“I have to keep them safe, Dawson. I made a promise to them.” Dawson told him that he could take them back with him to the family, and they’d make sure they were safe and getting better. “I’ve been thinking about that. But logistically, I haven’t any way of doing that with four of them.”
“I’m calling Mom. That is if you don’t mind. You know as well as I do that she’ll have them home with soup in their bellies before either one of us can figure out even getting a car seat for them in a car.” Dawson was right. Jonas knew it. But he didn’t want his family to know about this or some of the other things he was into. “What do you want to do?”
“Call her for me, please.” Jonas had been there since midnight when Thomas had called him. Bobby was throwing up, and he could hear the baby screaming her head off. He was in the car and going to them even before Thomas hung up the phone.
Mom wanted to talk to him, so he handed Sarah off to his brother as he took the phone. He just didn’t want her to be yelling at him at the moment and started out saying that to her.
“Why would you assume I was going to be upset with you?” He said that he was sorry and exhausted. “I’m sure you are. Dawson said they were ill and that he was going to run some blood work on them. We’re coming there to help you now. I’d rather bring them here if you’d not mind.”
“No, I think that would be the best place for them.” He moved out of the bedroom into the kitchen, where the kids couldn’t hear him. “Mom, they’ve been badly abused. Thomas won’t allow anyone to touch him but me. Not even his brother and sisters. Sarah is terrified of the dark and needs to have a light on all the time. Hailey won’t eat anything unless she sees you take it out of the package and watches it being prepared. Bobby is…he’s broken, Mom. I mean that literally. His arm and leg are in casts. There are wounds on his back that he won’t tell me where they came from. Not only does he look like someone put cigarettes out on his back and belly, but they might well have used his mouth as an ashtray too.”
“Oh, Jonas. Those poor children. My heart hurts for them. Where is this monster that did this to them?” He told her that he was taken care of. “The mother? What is her role in all of this?”
“Margo is a junkie and a whore. When the kids were being taken care of by their father while she was in jail, this was done to them. Margo is aware that he’s hurt them, but not to what extent. She’s not ever going to get them unless she kills me first.” Mom, his wonderful mom, said she wasn’t getting them over her dead body either. “I’m sorry to have sprung this on you like this. The kids have been in my care for a few weeks now. I didn’t want to involve you guys, as you all seem to be busy with other stuff. But I’m so glad that Dawson told me I needed help. I think I have known that for a while now but was too stupid to ask for it.”
“You’re never stupid for helping out someone that needs it, Jonas. Never forget that. You needed to figure it out on your own that you needed us. I hope the next time you save a family, you remember to let us help you. All right, son, Thatcher and your dad are on the way with the van.” He thanked her again. “I’m making some chicken and dumplings for the little ones. If you’d join us for dinner, we can sort things out.”
“All right, Mom. Thank you so much.” Mom told him she’d see him soon, and he hung up the phone. The knock at the door had him telling everyone to be quiet. He looked out the peephole and saw the police there. Opening the door, he was surprised when they asked him if he was Jonas Robinson. “I am. What’s happened?”
“Cindy James, she works for you?” He said that she did. “I’m sorry to tell you, sir, but she was killed yesterday. It took us until today to figure out who she was. I’m afraid that whoever killed her, they didn’t take care for us to be able to identify her easily. She was torn up badly, and it was difficult to even see that she was a female when they were finished.”
“How did you know to find me here?” The other officer handed him a cell phone in an evidence bag. It was covered in blood, and the screen was broken. His picture was there, as well as his phone number. She called him boss and nothing more. “That still doesn’t tell me how this led you to here.”
“Agent Rogen Robinson, she’s your sister-in-law? After it was put on the news with your picture, she called us. She also took the news program off the air. I don’t know how she was able to do that, but she said you were to be contacted in person.” Jonas owed her for that. “She gave us the address where the phone was last used. You sure do have some good people in your corner, young man.”
“I do.” His dad and brother showed up then, and he told them what was going on. “I’m taking the children to my family’s home. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t put this address or my name anywhere it can be traced.”
“Agent Robinson said that she’d have our asses for lunch if we even wrote a note about a thing that we’ve done today. I believe her too.” Jonas said he was smart in that. “We’re also to assist you in any way you need. Again without making any notes. She sure is intense, isn’t she?”
“You have no idea.”
The officers helped them bundle up the children as well as pack up their clothing. Jonas contacted Rogen as he was in the bathroom gathering up toothbrushes and such. How much do I owe you for saving my ass?
I’ll have to give that some thought. I do want to tell you that your Cindy didn’t go easy. She suffered more than I’ve seen in a long time. Since they didn’t find you there, I can only assume that she didn’t tell whoever took her anything. By the way, she was headed out to get some clear soda for the kids. It was found not far from her body with the receipt inside the bag.
What do you know about what happened? I’ve not done anything to anyone but Margo, and I doubt very much she’d be sober or straight enough to know how to hurt someone. Rogen told him it was a professional. You mean as a hit? Who would do that? I’m assuming it has something to do with the kids.
