Brock Altman, her court-appointed fool, had told her that she wasn’t going to get out from under this. She might do better, he explained to her, if she were to just plead guilty, and she might be able to lessen her sentence. When she asked him by how much, he shook his before explaining.
“You might only get charged with life once or twice rather than with all four of the murders.” She asked him if he was serious. One life was bad enough. “Yes, but with the lesser sentence and good behavior, you might get out earlier. Like maybe only serving fifty years instead of life without parole.”
Meadow didn’t speak to him for the rest of his visit, not that it seemed to bother him overly much. The man could talk to a dead man and make him want to move to get away from him.
Now here she was, sitting in the ugliest suit that she owned, waiting for her fate to be told to her. The trial wouldn’t be that long, Brock told her. There was enough evidence on the two of them that there wasn’t much that he could say on his side. When he showed her what they had against her, Meadow knew that it really was going to be a slam dunk trial. They had her dead on for this.
She’d been having her nails done when they came for her. Every alphabet soup Rambo group they had, had taken her in. Christ, she’d had nightmares about what had happened to her that day. Meadow wished that she’d paid more attention to what was going on around her that morning, and she might well have gotten out the back door.
The staff seemed to be disappearing, she had noticed. There weren’t any customers in the rooms with them as she had the woman doing her nails helped her pick out a nice color. She wanted flaming red, but the lady, whatever her name was, told her that it wasn’t in her coloring. Meadow was arguing with her about it when the woman just stood up and went to the back room.
Looking over the colors, Meadow was wondering if they had anything brighter than fire engine red. The woman hadn’t returned yet, but Meadow knew she’d return. The staff knew who spent the most in this place.
Meadow had been thinking, too, of where she was going after she had her nails done. She was going to the cemetery where she thought Bryn was buried. Meadow had had her hair done up and was wearing a dress that looked like she’d dripped blood on it from top to bottom. She also had on the highest heels she could find so that she could show her daughter that she was the one that had had her killed. The gun poking her in the back of the head was the first clue she had that something was wrong.
“Meadow Phillips Mackenzie? You’re under arrest on suspicion of murder.” Meadow started to turn around but was hit on the head and told to remain still. Before she could gather up her purse, which did have a gun in it, she was tossed to the floor, her hair nearly torn from her head when she caught it on the man’s gun belt and cuffed.
Standing on the sidewalk while they waited on the van that would take her away, she had looked at the crowd that had gathered outside the shop. The staff was there, she saw, as was the woman that hadn’t done her nails. Mother fuck, who the hell had figured this shit out so quickly?
Then this butch assed woman had come to stand in front of her. “Why do people always think that I’m butch? Is it the fact that I wear black, you think? Or is it the boots? I’m very fond of these. They have compartments in them where I can stash all kinds of shit that I might need.” Tisking at her, the woman told her who she was. “Dane Stanton. Not so nice to meet you. You’re going down, bitch, and I’m so glad that I got to be here to see this happen.”
Meadow leaned back her head to spit on her, but the look that Dane gave her, almost like she was daring her to do it, had Meadow swallowing. A look of disappointment was glaring from the younger woman. Meadow took a step back when she laughed.
“You made this entirely too easy, you know. I mean, not just figuring out that you set this all up, but arresting you was sort of a letdown too. You didn’t even give them a reason to knock you around much. Would you like to do this again? I mean, you’re still going to jail, but perhaps you could put up a little resistance. So I can, I don’t know, hit you in the face a few times?” Meadow just stared at her. “I guess not. Well, I guess we’ll have to do this your way then. You’re going to jail for now. And I’m sure you know why, but this man here, he’ll read you your rights. Not that I think you should have any. A woman who would kill her own child shouldn’t be allowed to breathe, much less walk around like regular people.”
“I have no idea of what you’re talking about.” Dane only nodded. The man next to her read her rights to her and then asked Meadow if she understood them. “No, I don’t. Why am I being treated this way? I was going to see my daughter. She was killed recently.”
Dane just looked her up and down, and Meadow lifted her chin to show that she didn’t care what she thought of her mode of dress. As Dane stood there, staring at her like she was taking inventory of what was in her head, she told her that Bryn hadn’t been buried.
“Yes, she has. I saw it in the paper. Her service was a few days ago.” Dane said that it had only been an empty casket. They were going to bury her ashes after the trial. “There was a funeral and a burial. I saw it.”
“Nope. Just closure for a lot of people. Especially her loving family.” Dane looked at her. “In the event that you don’t understand, that does not include you. Did you know that your other children are here as well? Walker is a great man. I like hanging out with Kitty too. I believe that they’re all planning to live here now that they’ve been told the truth about you.”
“And what does that mean? I’ve never lied to my kids.” She asked her who their father was. “That is none of your concern. I would like to call them. Bring them to my side. They’re my children.”
“They are. But I think that they’re at the hospital today. Walker and his wife had a baby girl last night. Pretty little thing too. Named her Summer Grace. Lovely name, don’t you think?”
