, and Edwin had no intention of being a pawn in whatever scheme they were plotting. Storm was very protective of her sister, Rain. Their parents had somehow found them, and Rain was vulnerable to their influence. The sisters both possessed magical talents that were growing stronger daily. When Charlie Griffin offered to help, Storm jumped at the chance to protect her sister. Edwin was a bit surprised to find the feisty woman Storm to be his mate. She had a hard time with trust, but Edwin was determined to work on that, but he had his own issues to resolve. Although retired from the military as well, Storm would still take on an occasional assignment. But when the assignment from her superiors was to do something about her mate. Well, things just got a bit more personal….
Tony couldn’t believe what he was seeing on the security monitor. A woman and her kid were living in the alleyway next to his office, and they were in trouble. A man snuck up on her and snatched the kid. He had to do something….
Jana Cantrell wasn’t taking the news too well. She would have been dead and her son in the clutches of that maniac if it hadn’t been for her being Tony’s mate, and she was now immortal. She didn’t trust men. She had just escaped from the imprisonment of the maniac who had nearly killed her. No way in hell would she be enslaved by another….
Garfield watched the unconscious pretty woman thrashing on the bed. He had already determined that the woman, Sable, wasn’t his mate, but he couldn’t take his eyes off her. When he grabbed her hand to keep her from hurting herself, his entire body seemed to be touched by an electrical wire. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t let go.
Just before Garfield passed out, he realized that not only was Sable his mate, but she was transferring an enormous amount of power to him….
Paige Dresher didn’t trust men. She had three little girls to raise, and life had been hard. The deadbeat who had fathered the girls denied his involvement, leaving Paige and the girls to make it on their own. It didn’t help that the only place Paige could afford was a dump, and her girls deserved better than that. They all did. When the landlord shot Paige and one of her daughters, she thought it was the end.
Jeffery Griffin knew about the new arrivals. He just wanted to come over and welcome them to the family when he found a strange man who smelled like the little girls roaming in the woods, spying on the little family. Jeffery shifted to his wolf and went to warn the little girl’s mother. When his wolf knocked Paige to the ground, he was surprised and happy to discover she was his mate. Paige, on the other hand, wasn’t the least bit happy at his revelation. She wasn’t happy at all….
Newsletter winner Is Elizabeth Bardorf Signed Paperback Pauline Westberry Singed Paperback
Your package will be mailed out the Week of May 6th, 2024
Debbie Hudson Prize Pack Julie Ann Swaney Signed Paperback Debbie Whitley Signed Paperback Julie Bystedt Signed Paperback Joyce Mirabello Signed Paperback Buffy Bourne Signed Paperback Brenda Lukas-Jone Signed Paperback Terri Bellville Signed Paperback Shirley Coursey Signed Paperback Heather Angalet Signed Paperback Trista Wagner Prize Pack Hena Rahman Signed Paperback Kristin Peterson Signed Paperback Nicole Morgan Prize Pack Elizabeth Bardorf Signed Paperback Pauline Westberry Singed Paperback
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Georgeanne Rogers was a former addict. She hadn’t touched anything in over six years, but to hear her boss talk, she could barely function. Sometimes, she just needed someone to talk her down…
Ivy had mentioned George to Lance. To be honest, he had thought George was a guy because of the name, but when he got a look at her, he realized she was one of the most beautiful women he’d ever seen. And when he opened the truck door and caught her scent, he was one happy lion…
George wasn’t so sure. Feed her first. She would think later…
Denver Tucker just wants a new start for his family, so he contacts the king of his kind, Ronan Foster and his wife, Brook, of Foster’s Pride, for help. The Fosters are more than happy to help the Tucker family to get a fresh start in California.
Bailee Sims is having a rough time. Her former bosses in the US government won’t take ‘no’ for an answer when she refuses to continue working for them. They have made it their mission to make sure she’s lost her house and her car and made sure that no business will hire her, either. It is that situation that puts her in a long line on opening day for the Foster/Tucker Foundation to open its doors.
When the man behind Bailee in line whips out a gun to fire on Denver as he’s opening the door to the Foundation, Bailee can’t react fast enough before the gun fires, but she takes the man down before anyone else is hurt, but she is gravely injured too in the process.
Denver just wants to thank the pretty woman for saving his life, but she’s in no mood to talk, and when she finds out that Parker made her immortal to save her life, she is more pissed than ever. She has no home, no food, and no job. Living an eternity like that is nothing to look forward to.
Your package will be mailed out Week of April 22 nd, 2024
Debbie Hudson Prize Pack Julie Ann Swaney Signed Paperback Debbie Whitley Signed Paperback Julie Bystedt Signed Paperback Joyce Mirabello Signed Paperback Buffy Bourne Signed Paperback Brenda Lukas-Jone Signed Paperback Terri Bellville Signed Paperback Shirley Coursey Signed Paperback Heather Angalet Signed Paperback Trista Wagner Prize Pack Hena Rahman Signed Paperback Kristin Peterson Signed Paperback Nicole Morgan Prize Pack
If you are a winner and have not gotten your prize yet, please contact my PA Denise at denisek0319@gmail.com
Barron Cross thought he’d found his mate in Caitlynn. She had come into his life when he was at a low point, and they seemed to click. But lately, he just wasn’t sure. Something about her was—off. Little things started to show up in her mannerisms and personality that was bringing out a true monster. She had to go.
Willow was raised by an Indian tribe in the mountains Barron called home. When Willow rescued Barron from a bear trap that would have maimed him for his entire immortal life, he realized this beautiful woman was his mate, and he couldn’t be happier.
Caitlynn just thought Barron was having a bad day. He couldn’t possibly mean all the nasty things he said to her. They were to be married, after all…
Jamie Kemp was good at her job. Working for the FBI in search and rescue as a dog trainer and handler was fulfilling work. Never laying down many roots, Jamie was ready to head out on assignment with her dogs at a moment’s notice.
Mark Cross and his family had lived in the Smoky Mountains for ten generations, and he loved the land, but of late, he was feeling rather lonely. Mark and his entire family were bears, black bears that blended into the wooded areas better than any wild ones in the park.
Jamie and her dogs were called in to find a missing woman. Instead, Jamie found herself in the crosshairs of a serial killer. Mark showed her pictures of the women this maniac had killed, and she could be their twin. And to complicate things more, Mark was her mate….
Sunny Meadows wasn’t a people person. She had anger management issues, and most of the time, she didn’t even like herself. Working as a government agent, Sunny found herself in the Smoky Mountains tracking down a serial killer. A run-in with a park guest landed Sunny in the hospital and off the killer’s trail.
Dexter Cross and his family were black bears and lived in the Smoky Mountains, where he worked as a ranger for the park where they lived. He was to deliver a gun and a badge to the injured agent. He’d been told she was caustic, but he wasn’t prepared for her being his mate too.
When the killer discovered that Sunny was injured. She was making a move to end Sunny’s life, and anyone else’s that got in her way. Will Dexter and his family be able to protect her?
Amelia wasn’t too happy with her mother, the grand witch when she told her she had a mate out there, and if she didn’t act fast, the man would die before she could claim him. Amelia was fine with her life just the way it was. Men tended to mess things up. Before she could argue her case, her mother tricked her into taking her powers, making Amilia the new grand witch.
