Pierce: McCray Bruin Bear Shifter Romance

by Kathi S. Barton

  Pierce didn’t like this. Something was going to blow, and he was terrified that one or more of the family was going to be hurt. They couldn’t die any longer, but being in pain would be almost as bad, he thought. Watching the door as it slowly opened, he held onto Joey’s hand while her sister walked in.

  Yesterday Joey had gone to see her sister, taking her something to wear to the courtroom that wasn’t drab orange. It wasn’t a color he would have thought of being called drab, but that was what she called it, Joey told him.

  The dress she was wearing looked like something an older woman would wear. Even with her hair pulled back in a tight ponytail at the back of her head, it didn’t dimmish the look of being someone much older than he knew Margie to be. He didn’t understand that. Pierce thought that having her look young would have been the ticket, but this hadn’t been his call.

  Margie was obviously confused to find Peter still there. They were set next to each other, their hands chained to the table in front of them. They were trying their best to ignore the presence of the other, but even Pierce could tell they wanted to touch. It really sickened him when he thought of all the things he’d read in Margie’s diary. The woman was as perverted as Peter was.

  Judge Thomas looked around the courtroom for several long moments before he spoke directly to Peter and Margie. No matter what was said here today, Pierce couldn’t wait for this to be over so he and Joey could get some serious downtime.

  “Over my years as an attorney, I’ve met all kinds of people. You two are by far the most colorful. Right now, because I’ve just gotten some very good news, I’m going to allow you to speak. There will be no interrupting the other while he or she is talking.” He looked at Margie. “Ms. Matthews, this will be your one and only shot at convincing me to let you off with time served or have you go directly to prison. The evidence against you is vast. The amount of it surpasses anything I would think even the best kind of lawyer would have been able to find. You have ten minutes to plead your case.”

  “I’m not sure what I could say here. I mean, I’ve been talking to my sister, and she and I have a plan for my getting my head on straight after—if I can get out from under this trouble I’ve gotten myself into. But I will tell you that when my daddy died, I was alone. Adrift, I guess you could call it. My mom and Joey had their own grief, and I felt as if there wasn’t enough room for me to be there too. Peter Hightower came along, and I thought he was going to help me. But after talking with my sister, Joey, I realized he was just using me. For terrible things.” She started crying then, and Pierce wanted to tell her no one believed her faking this right now. “He took me from the security of my home, even going so far as to get me out of school when my mom didn’t know about it. Mr. Hightower promised me riches and pretty things. I mean, what little girl of twelve wouldn’t want that sort of thing? But he did things to me, and I never saw anything more than him encouraging me to do more things for him.”

  “You said he took you from school? How many times would you say this happened? And how many times did your mother know about it?” Margie told Thomas her mom never knew about it, and at least two to three times a week. “You’ve been having this affair with this man since you were nothing more than a child. Why would you think anything he wanted to do was right? Did your parents ever talk to you about male predators?”

  “Mr. Hightower was just there for me. I didn’t understand that what he was doing to me was wrong.” Peter snorted, and Margie showed her true self for just a second. It was a horrifying look too. “See what I mean, Your Honor? He had me wrapped around his finger so I’d do just about anything he asked of me. He was—I guess you could call him my hero.”

  “Is he your hero now?” She shook her head and looked back at where Joey and Lauren were sitting. She told the judge while looking at them that she was looking forward to starting over as a family again. “I see. Anything else, Ms. Matthews?”

  “No. I don’t think so. Oh, I would like to thank my sister for all her help in this. She’s been my rock throughout the entire thing. She’s made me see what a terrible life I was leading. She even convinced me that had I stayed with Mr. Hightower longer, I might well have become a monster, as he is.”

  “Mr. Hightower, you may have your say in this.” When Peter just sat there, Pierce wondered what he was going to do. Judge Thomas just waited as if he had the entire rest of his life to wait for what the older man had to say. “Take your time, sir. I know this is putting you on the spot.”