She had a granddaughter? When the hell did that happen?
Meadow had been arrested and put in the cell. She didn’t bother screaming at them to let her out. Didn’t say a word about how they had the wrong person. All she did was demand that someone contact her children. Any of them would do. Then she’d sat back and waited.
After an hour and no one had shown up, she began to think that someone had told them her part in the death of their sister. But surely, she thought, they’d not believe them. She waited another hour before Les showed up. Christ, she hated that man.
“Meadow. I’ve come on behalf of my children. They want you to stop trying to contact them. Also, they want you to rot in Hell. I do as well, but you’ve always known my feeling about you.” Meadow asked him where her children were. “Right now? I believe they’re house hunting. After that, we’re going to have dinner together with the Stantons. They’re a wonderful family, by the way.”
“Dane Stanton?” Les told her that she was one of them, yes. “So my children are going to have dinner with a complete stranger and their family over coming here to make sure that I have everything that I need. I won’t believe that.”
The police officer that had asked her personal questions about her hygiene handed Les a cell phone. When he turned it to her, she could see her children in what she thought was a photo of them. Before she could say anything, not even sure what she might have said, Les pushed the little arrow, and it began to move.
“Meadow.” Walker never called her by her first name. None of them did, except Bryn. But before she could protest about that, he continued to speak. “Meadow, we’re never coming to see you there. We’ve gotten an attorney, and he has contacted the police department to tell them to stop calling us on your behalf. The rest of us, the ones you didn’t murder, aren’t going to have another thing to do with you unless it’s to spit on your grave when you’re dead. Which can’t be soon enough for each of us.”
The next video was more of the same. Kitty wasn’t any nicer to her, but she at least called her mo
m. Letting the tears flow that she’d had to work on getting to fill her eyes, she watched the next video, hopefully, the final one of Addi.
“Christ, you’re a piece of work, aren’t you? I’m not calling you anything, because even to hear your name makes me want to vomit. On you. You killed her. You killed Bryn for no other reason than she was a means to an end for you.” Addi got closer to the camera so that her entire face filled the screen. “I fucking hate you right now. Fucking. Hate. You. Now and forever.”
Meadow looked at Les. “I guess you have something to say to me as well?” I don’t care to hear it, as a matter of fact. You’re nothing to me either. And when this is finished, you’re going to be the one that is sitting here without my children to support you. I suppose you told them that you’re not their father? Good. It’ll save me a lot of time.”
“I didn’t tell them.” She was glad for that. “Bryn did. I have that recording as well. And even if you don’t want to hear it, you’re going to sit right there and listen to her. Or so help me, I’m going to have them record it to have it playing in a loop for you for the rest of your miserable life.”
When he found the video, she wanted to laugh at him for sitting there sobbing. It was just a fucking video, not earth-shattering. Turning the phone toward her, Les trembled as she watched her youngest daughter’s face staring back at her.
“Hey, all. I don’t know when I’ll have the nerve to send this to you, but I’ve been doing some digging around and found out that not a one of us is related to Dad. Also, you probably weren’t aware of this either, but he’s been, behind the scenes, helping each of us out all along. I have a list of what I’ve been able to find on an email that I’ll send out if this goes out.
“There is something else you should be aware of too. I hate to tell you this, but the woman that we know as our mother is dealing in some heavy shit. Two weeks ago, she was part of a group that robbed the First National Bank in Chicago. Two people were killed, and Mother dearest pulled the trigger. I have that on another video. Then there is the school shooting that took place last year. Mother— Meadow supplied not only the map of the school for the shooters, but she also provided the guns to make it happen. She got her fucking feelings hurt when she was asked to step down from her job and decided to take her revenge for it on the man’s children. The only children that her former boss had were murdered, along with ten other people.
“There is more that I have on her. Things that I’m going to send you, I’ve only just decided. I have to work tomorrow—it’s my last day—then I’ll make sure you all get everything I have. But please watch your backs. You shouldn’t trust her with anything that has to do with your life. I certainly won’t. Also, I’m going to get in touch with Dad. I miss him very much. And to know that he’s always been there for us...well, it makes me depressed to know how many lies Meadow told us to keep us apart from him.
“You guys do what you wish with this information. I’m going to send it all to a very good friend of mine and let her expose Meadow. She’s about the best journalist I’ve ever known. I love you all very much. And miss you too. We need to get together soon.”
“She didn’t get to send it. Would you like to guess why?” Meadow told Les she had no idea. “Because you murdered her.”
He had left her there. Meadow noticed after he left that people were treating her differently like she’d already been convicted of something. Meadow didn’t care. She knew what she had done was justified. And obviously, Bryn didn’t get to prove whatever bullshit she had on her, or Meadow was sure she might have been arrested well before now.
But now, here she was in a courtroom, and Meadow wondered not the first time if someone had found whatever Bryn had on her computer and had the proof that they needed. Well, she’d figure out what to do if it ever came to light. Meadow was good at getting herself out of shit.