Frazier Cross, along with younger brother Ewing, was giving a tour of one of the park’s caves when chaos erupted. The walls and ceiling were caving in on them. There was nothing he could do. They were all going to die….
Maddy was on the run. She was a single mother raising a set of beautiful triplets—very gifted triplets. Her brother wanted the kids for their talents and would kill her to get them.
Gibb Cross fell in love with the kids even before he met their mother. He wanted to love her, too, but Maddy was having none of it. It took a lot to make Gibb angry, but Maddy seemed to know which buttons to push….
Newsletter winners are Hena Rahman Signed Paperback Kristin Peterson Signed Paperback
Your packages will be mailed out Week of April 1st, 2024
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If you are a winner and have not gotten your prize yet, please contact my PA Denise at
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Happy Reading,
Caitlynn filed the paperwork in the file and put it behind her on the credenza with the rest of the work she’d been catching up on. Looking up, she was startled to see that Barron was sitting across from her. Smiling, she asked him if he’d gotten things squared away already. “I did. For the most part, anyway. I have an order in for goats and pigs to be delivered to the farm in a few days after we return.” She corrected him, saying if they returned.
“They’ll come by rail car and then be delivered to the farm in semi-trucks. I’m about as excited to have them as I am to have new stock coming in. This way, I can play around with the different kinds of goat milk that I’ll get from them.” She asked him if it was a huge difference, letting him ignore the fact that they had talked about returning or not. “I don’t know if it’ll be huge, but it will be different than just the Boer goats that I have now. And you don’t really care.”
“I do. I promise you. I was just thinking about the fact that you’re excited about goats like I am about advertising a new product. It suits you to be this happy. Everything about us being here seems to make you happy. Don’t you think?” He thanked her. “Did you have any luck finding yourself some sheep? I know that was on your list while we were here in town.”She and Barron had started talking to each other three weeks ago. A very long phone conversation that had them both knowing, just by that, that they were meant to be together. He told her how she was his partner, his friend, and she couldn’t have been happier if he’d asked her right then to marry him.
Caitlynn knew that if he ever did, she wouldn’t hesitate to say yes. He meant that much to her. She’d spoken to him on the phone when one of her ex-employees had come to talk to him. Really, he’d been manhandling him about letting her company buy his cheese and sausages company that he made to sell in their local shop. Since he’d made it very clear to Denver Longshot that he had no desire to sell his company, she’d never once asked him—for that matter, thought about asking him to allow her to buy him out.
Caitlynn could and would have if he wanted, but she thought that it wouldn’t be as good as the good hometown charm that he put into everything that he made. So long I could figure out how to put it in it without actually being there. Every time he spoke of the goats and his other animals, she could see how much passion he had for them. His love for them and the things that they gave him were something special. And his joy in making what he did with their product was something so refreshing that she couldn’t help but be excited when he was. Also? Well, she could wait for that passion to lessen, and then he’d be all hers. The milkers—his cows and lambs, he had named each and every one of them as soon as they were purchased or born on the mountain.
She really enjoyed his mannerisms of being a compassionate man and a good man to be around. “Several of the farmers said that sheep are just curly goats. I’m not sure that’s right, but I did find out that I’d be better off with llamas than sheep. They need a great deal of room to roam, and while I have that, he also said that they can be slightly aggressive toward other animals. The fencing needs to be better than I have already for the cows. Which is going to be work. I’m thinking keeping the bears out with them will be a big chore when they smell them.” He got him a cup of water from the water dispenser. Never bottled, she noticed. Maybe he didn’t care for the plastic taste. When he was finished with his drink, he tossed the paper cup into the recycling bin marked paper.
Saul Tate was just ready to get home and rest. This trip had zapped all his energy, and he just wanted to crawl into his bed and sleep for a year. He was a shifter and never got sick, but he hurt all over. Was this what it felt like to get the flu? If it was, it sucked.
Saul woke to the sweetest little girl, Lynn, sitting next to his bed in the hospital, staring at him. It didn’t take him long to realize that her mother, Chalina, was his mate. He had found his mate, and he now had a daughter. Saul couldn’t be happier.
That happiness, though, was short-lived. Lynn was doing a complete 180. The sweet little girl was gone, and in her place was a rude, selfish, and vengeful nine-year-old not only fighting with him but putting her mother through hell. Saul was at his wit’s end….
Caitlynne’s job was difficult. Doing what she did for the government not only put herself at risk, but any friends or family she had could become a target. When her sister was hurt, she blamed herself even though it had nothing to do with her directly. It didn’t matter. It was time for her to quit before someone she cared about ended up dead.
Joel Tate had been in the building to meet with Becca Jacobson when she was attacked. To save her, Joel had to change her into what he was, a wolf. More or less guarding her in the hospital, Joel met her sister, Caitlynne, when she was brought to the hospital to see her sister. As soon as Caitlynne was close enough to him to get her scent, he knew she was his mate.
Caitlynne’s disappearing act from her job started things rolling. Her boss wasn’t taking I quit as an answer. When they tried to kill her by setting her apartment on fire, Joel thought it was time to take the situation into his own hands….
Cody Martin was a good attorney. Never appreciated at her job, she still never wavered in her loyalty. And when she was suddenly fired for no reason, she found it would be the perfect opportunity to start a business with her brother Matt.
Layton Tate was also an attorney, but he and his brother Loren were bogged down with cases and needed to hire a new firm to help with their caseload. Cody would make a good candidate as her stellar reputation preceded her. He reached out to shake Cody’s hand. The blast sent them both reeling to opposite sides of the room and shocking the family. Layton and his wolf both knew what that meant.
Cody wasn’t stupid, she knew what Layton was to her too, but she had to make sure the ground rules were straight before she’d have anything to do with him. No one would be pushing her around, mate or no mate….
Shade Cornwall did her best to help her mother and siblings escape that maniac known as her father, but she’d never acknowledge that. Their run ended abruptly when he tossed a Molotov cocktail into their moving vehicle. Her mother was burning, and it was all she could do to help save her and her siblings from the burning vehicle. As it ended up, her mother’s prognosis for survival didn’t look too good. Cliff Tate had just returned from a long stint out of the country. It felt good to be home. He didn’t hesitate to take in the kids from the burning vehicle while the driver and their mother were rushed to the hospital. Shade had no trust in men. Her father had seen to that. Cliff seemed to be a good man, but she’d had enough of men to last her a lifetime….
Loren Tate sought solace in his greenhouse, pondering what to plant next. But he found more than inspiration there — he found his mate, Hanna, gravely injured and on the run. Aurora revealed that Hanna was not only Loren’s destined partner but the magical Queen of all Shifters. With Loren as her newfound King, Hanna had the power to defeat her murderous father, who hunted her. But first, Loren had to help Hanna recover, and together they had to embrace their supernatural birthright if there was any hope of stopping a vicious war for power. Now Loren and Hanna must stand united against the darkness — or risk losing their love and lives forever.
