“Yeah, like she was too good to wait in line like everyone else.” Chimed in the other girl. “This isn’t the first time this lady has come in and caused us trouble. I believe if you check you will find we have had to call the police on her three times already for causing a disturbance.”
Gabi stood in front of Judge Wiggins with a smug smile on her face. Gabi knew the Judge couldn’t do anything to her with the two witnesses’ testimony.
Judge Wiggins wanted to reach out and slap that smug smile off Gabi’s face. Instead, she had to let her go.
“It’s seems Miss Cross that perhaps this time you have gotten lucky. If I were you, I would be very careful seeing how I know your past record. We both know the odds of you staying out of my court isn’t likely. You won’t always have someone to get you out of trouble. I look forward to seeing what you get into next. You are dismissed.”
“Judge Wiggins it was good to see you again as well. But rest assured I won’t be back. I don’t relish the thought of visiting you again.” Gabi smiled at the Judge then waved to her as she walked away.
Judge Wiggins wasn’t smiling as she stared at the young pup. Irwin Redwood nodded to the Judge then placed his hand on Gabi’s lower back as he guided her out of the court room.
Irwin’s curiosity was peaked. What could Gabi possibly have done in the past to be in Judge Wiggins Court before? From the sounds of it, they had quite a history. If he had to guess, he would say Gabi had been before the Judge on more than one occasion. Now he had to find out why.
Irwin led Gabi and the two coffee shop workers back out to his SUV. “I need to drop them back at the coffee shop. We can get a coffee and talk a minute. I am curious about some things.” He gave Gabi a crooked smile.
She could guess what he was going to ask. Why did she know the Judge so well. Oh boy, would he really want to know? Did she really have to tell him? Damn, would he fire her? She hadn’t put on her application that she had a Juvenile record. She never in a million years thought she would ever cross paths with the Judge again. Hell, they weren’t even in the same state this time. When had Judge Wiggins moved here she wondered.
Irwin drove them to the coffee shop. The two girls got back to work right away. Gabi told Irwin she needed to get her car and head back to the office hoping to put him off asking to many questions. It didn’t work.
“Work can wait a few minutes. Let’s sit and talk a moment. I would like to know how you know Judge Wiggins. Let’s say my curiosity is getting the better of me.”
“You’re going to fire me, aren’t you? I didn’t mean to leave it off my application. I just didn’t think it mattered any more. I mean I was under eighteen when it took place.” Gabi was twisting her hands in her lap.
“I am not going to fire you. I am just curious how the two of you met. She seemed to know you pretty well. So do tell what you did to piss her off?” He was smiling. Almost laughing at her.
“Which time? Let’s just say I caused a lot of problems when I was younger. I used to have a bad temper. A bad attitude. I got better. Well, I have improved. That lady today doesn’t count.”
Now he was full out laughing at her. “Gabi that lady at the courthouse had caused problems before. You heard them say so yourself. She is a troublemaker. She goes from place to place, causing trouble to get free coffee or sandwiches. I have seen people like her before. I don’t think that is what you’re talking about. Is it?”
Looking down at the floor. “No, I can’t say it is. It was more like… well, I might have broken a boy’s arm once or I might have broken a girl’s nose at school for saying something to me, stuff like that. Or I might have knifed a man for trying to…
“You knifed a man? Like you cut him up? For what? What did he do to you that made you that angry? Please tell me so I don’t ever do it.” He was still smiling. He had no idea.
“He tried to rape me when I was in his foster home. I was in foster care. He snuck into my room when I was asleep. I felt his hands under my shirt. I woke up to him feeling my boobs. He had done it before, so I started sleeping with a knife under my pillow. I was ready for him. I stuck the knife in his hand, trying to cut it off. Then I stuck it in his lower belly. I wanted to cut his dick off.” He watched her as she stared off into space. She was seeing that man attacking her as a little girl.
Irwin was growling. He couldn’t help it. His wolf was angry. What he wanted to do was hunt the bastard down and kill him. “Who was this man? What happened to him?”
“Nothing happened to him. I was kicked out of that house and put in another home. One just like it. Same thing happened there. I ran away after that. I have been on my own since I was sixteen. But to answer your question that is how the Judge and I know one another. I was always getting into trouble while I was in the foster care system.”
So that was a part of Gabi’s life they didn’t know about. She was a foster child. But why? What had happened to get her into the foster care system. “Why, I mean, if you don’t mind my asking, why were you in the foster care system? What happened to your parents?”
“I have no clue. All I know is I was found abandoned on a bench in the middle of winter outside a hospital. I was three. I was suffering hypothermia. I almost lost my fingers and toes. A nurse found me on her way into work. She told me when I was older that if she hadn’t found me when she did, the doctor’s said I would have died in another half hour. No one saw my parents or who left me. There were no cameras where I was left.” Gabi wished she knew who her parents were. She would like to hunt them down and get some answers. Like why?
“Oh my gosh. What kind of sick bastards would do that to one of their own? That is horrible. I can’t begin to understand who or why. I just don’t get it at all.” Irwin was shaking his head. That made him furious to think she had been abandoned.
