Houston: Robinson Destruction – Paranormal Tiger Shifter Romance

by Kathi S. Barton

  She hadn’t any idea Dad knew how to put someone on hold. While he was talking Mom into doing this for her, Shasta thought about how proud Mike was going to be of her. They’d have spending money, and he’d be out of jail. That was something she needed more than anything in this world.

  Not really, Mike, but he was someone she was used to. And she no longer had to have sex with him, which to her was a bonus all its own. He was a sadist, someone that liked sex to be bloody and painful. Screaming and tears. There was no way she’d ever want to have any sex with anyone if that was the way every man liked it. Thankfully she’d found herself a lover that liked it as she did—just fucking and done. Like a race, she thought with a laugh. Hearing the clicking of the phone, she remembered something had said calls were being recorded when she’d called her dad. When he answered, she asked him first thing so she’d not forget again.

  “Did you know there is this thing at the beginning of your phone ringing that tells people they’re being recorded? You should have that removed.” Dad asked her if that bothered her, to be recorded by someone. “No. Not by you. However, some people might be put off by it and not call again. I don’t care. I know that as my father, you’d never do anything like that to me. Would you?”

  “About this paperwork, you’re going to have to sign that states you’re selling me the kids. I want you to read it over and—” Shasta told him she didn’t need to read it over, she just wanted this part done. “I want you to have someone read it over, Shasta. You’re much too trusting.”

  “Dad—really? I’m fine. I just want to sign the shit and get the money. Now we have to talk terms. I want you, in addition to paying the bond money, to give me a hundred thousand for the boys.” Dad didn’t say anything, so she decided she was going to up the ante and kept talking. “That’s for each of them. I don’t think that’s a bad price to be able to adopt them as your own. That way, if anything ever happens to them, you won’t have to worry about hunting me down for anything.”

  “You don’t want to know if anything happens to them?” She said sure if they were to die or something bad like that. “I see. So you’re turning them over to me for two hundred thousand dollars and the bond money.”

  “Dad, don’t forget the money I’m going to need to just live until the trial. I think it would be easier on you—I know it would be on me—if you were just to give me a credit card that wouldn’t have a limit. That way, I don’t need to come to you all the time and make sure I have enough cash. I do need a lot of things, Dad. They took everything from me when they took my home.” Dad was quiet again, and she thought perhaps he was making notes. He was old, after all. “You have no idea how much this is going to save me. I won’t have to redress the boys. Nor will I have to listen to them whining about how they want to be outside in the yard. I can just imagine they’re nasty dirty little creatures I wouldn’t want to touch anyway.”

  This was so nice, she thought. To be able to tell her dad what she actually felt about things. Mom usually had to barge in and tell her she should be ashamed of herself for what she was saying. Why should she be that? For Christ’s sake, she was a grown assed woman making her own way in the world. It was just that right now, she needed help to get back on track.

  “Are you there, Dad?” He said he was, he’d been thinking. “Oh. I hope you’re getting on board with this. I mean, I could tell you I don’t want to think about what could happen to the boys if I were to take them with me. You know. Just about anything could happen to them when we’re traveling.”

  “This is a lot of money. A great deal more than I ever thought I’d be lending one of my kids.” She asked him what he meant. “I don’t have much. Not really this much money just lying around. I—”

  “I’m sure you’ll figure out something. Just mortgage the house or something. You’re getting a little too old to be living in such a big house anyway. I’m sure that will be enough for me to have a start. Also, I wasn’t talking about that. I was wondering if you thought this was a loan.” He said he did. “Dad, I don’t have that kind of money to pay you back. I don’t know why you’d think that anyway. I mean, you’re going to be dead soon enough. Just think of it as my inheritance.”

  “What about Tru? Don’t you think she’d want to have a say in what you inherit, and she doesn’t?” Shasta rolled her eyes again. It was forever about Tru. “She isn’t going to get anything when we pass on if I pay you this much.”

  “Tru, Tru, Tru. She can fend for herself, Dad. I mean, did you know she is a hitman for the mob or something?” She knew Tru didn’t work for the mob, but Dad didn’t know that. “She hires herself out to kill people. If I had my way, I’d tell you not to have her around you anymore. But then, that’s just me. Tru and I never got along anyway. I’m sure you might well have gotten the wrong kid when she was born. I had actually thought about telling some of the people Mike works with that she is a hitman for the government, but I didn’t. Not yet.”

  “I thought you said she worked for a mobster.” She told him it was the government, she’d forgotten. “Shasta, you really wouldn’t tell anyone who she works for and what she does if that were true, would you? I mean, that would get her killed by some very terrible people.”

  “Dad, she is a terrible person. What sort of person goes around killing people for a living? Anyway, I won’t have to if you can come up with the money. I’m sure someone would pay me big bucks to know my little sister is a killer.” Shasta had never thought of that before, how much money could be made by telling someone she had a sister working for the government. She would have to look into that. “Dad? Do we have a deal or not? I have to make some other arrangements if you don’t think you can do this. But I’m selling the kids, one way or another. I can’t be having them around me when Mike and I are starting a new life someplace else. Also, you should know this—I’m thinking I’d rather take the money from you than a stranger. However, I was also just thinking about what a bad guy would pay to know about Tru.”