Newsletter winner prize pack is Terri Bellville Signed Paperback Shirley Coursey Signed Paperback Heather Angalet Signed Paperback
Your packages will be mailed out Week of March 4th, 2024
Debbie Hudson Prize Pack Julie Ann Swaney Signed Paperback Debbie Whitley Signed Paperback Julie Bystedt Signed Paperback Joyce Mirabello Signed Paperback Buffy Bourne Signed Paperback Brenda Lukas-Jone Signed Paperback Terri Bellville Signed Paperback Shirley Coursey Signed Paperback Heather Angalet Signed Paperback
If you are a winner and have not gotten your prize yet, please contact my PA Denise at
Barton Strong thought seeing Tessa would be a good distraction. Boy, was he wrong. The woman was a slob, and all they did was fight. She had to go, and Barton was swearing off women. He was happier with his own company.
Toria Davies lost her husband to cancer after only sixteen months of marriage. Her son, Sherman, was all she had left of that relationship, and the young boy had been through a lot. Kidnapped at four, he had a fear of all men who weren’t immediate family.
The senior Barkley Strong wanted Toria to merge their finance companies. It could be a win-win situation for both. But when a disgruntled customer threatened her mother and upset her son, Barton stepped in and calmed the boy. Shermie went straight to him. She didn’t like Barton, but her son did. Now, what was she going to do?
Jade Anderson would miss the restaurant where she had worked her way through school. The closing was bittersweet, but she was happy that Ms. B was getting to retire. It wasn’t the money. She had more lucrative endeavors than waiting on the tables. It was the regulars that came in she’d miss the most. Especially the elderly Strong couple that used to come in all the time before they passed away.
Jenson Strong was told to invite the pretty waitress to a get-together for his deceased grandmother, but instead, he insulted her for being a waitress and said that she better dress appropriately for the event too.
When Jade tried to politely decline the invitation, Jenson wouldn’t take no for an answer and pushed her back down in her chair. Jade didn’t just punch him in the face but knocked him back on his ass. There was going to be hell to pay.
When Clay Strong was admitted into the hospital for emergency surgery, he first thought it was the worst thing to ever happen to him until he laid eyes on his OR nurse Lizzie. He could only see her eyes but knew he wanted to see more of her. She laughed and told him it was the medicine talking, but Clay knew better.
Clay had been working with Jade in a complex job for NASA for the past five years, developing intricate equipment for them, and a new position was opening. Clay was a shoo-in for the job, or so he was led to believe. But when the idiot told him his girlfriend’s “pedigree” didn’t meet their standards, Clay was livid, and so was Jade. Heads would roll for this….
Barkley Strong had had a rough day. He was starving, so he stopped at the mall for a quick lunch. Normally, he would stay out of other people’s business, but when he heard two women shouting at each other, he was worried for the two children in the strollers next to the fighting women. When the sound of a gunshot rang out, he knew he had to do something….
Carrie Boone hadn’t seen her sister Mattie in over fifteen years. She nor the rest of her family didn’t want anything to do with her. Mattie wasn’t a good person. But when Barkley Strong called her to tell her that her sister was dead, killed by her own mother-in-law, and her sister’s twin girls were in protective custody, Carrie wasn’t sure how she felt about that. She had already written Mattie out of her life. She didn’t want to care. But when she received a threatening phone call warning her to stay away from her sister’s babies, she knew something wasn’t right. She would get to the bottom of this….
Newsletter winner prize pack is Joyce Mirabello Signed Paperback Buffy Bourne Signed Paperback Brenda Lukas-Jone Signed Paperback
Your packages will be mailed out Week of Feb 12th, 2024
Debbie Hudson Prize Pack Julie Ann Swaney Signed Paperback Debbie Whitley Signed Paperback Julie Bystedt Signed Paperback Joyce Mirabello Signed Paperback Buffy Bourne Signed Paperback Brenda Lukas-Jone Signed Paperback
If you are a winner and have not gotten your prize yet, please contact my PA Denise at
Fowler had no desire to take over as king of the dragons, at least not yet, anyway. His grandmother, the former queen, was pressuring him into taking a mate. He didn’t need a mate, and that was that.
Amy hated rich people with a passion. If she wasn’t forced into going into this lunch meeting with the Walshs, she wouldn’t. And she certainly wasn’t going to be forced into eating a hamburger she didn’t order by some handsome, arrogant prick. Enough was enough; she was out of there, and when he grabbed her arm, all bets were off…
Newsletter winner prize pack is Julie Ann Swaney Signed Paperback Debbie Whitley Signed Paperback Julie Bystedt Signed Paperback
Your packages will be mailed out Week of Jan 29th, 2024
Debbie Hudson Prize Pack Julie Ann Swaney Signed Paperback Debbie Whitley Signed Paperback Julie Bystedt Signed Paperback
If you are a winner and have not gotten your prize yet, please contact my PA Denise at
denisek0319@gmail.com
Happy Reading,
The Gathering Storm The Peace of Being Without War Evenness of mind, temper, and composure Created by imagination, invention, and design storm walked around the little store listening to the gossip about one of the biggest disasters ever recorded—at least how these people were now witnessing it. She shook her head in amazement. How could humans be so insensitive? Not to mention stupid. That was one of the million and one reasons that she didn’t hang out with humans, too. The rumor mill was running full blast, it seemed today.
“They say that thousands of those bastards are dead. Whole place just split the roads and ate’em right up. Can’t you just imagine what they were thinking when they were being swallowed up like that? I can’t, I tell you what.” “Heard tell that them their houses just toppled over like the kid’s blocks. Smashing people while they slept in their beds.” The man speaking shook his head. “Mercy sakes alive. It sure did a nasty bit of business over there on that street.” “God is taking some sort of vengeance on them their foreigners. Sure as I’m a ‘sitting here, it’s God doing them people in.” She actually had to physically close her own mouth when the person made that statement. “They should have stayed in their own place, not here where we people are.”
Wondering what they’d say about her and her sister if they knew what they really were made her smile. She wasn’t going to speculate on it too much, but they’d have plenty to say. There was no doubt about that. Storm and her twin sister, Ember, were time adjusters for the world. They moved throughout time and made slight adjustments in the fabric of reality when and where it was needed, smoothing out the lines so that it looked untouched, perfect. They’d been doing it longer than any of the beings in this room had been alive. And they would continue to do so long after they were nothing more than dust in their graves.
To do their jobs, they and a great many others, like the two of them, would travel back and forth, sliding into whatever persona was needed to blend into the world they were in. It took great strength and lots of practice to even attempt what they did for the world. Sometimes, they were the only ones standing between the extinction of mankind and the world being populated at any given time. Storm caught a reflection of her face as she walked around the little odds and ends store. Tall, at just over six-foot, Storm was well-proportioned and athletic. Of course, no one would see that under her long dress and equally long sleeves. Her long dark hair, when not pulled into a tight bun at the back of her head as it was now, hung nearly to her waist in springy corkscrew ringlets.
Her skin, like her sister’s, was alabaster and smooth as velvet. The only mark that marred their skin was the tattoo of their kind. It was a dragon that curled around their back, clawed hands seemingly holding onto their shoulders while the tail trailed down their ribs and wrapped around their legs. Storm’s on her left leg, Ember’s to her right. Their wings spread and covered their arms from their shoulders to their wrists. Smiling at the men when they tipped their hats at her, she put her purchases on the counter and waited her turn to be waited on.
