Beckett: Robinson Destruction – Paranormal Tiger Shifter Romance

by Kathi S. Barton

  There’s someone out there. Thatcher told her it was just the wolves that ran the woods. No. It’s a human. I can see the outline of the person. They’re nearing the house that’s right along the path you came from. I can see the wolves too, but they’re not red like the man, I think it is. But they’re golden, like you three are.

  Thatcher stood on one side of her, Beck the other. It took what she considered too long to make them believe she was seeing what she was. Finally, aggravated that she had to convince them she was right, she took off at a run toward the person and ran him out of the woods into the yard they were in.

  See? Human. The man laid down, curling into the fetal position. The entire time he was there, he was saying he’d not meant to trespass, that he’d only been looking around. It wasn’t until she moved closer to him that she was able to see the man was armed. He has a gun, guys. I’ll get it before he figures out a gun is faster than we are.

  Holding it in her teeth, she put it on the deck. Both Thatcher and Beck were staring at her while their dad was laughing. It was an odd sound to hear a tiger laughing, and she went to stand over the man in the event that he got something stupid in his head.

  She got the two of you there. Nudging the man on the ground, she asked Thatch if he was able to help her. I surely can. But I think you can do whatever you set your head to. Leaping over railings like you’ve been doing it forever. Finding humans that have no business on our land. Not to mention him being here with a gun. I will help you, darling, but I tell you, you’ve made this old man feel so good. Thatch went from animal to man in seconds, picking up the gun she’d gotten and pointing it at the person still on the ground. “Now, how about you telling us what you’re doing snooping around with a gun in your hands.”

  Thatcher shifted too and spoke to the man while his dad held the gun on him. Beck came to stand by her, and she wondered if she was going to be in trouble. It was foolhardy of her to run after the man. He could well have shot her, and that would have been the end of her happiness.

  How did you see him? I don’t mean how, but what made it so you could see him? Even with knowing where to look, neither of us saw him until he started running. She said that he was red, brighter than the things around him. You saw his body heat then. Not the man himself.

  I guess not, now that you say it like that. He was glowing hot, I think is what you mean. Beck nodded and said that he couldn’t do that. Do you see in color then? I mean, the green of the grass and the tree trunk brown?

  Yes. I’m assuming you don’t. You see things by their heat signature or outline. She nodded at him, then said yes. I don’t think any of us can do that. That, my dear mate, is going to make you invaluable for searching things out when none of the rest of us can. I’m wondering what other things you got that the rest of us don’t have.

  Is that a bad thing? He explained to her that it was wonderful and that even Rogen had gotten things that none of them had. So each time someone is changed into a tiger, they get more…what is it called? Power?

  Magic.

  They both turned when they heard another voice. It was Rogen, and she didn’t look at all happy. She was telling the other two that she had called the police and that she didn’t have any more on him than just that he was going to be dead soon. Almost like she’d counted on it, the man started talking about why he was there.

  “I was looking for a woman.” Rogen told him there were plenty of other women around that he could have spoken to. “Not any woman. Her name is Rogen or something. She had my sister killed a few months ago. April. Bundy was her last name, and she was trying to make sure the world wasn’t full of shifters like you guys.”

  “April Bundy killed her husband, then herself. It was in all the papers how she’d murdered for no reason.” Rogen looked at the two of them, then back at the man as she continued. “She had tried to murder a nice family: twin little girls and a little boy. Not to mention their parents. Why on earth would you come here and think to avenge her when she’d nearly killed some very nice people?”

  “She wrote me a letter. In it, she told me there were too many monsters here to be taken care of alone and asked me if I’d gather my family up and come help. I was on my way when I heard she’d been murdered.” Rogen said suicide. “No. She’d never do that. I’ll never believe it. It was you monsters that made her have to kill them. Monsters are taking over the world.”

  The police arrived just as Allie and Beck went into the house to shift. She supposed they could have done it out there, but the man on the ground was agitated, and she thought his noodle had been played with enough.

  Allie had been briefed, they called it, on each of the circumstances that had brought them together. Rogen had nearly died while trying to save a family of five when Mrs. Bundy had taken on her crusade. Anna had been saved when Morgan had killed a man to save her life. Tru had been shot in the hospital taking out a target and had been a patient of Thatcher’s before Houston had met her. There wasn’t a nice meeting on the Internet or over a pizza among this family’s women. She did wonder how they’d describe her meeting Beck when another woman joined the group. Allie had no doubt either there would be at least two more to come around.

  Going back into the yard, no one mentioned that she’d seen him or how she’d seen him out there. Nor that she’d chased him into the yard for the others to see. Andrew, the chief, said he recommended putting out more patrols around the houses for a few days.

  “I don’t know if he acted alone or not, but there isn’t any reason to take a chance.” Thatcher agreed and said he’d take care of it. “Thank you. The world sure is full of the strangest notions anymore. Don’t you think?”

  “Yes. I have to agree with you on that one. We had some idiot out at the hospital area that is being built saying that he was the owner of the land there. Come to find out, he was in not only the wrong county but state too. There is no small number of people anymore that seems to be not carrying a full load of brains.” They all laughed.