I’m still looking. There are a couple of things I need to ask you when you get here. Also, I’ve hired a few people to tail you home and watch the place when you leave. I don’t know that Cindy told them anything, but I won’t take that chance with those kids. He thanked her. No need for that, Jonas. You’re a good man.
Can you do me a favor? Margo claims that she has a brother, someplace. I have no idea if that’s a fabrication on her part or not, but his name is Benson. That’s all I know. Last name is either Whitman or Winterman. She wasn’t sure either. Rogen laughed. I know. How could you forget your own brother’s name? Anyway, he might well have washed his hands of his sister and will take the kids as his own. I don’t care one way or the other. I’ll adopt them myself if it comes to that.
Rogen said she’d do that now. After closing the connection with her, he was ready to get the kids into the van. There was a meltdown from Thomas when Dad tried to help him into the van seat. It took them an extra twenty minutes or so to calm him down. Even then, he was still crying. Hailey didn’t want to get into the car seat. He finally had to have Dawson give both Thomas and Hailey something to calm them down.
Jonas wanted to cry. He wasn’t a whiny person, and he thought of himself as being made of stronger stuff. But this was stressing him out to the limit. It was Dad that took him aside and told him to get himself home by running as his tiger.
“I can’t do this to you guys. You’ve seen how upset they are.” Dad told him they could more than likely feel his stress too. “I’m upsetting them?”
“Yes. You don’t have to talk to see that you’re upset. You’re doing a good job of being a good man to them. But like all kids, they know. You just get yourself on home and let your cat out for a while. Nothing calms me faster than a good run. You’ll see, son, they’ll be right as rain when we get them to your momma.” He didn’t want to, but he knew he wasn’t his usually quiet self around the kids. Too much, he told himself. “Go on now. You go to the house, and we’ll be there soon. You
’ll feel better for it.”
He did what his dad suggested. Jonas did feel better when he got home. Mom had been waiting for him with some clothes, so he was ready to deal with the kids better when they arrived. The entire house smelled like chicken soup. It was enough to make him feel like he was doing the right thing in bringing them all here to be with his family.
Sitting Bobby on one of the kitchen chairs with his leg propped up, he told his mom that he could eat a little. That he was feeling better. Sarah was holding onto Jonas tight enough that he was sure she was going to leave marks. It wasn’t until Allie and Beck showed up that she let Beck hold her. Thomas was still sleeping off the medication that Dawson had given him, and Hailey watched his mom preparing the soup. He was surprised when she asked for a bottle of water. Then she ate the soup. Jonas was so happy that he did a little jig.
Rogen joined them just as Thomas was waking up. She took one look at Bobby and asked him if he was all right. When the little boy dropped his head, Rogen pulled it back up and looked at him.
“When I ask you something, I’d like an answer, if you don’t mind.” He told her he was sorry. “Why? Because some fucktard hurt you? You have nothing to be sorry for, Bobby. You were hurt by a monster, and from what I understand, he won’t touch you again.”
“No ma’am. Mr. Jonas said he’d keep us safe from them.” She asked who they were. “Our mom. She’s mean too, but she never hurt us like Dad did. Mr. Jonas has been really good to us.”
“He’s a man you can trust.” Bobby looked at him. “All of us are going to keep you safe, Bobby. And when I mean safe, I also mean we’ll make sure you have food and clothing and that no one will touch you again. Do you believe me?”
Bobby looked at his sisters and brother before looking at Jonas. He told him he would keep them safe, but as Rogen said, they’d help too. Before Bobby spoke again, he leaned back in his seat. Of all four of the kids, Bobby was the most outspoken.
“If I tell you something, something important, will you help us still?” She told him there were no conditions on her helping them. She’d do it anyway. “I’m going to trust you with something that will get us in big trouble. You too, if anyone finds out. Okay?”
“Bobby, we made a promise.” Bobby told Thomas that they needed help. “I know, but we made a promise. And she told us that it would come back on us if we told anyone.”
“I think you need to tell me, boys. If it’s going to be bad, I’ll be able to help you more if I know what I’m up against.” Bobby asked Thomas what he wanted to do, and when he nodded, Jonas let out the breath he was holding. “All right now? You’re willing to tell me?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He took a bit of the soup on his spoon and sipped it noisily. When he laid the spoon back on the table, he looked directly at him. “My dad robbed a man of all his drugs. He told us that he was going to be rich and he’d be able to have better kids. We told Mom what he’d said, but we lied and told her that we didn’t know where it was. Thomas and I do. We know where it is because we moved it after Mom got arrested.”
“Is it a lot of drugs, Bobby?” He nodded. “Tell me how much. Like bigger than this table? Would it fit on the table?”
“It won’t fit in this room.” Jonas was glad that he was sitting down. He didn’t know what the kids had done to move a room full of drugs, but he was sure it would get them killed. “We had to move it, Mr. Jonas. Some bad people were going to sell it to everyone, and they’d die. That’s what Dad told us. That the drugs were spoiled and would kill anyone who took it.”
“Christ.” He had to agree with Rogen on that. “All right. You tell me where it is, and I’ll make sure it’s taken care of.”