At the moment, Storm was in the year nineteen hundred and twenty-three in the body of a school teacher about to start “schooling” the area children in their reading, writing, and arithmetic. It was the closest body that fit her size when she popped into the time zone. The teacher would have no memories of her being Storm for a bit. There would be a slight accident, a small tumble that would alter her memories. Not that she’d remember Storm and what she had done, but the teacher would recover easily and never be the wiser of what she’d done for her world.
This time, working in this area, it had been a small fix. A mountain had come down on a family that was digging for clay and killed the youngest child. Storm had been tasked to save the child. Her future and that of a great many generations beyond her hadn’t been born when she’d been killed. Saving the family, simply making them go to the mountainside later than they had planned, had done the trick. Storm loved it when it was something like this had been. There were times when whole realities had to be altered. Generations needed to be moved ahead to save someone. Sometimes, it was to save a being or one of the descendants of a human who was needed in the future. Other times, it was to erase a horrific time in the lives of humans—mostly, it was natural disasters where many deaths occurred.
Humans, for the most part, would change up their entire lives, nothing to do with the ones that had been killed because they were witnesses to something so horrific that they had seen. Other times, the consequences of the disasters were too large and affected too many things when they rippled down through the ages and had to be removed. Something as simple as a house being crushed with their things inside. It could have been the witnessing of a family pet being killed. Any and all things that would alter everything, and it was up to them to repair the damage that had been done.
As Time Displacement Officers, they were there to insure that the shifts were smooth, with no overlapping lines after the time frame was removed or fixed. Storm would watch and event, something that she’d fixed a thousand times to make sure that things were normal. However, gifted humans or small children saw the flaws. It was easily explained as déjà vu. Or a dream, too. Storm was also there to capture another of their kind and bring him to justice. It was he who had moved the family to the mountain for the one to be killed. And he would have profited off the disaster had she not been there when it unfolded.
His name was Grail. He didn’t like being in this room. It wasn’t like the room wasn’t nice. It was, but when your benefactor summoned you, you did what you were told. Bowing before her when she entered the room—just to piss her off—he stood up when she told him to. “Do stop. Why must you be so annoying? Someday, you’ll be king, and I do hope that someone does the same to you.” He had been altering reality to suit his own personal gain and to profit for a while now, but no one could catch him. She was determined to find and make him pay before he could cause any more trouble. Altering a timeline too often would lead to sloppy work and time twitches that people would notice.
And that was something that she was afraid of more than anything that she’d encountered in the human world. Profit and notoriety from their jobs, both of which were laws that carried the sentence of death if broken, was what he had been doing today. Storm shuddered at the thought of the death he would endure when they took him back to Chilast, their magical realm. Death would not come easily or quickly for one like Grail. He had to know that. So why was he doing this when he knew it was only a matter of time before he was caught? They didn’t have the people to chase after him and keep the world and its people safe. As it was now, they were stretched to the limit. Working from sun up to sun down and all the between time too.
It had been so long since she’d had a day off that she wanted to just lie down, pull some leaves over her, and go to sleep for about a thousand years. Storm’s twin sister, Ember, had gone to Tokyo to study and gather names of their kind for the continuation of their race. So far, all she’d been able to find was the list of dead. All of the dragons that had come after her and a few others that had been killed. That wasn’t doing any of them a bit of good, and they all knew it. They were aging out, the lot of them, and there wasn’t anything that they could do about it.
It didn’t bother their kind when they would wind time backward. It was the moving of time forward that would harm them. Time, it would add, even if it was only a click of a second to their age. And having to look at something over and over, forward and back, it might well add as many as ten minutes onto their long lives. After a while and all those adding up, a dragon would age quicker, worn down by time and effort.
The wedding had been the most beautiful one that he’d ever been to. Marica, the newest Archer in the family, had been a lovely bride. And the way that she looked at his brother Sherman when they were walking around the reception area made him think that there couldn’t have been a couple more in love than the two of them. It sort of made him jealous when he saw them.
However, Darrel didn’t want the same thing for himself. Jealously was one thing. Having a wife and family wasn’t for him. Not now, anyway.
Caitlyn Snow wanted justice, not handouts. Her brother was brutally murdered four years ago, and his body came up missing the same day. Everyone knew her cousin Susan did it, but without a body, they couldn’t make the charges stick…
Merce was a go-getter. She ran a contracting company with her father, and when she saw something that needed to be done, she did it. Archer’s company had a new product that needed to be produced, and Merce knew her company was in a perfect position to fulfill that order. She just didn’t understand why they weren’t on the list for consideration. She’d see about that.
Del was exhausted. The banging on his front door in the middle of the night was beyond infuriating. He didn’t bother getting dressed to answer it. If whoever was at the door didn’t like it, then so be it. That’s what they get for being so rude.
In all his naked glory, Del threw open the front door. Merce didn’t skip a beat in getting right to the point of her visit. The sparks fly as two stubborn souls clash for the first time….
When Heather Grey received the phone call from Merce Archer that her brother was dead, she wasn’t surprised, but when her sister-in-law, Judy Grey, claimed to be pregnant with her brother’s child, Heather knew better than that. There was no way in hell that child was his. Heather decided right then and there that she’d go to the small town and set things straight.
Peter Archer was acting as the Archer family’s attorney. He was looking into the possibility that an employee of theirs, Judy Grey, had embezzled money from one of the business owner’s personal accounts.
When Heather stormed into their lives, bringing her mentally challenged aunt with her, demanding Judy be investigated for her brother’s death, Peter was captivated with her. And when Heather said they came as a package deal, Peter didn’t hesitate because, from the moment he kissed her, his life had changed forever.
Elizabeth Monroe moved from Chicago to a small town in Ohio to live with her grandda, Bingo. He owned the construction company updating Peter’s house. Elizabeth was helping out until she could take her medical boards to transfer her license to Ohio.
Robert Archer was bored with being an attorney and wanted to try his hand at construction. He had an eye for detail and wanted to help his brother, Peter, out. Robert was focusing so hard on the tile job that when Elizabeth suddenly spoke out of seemingly nowhere, he was startled and fell, hitting his head hard on the tub.
Elizabeth went immediately into doctor mode to save Robert. With his head bandaged and his eyes covered, Robert only knew her by the sound of her voice and her surly attitude. Surly or not, Robert was intrigued and falling quickly for the new doctor.
Nothing was going right for Tally. Her brother was threatening to sell his kid off again if she didn’t pay up. She was afraid he’d do it this time, too, if she didn’t come up with the money. Now, the neighbors were fighting again. When the gun next door went off, Tally took a bullet. William Archer was already in a bad mood. The woman had taken a bullet for him, then slammed the door in his face. He would help her, and that would be the end of it. The entire family had been trying to marry him off, and the last thing he wanted was a wife. He made no bones about it, either. Tally didn’t like him much, either. And when he implied that the situation with her brother and her nephew was her fault and she should have done more, she knocked him on his butt. Realizing too late that he might have been a little harsh, William scrambled to rectify the situation, but Tally wasn’t having any of it
Sherman Archer was feeling good about his trip to DC. A vacant seat had opened up as a sitting judge, and he’d been recommended for the job. He wasn’t sure that he wanted it, but he was looking forward to seeing what they had to offer.