  “You can’t seriously be thinking you’d sell off your sister’s name to someone simply because you need some cash.” She told him that desperate times meant desperate measures. “That’s not right, Shasta. And I believe it’s against the law, too.”

  “Dad, you’re so funny sometimes. I plan on being long gone by the time they figure out it was me that sold her name to someone.” She had to laugh a little more. “Dad, I’ve just now decided I can make more money on this than what you’re going to be able to give me. I need a lot of cash. If I have to do it this way, then that’s the way it is. Tru would...no, she’d not do this to me, but it’s what I need. If it pisses her off? So what. She won’t be around long enough for me to hear about it from her.”

  Hanging up on her dad, she thought about how to go about getting in touch with someone she could tell about Tru. But first, she had to have a good list of her wants. Money first and foremost. Because one thing was for certain—once was the only time she was going to be able to make this happen. Tru would be dead.

  Laughing, she found a place deeper in the office building she’d been hiding out in. It was busy during the day, but she had been able to find herself a nice cubby hole to sleep in while the peons were at work. At night she would rock the vending machine to get food. It had been the best idea she’d come up with since she’d been turned out by her family.

  When her phone rang again, she didn’t answer it. It was her dad. No doubt, he was going to try and talk her out of selling off her sister. Well, she was in need, and she knew Tru would figure out a way to be safe. If not? Well, it was no sweat off Shasta’s nose. Tru would just be one less person that would nag her about things that were none of her business.

  ~~~

  Blake sat at the desk he’d been at when the call came in. Tru had been showing him how to set up his new computer when she told him to answer the phone. It had been his intention to just let it go. He did what she asked, as hi
s new phone recorded everything being said. Also, she had called in Rogen. Now, that woman nearly scared the pants off him.

  “Do you understand what she just did, Blake?” He nodded at Rogen. He was both embarrassed and angry by what Shasta had said she was going to do. “She’ll be tried for treason. Shasta has opened up a can of worms with all this that can’t be blown off. We’ll have to have her arrested. She’ll be spending time in a federal prison just like Mike will. You handled it perfectly.”

  “Yes, I did, didn’t I? I talked to my daughter while she was telling me I had to mortgage my home for her, and that she was going to sell me her children. If that wasn’t bad enough, she also decided she was going to have her sister murdered for cash. I was just fucking perfect.” He realized how angry he was and let out a long breath. “I’m sorry. This isn’t your fault. I’m just so— Honestly, I don’t know what to feel right now. I’m feeling pretty broken if you want the truth. I never dreamed my daughter would be like this. I don’t think I ever thought anyone could be this cold and heartless to someone they were related to.”

  “Dad, this isn’t your fault. Not any of it.” He nodded at Tru when she sat down in front of him again. “We’ll be picking her up today, so I’m not worried about having her find someone that will give her money for me. I don’t know if she knows this or not, but they wouldn’t have paid her. She would have—”

  “Yes, honey, I know they would have killed her.” Tru told him she was sorry. “So am I. First of all that you had to hear that. Secondly that she is that cold and heartless about all of this. The boys, they’re going to be hurt the worse from this.”

  “I don’t think you’ll have to worry about them. They seemed to be really coming alive living with you and Mom. And I know they love their new school.” Blake asked about the young boy and his mother that they’d met. “She is doing great now. Clark is in a new school and doing so much better. Lacy has a good job that we set up for her, plus a home she can live in without fear of anyone coming to take it from her. You didn’t ask, but I’ll tell you anyway—Brian is currently in jail and will be for some time. After he’s released, the Feds will pick him up and put him in their prison. They’re getting him for mail fraud as well as a few other things. He lied to a government official about his living arrangements. Also, when he filed his taxes last year, he said he’d paid rent to someone. Since he mailed it to the IRS, he’s going to be picking up another few years for himself.”

  “I’d like to ask you a personal question. If you don’t mind.” She told him to be prepared for the answer. She wasn’t going to lie to him. “No. I don’t think you ever have either. But it’s about your finances. How could you afford to pay off our home? As I’m sure, you also are the one that set up the funding for Lacy.”

  “Houston paid for the house Lacy is living in.” She didn’t say anything more until Rogen, who had been there, decided she needed to get her ass home. After giving her a hug, he sat back down. “I’m wealthy, Dad. I not only get paid very well for what I do, but I also invest wisely. I’m glad you brought it up anyway. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about money. I want you to allow me to pay for your expenses here. I know for a fact you’re not as well off as you’d like to be right now. The new car and the house payment were going to be difficult for you to manage. I know you said you were going to find you a job, but at your age—not to say you’re too old, Dad—it would have been difficult for you.”

  “I don’t want you to use your money to keep your old man in newspapers and cigars.” She told him he didn’t smoke. “Don’t be a smartass. You know what I meant.”

