Carroll: Morgan’s Leap – Leopards Shapeshifter Romance

by Kathi S. Barton

  “I’m a great deal older than I look and have had plenty of practice.” She didn’t ask him but knew somehow that he wasn’t lying to her about being older. He had an art about him that told anyone speaking to him that he didn’t let things ruffle his feathers anymore. That would only happen with age.

  Making her way across the street to the courthouse again, she wondered what it would be like to have a normal life. People had been telling her for years that her upbringing had made her what she was. Allison no more believed that than she did most things people said to her. Sitting in one of the chairs that had been reserved for witnesses, she was disappointed to see that Marley wasn’t there. She wouldn’t have been either if she didn’t have to be.

  However, just as the courtroom was being called to order, he came in and sat in one of the few vacant chairs. It was scary to her that she felt safe with him there. Some kind of non-human vibe, she thought and concentrated on the things she had to say in the next pretrial.

  ~*~

  Hanna was next in line to be searched to enter the station. After signing her name to the form she was handed, she waited to hand the clipboard and paperwork to the man in charge of visitors. She had also brought a few things in that Blanche had asked for and hoped that all of it was going to make it to the other woman. Handing off the clipboard, the man stopped running the wand over her and looked at the paperwork again.

  “Miss, you’re going to have to see the warden.” She told him she would do that, and he nodded to the cop on the other side of the room. “I’m assuming that something is wrong. Do I need to call my husband or anything?”

  “No, ma’am. I think you’re going to be just fine.” She was taken to a smaller room than she’d been in previously and asked to have a seat. The warden, his name was Jason Block, came in, telling her how sorry he was that she’d had to wait.

  “I’m fine. What’s happened?” He nodded and told her why she’d been brought in here. “I see. Why wasn’t anyone called to be told that Blanche died in her sleep last night? I mean, I’m the person that should have been called. I’m on the list.”

  “Truth be told, Mrs. Golden, we didn’t know until she didn’t show up for breakfast. She’s not doing any hard time right now, and the fact that she wasn’t down for breakfast didn’t raise any alarms. She’s been skipping meals since she’s been here. But when someone went to get her about your visiting today, that’s when she was found.”

  “Is there going to be an inquiry about her death?” He asked her if she thought there had been foul play. “No. But I’m talking to Rachel’s family right now, and if they ask me, I want to have answers. It matters little to me. I’m assuming she didn’t call out or anything.”

  “Not a peep from her since the first time you came to see her. I mean, it’s only the second time you’ve been here, but after that first one, she seemed to settle down and figure out her lot in life.” She nodded, knowing it had been hard on the other woman thinking about her lack of family close by and not being able to talk to her daughter. Despite Blanche saying her daughter didn’t want to see her, Hanna figured it was just her saying that in the event she did say she wasn’t going to come. “I was notified by the funeral home that things have been arranged for her. She’s going to go straight to the funeral home from here, then laid to rest next to her sister, I’m guessing.”

  “Yes, that’s what she wanted.” Hanna thought about the other things she and Blanche had spoken about. “She made out a will yesterday, I think. Did that get filed? I don’t know what she told the attorney she used, but I’d like to make sure that if she had wishes, they are going to be met.”

  “It’s been filed. She asked me the same thing yesterday. Saying that while she didn’t have much, she’d like to think someone took the time to figure out what she wanted to be done with it.” Thanking him, she also asked him what happened now. “Nothing. I mean, there might still be a trial, but I don’t know that. Since she made arrangements for her demise, there will be no more we can do for her from here. You did a good thing with her, Mrs. Golden. Without you, I don’t think she would have had such an easy time of it.”

  “She needed to talk, and I was there to listen, that’s all. I was here to tell her that her sister-in-law had passed away, and she asked me to help her out.” He nodded, but she could tell he didn’t think that was the extent of her helping. Hanna didn’t care. She was finished here and made her way to the front to go home. The officer that had taken her to the warden stopped her, giving her the things she’d brought here for Blanche. “You guys should just keep it all. I’ve been stress baking for three days, and my husband is finally not sneaking cookies out of the kitchen to his office. Do what you want with the other things. Perhaps give them to someone that needs a toothbrush and other personal items.”

  “Thank you, miss. We’ll do that.” He opened the tin of cookies and took out one. “Just in case we have to turn it over to the boss. I’d like to know what a real cookie tastes like.”

  Hanna was still smiling about that as she made her way to the car. Contacting Marley, who was still with the others, she told him what she’d just found out. He said the others could contact Blanche’s daughter, and he’d make sure they knew it. Then he asked her about wills.

  I know that Blanche mentioned her daughter, Meredith, in hers. Why, I don’t know, but she did. The other one, I can find out for you if you give me a second. She reached out beyond where she was sitting to the attorney she knew was in charge of the reading of the will for Rachel. Yes, both her children are mentioned in the will. The attorney is sending out paperwork to notify them now. Also, you should tell them that while there wasn’t much in the way of cash, there was an insurance policy that had been taken out for her when she’d been nothing more than a child. Her parents did it when she was born. The attorney doesn’t have any idea how much it’s worth, as he’s not putting in any effort to get this thing finished up. He’s a lazy fuck, and I hope one of them takes him to the cleaners when they get here.