  “She’s making out like she was some sort of saint in all this, far from it. It’s an act, don’t you see? She isn’t going to change her ways any more than I’m going to become a straight man. Yeah, I said it. I’m a gay man trying my best to live in a world where we’re not accepted. But Margie isn’t telling you the half of what she’s done. She killed the same as I did. She even murdered my wife. Yeah, I asked her to do it, but she took a lot of pleasure in it.” Judge Thomas asked him if he was making a confession or was he just ranting. “I guess you can call it a confession. I know I’m not getting out of prison in any way but a body bag. I found out this morning that I have that gay man disease. I’m sure as I’m sitting here a dead man, no matter what I do after today. You have that book she kept secrets in. I didn’t think about how incriminating it might become. I would let her do just about anything she wanted in order to get her to do things for me.”

  “Shut up, you old fool.” Margie tried to stand up. “Why are you saying these things? You did this to me.”

  “No. You were killing before I got to know you. It’s what made me do the things I did to get you to come to me. Sir, if you’ll look in the back yard where they lived, you’ll find the body of their paper boy, as well as another grave that holds one of the many cleaning ladies at the house. Margie killed the boy when he told her she wasn’t pretty, not like her sister. The maid, or whatever she was, lost her life when Margie here pushed her down the stairs when she wouldn’t give her some money from her own purse. I believe you’ll find the said purse, devoid of any money, with the woman.”

  Margie lunged at Peter, but since they were both chained, all she managed to do was break the chair she’d been sitting in, as well as knock Peter to the floor. There were several tense moments while they tried to upright the mess. However, Peter didn’t get up.

  The courtroom was cleared except for Pierce’s family. He wasn’t sure why they had been singled out. Peter wasn’t related to them by any means other than Becky. So when he heard Margie screaming, he knew the man was either dead or close to it.

  “Why was he saying these things? Why are you telling these people this?” Margie looked around and spotted her sister. “Help me, Joey. Help me make this right. The things he said to the judge are going to make it harder for me to get out and stay with you. You still want me to, don’t you? I need to get out of jail, so I can assume the life I was meant to have.”

  “What life is it you think you were meant to live, Margie?” She told her they were going to be sisters. “We always have been sisters. We have been since we were born. But you seemed to have forgotten that over the years when all you wanted to do was ruin me. You might think you’ve fooled me, but you haven’t. Once a monster, always a monster, if you ask me.”

  “But you said you’d help me.” Joey told her she had, a great deal. “You mean because you got me a few good meals? Brought me in some underclothing? That’s not what I want from you, Joey. You have to suffer as I have.”

  “Why?” Margie was off Peter now and standing up as well as she could while talking to Joey. “How is it that you’ve suffered? You could have been so much more than you are now had you just gotten your head out of your ass and given one thought to the people you were hurting. Peter was right. The two of you are exactly the same. The only difference between the two of you is that he’s not going to be around as long as you are to really learn what suffering is like.”

 
“You have my money. I helped gather that money up, and you’re going to sign it back over to me right now. I made a mistake in doing that. Do it now, Joey, or so help me, I’ll make you pay some other way.” She told her what the money was going for. “For a fucking jail? You’re going to take my money and build a jail with it? You fucking cunt. I had to kill a great many people to help my Peter get that money. We were going to be married. Have such a wonderful life.”

  “Peter is a gay man, Margie. I’m thinking he’s had second thoughts on marrying you too. He didn’t sound all that keen on having you around him anymore.” Joey looked at Pierce and smiled. “Isn’t that the impression you got from him? That he had washed his hands of Margie?”

  “I did indeed.”

  The medical team showed up, and Meadow told them what Peter had told them about him having AIDs. Pierce got a little closer to the man on the floor and realized he was dead. It looked as if when Margie went after him, his head had been knocked hard enough against the floor to have caused a deadly head wound. The world wouldn’t mourn the loss of this person. Pierce told Joey, who relayed it to her sister.