FBI Agent Marcia Hammond was in charge of the nine candidates for the four vacant positions for sitting judges. She made a point to meet each candidate personally before the testing began. Sherman was the last man to arrive, and his familiarity with the President and Vice President didn’t sit well with her. He was infuriatingly handsome and—nice. In her line of business, men weren’t nice unless they had an agenda.
Sherman just couldn’t figure Marcia out, but he was enjoying pissing her off more than he should….
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The wedding had been the most beautiful one that he’d ever been to. Marica, the newest Archer in the family, had been a lovely bride. And the way that she looked at his brother Sherman when they were walking around the reception area made him think that there couldn’t have been a couple more in love than the two of them. It sort of made him jealous when he saw them. However, Darrel didn’t want the same thing for himself. Jealously was one thing. Having a wife and family wasn’t for him. Not now, anyway. He had his life on hold for what he had wanted to be his entire life. To be a doctor. The best? No, just a good doctor for everyone who needed him.
Seeing the kids gathering around one of the play areas, he made his way there. Two days ago, his nephew Clay had taken a tumble down the front stairs to their home because of the ice, and he’d broken his arm. Going to check on him was simple for Darrel. He loved the little guy. “What’s happening here?” Clay held up his cast for him to see. “So everyone is signing off on it for you, huh? Good for you.” He sat down when he was handed a marker. “When I was about twelve, I fell out of a tree and broke my arm. To be honest with you, I was more afraid of getting an X-ray than I was about hurting myself. I’d see those cartoons where something like that machine would light up your entire body and make you look dead.”
“Grandma Katie said that was when you decided to be a doctor. On account of it not hurting you at all.” He smiled at the memory and nodded at Clay. “She told us that you were really brave when you fell out of the tree, too. I cried when I fell. It hurt so bad.” “Because you fell down about five stairs on your arm before coming to a stop. Even then, with the ice all over the sidewalk, you hurt your knees and your face too, little buddy.” He had taken a big tumble and it had scared him with the bruising on his little noddle. “Do you listen to your dad now when he says to you be careful of the ice?” “Yeah, I sure do.” After signing his name on the cast, he stood up to move around the large room. The reception was going to go on for another hour or so, and he was going to grab himself some food for his hotel room later. “Uncle Darrel, are you looking for yourself a pretty wife, too? I think all the women in our family is about the most beautiful in the world.
Except for my little sisters. They’re cute too.” “I don’t know about finding me a wife, Clay. I work a great deal.” And that was the very reason that he did work all the time. Avoiding finding himself a wife. “I’m hard to like anyway. A woman would be crazy to love someone like me. A doctor on call all the time and having such terrible hours.” “I don’t think she’ll care if you love her bunches.” Smiling at the little man, he made his way to the bar to get himself a glass of ice-cold water. It was the best thing to drink in the world, he thought. When his phone went off, he stepped around the corner.
Rage. An uncontrollable and insatiable rage consumed Nash Sheppard. He was being a prick, and he didn’t care who he took his anger out on.
Sunny Nettles was barely earning enough at the small diner to keep the lights on, much less keep food on the table. And some prick comes waltzing into the diner, spouting orders to keep her mouth shut? She had had enough…
Nash didn’t bother buttoning his pants when he pulled them on. Leaning over, he reached for his shirt and didn’t bother with trying to make it look presentable either as he pulled it up and over his head. Standing, he made his way to his shoes and sat down on the only clean surface in the room. Christ had he had a look around before going to her bed, he might well have gone on home and jerked off. “Hey, big boy. Why don’t you come back to bed? I’ll make it worth your while to be late to work.”
He didn’t bother saying anything. His temper, always so close lately, had gotten him in trouble with more than one hooker of late. Not to mention his family. “Come on. We can make another go of it.” “No.” Standing after pulling on his shoes, he reached for the cash he had in his pocket. Tossing another fifty on the top of her nasty dresser, he decided it was well past time for him to get out of there. “You’re not too terribly friendly, are you?” Again, he didn’t answer. Sometimes, it was best to keep his mouth shut. Or so everyone in his family had been telling him lately. “Yeah, I can see you don’t even think of me as a person. Don’t bother coming back either.”
“All right.” As soon as he leaned over to pick up his coat, he felt something fly over his head. Looking at the naked woman in the bed, he glared at her. “You’re getting emotional on me? That’s why I go to your kind and not humans. Less said, no drama and certainly no feelings hurt because I want it done and over with.” “My kind? What the hell is that supposed to mean?” He told her shifter and hooker. “I’m not a hooker, you fuck. I’m a prostitute. Where do you get off calling me—get out of here before I call in Mason. He’ll show you the difference between my kind.”
He didn’t have any idea what the fuck that was supposed to mean, but he did get the last of his things and left. Nash was more than happy that he paid at the beginning of his night rather than at the end. It tended to be cheaper, and he didn’t have to linger around trying to figure out what she deemed to be a good price. Once he was out on the street, he made his way to downtown. It was nearly six in the morning, so he didn’t have to worry about too many people on the sidewalks. Even having someone touching him of late would send him into a rage that he couldn’t imagine someone living through if he were to unleash it.
Going by his apartment, he showered and then put on a suit. Might as well get himself to work before anyone else. He wouldn’t have to explain himself, nor would anyone bother him unless his door was open. Keeping it closed and locked had saved his family a lot of wars. All he’d been able to share with them was his anger and more anger. Nearly turning around and going back home when he saw who was in his office; his mom stood up and told him to have a seat. He could tell that she was in as bad a mood as he was, so he didn’t push her buttons by telling her that he didn’t want to talk to her today. Or any day, for that matter. “How many people do I have to pay off that you pissed off on the way in today, Nashville?”
He just sat at his desk and looked at her. “In the event you didn’t understand that. It was a question that I wanted an answer for. Who have you blistered with your temper this morning?” “Since I know for a fact that you are aware of when the staff comes in, then I’m not going to answer that since it’s just after seven. And unless you want to add yourself to that list you seem to be wanting to add to, then I want you to know that I’m in no mood to fool with anything you might have to say to me today.” He knew, just as soon as the words slipped from his lips, that he’d pissed off the one person in the world that wouldn’t have a bit of trouble taking him on. Verbally, of course, but there would be no fewer wounds than if it was one of his brothers. “What is it you want, Mother? I’m not in the mood for anything.”
“No, everyone that is around you can see that. Feel it, too. You and your brother have been peeling the skin off of every person who dares to come near you. Yesterday, I had to beg Archie’s secretary not to quit. Then, this morning, I had to handle a very personal call about you. Did you really call someone a hooker?” He wasn’t going to be embarrassed about his mom knowing about his sex life. If she didn’t want to know, then she should keep her nose out of his business. “Well?” “One, you knowing that I did that boggles my mind. Why would you even care that I’m fucking anyone, much less someone that I have to pay? Two. Where the hell do you get off coming in here and giving me grief because I got my rocks off?
When she stood up, so did he. He could see the anger in her eyes and hoped to Christ, she’d back off. “Go home, Mom. I’ve got a great deal of work—” The hand to his face hurt. Not the pain of it, though, that did sting, but the fact that he’d driven his mother to slapping him. When the other side of his face exploded in pain, he took a step back from her. His mother wasn’t a typical mother. Beautiful, she was tall, nearly as tall as he was at six feet four inches and slight. But she was a shifter, the same as he was, and she could, if she wanted, release as much of her cat as she deemed necessary. It appeared that she thought this was one of those times to release a great deal of her.