“I should get my car and head on to the office. I parked down the street. I bet I have a ticket now for not putting money in the meter. Or worse, they towed my car. Shit, what if they towed it?” She got up and ran down the street with him racing after her.
The car was still there, but she had tickets. Not one but multiply tickets. Apparently when she didn’t come back to her car they came around about every hour and added tickets to her car for not putting money in the meter.
“Wow, I guess they intended to get all the money they could out of me in tickets. How much do you suppose this will cost me? I count thirteen tickets here. Damn, I bet that will be a whole paycheck or more.” Gabi was pacing back and forth alongside her car.
“It won’t cost you a thing. I will take care of them. The lady who cost you a night in jail will be held responsible for them. I assure you this was her fault and I intend to make sure she is the one who pays for them. You let me worry about them. Head on to the office, I will be right behind you.”
Once he was in his SUV, he called the Judge and made sure the tickets were taken off Gabi’s record. The woman who caused the problem would be paying for them not Gabi.
Chapter 17
Gabi was in a bad mood all the way back to the office. Between the lady getting her locked up overnight and then being put in front of Judge Wigging and then to top that all of thirteen tickets on her car, she had just about all she could take.
So when she pulled up to her parking deck and to her reserved spot to see someone had parked in her spot she blew a gasket.
“Can’t people read? It is plain to see right there in front on the wall is my name. Gabi Cross! Mine. Damn fools. Well, I will fix them.” Gabi got out of her car. Walked over to the side of the brand-new looking BMW took her fist and put it through the driver’s window. Then she carefully reached in and put the car in reverse. She then went to the front of the car and gave it a shove.
Gabi watched as the car rolled backwards across the parking deck. It rolled across four rows of parking spaces. Empty parking spaces she might add. The fool could have parked in any one of them instead of her spot.
As the car rolled across the park
ing deck, she got in her car and pulled into her space. Just as she opened her door to get out of her car, the BMW hit the wall on the far side of the parking deck and the damn thing blew up. IT BLEW UP!
Gabi gasps, then hurriedly headed inside. People heard the explosion and started running down the hall and out the door. Gabi had to push through people to get into her office. She acted like nothing had happened. Once she was alone in her office, she sat down and hid her face in her hands.
“What the hell happened? I didn’t do that, did I? I mean, who would have expected the car to blow up? I mean, I figured it would roll into the wall and stop. Sure, it might have a dent or a few scratches. But BLOW UP? Shit, I am in deep trouble this time. I just came from the damn courthouse.” Gabi was shaking.
Security caught it all on tape. The police had already been called. The car had exploded pushing out the outer wall of the parking deck sending bricks flying everywhere. People below had to run for cover. A few people were too slow and got injured.
The police came and looked over the situation. Two officers went over the footage on the camera. Then they arrested Gabi.
“I didn’t do anything. I swear I didn’t know the damn thing was going to blow up. How was I supposed to know there was a bomb?”
Alpha Miles Redwood was out at the Den when he got an urgent call. He had left in a hurry early in the morning, leaving his BMW parked by the door on the fourth floor of the parking garage.
He had driven out to the house with the pack. There had been another pack on their territory, and he had to hurry to defend his territory.
“This is Sheriff Howard. I need to speak with Mr. Redwood. There has been an emergency at the Casino. It’s urgent that I speak with him.”
“He is out back Sheriff if you will hold on just one second, I will get him.” Brett was in the office at the house. He raced out back and howled for his Alpha.
He turned on the television to see what was going on while he waited for Alpha Redwood to get to the house. He had been in the woods taking care of problems when the phone call came in. It only took him a couple minutes to get back to the house.
“What’s wrong?”
“There is a Sheriff on the phone. He says it’s urgent.” Brett then pointed to the TV screen. On the screen was the Casino and the chaos surrounding it. On the bottom of the screen it said there had been an explosion.
“This is Miles Redwood.”
“Mr. Redwood this is Sheriff Howard. I am sorry to have to report to you that there was an explosion at your casino. It seems your BMW had a bomb planted underneath it. A young lady…
While the Sheriff was telling him, what had happened his cell phone was going off. He answered it holding the other phone out to the side. He could still hear the sheriff.
“What happened?” It was Irwin on the phone. He was telling him all about the explosion, and who they were accusing of the car bombing.
“Sheriff, I am on my way back into town now. I will be there within the hour. I appreciate you calling me.” He hung up without letting the Sheriff say any more.
How dare they accuse Gabi of bombing his car. His casino. She wouldn’t do such a thing. But he knew or had a good idea who might have. He would have to pay a visit to a certain wolf.
Gabi couldn’t believe her luck once more she was in jail. What the hell happened? How come she was suddenly back in trouble every time she turned around? She thought those days were long behind her.
Miles made it to his casino in record time. He couldn’t believe the chaos. There were TV crews everywhere. People, tourist taking pictures. His pack trying to keep the area free of onlookers, but it was hard. To many curious eyes.
The police had the area roped off. The injured had already been taken away. “Sheriff I’m Miles Redwood this is my casino. Can you tell me what you have found so far?”