  “No. He’s not dead. He’s my lover and friend.” Pierce looked at Lucian when he said his name softly. This entire confession and all was being recorded. And if he remembered correctly, Margie had not only confessed about killing but that she’d profited by killing too. Her plan was yet to be revealed as she spoke harshly to Joey. “You have never been anything to me, you sap. Christ, when I think of all the shit you poured out to me while we were talking. I’d have to go back to my cell and nearly vomit the way I was working you. You believed every bit of it too. I’m going to get out of here, and I’m going to hunt you down, Joey. See if I don’t. And I’m hoping I can find you with children. I will take great pleasure in making sure you watch them suffer as you’ve made me the last few days by being so sweet and loving to me.”

  “I never believed you, Margie. You can take that to the bank. Having you sign over all the money to me, that was brilliant on my part, I think. I mean, the town is going to get a new jail, just so the likes of you and Peter are never out and about with honest, caring people.” Joey laughed, and he couldn’t have been prouder of her. “I think we’ll call it the jail given to the city by dumbasses. That’s it. Dumbass Jail. It has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?”

  “That’s enough.” Judge Thomas told the attendants that had come with Margie to take her back to her cell. After the medical team had gotten their protective gear on, they began to work on the dead man on the floor. It was over even before they began. “I’m going to charge Margaret Matthews with the murder of Peter Hightower. Adding to her sentence at this point would be just another way for her not to ever outlive the length of the sentencing she’ll get.”

  They were home by nine that night. No one had really wanted any dinner, but they had already decided to eat out. By the time they were served their appetizers, each of them seemed to have caught their second wind. Even Becky, who had been very quiet through this, was eating better than he thought she had in a few days.

  Pierce did wonder what was going to happen to the little girl once this was over. She had been staying at their house at night, but mostly she’d been spending the day with her grandmother or with Ian’s children. Whatever she wanted, they would work together to make her feel as welcome as they had anyone else that had joined their family.

  “I’m going to adopt Becky.” Lauren spoke to him from across the table almost as soon as their dinner plates were carried away. “I’ve decided she’ll be with family, and we’re going to live close enough to all of you, so she also has support when she needs it. The kids, they stick together, don’t they?”

  “They do. And it’s funny you should have said that just now. I was wondering what her role in this family was going to be.” Lauren nodded and smiled at him as Becky talked to his mom. “She’s going to be all right, you know.”

  “I do. I’ve also spoken to Alan. He’s going to make sure some of the money in those accounts is hers for college or whatever she needs. Joey said she’d help us along with rent and the like. I think I’m going to sell back my part of the business and learn how to be a grandma. I’ve not had an opportunity to do that yet. Are you working on it for me?”

  Pierce laughed. “We are. Several times a day.” That had the desired effect, and Lauren’s cheeks pinked up. “We do plan on having children, but we’ve sort of been a little distracted lately. I’m thinking now that Margie is going away and Peter is gone, we’ll have a little more time.”

  “Good. See that you do.”

  When they were walking out to their cars later that night, his mom hugged him. Then before she could get away, he pulled her to him and hugged her back.

  Neither of them said a word. Mom moved on to the car that she and Dad had come in. He went to the one that he and Joey were driving. On the way home, he thought about the first thing he was going to do tomorrow, and that was going to be knocking down the walls at the police station. He had a feeling there was more to this than just some rooms being closed off.

  Chapter 10

  Gabby held onto her brother’s hand as the surgeon told them what he’d done to make sure there wasn’t any permanent damage done to Hailey. Mostly it was to her face, but her entire body had been beaten badly, he told them.

  “She’s in recovery now, which I have to say surprised me somewhat. But I also know Hailey was in good shape and that her being young played a big role in her coming out of the coma so well.” Harry nodded. Gabby knew why she was out of the coma but hadn’t told Harry. She wasn’t sure if she ever would. “I know you’ve heard this list before, but I want you to know the extent of her injuries. The only reason I can think she’s lived through this is the reasons I said—being young and in good health. Harry, she’s going to need a lot of physical therapy as time goes by. Not just to walk, but to use her right hand.”