“I don’t know who you think you’re talking to, but if you ever use that tone or language with me again, I will end you, Nashville Peterson Sheppard. I won’t regret it nearly as much as you will when I stand over your bleeding throat and watch you die.” His cat, usually right out there ready to do battle, curled back and away from his mother. “If you think that I’m the least bit wary of doing it, then you just try me.” Stretching his neck, it popped. When he bent his head to do the other side of his neck, he heard the distinguishable sound of claws unsheathing. Taking another step back from his mom, he looked at her claws. Even with the light shade of pink nail polish she had on them, he knew them to be lethal. And that she was finished with fucking with him.
“This is me talking to you in a low, somewhat calm voice. Gather up what you need from this office and go home. Don’t you dare set foot across the threshold, or help me, I will do as I said to you. You’re not to be here, not even to call in, until I grant you access to this building. Do I make myself clear?” He said yes through clenched teeth. “This, whatever this is that you’re doing or feeling, myself and the rest of the staff here have had enough.” When she turned on her heel, it was on the tip of his tongue to speak again. He knew as well as he was standing there that it would not end well for himself, but Nash couldn’t stop himself. As his mother paused at the door, her claws still out where she could use them if necessary, she looked at him once again.
“I don’t know who you are anymore. None of you. For the last several months, more I think, it’s been a war between the six of you, and I’ve had enough. Don’t push me, Nashville. If you do, I swear with all that is holy that there will be no saving you. I’m finished with you.” When she left, closing the door quietly behind her, Nash stood there for several long minutes, trying his best to get his temper under control. There was nothing he could do. So, wiping his hand over the top of his desk, he roared along with the sound of breaking glass, computer equipment, and whatever else was atop his desk. His apartment wasn’t any place he wanted to be, either. After tossing what was left of his briefcase and laptop in the back seat of his truck, gunning the motor, he left the parking garage and drove. Nash didn’t care if he hit someone, got a ticket, or anything else happened on his way out of town, but lord help the person or persons that decided that they wanted to speak to him.
At noon, he pulled off the highway to get himself something to eat. He wouldn’t have bothered, but his head was slightly off, and his cat felt like he was chewing at his insides. Pulling into the first place, he saw that there weren’t that many cars in the lot. He got out and went inside. As soon as he was told to seat himself, Nash knew that he should have left and used one of the million-and-one drive-thru places rather than having a face-to-face with anyone right now. When he was handed a menu, Nash didn’t bother looking at the person but stretched his neck, popping it several times before glancing at the water-stained menu and handing it back to the person. “Don’t speak to me. Ever. Just bring me two number ones and a pitcher of water with a glass of ice. No talking. No questions.” He looked at his options. “Scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage, and hash browns.” The menu was snatched from his hand, and a few seconds later, a set of silverware wrapped in a paper napkin was slammed on the table in front of him.
The glass of ice was next. Several of the slippery chunks went slithering across the table when two large pitchers of water joined the glass. He might have found it funny, but he got what he wanted and didn’t care how the person’s feelings were crushed. Not bothering to look around, he sat at his booth and contemplated his mother’s threat. There was no doubt that she would do as she said. When their father had slapped her around one night, they found his body cut to ribbons in the field next to the baseball field where he and his brothers had played ball. There was no doubt that he had suffered and badly. His father had been a bastard all their lives. But that night, he’d not taken his temper out on them but their mother.
From the moment Amy found out her brother was running for the presidency of the United States, she moved out of the family home and changed her last name. She loved her brother, but she didn’t love the limelight. All she wanted was freedom. The freedom to live her life the way she wanted without being in the shadow of the Secret Service all the time. Taking pictures was her passion, and that’s what she would do, and no one would stand in her way.
Amy had taken a lot of great shots of the animals at the zoo, but if one more person asked her if she had permission to be there, she would scream. She just about had her camera in focus when another zoo employee approached her. He introduced himself as Dr. Dallas Dixon, and instead of being upset with her, he wanted her to take some pictures of a gorilla who had just given birth, but the baby wouldn’t live.
It didn’t take long for Amy to realize that Dallas was a shifter and silverback to his troop. “You’re the silverback. The leader to her. I don’t know how that works, but you’re a shifter. Gorilla shifter and leader. That’s why that other man said that you could order her to do—Christ, oh mighty. Oh fucking no.” She turned her entire body and looked at the man sitting not ten feet from her. “You are not telling me that you have it in your impossibly small mind that I’m whatever they call a silverback’s mate, are you? No. Don’t answer that. I don’t need to, nor do I want to know.”
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Amy kept an eye on her surrounds while taking pictures of the exhibit that she’d been assigned to work within. Arriving at six in the morning to get in the eleven shots at different locations throughout the zoo was going to be fun. But only if she was able to make people leave her alone.
So far, she’d been accosted, no other word for it, six times. Employees of the zoo telling her that she wasn’t allowed on the property, nor was she supposed to be taking pictures, much less standing atop the enclosure like she was doing right now. Looking to her right, she put up her hand to stop another man from coming to tell her she had to leave. “Stop right there. I have permission to be here. Yes, I do have the paperwork on me. But I’m not dragging it out so that you can question every signature on it. Yes, I’m going to stand right here until I’m finished. Again, I have permission to be here.” She looked at the primate in front of her before looking in the general direction of the man.
“You mess up my shot by trying to take me off this rooftop, and I will hurt you. I might be small in build, but I can and will defend myself and my job if you get all shitty with me.” “Are you Amy Fowler?” She said that she was. “I was sent to get you. Cuco had a baby about ten minutes ago, and the department would like you to take pictures of her and her mom.” She took the shot and turned her full attention to the man now. “She isn’t going to live long. The baby, I mean. Her name is Lucy, but we’ve known all along that she’s had a heart defect. Can you come and take some shots of her and her mom before Lucy passes?”
“Yes. Of course.” She left her tripod where it was when he told her that no one would bother it. “What kind of shots do you want? I’m assuming that Cuco knows Her baby is dying.” “I don’t know that Cuco is aware of her baby being as ill as she is, but she’s been told that she isn’t well,” Amy remembered that Cuco knew sign language, and that was more than likely how they’d communicated with her. Gathering up what she’d need, she followed the man to the building where the other primates were being held. “The other primates, especially the gorillas, are aware of her illness as well. It’s very solemn in the rooms we’re headed. I’m only telling you that so you don’t do something quickly toward the Cuco. You startle her or upset her, and the others will try to attack. To keep her safe.”
The second the door closed behind her, Amy could feel that the room was indeed solemn. None of the primates were talking or swinging on their equipment but keeping an eye on the cage that held Cuco. She walked up to the penned area where Cuco was sitting in the corner, holding her weak child. Her heart broke for the two of them. Setting up the camera, Amy pulled out her remote. She didn’t want to have to keep adjusting the settings, so she used her phone attached to the expensive camera to take its cues from her phone and the remote that she had rigged up to talk together. It had taken her two years and a lot of failures to get the two of them to talk to each other, and she was pleased with how it worked. Sitting where a chair had been left, Cucot turned and looked at her. Signing to the gorilla, she told her how very sorry she was about her baby.
