Donahue: Foster’s Pride – Lion Shapeshifter Romance (Foster's Pride Book 2)

by Kathi S. Barton

  “How will you get around to seeing my mom with her around? I don’t want anything to happen to her.” Raymond told Parker he didn’t either. “She’ll try and hurt her. We both know that. My mom is an immortal, the same as we are. But she can still be harmed.”

  “I’m not evading the question, but I would like to see if your mom would have anything to do with me first. You can rest assured nothing will happen to her if we can make a go of it. I’ll have Mae committed again if I have to.” Don perked up, hearing that. He asked Raymond why she’d been in lock up before. “She’s unable to live on her own. Mae thinks she’s staying at my home to outlive me so she can live there alone. After she killed Alex, I had to do something with her. I couldn’t be around her for exceptionally long periods of time without wanting to murder her myself. She was tested, and immediately they put her into a prison-like setting for the criminally insane. Mae got out because she fooled them all into thinking she was better.”

  “She’s not.” Raymond shook his head at him. “I don’t know what your plans are for your sister, but I’d think she’d be safer in lockdown. Not just for my mother-in-law’s safety, but for you as well. Mae doesn’t strike me a someone who would give up easily.”

  “Oh, you can go to the bank on that. Mae hasn’t ever been one to give up easily. I’m betting right now she’s asking herself what she’s done to be left at home all alone. Or, and this might be more true, she’s trying to get one of the staff to take her where we are. It won’t matter to her that they might not know where we’ve decided to dine. She’ll just expect her wishes to be taken care of.” Parker said she was off her nut. “Truer words have never been spoken. But I will have no issues in getting her put in a home. I’ve had just about all I can take of her as it is. I don’t want to sound cruel, but I’m on my last nerve with her.”

  When their bill was brought to them, Raymond insisted on paying it. “You don’t have to do that, Raymond. We were already planning to have dinner out anyway.”

  “It’s my pleasure, as a matter of fact. I have to admit, I’ve not had such an enjoyable time in a very long time. I’d love to do this more often if you don’t mind. Even if Meggie turns me down flat, I’d love to continue to get to know the two of you and see how you’re doing.” Parker told him she’d love that. Then she asked him to dinner tomorrow night. “I’m assuming you want only me to come?” He laughed when they both said yes at the same time. Then Parker spoke again.

  “My mom lives with us right now, and I do want you to talk to her. I think between the two of you, you could have a nice life.” Raymond said he’d like that. Perhaps he’d sell off his home and move closer. “Yes, well, this twenty-five-minute drive from our home to yours is such a heartache for us.”

  “I was hinting, to be honest. I said I knew where you lived, but all I knew for sure was that it was in this state.” They were headed out the door as Raymond spoke. “To know that you’re close enough for me to visit makes me happy too.”

  Don and Parker were on their way home when his cell phone rang. It was Raymond. He didn’t sound stressed or anything when he said hello, but what he had to tell them made Don ask the driver to turn around on the road and head to the house.

  “Mae is dead. It looks as if she slipped coming down the stairs and broke her neck. She’s just lying there with her neck all twisted up. It’s her shoes. I hated that she felt she had to wear heels. I don’t know what to do now.” Parker told him they’d be right there. “I’ve called the police. I just—I guess I shouldn’t have called you. I feel silly now.”

  “You did the right thing, Raymond. You just stay where you are, and we’re on our way.” Raymond thanked them and asked if they were close. “Yes, we’ve turned around and are headed toward you right now. Don’t worry, Raymond. We’ll take good care of you.”

  When they pulled into the drive, there were several cruisers behind and in front of his car. Moving out of the way of them, Parker got out of the car and made her way to Raymond. Since he knew a couple of the police officers that had worked with his brother, Don stopped to ask them what they knew. He made sure they knew that Raymond had spent a lovely evening with them at dinner and that Mae had been left at home.

