“No. Nothing. The men that went in after Westing was dead will go through the house inch by inch. What they don’t understand or haven’t any clue if it’s related to the things he’d been up to, they’re to take it to Rogen. Once she has a look into it, she’ll destroy it.” She asked about the drugs and guns, what had happened to them. “Destroyed. Everything we do, Brooke, is thorough. We never leave anything to chance if we can help it. To us, this is just another job. But we also know we’ve not just taken a great deal of drugs off the planet, but weapons as well.”
“The money you paid the kids that wasn’t from the government at all, was it?” Tru surprised him by answering her truthfully. “Thank you for that. I think they’ll use it for good. Not to mention, it will give them a much better outlook on the system.”
“You’re welcome.”
When Tru left them, they stood in the yard and hugged each other. When she pulled away and looked up at him, he could have taken on the world and won in that moment.
“I love you.” He kissed her and told her he loved her as well. “Good. I think we should put the kids to bed tonight and fuck each other’s brains out.” Then she turned and walked away.
He was never going to be able to keep one step ahead of this woman. Jonas wasn’t sure he wanted to. Nearly skipping into the house, he was greeted by Thomas and Bobby with their new duds on, what they called their new pants and shirts.
Hailey was showing off her “most beautiful dress in the store” that had her twirling around the room for nearly an hour. Sarah was crawling now, or at least her version of the way to get around, and the kids were as delighted as he’d ever seen them. Who would have thought that he’d only taken them in to keep their mother off the street? Now they were his and Brooke’s. Jonas noticed that Heath was enjoying himself with them.
Having a family was a great deal more fun than he’d ever thought it would be. It occurred to him that it wouldn’t be perfect like this all the time, but he’d have these memories to sustain him when it wasn’t. Not that he thought it would be that bad, but he just didn’t care. Reaching out to his own parents, he invited them over for dinner, then the rest of his family. Jonas thought they’d all be there for Heath when he was told about his daughter. That, he wasn’t looking forward to at all.
Chapter 6
Heath watched his daughter breathing in and out. Because of the trauma of her being operated on, they had put her on life support. The blood staining the wrap around her head made him sick to his belly, but he held onto her hand and told her things that were going on at home. After today, Jonas and Thatcher were going to change him so he’d have more time with his girls and grandchildren.
“The house is nice. I think you’ll like it.” He sniffled a little, thinking about how she’d not get to play in his garden with him as they had at home. “The place they found for you to live, honey, is the best there is. And not terribly far from where I’m going to be living. Brooke, what we’re all calling her now, said I could see you every day. But Thatch, Jonas’s dad, said I shouldn’t do that. It will wear me out faster than having the grandkids around me all the time.”
He thought of the time he’d had with the boys last night. They were all grown men, the Robinsons, but since that was what their parents called them, it sort of stuck. They’d taken him out to dinner—a boys’ night out, they’d called it. He hadn’t been sure he wanted to go, not with his daughter here, but they’d bullied him into it, and he’d had a wonderful time.
“Hailey is loving school. And I’ve never seen a little girl want to be dressed up like she does. I think she might have you beat in that department. When you were little, you used to mark your dresses for the month, so you’d not wear the same one twice. Brooke is a good mom with them. She doesn’t have a problem at all with making them mind her.” Heath laughed. “However, I think it breaks her heart more than it does theirs when it comes to that.”
Heath looked at the equipment keeping Sissy alive. There was nothing in here that he knew the name of, but he was sure, should he ask Thatcher or Dawson, they’d be able to tell him not just what it did but how it worked. The men were smart and were making sure that Sissy wasn’t in any pain, as well as keeping her quiet until it was time to wake her again.
“That man, Benny. He did this to you, honey. And then the hospital not taking care that you were all right when you left. Rogen is looking into what happened, but she told me she’d take care of them for us.” Heath laughed a little. “Now there is a woman that gets the job done. And I’m betting any amount of money that when she says she’ll take care of it, you don’t need to ask her if she did what she said. Not that I would. I’d be afraid she’d tell me, and she, along with the rest of the women in that family, is not going to hold back a bit on what she’d done to them.”
A nurse came into the room, and he backed out of her way. They were armed here. The staff all carried guns and were very showy about it. He knew why—this clinic was where people came that didn’t want the world to know why they were there. Thatcher had put Sissy in this part of the building because she was his family.
After the nurse left, not telling him anything, he went back to holding Sissy’s hand.
“I won’t be around for a few days, baby girl. I’ve been talking to the family, and I’m going to be changed into a tiger today.” He thought about how much pain he was going to be in at first and decided not to mention that to her. “I should be going anyway. Thomas and I have an outing this afternoon. He’s going to show this old man how to work on the computer a little. He’s a good kid. All of them are.”
As he made his way out of the building by the back end, he was struck by how the place was so quiet. Heath knew that all hospitals strived for a level of quietness, but this was more than that. Not a whisper of shoes on the floor when they walked around. No one talking on the phone. It occurred to him that there hadn’t been a phone in Sissy’s room. No television either that he’d seen. The nurse at the desk made no bones about the fact that she was carrying too. Her weapon was laying right there beside her as she watched the monitors in front of her. They were all friendly to him. But he had no doubt that if it was necessary, they’d blow his head off without a second’s hesitation.