“We found a bomb taped under the driver’s seat. Whoever put it there meant for you to die. Had the car been parked by the door where you had left it when the bomb went off, I am afraid the damage would have been much worse. I believe it would have collapsed part of the building. As it was the car being pushed to the outside wall where there were more steel beam supports might just have saved some lives.”
“Was anyone killed from falling debris?” Miles prayed no one was killed. He would have enough problems with the injured. Lawsuits. He could see them now. Even if it wasn’t his fault, he would have to pay he was pretty sure.
“No one died, but there was six with pretty bad injuries. We are still investigating who placed the bomb under your car. We have arrested a young lady that was seen on video pushing your car across the parking deck. A Miss Cross.”
“Miss Cross wouldn’t have placed the Bomb under my car, Sheriff. I can guarantee she had nothing to do with this. Where is she being held? I will take care of her. I know for a fact she had nothing to do with any of this.” Miles was angry that she had been arrested.
The Sheriff wanted to know how it was that Mr. Redwood knew for sure that Miss Cross had nothing to do with the bombing. Miles told the Sheriff that Miss Cross was his fiancée.
Once Miles was done with the Sheriff, he went to his office and made a few calls. He made sure that Gabi wouldn’t be charged with the bombing. First, he found out who she would be going in front of.
“Jude Wiggins. That’s good. Patch me through to the Judge. Tell her Alpha Redwood wants to speak with her. It’s important.” He waited on the line while he was transferred to the Judges private line.
He told the Judge what was going on and what she was to do. He made sure she understood exactly what he wanted her to do. This was the perfect excuse to get Gabi out to the den house. To get her away from this madness. To get her away from other wolves before something happened to her.
He knew since it had been on the air that Gabi had been arrested. That she couldn’t go unpunished for her part in the car being pushed across the parking deck, that had already been aired. How they got a hold of that footage is what he wanted to know.
“Irwin in my office now!” Someone had leaked information to the press. He wanted their head on a platter and now. He paced the floor in his office while he waited for his son.
Irwin was in his father’s office in two seconds. He knew things were all messed up. He wasn’t sure how to help Gabi. He knew she had been arrested. He also knew there was no way she planted that car bomb.
“I want to know who leaked that footage of Gabi pushing my car across the parking deck to the media. Someone had to leak that for them to get it on the air. I have already talked to the Judge and taken care of things. Gabi will be arraigned in the morning. You will be there to make sure it goes as planned. Judge Wiggins is supposed to release her to my care. I want her taken to the den. She is supposed to work for me to pay off her debt. We both know there is nothing for her to pay off. She did not plant, that bomb. There is just no way in hell she had anything to do with that.”
“Of course, she didn’t. One, she wasn’t even here. She was in jail last night when the bomb had to have been planted. Anyway, what do you want me to do with her out at the house?” Irwin could think of all kinds of things he wanted to do with Gabi, and they would all get him killed.
“She is being released to me under the stipulation that she is going to work off her debt. For now, we will give her odd jobs in the house to do. Mostly I want to start training her to be an Alpha’s mate. Slowly work her into the family. Into the pack. Let her get used to living with the pack. Get her use to being with wolves. Don’t let them shift in front of her till I have had a chance to talk to her. I want to be the one to explain things to her. As her mate, it is my job to make sure she understands everything. Make sure everyone knows she is my mate and they better treat her as such.”
“Father you’re sure she is the one? That she is your mate?” Irwin wanted him to say he wasn’t sure at all. He knew better. He had seen the way his father looked at her. The way he protected her. It was all there in front
of him, but still he hoped.
“She is my mate son. I know you wanted her for your own. When I look at her, I know for sure she is my mate. While you’re taking care of her, I know or think I know who planted the bomb under my car, I am going to be out of town for a bit. I am taking a few of the pack with me. We are going hunting. Once I have found and taken care of the situation, I will come out to the house and check on Gabi. Then I will spend some time with her and explain things to her.”
“You sure you should be the one to go after the bomber? Maybe I should go instead. I could lead the pack after him. You could take care of Gabi.” Not that Irwin wanted it that way.
“No, this attack was against me. I will not sit back and cower while others take care of my business. I will go after him. He has been trying to get me for a while now. This was the last straw. He could have very easily taken out Gabi. Had she been by the car when it exploded, I might not have a mate. I won’t come back till he is dead. You just be sure you’re at the courthouse in the morning. Judge Wiggins has her orders. You have yours. I will leave you in charge of the Casino while I am gone. You put someone in charge out at the house. I would put Andrew in charge. He knows how to run things out there. If they need you at the house, you’re close enough to run home.”
Gabi had spent yet another miserable night in the jail. She wondered why she seemed to get into these messes. As she was being led into the courtroom, she wondered what judge, she would see this time.
Of course, it would be Judge Wiggins. She knew it the minute she stepped through the door and heard her voice. Damn, she thought. I’m dead meat this time. Blowing up a car and half a building, I wonder how long she will send me away for?
The Trouble With Two Alpha's Page 13