  “She fell. We can tell it wasn’t a murder.” He asked him what had happened that made him sure about that. “There are indoor cameras in the house. One of them is on the front door, as well as one on the staircase. Ms. Carter had her hands full when she was coming down the stairs. When it looked like a glass began to slip from her grip, her shoes twisted her up, and she went tumbling down. I’d say she was dead before she hit the bottom here. It’s a real shame too. Poor old thing.”

  Don didn’t say anything about him feeling bad about the old bat. Instead, he asked Roger if he could take Mr. Carter to his home tonight so that he wouldn’t have to stay in the house. After he was given permission, Don reached out to Parker to ask Raymond to pack some things so they’d take him home. They’d help him take care of the arrangements in the morning.

  The car ride was quiet, with only Raymond crying off and on. Parker held Don’s hand as they were headed to their home. Don squeezed it tightly when she told him how much she loved him. Don wondered what the elderly man would do now.

  ~~~

  Quin was just entering the grocery store when he saw the man across the street, causing trouble. Anna had been in his offices earlier and had pointed out that her father was in town. It didn’t take him long to make sure that Brook had been warned to keep Shirley safe and for him to get Anna to his parents’ house. They were more than happy to have her.

  “Hey, you. I’m looking for my wife and little girl. I was told they were around.” Quin asked him who told him that. “Why does it matter to you, slick boy? I’m here looking for them, and I want someone to tell me where they are.”

  “I haven’t any idea who they are, so I doubt very much I can help you.” Taking the cart from the back of the line, he made his way to the produce section. The man followed him, talking to him about his wife and daughter. “I’ve already told you I don’t know them. What do you want me to do for you? Make them appear? I can’t. That’s not something I would do anyway.”

  “So you do know where they are.” Quin ignored him for a good smelling cantaloupe. When it was slapped out of his hand, Quin let enough of his lion go to show the man he wasn’t one to fuck with. “Look at you. Not even a human. What the hell have you done with my wife and child? You’d better know I won’t be fucked with on this. They’re mine.”

  “Good for you.” Turning his back on the man was all he could do. Killing him, right here in the grocery store, wasn’t an option. Well, it was, but not at the moment. The place was busy, and he didn’t want anyone to get hurt. Especially not himself. He had a lot of appointments in the morning.

  “Hey, pussy face, did you call the cops yet? Seems to me that’s what you rich and stupid do when you’re faced with someone bigger and meaner than you.”

  It was getting more and more difficult to ignore the man. After putting a few other groceries in his cart, Quin made his way to the front. Someone had called the police, but it hadn’t been him. Along with the two officers, his big brother Ronan was there with Loman. He wondered if his name had brought them both to the store.

  “You okay?” Quin said he was, and started pushing his cart toward the checkout line. Ronan stopped him. “I got two calls today from the police. One about the woman that was supposed to have been Parker’s aunt—she fell down the stairs and died. The second one was that you were in the store being harassed. If you don’t need me, I’m to pick up some steaks for dinner and have you come to our house.”

  “I haven’t any idea why, but he’s been harassing me since I got here. I was going to just pick up a few things and head out. But he targeted me the moment I walked in. I wonder what happened there?” Ronan pointed out it might be because he was the only single male in the store
. “So you think he thinks I’m with his ex-wife. She’s a wonderful person, but she’s not my mate.”

  “I didn’t think so. You would have mentioned that when you asked Brook to hire her. By the way, she’s working out well.” Quin thought she would have anyway. “We’re going to get some steaks and bread to have too. What do you think Anna would like to eat? I was also going to slap some chicken on the grill. To have as leftovers later in the week.”

  “Who the hell are you?” Ronan grinned. “For that matter, what are leftovers? You know as well as I do, there won’t be anything even remotely big enough to save in a butter dish, much less for a meal later in the week. I think you’ve been hanging out with Grandma too much. She saves everything. Did I tell you I was over there the other day, and she was cutting buttons off an old shirt? Why? I asked her, and she said she might need them. For what? I’ve never seen her sew a button on anything. Women are weird.”