  Marley was still laughing when he told her he’d get back with her later. He was going to have dinner with the Mission family tonight, and he’d been looking forward to it. She told him if he were there, she’d invite him to dinner, and he told her she was spoken for. The ladies tonight, more than one of them, including Meredith, wasn’t. He wondered if this is what some people would call robbing the cradle.

  I can always dump him for you, if you’d like. They were both joking, and it was fun. But she knew that none of them would ever do such a thing to their brother. She wouldn’t either. But it was fun to embarrass them when she could.

  Carroll would murder me if I even joked to him about that. Anyway, I’ll let you know what I hear later. After tonight, however, I’m coming home. I’ve got stuff waiting on me, and it’s not getting even close to being finished up while I hang out with pretty women. She told him he’d be just fine. Yes, I know that, but I like to keep busy. You can only walk around this town so many times and know everything there is to know about it. Some of the people too. Nah, I want to come home and sleep in my own small, lonely bed.

  After telling him to have fun, she drove herself home. Carroll was out of town this afternoon, and she had a long list of shit she had to do. One of them was cleaning out the apartment she’d had when working. That, she knew, was going to take up a lot of her time. If she wasn’t so sure she had things there that she’d want, she’d just have a crew go in and donate it all. Carroll even suggested that they go ahead and hire a crew to go in and get it all, bring it here, and she could go through it at her own pace. She knew what that would mean for her—she’d never do it, putting it off in order to spend time with him.

  Pulling into the drive not long later, she wondered what it would be like to have so much money that things like too much furniture didn’t matter. Wait, she told herself, she did have that now. Picking up her cell phone, she called Morgan. Asking if she a
nd Venetia wanted to have lunch with her, they said yes. Pulling out of the drive again, she scolded herself.

  “Nothing is getting done, you know that, don’t you?”

  But she didn’t care right now. Someone was going to make her laugh, and she needed that. Too much had been going on around here lately that made her wish she didn’t have any way to contact the outside world. At least she’d have her little bit of world with her family. Hanna knew that was all she needed anyway. If she couldn’t go to Carroll for some hugs, she’d get them from Morgan. She was beginning to really like the other woman. A great deal more than she thought she might.

  Morgan hugged her as soon as they met up at the restaurant. Venetia did as well, and Hanna felt so much better. When they were seated, each of them ordering a glass of tea, she told them what she’d found out, also about the reading of the wills. Hanna asked Morgan if she was going to be all right with there not being a trial.

  “Yes, of course. She missed, for which I’m grateful, and that’s about all that matters anyway. There will be a little more peace around town too, I believe, and that’s always a plus.” Hanna told her that was a good way to think about it. “I was thinking of something yesterday. Do you know that since you’ve been living on the property, I’ve been to town more than I ever had in the previous years? That says a lot for how much I like you, Hanna. You’re good for me, I think.”

  “I was thinking the same thing about the two of you. How much I’m enjoying being around the two of you.” Venetia told her how she’d found out she had a sister and let her think it was the police that had found her, not them using magic. The sister, four years older than Venetia, might be able to shed some light on what had happened the night Venetia was kidnapped. “Her name is Zephyrine. I wonder where my parents came up with our names. Not that it matters. I’m just excited to be able to meet her. I wonder why she never thought to contact me.”

  “We’ll find out soon enough. She’s coming to town the day after tomorrow. She’s been at a school for something I can’t remember now, but that time will pass quickly.” They all knew what sort of school Zephyrine was in. Wicca. The girl was a witch, the same as her parents had been. Hanna also wondered if she knew where their parents were. She had a feeling that not only did she know, but that she had close contact with them.

  Time would tell. With all these women coming here for one thing or another, she wondered if any of them would be mates to her brothers-in-law. Hanna hoped so. She wanted them all to be as happy and having as much fun as she and Carroll were having. Life for her was pretty damned good right now.

  Chapter 9

  The gems and other pieces that had been dug out of the ground were worth a great deal more than any of them had thought. Once Carroll had laid them out in front of his mom’s friend, he had told him he needed to have someone with him at all times that could guard them and him. Asking him why he was surprised by the answer.

  “This is well over several million dollars’ worth of uncut jewels, Carroll. And I’m only counting the emeralds. There are sapphires here, as well as some really nice-sized chunks of gold nuggets. The diamonds are very nice. However, like everything else in the bag, they need to be cleaned up to see what exactly you’re going to be working with. I can’t believe you’re carrying them around in a zippy bag.” He asked him if he’d take on a man for a zippy bag. “I guess you’re right. I’d not take you on at all if I was looking to rob someone. Your mother never told me what a big man you were.”

  Since he wasn’t sure how to take that, Carroll asked him about the other items he’d brought with him. Things he’d not known were a part of the dig. To him, they looked like any kind of arrowheads he’d seen in magazines for kids to purchase. However, Doctor Sams said they were authentic.

  “I don’t know what you mean by that.” He told him they were very old and were more than likely as old as he was. “Really? Sheesh. I had no idea. Mom just put them in the bag to see what you could tell her about them. She said to tell you if you wanted any of them, you were to take what you wanted in return for helping us.”