  Allie could tell that Thatcher was upset about something. Whatever it was, she hoped it wasn’t about her. When the man was taken away, kicking and screaming about finding that Rogen person, Thatcher and Rogen asked to speak to her.

  “No.” Thatcher looked shocked. Rogen just smiled. “I don’t know what you think I might have done, but I’m in a great mood, and I don’t want you shitting on my parade today. They’re all lined up to start the band, and you’ll just wait to talk to me when it’s over.”

  “You’re very weird. Or you’ve been hanging around my dad a great deal.” Thatch told his son to watch himself, or he’d be taking him to the woodshed. “I wasn’t insulting you, Dad. Just making an observation. But Allie saved Rogen today. Even after I called her silly for thinking she saw something I’d not. I owe you.”

  “No, you don’t. And I said I didn’t want to talk to you.” He just laughed, like he’d expected no less from her. “Look. Good, no one got hurt, and that’s all we can hope for at the end of the day. I have this odd thing that makes it so I can see heat signatures. Let’s not make a huge production out of it. The next time I tell you there is someone out there, just believe me. That’s all I need.”

  “I can handle that.” He looked over her shoulder, and she did as well. Beck was shaking his head like he was telling his brother to give it up. “By the way, Allie, welcome to the family.”

  ~*~

  Beck was getting his paperwork filed on the last job he’d done. There was good money to be made in doing this sort of work, but it made it less appealing when the people didn’t believe him when he had all the facts in a neat row for them, like this last job.

  “Tell me about it.” He looked up and saw his mom there. Beck loved it when she just dropped everything and came to see him. Today was just as perfect as every other time. “Tell me what has you tensed up. Then I have something I’d like to speak to you about.”


  “I worked for this company—I can’t tell you the name because I don’t want you guys boycotting this place too.” She said that if it was anything like the salad dressing company, she might not want to know. “No. It’s nothing like that. They had me come in and look over their lines. Then while there, he springs the books on me. He told me he didn’t think anything was going on with them. He just thought I could find a way for them to cut costs on that as well. I found out about both issues within the first ten minutes of being there. His lovely, much younger wife is not just having fun with the employees, but she’s doctoring the books as well.”

  “Oh my. Does he know that now?” Beck told her he did. “And how did he take the news? Did he tell you how wrong you were?”

  “No. I’d had that happen before. The man or woman didn’t want to believe their other half was getting some on the side.” Mom tisked at him. “I could have said it to you like Rogen or any of the other women. So, instead of just telling him about it, I sort of had him walk in on her and one of the employees.”

  “Oh, Beck, you didn’t.” He nodded. “What on earth were you thinking? What if he had had a gun or something. Or tried to kill them both right then and there? That could have gotten you hurt, and Allie would have blamed me.”

  “What would I blame you for?” Beck smiled at Allie when she joined them in his office. She kissed his mom on the cheek and asked again. “If you’re referring to the man that was trying to kill Rogen, I’ve been thanked enough for that. So, what do you think I need to blame you for?”

  “Oh, yes. Thank you for saving my family.” Mom told her what he’d done. “I was just asking him how you’d think I raised him if the man had hurt him or something. To do such a thing to the poor man. I think it’s bad enough that he has a falling down company, but to find out his wife was with another man…well, that’s just not a good way to treat someone.”

  “Another woman.” His mom looked confused but got it. Her face turned a bright red, and Allie laughed. “She thinks it’s all right, don’t you, love?”

  “I would have done it differently, but your way worked. I’m betting he knew anyway. I would think that if you’re an older man and you have a young wife, you gotta think there is something going on with her. But as for blaming you? I’d not do that. What I would do is beat the living shit out of Beck here for getting hurt. Because you know as well as I do that he’s been brought up by the best, and if nothing stuck, like making sure he’s not hurt at work, then all I can tell you is that you did try.”

  Mom burst out laughing. It was a hardy laugh, too, like she’d been caught off guard with it. Hugging Allie, she said that she loved her and was so happy she was a part of the family. Mom turned to him and told him that he should respect her opinion more. That Allie was brilliant.

  “I agree with you on that. Did she tell you we’re babysitting the kids tonight?” She asked which ones. “Houston’s brood. Allie and I are going to see if we want children by borrowing some from the others. I thought about just Jimmy, but then I thought we’d just go for it and see if we could handle a pack of them.”

  Mom smiled and looked at Allie. “If you need some help, I want you to call me. I’d gladly help you out with changing a diaper or two. You’ll love it. None of them are walking yet, but the girls can pull themselves up on things. Oh, you will have so much fun with them.”

  “They’re going to be home when this happens. Just watching television, they told us. I think there might be some hanky panky going on, but I didn’t ask.” Mom told him to behave. “I am. Again, I didn’t tell you like the other women would have that they’re going to have loud sex. More than likely, all over their home.”

  “The things you say to your poor mother.” Mom stood up and reached for Allie’s hand. “Come with me, child. We’ll go over there now and see if you can get a head start on the children. Let this one figure it out on his own. I didn’t raise him to be mouthy like this either.”