  “She got onto Brook the other day when she tossed out a couple of my old shirts. Something about saving the zipper tabs. As far as the leftovers are concerned, I think a man can try, can’t he? I sort of like getting up in the middle of the night and finding a hot dog or something in the fridge to eat. Anyway, I don’t mess with Grandma. She’s hanging out with Brook too much.” They were both laughing when Loman asked if he could get some shrimp. “That sounds really good too.”

  By the time they had filled his cart with extras, things that sounded good to them, Quin was shocked to see that the bill came to just over four hundred dollars. It reminded him to never shop with these two when they were hungry. The police were still speaking with David Harper as they were bagging up their purchases. Quin noticed that Ronan bought flowers for Brook. Both he and Loman bought some for Grandma and Mom, respectively.

  As Quin was moving by David, his brothers behind and in front of him, the idiot took a swing at him. David hit him in the face, knocking his bag out of his hand and onto the floor. He didn’t even think about the people around but shifted to his cat and pounced on David.

  He didn’t kill him, not yet anyway. Donny came to kneel down on the floor by their heads. The first thing Donny asked was if Quin was going to press charges. Ronan answered for him. Yes, he was fucking going to press charges.

  “Now, here is what I see with this situation you have yourself in, Mr. Harper. If you move the wrong way, you’re going to die. If you try and hurt any of the people standing here, you’re going to die. If you so much as curse at either of us when I’m trying to help you—well, I think you know that you’re going to die.” Donny looked around, then back at Quin and David. “You see, not only do you have a big old lion at your throat, but there are four guns pointed at your noggin right now. Two from my officers, as well as two from very nice citizens that don’t want one of their own hurt. I’m going to ask Quin here, real nice like, if he’ll let you up, and you’d better be behaving yourself. ‘Cause in case you don’t know it, bullets come out of a gun really fast. But not as fast as Quin here will have your throat ripped out. And there ain’t no coming back from having no throat. You’ll be gushing blood like you got yourself plenty to have spraying out of you. You’re as good as dead, again, if you do have that happen to you. So, are you gonna behave? Oh yeah, you blink once if you think you can behave until we get you out of here. Or two times if you’re stupid enough to think you might survive the next few seconds.”

  Quin bit down harder when David blinked several times. Donny shook his head and said there wasn’t no helping some people. When Donny stood up, Ronan took his place. Ronan, Quin knew, didn’t suffer fools very well. He might even kill David before he could. That would really suck, he thought. Ronan would do it just to keep him safe.

  “Now you listen here, you fucking piece of shit. I don’t care if you blink a hundred times. You fuck up when Quin lets you go, and I’ll kill you myself. There isn’t any reason whatsoever for you to have touched him.”

  Quin growled when he felt the gun at his belly. Telling his brother about it, Quin was shoved off of David just as the gun went off, and someone fired at the man on the floor. Quin, as his lion, still just lay there as David cursed and talked about how he was going to sue each and every one of them for shooting him in the arm. It wasn’t until Loman stepped up that David not only shut up but paid hard attention to him. Quin thought that Loman having a switchblade at David’s balls was doing the trick where the others hadn’t been able to.

  “You want me to neuter you, you mother fucker?” David shook his head hard, screaming when the knife nicked his inner thigh. “I want to go home with my brothers and have a nice fucking meal. You’re fucking that up for me. Now, the police are going to arrest you, and if I hear one word from you while they’re doing it, I swear to you I’m going to have your dick and balls in my hand before you can blink.”

  Quin took his body back, thrilled beyond words that he could be dressed when he went from lion to man. Also that he was going to be here for this. No one would have believed this of Loman.

  “He’s got my wife.” Loman looked at Quin when David pointed at him. Shaking his head, Quin heard Loman tell David he didn’t lie. “I heard she was with some pretty boy. He’s too pretty to like women, but I thought he might know about her.”

  “You got your answer. Several times, I’m thinking. Right?” The knife cut him a second time, and now David was sweating. “You hear me?”

  “Yes. Yes, I got my answer. Please don’t cut me again.”