  “I might just do that, one or two of them. They’ll make a nice addition to my collection.” While he didn’t take any of them then, Carroll could see that he really wanted them all. He’d have to talk to his mom about it after he got an accounting of what he had. “The opals are worth about what I’d think they would be. They’ll need someone to polish them up that wants to do it. I’d not let anyone take them all for less than four million on them. There are quite a few of those. The emeralds are large and could be cut down to any size and still be impressive. Those…well, I’m not saying you should hold out for this much, but I’d say at least the four million I said earlier. The gold, about eighteen hundred dollars an ounce. And even if you took out the other minerals surrounding them, you still have about two pounds of it.”

  Quickly adding in his head, he could understand why Doctor Sams had been surprised by his method of carrying them around. He told him the other gems, while very nice and worth a great deal, still needed to be cleaned up to make a better impression on someone.

  “How would I go about selling them off?” Doctor Sams asked him if he wanted to sell them as a lot or individually. “Whatever gives us the most money. My brother is going to use this to open up a secondhand store for appliances. Mom thought it would go a long way to getting him well stocked up.”

  “I’m thinking he could open himself a new appliance store and not even have to worry about income for a while. Yes, I’d sell them as pieces. That way, you’ll get people wanting individual pieces to use rather than the entire lot.” Carroll asked him who he would recommend. “I’d say go to an auction house that specializes in this sort of sale. A bigger name place is going to bring in the heavy buyers.”

  He’d taken notes, thankfully, or he was sure he’d not remember everything he’d been told and advised on. Just to think there was more than enough money in the gems to give each person in town a new washer and dryer, with money left over, made his head spin. It was just things that were dug up from the ground, he told himself. He wondered what other treasures they’d find if they were to do the same thing. Having protection on that part of the land was more important now than it had been before. Christ, he wasn’t going to leave the place if he didn’t get someone there to watch over it.

  Mom, of course, was happy. Not only did she think Sams was right, but she was happy he’d suggested they do this without anyone knowing who they were. She told him to set up whatever they needed to get it started and that she’d help if he needed her.

  After working with the auction house Sams had mentioned, he had it all set up for two weeks from today. They could have had it within the next few days, but the place wanted to advertise it heavily, as uncut gems didn’t come around all that often. He and Hanna were going to travel to the area they’d been found in to see what else they could figure out. There had to be more than just the items they’d gotten. Besides, he thought it might be fun to be out in the open with her for a few hours.

  Carroll worked on the lists he had on the flight home. There wasn’t really much for him to do with the gems, so he worked on other things to keep his mind off what was going on around the rest of the town. They’d found out that two homes were going to be auctioned off, and his mom wanted him to be there to get the land. Not because she wanted the dirt, she’d told him, but they could use the houses for the visitors they were having come in. The women, she meant.

  I’ve heard from Butch and Allison. They’re both coming here, together with Tony. I think they’re going to be surprised about how much no one cares what they do in their own home. It’ll be nice having so many around the table. Don’t you think? He told her what he thought about one of them being a mate to the brothers. Could be, but I’m not going to think about it. They’re coming here and seeing what sort of shit their mother left, and I’m all right with that. Even Meredith
is going to come around. I think all of them were going to come anyway, but having their mothers gone made it an easier decision for them. I know it would have me.

  We should have a hoe down. She asked him what century he was from and then laughed as hard as he’d ever heard her. Having others around for her seemed to be making her not just happy, but he would bet healthier as well. Roast one of the pigs or something like that. Have some tables spread out, as well as a few blankets. We still have all that firework stuff we had from years ago. Perhaps we can shoot them off as well. Have some real fun.

  I like that idea. It’s been a very long time since we’ve had any kind of community fun. I was just telling Hanna how much more I’m going into town lately. I didn’t know it was beginning to look like one of those poverty ridden towns. Someone should have said something, don’t you think? He didn’t tell her they were afraid of her, but she seemed to understand. I guess I could have been a little more outgoing. But I am now, and I plan on making some sort of difference if I can.

  They talked all the way back home. He was glad for the company, he told her when she mentioned she’d been talking his arm off. She had made the trip seem less long. Telling her he loved her, Carroll concentrated on what he was doing again. Things, he thought, were going much smoother since he’d been taking notes rather than just trying to remember everything.

  By the time he landed, he had most of what he’d been working on finished up. Hanna was at the airport to pick him up, and he was glad she didn’t mind being kissed like he meant it. When they were leaving, he told her about his plans of going to the dig site, and she told him that was good. She’d wanted to go there anyway.

  “I’ve spoken to Venetia about her sister. Zephyrine is going to come here and meet with her. I don’t know what kind of person she is. She’s blocking her mind well enough that I can’t get in without hurting her. Since I don’t want to do that, I’ll have to find out about her the boring way and ask her.” He laughed at her pout. “Also, I’ve asked for a crew of faeries and trolls to watch over the entrance points to where the digging was being done. I don’t think we’ll have any trouble, but I don’t want to take a chance on it.”