  “Dad, just between the two of us, I’m a billionaire several times over.” Blake didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t even positive he’d heard her correctly. When he asked her to repeat what she’d said, Tru nodded. “I told you, I’m being paid well for my job. When I have to travel, I get an allowance I never use that I put to good use in investing. There is also the extra money I get when I’m asked to translate something for some office. My company will fly me there and back when I have to travel. I have a pension, as well as life insurance for the rest of my life, which will include Houston too. I have purchased a few homes around the world. I can, at a moment’s notice, borrow as much money or purchase anything I want. I can well afford to keep you in whatever kind of lifestyle you want. Including cigars that you don’t smoke and newspapers.”

  “Holy shit, daughter. Can you adopt me?” They were both laughing when Houston joined them. Blake loved this young man. It didn’t take much to see that he loved Tru too. The two of them were about the most perfect couple he’d ever seen. All the Robinson family were kind people. “Houston, how about you and I have dinner together tonight? My wife is going out with your mother and a new friend she met. Also, I’m to understand the boys are spending the night at the packhouse. I’m all alone tonight.”

  “I’d love that. If I can bring my dad.” Blake brightened up. He and Thatch had become good friends too. “I can see by the look on your face that you’re all right with that. I did want to tell you how sorry I am about Shasta and her getting arrested.”

  “They’ve done it already?” Houston said Rogen had left there to pick her up personally. “Well, I guess the sooner, the better. Did you hear what she’s planning? The damned girl was going to sell off her sister like she was nothing at all. I didn’t raise either of them to be like that.”

  “No, you didn’t. But what my grandma used to say when she was alive was that there are good people who have rotten kids, and then there are rotten jackasses—her words—that have the best kids in the world. You can never tell.” Houston laughed as he continued. “That was her byline all the time—you can never tell. She would have loved talking to you too.”

  “I have to admit, when I first thought of living here, with you two being so close, I thought Trudy and I would try our best to be good parents and not impose or be an intrusive family. But it’s so wonderful to be able to just walk to your home when I need to talk.” Tru told him she loved that he and Mom were there for her too. He looked at Tru when she smiled at him. “To answer your question earlier. Would you let me talk to your mother first? I don’t want her upset with me about it. She can be a bit tense when she’s upset with me.”

  “I’ve noticed that about her. I think that is where I get it from.” Houston laughed, and Tru poked him in the ribs. “I love you, Dad. You guys have a nice dinner out. I’m going to go to the police station and have a few words with some people there. Rogen seems to think there is something going on there that she needs to have fixed. They’re not going out on calls like they should. I think it’s a lack of communication, but she thinks they’re all just stupid.”

  “Rogen thinks everyone is sort of stupid. Don’t you think?” Blake put his hand over his mouth when he said that. “I did not mean to let that slip out. She’s a wonderful person, and I really enjoy talking to her, but she scares me. I think she scares everyone.”

  “She thrives on that, Blake.” Nodding, he stood up when Houston did. “Before I forget to tell you, Mom wanted me to invite you and Trudy over to dinner some night. Also, she said to remind you that dinner at their house on Saturday night is a big family thing. She doesn’t cook but has a lot of varieties of food delivered, and we pig out all night.”

  The two of them were still talking when they went into the kitchen. Trudy was in there going over the list of things she was going to need for them to fill out the kitchen. He’d talk to her later about the things he and Tru had spoken about. Blake was sure she’d put up a fuss, but in the end, she’d see this as a good thing. Neither one of them were in the best of shape. He’d figured that out all on his own the other night when he’d been sitting on the floor with the boys playing games. Getting up had nearly killed him, and when he’d gotten out of bed the next day, his back hurt him so badly he wanted to get right back into the bed and never leave.

  “Wha
t do you know about hot tubs?” He had no idea why he asked Houston that, but now that he had, he decided it might be good for him and Trudy to get into better shape, and then use it to drive out the kinks in their bodies. “I was thinking I might like to get one so I can keep up with the boys.”

  “I don’t have one, but that’s a wonderful thought. Dawson has one. He swears by it.” Houston and he got into his truck to go and pick up Thatch. “I wanted you to know this was my dad’s idea. He was worried about you with what is going on with Shasta.”

  “Thank you, Houston.” He nodded as he drove them to the big house, as they called it. “I’m a little worried if you want to know. I wonder if Shasta is going to go along nicely with them, or if she’ll put up a fit and get herself hurt. Or killed.”

  “I’ve not heard anything yet. Would you like to know if I do hear something?” Blake thought about it. “I don’t have to tell you, Blake. Not tonight, if you don’t want to know.”

  “That’s a fine idea. I don’t want to know unless she’s been killed. All right?” Houston said that would be great, he’d do that for him. “Thank you. A man couldn’t ask for a better son-in-law, I don’t think. Even if I had any say in it, I couldn’t have done any better than you. You’re a good man, and you’re someone I can be very proud of too.”

  “Thank you. But you need to tell my parents that. They’re wholly responsible for us being the way we are. They were good parents, wonderful role models, as well as people that could be depended on.” Blake said he could see that. “Good. Because you are the same kind of parent that mine are. Both you and Trudy. Shasta isn’t someone you should base your parenting skills on. She is a fuck up if you don’t mind me saying so, and that is absolutely nothing on you and Trudy.”