“I will, but…will you promise to help us when you get it? Dad said people would do anything for the amount of drugs that was there. Kill for it even.” They all swore that they’d take care of them forever if it came to that. “Just be careful. Okay?”
“Yes, you can count on us all being careful.” Bobby and Thomas told them where they could find the drugs. Not only that but where they’d gotten it from too. Rogen shook Bobby’s hand and told Thomas that she was happy they’d told them. “Bobby, you and Thomas have done a good thing with this. I’m very proud of you.”
He knew that Rogen would get right on retrieving the drugs. But she stayed to talk to the kids a little more. Even Thomas loosened up a little around her. Sarah was still clinging to Beck, but she did watch Rogen closely.
Jonas didn’t ask her how she was going to get to the drugs. Nor did he wonder if she would. It would be just a matter of her calling in someone to get it and figure out who it had been taken from. He had a feeling that was why Cindy had been murdered.
~*~
Benson put the phone back in the cradle. Shivering at what had been told to him, he looked up when his wife came into the room. He told her that he’d just gotten a call from the FBI, that his sister’s kids needed them to come and get them.
“All right. When are we leaving?” He told Sissy that they weren’t going to. “What do you mean we’re not going to go get them? They’re your family, Benny. You can’t just leave them in the hands of others. Of course, you want to go get them.”
“What if they’re, you know, colored?” She asked him what he’d said. “You know my sister. She’s nothing but a sleaze bag. She’s more than likely slept with everything with a dick. I’m betting animals too. I don’t want a colored kid in my house. And you shouldn’t either if you know what’s good for you.”
“I cannot believe you just said that. You are seriously messed up if you think skin color or anything else matters when it comes to family.” He said that people would stare at them. “So? Since when do you give a shit what people think when they see you? If you did, then you’d clean up better and lose some weight.”
“You’re talking shit, Sissy, and you know how much I hate that.” She lifted her chin to him, and he was tempted as hell to knock her block off. “I made you a promise that I’d never hit you again, but you’re pushing me. Really pushing me.”
“You touch me, Benson Whitman, and I’ll put you in a world of hurt so bad that you’ll never be able to come up for air again.” He was tempted. The first time he’d hit her, the only time as it turned out, she’d done so much to him that he was still feeling the repercussions from it.
He didn’t have a job and couldn’t get one. Well, he supposed he could get a job, but he wasn’t going to work a job that was beneath him. There wasn’t a car for him to use anymore, as she’d sold his. Benny had looked for three days for her car and given up. He was, he knew, too lazy to put too much effort into much of anything. Then there was the fact that she’d had him beaten up. She said that she’d not done that, but he knew it could only have been her.
“We’re going to go and get those kids.” He forgot, just for a moment, that he no longer ruled the house. That he wasn’t in charge. When his fist connected with her face and she fell over, he knew he’d just fucked himself over double time, and then some.
Leaving the house before she woke up, he didn’t even have to look in Sissy’s purse to know that there’d be no money for him to take. She hid that from him as well. Not that either of them had all that much. But she made it a point to keep whatever she had away from him.
Benny made his way to the only place he knew he’d feel welcome. The Community Bar. Dumbest name for a bar he’d ever heard, but it was always full, and there was always someone that would buy him a beer or two just to keep him from singing. Benny couldn’t hold a tune in a bucket with the lid glued down, as his granny used to tell him. Going inside, he wondered what he’d do if his wife just never got up. Never spoke to him like he was nothing again. It would be too good to be true; that’s what it would be.
~*~
Sissy opened her eyes and didn’t move. She wasn’t sure if Benny was still there or not. If he was, she was going to mur
der his ass. Fucking bastard. Sitting up, letting her head figure out that it was still attached to her neck, she thought of what she had to do now.
She’d been so in love with Benson when she’d first met him. He’d been kind. Polite. He’d been such a dashing figure too. It only took her a few months to figure out he’d married her for money. Well, she nipped that in the bud right away.
The Morgans had money—a great deal of it. She did, as well. But as soon as she figured out Benny’s scheme in trying to drain her dry, she told him she wasn’t one of those Morgans, the ones with money. She was just plain old Sissy Morgan, who just happened to have the same last name as the rich ones. Her dad had helped her out with that as well.
“To think that I liked him.” Sissy laughed with her dad when they plotted to have her husband think she was just as poor as he was. “Well, we’ll get him on the right track soon enough. He might well give up if he figures out that he should love you, not what you have.”
“I hope so, Dad.”
As it turned out, he only loved what she could have given him. It had taken her another four years to harden her heart against him. To turn what could have been the most monumental love that had ever been created into nothing more than tolerance and disdain. Hitting her today was going to cost him more than he figured she had in her bank accounts when she’d met him.
Gathering up what she needed, Sissy called the police. As soon as she had them on the phone, she told them what had happened. Since her family pretty much funded all their endeavors when it came to food and toy drives, she knew they’d come right away. She also told them where her soon to be ex-husband would be.
Then she called her dad. “He’s hit me again.” Dad told her he’d be right over. “I’m going to go to the hospital so they can take pictures and record what he’s done to me. Can you just meet me there?”
Beckett: Robinson Destruction – Paranormal Tiger Shifter Romance Page 14