Dean: Marshall’s Shadow – Jaguar Shapeshifter Romance (Marshall's Shadow Book 2)

by Kathi S. Barton

  The line went dead. Laying his phone down on the desk, he watched Bella. She was a quiet thinker, unlike Harris was. Harris would toss out a few dozen ideas before she got around to telling them her true thoughts on something. Bella thought things out in her own way, and when she did have an answer, it would work. No matter what it was about.

  “He did it. He killed that woman. I mean, he might as well have admitted it the way he clamped down when you asked him about it.” Dean was careful of what he said to her about this and simply nodded. “Hunter murdered that poor woman because she was going to have his baby. I’m sure it was that simple, too, don’t you?”

  “I don’t know him well enough to make a statement like that. But I do think that if you believe it, then I should as well.” She nodded as she stood up and began pacing the room. “What do you know about this other woman? I think Dana something was her name, right?”

  “Dana Morrison. I don’t know a lot more about her than what Harris told us the other day. That her DNA might be on the chipper according to the men that work for her. And that she and four other people were missing from Fletcher’s.” She looked at him. “Dean, do you think my dad knows about that?”

  “I don’t see any reason to believe that he did. Your dad would have mentioned it before now when he was talking to us. Even if he suspected Hunter of doing it, he would have mentioned it for you to keep out of his way. Don’t you think?” Bella said that she thought that as well. “Good. I have Harris looking into your dad’s past to figure out about the raping of that girl. It might only be something that he remembered from a book or a movie, but it scared him a great deal.”

  “Thank you for not telling Dad that he shot you. I think that would have been upsetting to him, don’t you?” Dean told her that’s why he didn’t mention it. “We’re to have dinner with your family tomorrow night, did you know that?”

  “Grandda told me. He suggested that we have it here just so we can keep an eye on the house. I’ve not told anyone but my family about us living here yet.” Bella said that she thought it was a good idea to tell them then. “All right. I’ll contact Shep and let him know about dinner plans. The rest of them too. Grandda asked if we’d have him a little room set up so that he could stay here to visit. He was talking like we were going to shove him in a drawer in a back room or something.”

  “I think we can do better than that.” She turned to him, smiling. “You’ve never really gotten to see this house. It’s really beautiful. It’s nothing like it looked like when I lived here. Dad has had it remodeled several times over the years. The kitchen here was the last thing he did, and that was just this past summer. Are you sure you don’t mind staying here with Dad?”

  “You make it worth my while, love, and I’ll stay anywhere with you. Including out in the back yard.” She was laughing when he took her to his body. “We’ll need to have some of our things brought over here. Clothing and such. Also, we need to have a guard in the guardhouse at the gates. You know that Hunter will think that he can continue living here as he did before. I think he needs to be made aware of the changes as soon as possible.”

  “I did it just a little while ago when I heard you laughing. The guard is one that Harris put there, and a courier is looking for Hunter to let him know he needs other living arrangements from today on. I gave him a prepaid card so he could find him a place. I’m sure that he’ll pick the most expensive place to stay and use it all up on one night. He’s stupid like that.”

  He was, Dean thought. Maybe even stupider than anyone thought. But he was also smart. Smart enough to have been able to dispose of five or more bodies without anyone being the wiser. And right under the noses of those that worked for him. Dean had a thought. He wondered if some of the people that had worked for him would know what was going on. It was worth looking into.

  They wandered through the house, not really in any kind of order. The three story house was beautiful and well maintained. He loved the screened in porch with the hot tub off the master bedroom. Dean wondered, however, if it was a good idea to have Fletcher sleeping where there was a ready exit for him to get out of the house.

  She showed him her room when she’d been living there. It didn’t look like a little girl’s room now. It had been repapered and new furniture put in it several years ago, Bella told him. There were three other bedrooms on the second level—none of them were Hunter’s, it seemed.

  “I guess he’s been living on the upper floor. It’s a single bedroom up there with a large double closet, an office, as well as a media room. At least it was like that when I was here. I’m sure that he’s changed it to suit himself by now.” When they climbed the steps to the floor, there was not only a padlock on the door but a sign that said enter at your own risk. “I guess we’ll have to find some clippers to take it off.”

  “Not necessarily.” Dean asked her to stand back, just in case something was rigged, then got down on his knees and twisted hard on the lock. Still sitting on the floor, he pushed the door open and whistled. “Christ, Bella, we need to get the police here now.”

  Chapter 6

  Hunter didn’t have any idea what to do about the chipper. Or if they could attach anything that they found on it to him. There was still blood all over the sucker. He’d been thinking about going there and getting it cleaned up for a few days now, but there was always something in the way of his plans. Mostly his idiot sister coming into the picture. Why now?

  There wasn’t an answer to that any more than there was to the million and one other questions that he had rumbling around in his mind. Like who was this Dean person? Why did he think that he was married to Bella? Well, that was easy enough, he supposed. Because he’d married her. But why him? And why her?