When the elevator opened, Heath screamed when Jonas came out in front of him.
“I’m sorry, Heath. Are you all right?” He said he’d been thinking, and it scared him a little. “I hope it wasn’t me. I just got off the phone with your banker, and I came by to tell you that all the money in your account has been moved to the one here in town. Also, Sissy’s things have been packed up and moved into the garage, as you asked.”
“Thank you. I don’t know what she’ll want done, but I don’t want to do anything that will upset her now.” Jonas rode down in the elevator with him to the lowest level. “I was going to ask you if you wanted to have lunch with me, but I don’t know how much I’d eat. I’m a tad on the nervous side if you want to know the truth of it.”
“I think I would be too. But you’re going to be all right, during and after. Dawson said he’d give you a little something to calm you down before we start, so that should help you a great deal.” They’d told him that, of course, but he was happy to hear they’d not forgotten. “Also, the kids know, and they’re having a little party for you before you leave. I think they need it more than you will. They’re nervous too, thinking about how much they’ll miss you.”
“I’ve never been a grandda before, but I have to tell you, I think I got the best of the crop with them. That Sarah, she just lights up my heart when she grins at me. And Bobby will just sit and hold my hand like we’ve been doing it for years.” Jonas told him they loved him. “They do. They tell me that too. Even Sarah is making the same sounds when they do.”
“The other day, they asked me if they could call me Dad. I guess they’d already asked Brooke about calling her Mom, and she cried but tol
d them she’d be honored. I tried my best to be a man about it and not cry, but when I said yes, they hugged me tightly, and that was all it took.” Heath nodded and laughed a little. “All right. Our house for cake and ice cream, then off to Thatcher’s. You ready for this?”
“I do believe I am. I don’t have to tell you to keep an eye on my growing family, but I’m going to do it anyway. You make sure you keep them all safe as you can.” Jonas nodded and drove the two of them to his house. “I never would have dreamed this had someone asked me what the future would have coming for me. I have four grandchildren, a great son-in-law, as well as a new start on life. I couldn’t be happier right now.”
“You remember that when you wake up on the other side of this. Being a tiger will take a lot out of you when you first start out. I know you’ve been talking to the others about it. Take their advice and do what they tell you, and you’ll be just fine.” He said he would. “All right. It’s a surprise party, so you should act like it, please. They’ve worked hard on this.”
“I will.”
When he opened the door to the house, he nearly burst into tears. The big banner across the front hall was something he knew he’d keep for the rest of his life. “Have fun, Grandpa Morgan.”
Hugging the kids, he was glad he’d been forewarned about this. He was also glad to see that Brooke was taking pictures of it all that he’d put into an album to look at later. Glad more daily that he’d met this family, Heath enjoyed his afternoon a great deal and was glad for the distraction.
Kissing them all, he made his way to the kitchen where Brooke was with Jonas. They had always been good about that, giving him as much time as he needed or wanted alone with the children. Hugging them both, he walked over to Thatcher’s home with Jonas and got ready to change his life. He only hoped nothing went wrong and he’d be in worse shape—
“Don’t think like that.” He looked at Rogen, who looked in pain. “I don’t know what you’re thinking, but by the look on your face, I’d say you should never play poker. By the way, I’m going to the hospital to get this kid out, so Thatch is going to take over. You’ll be in great hands, so don’t let the change bother you either. All right?”
“You’re in labor? Now?” She nodded and grabbed the doorway she was standing in and breathed through the contraction. “My goodness, child. We can put this off to some other time. They’ll all want to be there for you.”
“If they knew. But until the baby is in my arms, I’m not telling anyone. I don’t need the added pressure. Thatch only thinks that Thatcher has to go into work. The only other person besides you that knows is Dawson. You’re in good hands.” Thatcher picked his wife up in his arms and winked at him. “See, we’re all in good hands right now.”
As they were pulling out of the driveway, Heath shook his head. While they were the greatest family he was happy to be attached to, they were by far the strangest. Going into the room that had been set up for the change, he was quickly laid on the bed and strapped down.
“So you don’t hurt yourself or one of our tigers.” He nodded. Dawson gave him an injection, and it started working almost immediately. “You’re going to be just fine, Heath. Just let it go to work, and you’ll be up and around in no time.”
After a few more minutes, he was letting sleep take him. His last thought was that he hoped the family had a healthy baby, and he let himself be pulled under.
~*~
“According to the things we found in the house, not only was Westing responsible for the death of Cindy James, but he’d done the killing himself. After a couple of days of beating her to near death, they then took her out into the field where she was found and let the animals have at her. That’s the reason for the mutilation on her.” Jonas nodded and leaned back in his chair. Allie had all the information he’d need if he wanted it, but he didn’t think looking at pictures of what they’d done to the other woman would help him in his sorrow and regret. “Her family has been notified. They’ve also been given some money to tide them over until they can get back to life. Not that I think they will. Her parents aren’t all that much better than Benny’s family.”