  Loman stood up, but not before hitting David in the balls with the end of the knife. As David lay there moaning and crying about the pain, Loman handed Quin the knife. The quietest, most laid back person he’d ever known had handled the situation better than his lion had.

  “I was going to give it to you for your birthday. I’m sorry I had to use it before you did.”

  Quin started laughing. He didn’t know what else he was supposed to do, but he laughed harder when the rest of the people around started laughing too. “I guess this was completely out of character for me.”

  “It was. But I can’t thank you enough for it. You did something none of us could.” Loman nodded, then moved out of the store. Ronan looked at Quin and just shook his head. “We should remember that. Loman isn’t as laid back and in control as we thought. He’s scary when pushed.”

  “Yes, I’d say that is about right.” Ronan asked him if he was ready to go. “I mean, we’ve got all this food. We’re not going to let this ass ruin it for us, are we?”

  “No. Not at all.” Quin looked around, then back at his brother. “She’s safe, isn’t she? I mean, Shirley, she’s at your house and safe, right?”

  “She is. Mom has Anna, so she’s all right too. We’re going to have to talk to the police about this. Neither one of the girls are safe with him running around. They won’t be able to hold him for very long.” Quin said he knew that, but it would be better if they could. “Don’t be like that. You know as well as I do that Donny is doing a good job. He will have my vote in the fall.”

  “Mine too. But I worry about those other two. What do you suppose happened there between them?” Ronan said he’d bet it was abuse. “I was thinking that as well. Anna is certainly a well-adjusted little girl. Almost too grown up for her age.”

  After loading up the car, they found Loman taking pictures of some of the old shelving in the back of the store. To Quin, that was all it was, just some old crap that hadn’t been picked up by the trash company yet. However, he knew that once he developed the pictures and showed them to him, Loman would have a work of art that would make him wonder why he’d never seen it when he was looking at it. Loman was the best at what he did, and there were, he knew, a great many awards to prove it. He doubted anyone else would know that. Loman, until today, had been very quiet about nearly everything he did.

  By the time they got to Ronan’s home, all the others had shown up. Even Mom was there, making her famous mu
stard potato salad. Grandma was making ambrosia salad, and the others were chipping in where they could. It was family time, the kind he enjoyed most of all. Nothing planned, no begging people to come over. Just them, eating and enjoying each other’s company.

  Chapter 9

  Don watched the players as they ran drills. Three days ago, he had been given the notebook that was used by the previous coach for football practice. After going over it twice, he decided he wanted to do his own thing. Have some fun with the kids.

  He had three assistants working with him. It had taken him most of the morning to get them to open up to him. Don wasn’t sure what had been going on, but now he had their full attention and support. It had taken one of the kids almost passing out on them to get them in his corner.

  Robby Gold had been running back and forth on the field. Twice he’d stopped to rest, and the third time, he fell forward on his face. Sitting up, he started to rise again, but Don pushed him back to the ground, telling him to stay put. Then he asked someone to call an ambulance.

  “I can do it, Coach. I don’t want you to think I’m a loser.” He asked him why he’d think that. “Because I’m sitting down on the job. I can get up and go at it again. I just needed a little breather.”

  “I don’t have any idea why you’d assume I’d call you a loser when it’s obvious you’re hurting. Just sit where you are, and we’ll get you looked over. It might be nothing at all. But then again, it might be something serious. When you’re struggling, Robby, you have to tell me. I don’t want any of you trying to do more than you should out here in this heat.”

  Don stayed with the kid until the ambulance arrived. After making sure he was in good hands, he turned to the rest of the team. “It’s nearly ninety degrees today. The humidity is high, and you’re working hard. If at any time you need to get a drink, do it. If you see a teammate struggling, you should get them to rest. This is our first practice of the season. The first time we’re out in the heat dressed in pads. It’s too much for me, and I’m not doing half the stuff you are. We’re never going to get to the playoffs if you’re forever worried I’m going to think you’re a loser because you need a minute to adjust. Understand?”