~*~
The service to bury Bryn’s ashes was such a somber event. Sidney had known Bryn for a long time and knew that she’d be pissed off about how everyone was upset and crying. Deciding that she needed to get things back on a track that Bryn would be happy with, she went up to the podium in the back yard of her home and asked to say something.
“My name is Sidney Stanton. Bryn and I had a lot of late-night fun together while she was alive. I’d like to share one of those nights with you now.” She looked at Les, Bryn’s father. “She knew that you weren’t her dad, and the night after she got the results back, we got a little drunk. Well, I got a little drunk—she was plastered.”
The room laughed, quietly, of course, but Sidney was happy for it. Thinking about the story to see if anyone would be disgusted with it, she decided that Bryn would never clean up a story when she told someone. Not even a priest—Sidney knew that first hand.
“We were sitting in my living room with a half-empty pizza box and several half bottles of wine. The television had been turned off about an hour earlier—neither one of us had been watching it anyway—when Bryn belched. Not a dainty little girl one—no, not with Bryn. She let out this monster burp that sounded like a turbine engine had been started. I think we laughed about that for months after. She kept insisting that she deserved a trophy. So I finally went out and had her one made.” People just stared at her as she continued. “It said on the bottom of it ‘Bryn Mackenzie. Bestest and loudest burp ever known.’ She was like that. Bryn could light up a room with just her smile. She could hug you so that you could feel your own heart beating with joy. So many times over the years, she’d cheer me up by asking me if I wanted to see her boobs. I never did, but it would be difficult to be in a sour mood when someone next to you was trying to get you to look at her boobs. Bryn is my best friend. Not was, because I have all these wonderful memories of her that we made together that will keep me smiling for a long time.”
Walker walked up to the podium when she went to sit down. “Bryn was a character. Not only was she someone that could light up a room, as Sidney was saying, but she could be relentless when she thought that you were going through some shit, and she wanted to help you. She did too. Bryn was always there. She seemed to know just what to say, mostly inappropriate things, to make you feel good.” Walker laughed. “If you’ve ever been on her Christmas card list, you actually looked forward to what shenanigans she’d been up to to make the perfect card. One year I got a card that had a picture of her in a tub of bubbles that said she had to clean up her act. A few years ago, there was one where she was standing in a fountain washing her hair. There was never a dull moment when she was in your corner. I, too, love her and will miss her for the rest of my days.”
Each person that got up after that had a good story to tell about her. How she’d once stolen a horse because the kid that lived down the street from her had always wanted to ride a horse. She returned it, of course, but after that, the man let her take the horse to other homes for other children like Ronnie. Ronnie had died a few days after his horse experience.
A neighbor of hers told the story of how she’d put her education above all else. And if she didn’t have all her rent for a month, she’d go out and sleep in her car. She didn’t have to, the neighbor told the audience, but she felt that if she couldn’t afford her rent, even if she was short only fifty dollars, she’d make sure that she didn’t get to use the luxury of a roof over her head until she could pay it all.
Les both laughed and cried at the stories. Sidney’s heart hurt for him the most. He hadn’t known these things about his child because his ex-wife had lied to his children, knowing that to Les, they were his children, and kept them away.
Sidney had figured out what Meadow had told her children to keep them away. Meadow had made up a lot of stories about Les. None of them true, of course, but the kids had been so afraid of him because of her that she’d played on that.
Meadow had told them that their father had refused to give her any kind of support over the years, not even when they
were married. That Les had once even taken her to a strip bar and made her strip for strangers. Meadow also told them that their father was a drug lord and that he worked for mobsters and the like. That he carried a gun with him all the time, and that he had no problem using it when he felt like he’d been short-changed about something. Les had never killed anyone. He didn’t even know how to use a gun. Meadow had also said that he was a drunk and had beat her all the time.
When the last person sat down, the preacher said a prayer. It was a good one, telling how the people there were celebrating Bryn’s life instead of letting their grief take them under. As soon as he finished up, they all stood up except Les. He didn’t move from his spot, his hand on Bryn’s urn, and his tears staining his pants.
Sidney went to sit next to him, her heart breaking for the man. Reaching out, she put her hand on his leg, and he grabbed it like a lifeline. Before she could ask him if he needed anything from her, he turned and looked at her, his grief profoundly evident on his face.
“She would have loved this. Thank you for that.” She told him that she and Bryn had spent a great deal of time together over the years. “I would like to hear more stories. I don’t want to impose on you, but I think you knew her better than anyone.”
“Bryn loved you, Les.” That made him cry harder, and he reached for her to hold onto as he cried. “She was one of a kind. But she could be a pain in the ass better than even Dane can be at times.”
“Yes, I can see that.” With his hand still on her urn, he looked at the people that had gathered today. “I’m so glad that all these people came today. It was a mess up in the paper about it only being a graveside. It was supposed to be private, family only. But this was much better, don’t you think?”
Wyatt: The Stanton Pack—Paranormal Cougar Shifter Romance Page 10