The very large female inched her way toward where she was sitting. After Aquick look around, she noticed that it was just her and the man who had come to get her. He was on the inside of the cage but not doing anything but looking like he was ready to take a nap. For some reason, she thought that it was just a ploy to get her and Cocu to trust that he wasn’t going to harm either of them. Still unsure what she was supposed to do when Cuco came nearly within touching distance of her, Amy lowered her head and put out her hand. It surprised her to no end that she laid her baby on her lap. Looking again at the man, she wasn’t sure what to do when he told her to hold Lucy. Just like she would a small child. Picking up the smaller-than-usual baby, she unwrapped the blanket that she was wrapped in and put her finger into the hand of the child. “She’s very beautiful. Her eyes are so brown, they defy anything that I’ve ever seen.”
The man, she asked him what his name was, told her to sit down on the floor with Cuco if she would allow it. “Are you trying to get me killed? Or is this usual for you? To make people so nervous they get hurt?” “Cuco trusts you. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have given you Lucy. I had nothing to do with that.” She glared at him and then sat on the cool floor. “We’ve been trying to get the baby from her since she gave birth. I know it’s not been that long, but we were trying to spare Cuco from having to hold her child until she passed away.” “Why?” Not taking her eyes off the newborn, she spoke quietly to Doctor Dallas Dixon. “I’d want every moment with my child if I knew she wasn’t going to make it. Just leave her alone.”
A home invasion took Toby Hayden’s family, all but her grandfather, away from her when she was seven. After the horrors she’d witnessed that day, Toby trusted no one.
Sebastian Gerald had recently lost his wife and child from a mob hit meant to get his attention. He had turned down their “job” offer, and they were coming for him. Laying low was the prudent thing to do.
When a man came into the bar looking for someone related to a man named Anderson, Toby knew the family, but there was no way she’d give the stranger any information. When he put his hands on her the first time, Toby warned him not to do that, but when he put his hands on her again, it was the last warning…
Caleb Anderson just lost his mother to cancer. He had never known his father, Howard Berkley, now deceased as well. Her final wishes were for Caleb to deliver a letter of her passing to her estranged parents, grandparents that he’d never met and to find the other five boys sired by Berkley. Caleb would do anything he could to honor her wishes. Tabby Tillman had had enough of the Andersons. She was tired of running the company and their lazy son Shep taking all the credit and bonuses. Just pay her for her overtime and vacation, and she was out of there. Caleb was impressed with Tabby. The woman didn’t curb her opinions, and he liked that about her. Moving to be closer to her was something he didn’t think twice about. A change of scenery would be just what he needed.
Yasmine Dennis was doing her best to make it on her own. She’d been blind since she was seven and had done rather well for herself despite her disability. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time resulted in a hospital stay, and a childhood friend, Caleb Anderson, came to her rescue.
Joey Phillips was just trying to help the beautiful woman avoid a fall when he met her. Despite her surly disposition, he was intrigued. She might think she was handicapped, but all Joey saw was a beautiful woman that he desperately needed to get
Gracie Jefferies had just about enough of men in general. Starting with her lazy and demanding general manager and ending with Caleb Anderson taking over and treating her like she can’t fend for herself. She was a grown assed woman, for Christ’s sake. As far as she was concerned, that man was off his rocker.
Martin Hamilton was staying with his half-brother, Caleb. Everything going on in the house all the time was just too much chaos. Martin liked it, calm and quiet, so he decided to get out of the house for a bit to calm his thoughts.
The woman charging his way was anything but calm, but for some reason, Martin loved her spark and fire. This was one woman he wanted to get to know better….
Raven Tanner has been caring for the elderly, Glenna Pastor, for a decade. Now they are in court again to keep Glenna’s kids from removing her from the nursing home. The Pastor’s kids are unfit to care for their elderly mother. And when the judge appoints Raven as Glenna’s caretaker, the Pastor kids are having none of it. The oldest, William, decides Raven must be removed from the picture permanently.
Harlin Bently has been on his own most of his life. He isn’t coping well with it, either. When his half-brothers track him down and want him to come to stay with them, he has no reason to object. And when he is asked to sit with the pretty, unconscious attorney in the hospital, he is inexplicably drawn to her…
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Prologue
Toby cleaned off the bar while watching the game on the big screen. It was the best seat in the house unless you were at the game, she thought. While she didn’t love being a bartender, she did enjoy the perks of it. Games with people she knew. Snacks as much as she wanted and a beer on occasion when it was a great game. The door opened down from her, and she watched as a man walked in and sat at the bar. Making her way toward him, she was surprised at how handsome he was. Not only that but since he was sitting on a barstool, he was as tall as her six foot one inches.
“What can I get you?” He said a beer and a burger. Well done, too. “Fries? Or tater salad. Or both. It’s late, so they’ll be throwing it out at the end of the shift anyway since it’s Saturday.” “Both?” Nodding, she made her way to the kitchen. Sammy said he’d get it right up, and she pulled his beer. They had it on tap so she could watch the game that was going on while she did it. Taking his beer, he asked her if she knew someone named Anderson. “I’m on my way to finding him around here.” “First or last name?” He grinned and told her last. “There’s a couple here named Anderson. They’re an older couple.” “No, this guy would be about my age. Late twenties to early thirties. I don’t know what he does or what he looks like.” Toby didn’t know why, but she felt alarms go off in her head.
There was no way that this guy was in his late twenties to early thirties. She’d put him more at the top of being in his early fifties. There was graying at his temples, for Christ’s sake. “I think he’s married, though. Does that help?” “Can’t say that I know anyone that fits that. You can ask around to the others here if you want. But I don’t know.” Instead of chatting it up as she usually did, she started away. When he grabbed her arm, she looked at his hand on her. “You will remove your hand from me, or I’m going to hurt you.”
“For detaining you?” She only nodded but didn’t move. “I want you to tell me all you know about the man that you’re lying to me about. He’s looking for his half-brother, and you’ll tell me what you know. Now, kid or else.” “You don’t want to talk to me in that tone, shithead. I’m a good deal smarter and stronger than I look. Remove your hand, or I will. You doing it will save you time in the emergency department.” Instead of letting her go, he squeezed just a bit harder. Knowing that she was going to be carrying a bruise for a while, she smiled at him. “You were warned.”
By the time the ambulance arrived, she was serving up more beers. The one that the stranger ordered was eaten by Columbus, the old man who sat in the bar only watch the game with them. The police arrived not five minutes later. They were usually quick to respond when she called, as she handled most of the rowdy customers when necessary. Officer Bentley, the new guy on the force, was with the second cruiser. He asked her what happened. “He touched me when I didn’t allow it.” He looked at the man on the floor and then back at her.
“I warned him to let me go. More than I do for other patrons that come in here. But he gave me the jitters. Also, he threatened me with telling him something about your friend.” “Which one?” She told him, and he asked her what he wanted. “I mean, did he seem the type that—nah, he didn’t want money. What did he want, Toby?” “He was looking for someone that was half-brother to him. He didn’t give me a name, but like I said, he gave me the jitters and then threatened me.” Again, she looked at the man on the floor and then back at him. “I don’t give someone a fighting chance to hurt me again.
