by Ashley Lyn
Marcus clears his throat. “I want a DNA test. I don’t think it’s fair to me, who should have been given the estate years ago, that this little upstart can come in here claiming to be Alexandria’s daughter with no proof.”
The judge looks at Marcus with nothing but contempt. “My dear, do you have your birth certificate?”
“Yes, but at the time, my mother put her name as Sarah Rain. My parents never officially married, but she went by Sarah Rain to avoid my grandfather finding her.”
“Mister Hampden, your claim to the estate is weak at best. The will specifically states that you are not to inherit anything. Regardless of the outcome of the DNA test, you will not be awarded anything from the estate. For the sake of the court, I would like to request a DNA test.”
Tucker speaks up. “The coroner kept a DNA sample from Alexandria for this exact purpose. I can call him and have him send it in, and Amy has no problem submitting to one.”
“Very well. Have the results sent to the office of Mr. Paulik. If the test confirms that Amy is the daughter of Alexandria, then the estate will be awarded to her. Should the test come back negative, the estate will split to the charities outlined in the will.”
“If the test is negative, the estate is mine,” Marcus bellows.
The judge releases us and we hang back, letting Marcus stomp out first.
“I will have the coroner contact your office about the DNA samples, and I will have him take Amy’s. Hopefully, we can get this settled,” Tucker tells Trent before shaking my hand and heading out.
Trent is looking at the door where the sounds of Marcus hollering and a woman screeching can be heard.
Trent looks at me. “I’m worried about that one. He’s been sending me letter after letter for years, trying to get his hands on the estate. It was only recently that he started pushing harder and harder. He’s a loose cannon. Keep her safe, because there’s no telling what he’s going to do.”
“I do have a question.” He looks at me with an arched brow. “Are you aware that your receptionist is “dating” Marcus?”
His hands clench at his sides and he shakes his head. “I was not aware. Company policy prohibits employees from fraternizing with clients. He’s not technically a client, however, but he is connected to the Hampden Estate. I will speak with her.”
“Considering she’s the one making that god-awful racket outside, I think you can take care of it now.”
He heads out and I take a quiet minute with Amy. “You okay, baby?”
I lean down and give her an Eskimo kiss. “Yup. I’m ready to head home and get to wedding planning. I’m not as upset as I thought I would be about all this. I mean, Marcus makes me uncomfortable, and I’m hoping he just gives up and goes home.”
“Me too, babe. Let’s head out.”
Leaving the courtroom, we round the corner for the front entrance and see Todd holding Marcus, and Josh has a hold of the woman. Trent is walking down the stairs, and the woman in Josh’s arms is kicking and flailing like a mad woman, trying to get to Marcus.
“This is all your fault, you fucking asshole! You promised me millions! You said I would live like a queen. Now there’s no fucking money, and I lost my job because of you. I’m going to murder you the first chance I get, you nasty motherfucker.”
Todd starts speaking quietly to Marcus and he pales a bit. Todd lets him go and he makes a run for it. They give him a good five-second head start before they let the banshee woman in Josh’s arms go.
She straightens her outfit, and in a very unladylike manner, she turns and spits on the ground by Amy’s feet.
“You should have just stayed in your little town and left well enough alone. This isn’t over, bitch.”
She goes to leave, but Todd grabs her arm. “Do you realize that you just threatened someone in front of an FBI agent?”
“Like I give a fuck.” She laughs like a lunatic as she jerks her arm free and heads down the courthouse steps to the parking lot.
I look at Todd and Josh, and they both nod their heads. Josh leaves, but Todd walks us to the car. Just as we get there, my phone rings. It’s Savannah calling from Tritan Security, so I hurry and get Amy in the car and answer the phone as I slide in.
“Savannah?”
“Tristan will not tell me what’s going on with the investigation. I can’t get ahold of Shamus to confirm the appointment and I’m worried.”
“It will be okay, Sav. I’ll call Luke and have him run over and check on him. Is this good news or bad news?”
“I don’t freaking know! No one will tell me anything.”
“Shit. Can you tell Tristan to call me? Or tell him that Shamus is teetering, and if it’s bad news, someone needs to stay with him.”
“Okay, Parker. Shit, I’m fucking scared. What if it’s bad news?”
“I don’t know, Sav. We’ll figure it out, but keep me updated.”
“Will do. Talk to you later.”
Hanging up with Savannah, my gut clenches. Fucking hell. Shamus can’t take anymore bad news. Trying to clear my head, I focus on Amy. She looks scared as fuck.
“I have a question, Amy.” She looks at me, waiting. “What do you have on under that fancy outfit?”
She laughs and shakes her head. “Guess you’ll have to unwrap your present when you get home.”
I swallow hard as my mind spins with all sorts of naughty ideas.
Sufferin' Succotash
Amy
I knock on Roger and Stevens door and my ring catches the sun. It makes me smile. It’s been a couple days since we got back, and I’ve been laying low, just in case someone tries something.
So far, everything’s been quiet. No creepers in town, no threats. Michael got all the DNA samples rounded up and sent in. He said he put a rush on it and hopefully, it will only take a couple days.
Ali’s meeting me here. I told them that I had some news, and it would be better if everyone were all together.