  His mind kept coming back to the chipper. Who would have told anyone about him using it? He’d been really careful to only use it when people were gone for the day. Usually, until this last time, he was also very good about running water over the blood and stuff when he was finished, even going so far as to make sure that the mess that he left behind on the ground was taken care of. He’d been making sure that it all landed in a pile of wood that was behind the building that he stored things in.

  Hunter didn’t know why, but he had a feeling that Dean had something to do with this. He’d somehow turned his sister against him. And he had been so careful about her not having contact with Dad, even going to far as to make sure that they didn’t like each other so they couldn’t compare notes too.

  “Damn it.”

  Hunter decided that he needed to go see his dad. When they weren’t there. He would get into his room, talk to him for a little while, and have Dad tell them that he wanted his equipment back.

  He was not sure what to do about the Feds. Hunter figured that if they knew it was his stuff, they’d have to back off. Laughing to himself as he made his way to the hospital, he wished as a kid he’d watched more of those police programs that Dad was forever watching. It might have helped him out a time or two as he became a killer.

  Dana. She’d been so stupid in getting herself knocked up. Didn’t women always take care of that sort of thing? He did lie to her and tell her that he was sterile. That didn’t mean, however, that she shouldn’t have been careful on her end as well. Women. He surely didn’t care for them other than sex when he wanted it.

  Walking along the front of the hospital, he realized that he had no idea what sort of vehicle Bella drove. The man, he figured, would be driving a large truck like his brother—that was another thing. The fucking insurance company. Where did they get off simply saying that Mr. Marshall was a good client? He might well have been too had they cut him some slack a few times when he was younger. Every kid messed up when they were a first time driver, didn’t they?

  Going inside, he found himself at the elevator when he realized that he needed a card. This was just stupid. Everyone had to have something special that no on
e else gave two shits about. Standing in line to get his pass, he was glad to see that Nurse Ann wasn’t working. That woman was a ball buster. He stood in front of the nurse there and smiled.

  “I need a pass to get onto the fourth floor to see my father. His name is Fletcher Booth.” The woman asked him, politely he thought, if he’d wait just one moment. He was impressed at how quickly her finger ran across the keys of her keyboard. “I think he’s in room four sixty-four.”

  “No, he’s in room four sixty-three. I’ll need your name.” He told her his full name so that she’d remember him the next time. It was, he thought, a very impressive name. “Mr. Marshall, I’m not allowed to give you a pass.”

  “If it has to do with the other pass, the guard took it from me when I left. I didn’t think that I’d have to turn it back in.” She was shaking her head. “Then, I don’t understand. Why can’t I go see my own father?”

  “You’ve been barred from visiting him. If you want any more information than that, you’ll have to contact his attorney. Mr. West has left his phone number for you—”

  “I don’t want to call an attorney. I want to see my father. Just give me the pass, and I’ll call him when I’m finished visiting.” She was telling him no, she couldn’t do that. “This is fucking bullshit. Just hand it over before I have to call the police.”

  “They’re on their way now.” That did not sound good, no matter if it was just for seeing his dad or not. If they took him in, he was sure that they’d want to talk to him about the chipper. He turned to leave. “It won’t matter if you’re here or not, they’re going to find you. You’re not a nice man, you know.”

  Hunter started to jog a little to get himself out of the building. He had a feeling that if they trapped him inside here, he was as good as caught. At least out in the open, Hunter figured he had a better chance of hiding from them. Christ, what the fuck was wrong with the world when a son couldn’t see his dad?

  He saw the cruisers, six of them, pull up just as he exited the building. Moving between cars wasn’t enough, but it certainly gave him a head start on getting away. Hunter decided that his best course of action was to head in one direction and stick to the plan. Picking out a point that he wanted to get to, he headed to the van in the parking lot that would give him enough cover that he could hide.

  It seemed to be working till he came around his second point, and an officer was standing there all alone at the door. He didn’t know which of them were more surprised—the cop, who didn’t even look to be ten years old to him, or Hunter, who was already drawing his gun when the man reached for his.

  Hunter knew better than to kill a cop. Not only would they not be so gentle with him if they were to find him, but they’d also have every cop, every sniffing dog and animal they used out hunting for him. Instead of killing him, as he really wanted to do, he shot the kid in the right side of his chest.

  Smiling to himself, he was glad that he remembered the Pledge of Allegiance that he’d been taught in grade school all those years ago and how he’d had to put his hand over his heart to say it. He’d read someplace recently that they didn’t require kids to do that anymore. Which, if someone thought about it, they’d say in his case, it was a brilliant move. By teaching it to him, he’d been able to save a cops life by knowing where not to shoot him.

  By the time he left the parking lot of the hospital, Hunter was feeling pretty good about himself. If not, however, for all the cops running around. Hunter supposed that the gun going off had alerted them that something was up. He did wish that he’d gotten the phone number of that West person, if only to figure out why he’d been barred from seeing Dad.

  Without money, he’d been unable to get himself anything to eat. He did have a credit card, one that belonged to Fletcher Lawns, but he was a little afraid to use it. That much he did know. Using a card could get your ass traced, and he wasn’t ready for that right now, if ever.