They must have told you that about me.”“They did. But I was just thinking of how much strength it might take a person to remove someone’s arm with a hatch. No offense, but someone as slim and small as you would have to have a hidden strength you don’t let someone see.” She told him that looks can be deceiving. “They certainly can. I’m going to call my brother. I know you’re going to be closing up soon. Can you wait for him?” “Sure. I’m off tomorrow and Monday. I don’t mind waiting around.” The game ended with their team winning. Another football game in the pocket.
Soon after that, most of the patrons left, Columbus leaving her a big tip when he went out the door. The police were talking to them about what had happened. As it turned out, no one knew that she’d dealt with the man until he hit the floor screaming. They still paid little attention to him as their team was in the in-zone. Caleb showed up about twenty minutes after two. It was then that she noticed that there was a man in the back that hadn’t left. When Caleb shook her hand, the man ambled, no other word for it, to where they were standing. It took her less time than it had Caleb to realize that the man could have been his twin. Once they hugged, big bear hugs like large men were apt to do, she watched as they sobbed over each other. When Harlin was called in, the three of them talked all over each other while they got acquainted. She went to the back room to rotate some stock that she had planned on doing in the morning.
“Toby?” She came out of the walk-in just as Harlin joined her in the back room. It was a quarter past three now, and she was suddenly feeling her long day. “I’m so sorry about this. We got to talking and lost track of time. This is the man that the other man is looking for.” “Yeah, I figured at much.” She locked the walk-in up and moved to the front of the bar. “I’m exhausted, so if you guys wouldn’t mind saving this until the morning, I’dgreatly appreciate it.” “What time is good for you?” She said that she didn’t sleep much, so she could be ready around seven-thirty. “How about we meet at my house and—no, that won’t work. I don’t have any furniture yet. Caleb’s home. We’ll all meet there and have some breakfast. Is that all right?”
“Yeah, sure. I’ll just need an address.” He gave it to her, and she made a mental note of it. “Great. I don’t know what else I can tell you other than what I already did, but I’ll come over. ”When they left, she locked up the bar and made her way out to her car. She was surprised to find another car in the lot other than hers and the man that she’d hurt. When someone stepped out, she pulled her gun and nearly fell to the ground when Harlin said it was him.“Christ, I could have killed you, you fucking idiot. Who gets out of a car in the fucking dark? You don’t do that or someone might put a bullet in your head. Next time, think.” He laughed and told her how sorry he was. “Yeah, sure. Now, why are you here?”
“We wanted to make sure that you were all right when you left.” She asked him if she looked like she was unprepared for shit like someone sneaking up on her. He laughed again. “No, as a matter of fact, you look like you could take on the world. But we did want to make sure that you got in your car safely. The police will be coming for the man’s car sometime tomorrow. I wanted to let you know that, too.” “Thanks. I have a standing order with the police to make sure that any cars left on the lot for more than twenty-four hours they’re to be towed.” He told her that was a good idea. “Thanks. I do have them on occasion.”
“What do you do? I know that you’re more than a bartender. You have skills that I’ve only noticed tonight. You’ve been in the service, I think.” She didn’t answer him. “Or not. You don’t have to answer. But I will tell you that my sister-in-law and Caleb have connections that can find out almost anything.” “They’ll be wasting their time.” She nodded toward her car. “I’m out of here. If you think of anything else tonight, just make a note and ask me tomorrow. I’m dead, standing on my feet right now. And don’t sneak up on me again. It will get you dead.”She made her way to her car while he was still laughing. The moron was going to get himself dead if he wasn’t careful. Toby noticed that they followed her home, too.
She did wonder what they’d think about her house. It was fucking huge, but it was all hers. Going into her home, she didn’t bother turning to see if they left. Once she was inside, she kicked off her boots and made her way to the kitchen. As usual, there were sandwiches left in the fridge for her, and she pulled the plate out and ate one of them standing at the counter. When she was finished with the second one, she sat down at the table and read the notes that had been left for her to go over. “There you are.” Toby smiled at Ginger, the cook and chief of her home. “I thought you’d been hurt. Where have you been, young lady? Getting laid, I hope.”
“Yes, by six men. It wasn’t as fun as I thought it would be.” She tsked at her. Then told her what had happened. “I’m having breakfast with Caleb Anderson in the morning. I’m not going to bother going to sleep now, but I’ll take a nap when I get home. Have you been waiting for me? I asked you not to do that.” “I have to keep an eye on you. It was a promise I made, and you know it. ”Ginger told her that she was sorry. “I shouldn’t have said that. But I did make a promise, and I intend to keep it. How much do they know about you, honey?” “I guess they’ll do a background check. They won’t find anything, but they’ll do it. Other than what I want them to find anyway.” Ginger told her that she’d make her some juice. “No, don’t do that. I’m going to go and work in my office for a little while.
You go back to bed. Since I won’t be here, you should sleep in. Maybe have a little fun with Herman when you guys wake up.” “You little turd.” She was still laughing when she made her way to her office. Toby was wide awake now and didn’t think that she’d even shut her eyes. She was so hyped up right now. As she turned on her computer, she thought of what the Andersons would find. They’d find that her parents were dead, as well as her grandma. Grandda was still around, but he wasn’t ready to face the world. He told her since the love of his life was gone. She also knew that they’d find that she was wealthy, but not anything about amounts. It cost her a great deal of money and time to make sure that no one other than her attorney knew her net worth.
There were little things, too, that they’d find out. Like she’d been a child prodigy. But nothing to the extent of how smart she was. Nor would they find out that she had several doctorates, all of them that had served her well over her young life. At only twenty-seven, she was about as educated as anyone could ever be. Finishing up on her computer, she closed things down and went to her room, the one that she’d been in since she’d been a child, and took a shower. After getting dressed, she was out the door at a little after seven. There was a limo in her drive that she didn’t recognize but didn’t draw her gun, waiting to see who might pop out. “You were right.” She told Harlin that she normally was. “Good to know. But we didn’t find out much about you. But Tabby, Caleb’s wife, is making another call now, so who knows. Caleb has been making notes since we left you. I have a feeling that you didn’t sleep either.”
“I don’t sleep much.” When she got into the car with him, he told her that he had checked in on the man; the name on his driver’s license said he was Richard Weed. She laughed. “So his name is Dick Weed, is it?” It took Harlin a few seconds to get what she said, and he laughed as well. “I guess I’m too sleep-deprived, or I might have gotten that sooner.” The drive to the house was smooth. She had a limo as well but rarely rode in it anymore. She much preferred to drive herself. Unless it was something important that she had to attend.“This is what we were able to find on you.” Toby didn’t bother taking the sheet of paper. “I know what you were able to find. The rest is personal.” He nodded and put the paper on the seat between them.
“What’s the big deal about knowing anything about me? It’s not like we’re going to be besties, is it? I mean, I’ve lived in this town all my life and have never once run into any of you.” “I don’t know. Honestly, I have no idea. I think that Caleb wants it because he feels like he owes you. And he did mention and discarded that you could have been with Dick Weed in some way. Like I said, he discarded that idea right away.” She didn’t bother saying anything because there was nothing to say to him about it. “You have money. And pardon me for saying it, but I’d say that you have a great deal of it.”
Author Kathi S Barton 