“She told me that. I’d like to make sure she has a nice burial spot, as well as a marker.” Allie told him it had been taken care of. “Thank you for that. I’m assuming when you say that you’d rather I didn’t get involved with any of this.”
“I’d rather you didn’t. If they even get a hint that a Robinson is part of this, they’ll hound you to death. Not just for more money, but they’ll try to get whatever they can out of you. Leave it to rest, and let them do whatever it is they do to grieve.” He nodded. “Jonas, you and Brooke haven’t bonded yet. I know you’ve been really busy with all the things going on, but you know she’ll be stronger once she is your true mate.”
“I know. The other night I’d gotten champagne and roses for her, and one of the kids had a nightmare. It happens less and less now, but they had been so worked up about their grandda having this done that they got themselves in a tizzy. Hailey usually is the one that comforts them when they have one, but it was her this time, and I think the others were at a loss on how to take care of her.” Allie told him she could see that. “Is Rogen in labor?”
“Yes. But no one is to know anything about it. She’s afraid they’ll fuss at her. That’s what she said too, fuss at her. So I went out and ordered seven dozen balloons for her, as well as the biggest teddy bear I could find. What do you have planned? Something epic, I’m betting.”
“You’re not as afraid of her as I think you should be. I’m terrified, so I went low-key.” She laughed. “I got her just one dozen balloons, as well as a dozen roses. Also, Brooke got her a basket of things for the baby. Can you believe that for as organized as she is, they’d not put one piece of furniture together yet? What the hell was that all about?”
“She was afraid if she did that, then something would happen to her and the baby. I never realized it until Thatcher told me. And he’s afraid of her too.” They both laughed. “What is it you want to do with the things we found in Westing’s home? Rogen told me it was up to you to sort it out. I would turn it over to the Feds. I can even make that happen for you so that they’d never connect it to us. But there is a great deal of money there, as well as other shit the moron collected.”
“Like what?” She handed him a list of things that were in the house. “He was a collector, I guess. What the hell do you suppose he thought that owning a jacket from a singer that died in the seventies was going to do for him?” He handed her back the list as she told him what things were worth. “Okay, I guess he might have been smart about it. I haven’t any idea what to think about the house. Is there any use we can find for it? I don’t know, donate it to the city for something?”
“Good idea. I think that making it into a gallery for up-and-coming artists is something we were playing around with before this came up. We could turn it into that, I think.” He thought that was an excellent idea. “It has three floors. Maybe we can have a place for kids to come and work on things too. An after-school thing. That would burn his nuts, wouldn’t it? To know that children were safe and sound in his home when they weren’t when he was alive.”
“Yes. I’d like to, if no one objects, name it for Cindy in a way that won’t bring her family here.” She said she’d think on that. “All right. What else do you have for me? I’m sure when you asked me to come here, it wasn’t to slam me about my sex life.”
“I’ve already spoken to Brooke, who I love, by the way, and she said I could tell you too. Mr. Roads, the man that has been calling around for her, is in jail pending trial. He actually used her photo without the markings in a couple of his advertising shots. We think it was a way to get her out in the open when she complained. Whatever his reasons, he’s not going to be causing her any trouble from now on. I guess he was going to claim she was a spy, not him like we had thought. Moron.” He nodde
d and asked what had happened. “They were poorly done. It looked as if someone had taken a photo of the photo on a computer and tried to white out the imprint on them. Dumbest and tackiest thing I’ve ever seen. Then when his computers crashed—she really had embedded her photos with a program to do that—he tried to take her to his offices to fix it. Needless to say, they didn’t get far. Brooke had him on the ground in seconds, and the police were all over him in less time than that.”
“That must have been what she wanted to talk to me about. I was working with her dad when she contacted me. I’m glad to know she can handle herself, aren’t you?” Allie leaned back in the office chair when he sat up. “I need to ask you a favor. I know you can do it, but I need to make sure you want to. The boys want to learn how to defend themselves. Mostly they want to be able to defend their sisters from bullies, but I don’t care. I could do it, but I’m worried I’ll either be too rough or not rough enough.”
“I’d love to do that for them. Also, they should know how to handle a gun. Not that they’ll be armed with one, but they should know how to use one and the dangers involved in having one in their hands. Hailey too, if she’s willing.” Jonas said she wanted it more than the boys did. “Good for her. See? We’re good role models for the little girls of this family. You should also have Heath take a couple of classes. It would do him a world of good to know that while his tiger can save him, there are other ways to resolve issues too. I don’t think it’ll come to that for him, but it would be good that he knew.”
“I agree.” She asked how he’d done. “Great. The medications he was given made him be in very little pain, and I think he’ll be better about this when it’s finished too. Dawson said he’d not had too much longer to live. The cancer was starting to eat away at his stomach as well. I’m very glad we were able to do this without any trouble.”
Jonas: Robinson Destruction – Paranormal Tiger Shifter Romance Page 8