  “You said it had been broken.” Doctor Montrose said that it had been crushed. It appeared to him that it had been crushed by the glove box over and over before she’d been able to free herself from it. “She’s been taught by the best on how to take care of herself. If not for Gabby here, she’d be dead, I’m thinking.”

  “By all accounts, she should be.” Both of them knew that. Even before Gaea had gotten to her that night, Hailey had coded again. It was only magic that had kept her from staying dead. “You should thank your sister daily for what she did. You’re right. This would be a different scenario altogether without that. As I was saying. She had a crack in her skull that concerns me a great deal, but her memory and skills at recalling things are still intact. I would say her head was banged against the closed window on her side at least ten to fifteen times before it was stopped. Her jaw is broken as well but has been wired closed to heal. I think the fact that she was able to speak that night shows again how resilient the young are. The left ankle is broken but set in a cast. Eight ribs are broken, another three are cracked. Her right lung is healing, as well as the damage that was done to her liver. I’m thinking that with her broken hip, she was jerked against the lap belt with enough force to have sliced into her leg and displace the bone enough that it cracked under the pressure. She’ll walk, but it might be a long time before she can do so without a limp.”

  He went on to tell them of the cuts and the number of stitches that had to be used to put her back together. Her eyes were still swollen shut, but he said that was a good thing. It had protected her eyes from whatever damage might well have been done to them. She was going to live. That was all she was going to let herself think about now. And the last words Gaea had said to her as she left that night. They would never die.

  When her brother poked her, she looked around. They were alone again, in the room they’d been using as a place to rest and to gather themselves together. He asked her where she’d gone.

  “I don’t know that I could
tell you what I might have been thinking about.” He told her he’d been feeling the same way for the last couple of days. “Did you get the locks changed on the house? And an attorney for you?”

  “I did before coming in here yesterday. On both things. Rose had taken her daughters to the zoo. She couldn’t be bothered to come here to see my daughter, but she could go to the fucking zoo? Doesn’t she know it’s like twenty-five degrees outside?” She cocked her brow at him. “All right, I’m better now. Anyway, I changed the locks, hired that pack like you said, and have an off duty hanging around the house until further notice. Do you really think she hired Chip to kill my daughter, Gabby? That is just so…I don’t have words for it.”

  “I’m not the investigating officer, but she and him have been having an affair for the last year and a half. They called each other a total of fifty times right up until he picked Hailey up. Then nothing from him afterwards. She made four to his cell phone that we’ve been able to trace back to her phone.” Harry asked her if she knew why Hailey was with the man. “You know her friend Jolie? Well, she had called Hailey to tell her she was on her way to get her. Asked her if she’d wait outside her house for her, as they were running late for the meeting with the other girls on the project they’d been assigned. There wasn’t a date between Chippy and Hailey, but Hailey going to the library before it closed to get a start on the project that was due in a month. Sounds like her, doesn’t it? Getting started on it the same day.”

  “Yes, she would have treated it like they were behind right up until they were finished with it. No last minute things for my girl.” Harry asked her why she’d gotten in the car with him if she knew. “I mean, I know for a fact she didn’t like him. She thought him a pest when he came around the house to do chores. I’m guessing now he wasn’t getting paid with cash.”

  “Don’t go there, Harry. You know, as well as I do, that’ll only make you insane. Well, in your case, insaner. But no, she didn’t like him.” Gabby knew he wasn’t going to like this next part at all. “Rose helped him get her into the car. The neighbor across the street had called the police and told them they thought someone was being kidnapped. When they arrived at your home about twenty minutes later, Rose assured them it was a little joke, that Hailey was on a date with a nice young man. He picked her up at about six-thirty, an hour before the library closed up.”