  “What if they’re in foreplay mode right now?” Beck nearly fell off the chair he’d been sitting in when Allie said that to his mother. Every time he looked at his mother, he would laugh all the harder. The look on her face was priceless in the way she just stared, open mouthed, at Allie. Allie just stared back like what she had said was just as normal as rain in the summer.

  He would never forget this. Not so long as he lived would he ever let Mom forget it either. With one comment, Allie had rendered his mom speechless. He couldn’t wait to tell his brothers about this. They’d not let her live it down either.

  “Well, I never.” Allie smiled and told her that, obviously, she had at least six times. “Allie Robinson.”

  He hurt. Beck was sure he might have broken a couple of ribs while he was laughing so hard. Lying on the floor, where he ended up when his mom stormed out of the house, was something else to add to his memories. He’d never seen her so embarrassed in all his life. Allie sat on the chair across from him and laughed too.

  “I don’t think she’s ever going to forgive me for this.” He shook his head. “Not that I blame her, but she set herself up for it. Oh my goodness, Beck, I think perhaps I might well have to do something really nice for her to want to hang out with me again. And I think I might have broken you.”

  Getting up off the floor, he was still laughing. He expected his mom to come back through the door at any moment and tell him that she was never returning. It would be terrible if she did that, but he wasn’t sure he could blame her. They had gotten her, but good. Sitting in the other chair, he laughed in little bursts as he spoke to Allie about some other things that had been going on today.

  “Remember me telling you about Sam and Jacob, and the kids at school?” She asked if he meant the school that she had worked at. “Yes, that’s it. The teachers there have all been fired. The school isn’t going to be reopening any time soon, if ever. I was talking to Houston a little while ago, and he told me they were able to get the boys back in the pack school and that they’d let them keep going there until they didn’t want to anymore. The principal has been charged with all kinds of things that are going to keep her in prison for a very long time. The nurse will have to serve time, as well. She’ll also be doing community work, under supervision, with the county. She’ll be working at the county animal shelter. Feeding the animals and cleaning their cages.”

  “They’re having her work with animals? I don’t know if I like that any better than her working with kids. At least kids can tell on her.” Beck asked her what she would have suggested for her. “You mean besides killing her? I don’t know. Perhaps something along the lines of digging graves or even working in a fishery. I did that once. That is not a job I would ever want to repeat.”

  “I’ll talk to Tru. She’s the one that asked the judge for her to have some sort of punishment for what she did to her nephews.” He watched her work through whatever was in her head. Beck loved to watch her at any project. “Want to tell me what has your forehead all scrunched up?”

  “I was talking to Anna about her children. She said it was easy for them to adopt them because of the fact they’re Robinsons. We are too.” He said he’d been one for a long time. “Don’t be a dick. What would you say if I told you I’d like to adopt children? Not just babies—everyone wants them—but older children as well. I know firsthand how it is when you go week after week with people interviewing you and not be taken home. Four isn’t very old, but it’s painful to see babies get to have parents, and you don’t. That’s when self-doubting sets in.”

  “So long as you’re happy, I’m happy. I would like to have children with you as well.” She told him that she would as well. “Do you know of any children that need someone, or actually us, to love them?”

  “I do. They’re at the police station now.” He asked her why they were there. “The last home they were at, they had some issues and ran away. The older one is fourteen—his name is Conor. The younger, h
is sister, is twelve, and she goes by Stripes. I’m not sure why that is, but I intend to find out. Would you go with me to see them? Andrew called Tru when I was over working with them, and she told me about it.”

  “Yes. Right now.” Beck was working out in his mind what it would take for them to bring home two teenagers but didn’t voice that to Allie. There were rooms set up for anyone that wanted to stay with them, but he was positive they would need clothing and other things. More excited than he’d been when they’d embarrassed his mom, he smiled at Allie. “This might be just the thing to get you out of the doghouse with Mom. And Dad will be over the moon to have a grandchild old enough to fish.”

  “How much do you want to bet they’ve never had anyone take them fishing, Dad? I’ve never been either.” He was still standing there when she turned around at the car. “What?”

  “I’m going to be a dad. You and I are going to be parents.” She told him not if he didn’t get his ass in gear. “Yes. All right. But if we don’t like them or they’re snarky, we’ll walk away.”

  “Sure. I want to see you do that.” He had a feeling she was making fun of him, but he chose to ignore it. “I don’t know, but I’m sure this truck isn’t going to be big enough for two more people in it. Teenagers don’t like to touch each other.”

  Allie filled him in on the kids as they made their way to the station house. They had been in seven foster homes since they’d been orphaned three years ago. They’d been raised by their grandma, who had died in her sleep one night. The parents of the kids were out of the picture.

  “Rogen looked it up for me just in case we decided to go see them. What out of the picture means is that they’re both serving double life sentences for murder. No chance for parole, nor do they have visitation rights. The kids haven’t seen them since they were left at home the night they killed a family of four for their car.” He asked her if they’d had a hard life. “It didn’t seem like it, but there is no way of telling until we talk to them. They’ve been pushed around a great deal in the system. Mainly because they don’t want to be separated, which is making it difficult for them. No one wants to take on two teenagers at the same time, I’m thinking.”