  It was nearing seven when he decided that he’d had enough fun for one day. Hunter wasn’t sure that the cops wouldn’t be at the house waiting for him, but he’d figure that out when he got there. If they were there when he got home, he’d simply slip into one of the other places that he’d carved out for himself if he were to ever be locked out of the house for some reason. As he was walking by the front gatehouse, relieved to finally be home, he was stopped by a monstrously large man who asked him who he was.

  “Fuck off, buddy. I live here. My dad is in the hospital. My name is Hunter Booth, and I’m going to bed.” As he started to step around the man, he stepped in front of him again. “Look. Do you want me to kick your ass? I’m at that point where I think you’d regret it if I did.”

  The man laughed. Once he had a minute to think about it, he could see where the man might think it was funny that Hunter had said he was going to knock him around. He had to weigh at least a hundred more pounds than he did. None of it fat.

  “Look. I’m exhausted, hungry, and didn’t get to talk to my dad today. Just let me go by— Hang on. Who hired you to be here? My dad certainly wouldn’t have.” He told him that Bella had. “Bella? She doesn’t live here. Why the hell would she get any say in who is working here? None, I’ll tell you. Not one thing does she have rights to when it comes to this house. It’s going to be mine when my dad finally kicks the bucket. She will have to find someplace else if she thinks I’m going to just give it over to her.”

  “She and her husband, Dean, are living here, and I’m to keep the riff raff out of here. That, in case you didn’t understand, would be you.” Another car pulled in behind him, but Hunter refused to move until this was straightened out. “Move, or I will move you.”

  “I am going up to the house. Whatever power trip you’re currently on will have to be taken up with Bella. Or my attorney.” The man said that he didn’t have an attorney. “And how the hell do you know what I have or not?”

  “I know a great deal about you, Hunter. A lot more than I bet you even know about yourself. I was told that if you came here, gave me any shit, I was allowed to shoot you. I was also told that shooting you in the head wouldn’t do much, as my boss doesn’t think you have a brain up there. She seems to think it’s in your ass.” He asked if Bella had said that. “No. Bella is my report to. My boss is someone else.”

  “A woman.” The man nodded, then picked him up by his shoulders like he didn’t weigh a thing and set him on the ground again. This time he was in front of the guardhouse, not beside it. The car that pulled in stopped where they both were. “You take your orders from a woman. Why? What does she have over you? Or is it because she’s a good lay?”

  The punch to his face felt like the man had turned his entire face inside out, like his nose was now on the back of his head with his eyes and mouth. Falling to the ground wasn’t just because of the hit, but because, for some reason, Hunter’s legs seemed to be attached to his face and had felt the pain too.

  “Mr. Hunter Booth?” Hunter wasn’t sure that he answered the second man or not. Or were there four of them? His eyes were still working to come to the front of his head. When something was shoved into his chest, he had no choice but to take it. “You’ve been served. There is no reason to sign anything. I have a witness here in Mr. Bear, and it’s been recorded. There is a camera on my chest, as well as one pointed at you from the guard shack. You have a wonderful day.”

  “Is he fucking kidding? Have a wonderful day?” The guard, Mr. Bear, helped him to stand up. Actually, what he’d done was pull him up from the ground hard enough that Hunter was airborne for a few seconds. “What the hell do you eat? Cars? What’s this?”

  “How the hell should I know? It doesn’t have my name on it, and no one shoved it at me. Open it and find out, moron.” There was so much hostility around nowadays that he didn’t understand it. Opening the paperwork, he was standing there reading what it said when another car pulled into the drive. “Go on through, Mr. Marshall. H
ave a good night.”

  “This says that I’m no longer welcome in my family home. And that I can’t get into any of the properties that belong to Marshall and all, nor those of Booth and all. What does that mean?” Mr. Bear, who he was beginning to think was a shifter bear, didn’t even bother answering him. “Do you have a phone I can borrow?”

  “No. Even if I had one, you’d not be touching it. You’re a fucking bastard, and I want nothing to do with you. Move on, or I’ll move you on.” Hunter just stared at him. Who said shit like that? “Did you hear me?”

  “I did. I don’t understand it, but I’m leaving. I have to find someplace to call a Mr. Ricky West. I don’t suppose you know him either, do you?” Bear waved a second car through while he was standing there. “What the hell is going on up there? No, don’t tell me. You don’t fucking know. What do you know? Anything?”

  “I know that I’m going to kick your fucking ass if you don’t get out of my face right now.”

  Hunter started to ask him what was up his ass, but the man did one of those shifty things where he could see his bear for several seconds, and it scared him a little.

  He was nearly to town when he realized that he had a gun in his pocket, although he didn’t know if it would have worked on the bear. The man seemed like he wasn’t like other shifters. Not that Hunter had any silver in his gun. Slowing him down wouldn’t work—the bear had to be dead before Hunter would feel like he was safe.

  It took him nearly an hour to figure out a place to sleep for the night. The bigger places, the most expensive ones, were booked up for the night. One of them actually told him that he’d not be able to stay in their establishment without any luggage. That made absolutely no sense to him at all, but he moved on. When he finally found one, he was almost too exhausted to eat. However, the thought of a nice fat with meat pizza sounded like a slice of heaven.