Roger answers the door and wraps me in a big hug before practically dragging me inside the house. Tamara’s sitting on the floor for some tummy time, and I can’t help but lay down with her, nose to nose. She giggles a little and kicks her feet.
Scooting around, I put my back to the couch and pick her up for some much-needed snuggles. She grabs my hair with both hands and tries to get as much into her mouth as possible.
I look up at Roger and Steven, and they’re frozen solid, staring at my ring. I smile wide for both of them and put my finger to my lips. I want to wait for Ali. I figured she would be here by now, but knowing her, Luke dragged her to a closet for some nookie.
Steven’s face is inching to a purple level and he’s bouncing on his toes. Roger isn’t much better. He grabs his phone and calls Ali.
“Ali, where the fuck are you?”
“Can you please hurry?”
“Well run faster! This is URGENT!”
I giggle as I blow raspberries at Tamara. I have my wedding book of ideas in my bag and I can see Steven eyeballing it. I wrap my arm around the bag and drag it closer.
The back door slams open and Ali comes running into the living room, and I shit you not, she looks like a Christmas elf. She even has the ears on. It’s not even anywhere close to Christmas.
I crack up laughing. “Where did you even find an elf outfit in the middle of summer?”
She waves her hand like my question is ridiculous. “There was an online costume store that was going out of business and I bought a ton of fun outits. What’s the emergency? Is everyone okay?” She’s panting as she tries to right her clothing.
“Parker and I are getting married.”
I hold out my hand and they all look down at the gorgeous ring. I take and put my hands over Tamara’s ears, and all three of them start squealing and jumping around like lunatics.
Tamara’s watching them and giggling right along with them.
I pull out the book and hand it to Steven. “Ali, would you be my Maid of Honor? Roger, will you be
my Bridesman?”
Roger and Ali both yell “YES!” at the same time. Steven has himself situated in the chair with his legs crossed, tapping his chin while he looks through the book.
He opens the side table and pulls out his glasses and a notepad and starts taking notes. He looks up at me and smiles. “The crown of flowers will look so beautiful. I love everything. It’s just all so perfect.”
“Have you picked a date yet?”
“August fourth.”
“So we have eight weeks. Easy peasy.”
My phone dings with a text message.
Just then, Luke comes barreling through the door, huffing and puffing with his big white beard around his neck, his Santa pants and boots, and that’s it.
I take a photo and send it to Parker.
Parker: SMH.
“Apparently, Parker got a call about a half-dressed elf being chased by Santa.”
Ali giggles and Luke gives an unrepentant grin. “So what was the emergency?”
“Parker and Amy are getting married!” Roger tells him.
“Hell yeah! Congrats, Amy girl.”
“Luke, I’m really sorry about your house. I haven’t gotten a chance to talk to you since we got back.”
“No worries, girl. I was just happy that you weren’t there. Since you’re moving in with Parker, I’ll be renting it out to his new deputy, Tanner.”
Luke bends down and scoops up Tamara. As he picks her up, I can see that she’s had a blowout of epic proportions. There’s poop soaking through her onesie and it’s halfway up her neck. I go to warn Luke. When he moves his hand around her back, his face immediately goes white. Ali grabs her by the armpits and turns her around, while Luke immediately start to heave.
He runs for the bathroom with Ali chasing after him, Tamara giggling the whole way. Steven’s already on the phone with a rental company about the arch. I was going to build one but decided to see if I could just rent one.
Roger comes in with a glass of champagne. “You happy, Amy?”
“I have never in my life been this happy. I was having a lot of guilt over abandoning the way of life I had with my parents, but after reading my mom’s letters, I gained so much closure. I really want all this estate crap done. The Marcus threat is wigging me out a bit, but I refuse to let that take away even an ounce of my happy.”
Ali comes out of the bathroom with a naked and clean Tamara, and Luke crawls out of the bathroom, still looking green. “What are you feeding that girl, seriously?” Luke groans out.
Ali sits down on the floor and gets Tamara dressed. “Who’s walking you down the aisle?” she asks in-between blowing raspberries on Tamara’s tummy.
“Bruce.”
She looks up at me with tears in her eyes. “He will love that. His daughter passed from breast cancer a couple years ago, and she was the only child they had.”
“I know. He told me about her when he gave me the car.”
“When are you going over there?”
“After I get done here, then it’s home to make dinner for Parker, and then I’m finally going to get to work a shift at Bailey’s!”
2 hours later
Steven has, like, ninety percent of the wedding already figured out. He’s got an appointment with the flower lady and a bridal shop to look for a dress. I pull up to Bruce and Shelly’s house, and Bruce bounds out of the front door and wraps me up in a hug.
For once, I’m disappointed in his outfit—jeans and a black T-shirt. It’s so mild in comparison to what I’m used to, I have to pull back to make sure it’s him. He gives me a look like he knows what I’m thinking, “It’s laundry day. All my snazzy clothes are in the laundry so I have to wear these boring clothes.” He winks at me and takes me inside the house, a house that’s overrun with ceramic cats.
Shelly comes out with an apron that has a naked lady on it and she’s covered in flour.
“Amy girl! What brings you by?” she asks, giving me a full-body, flour covered hug.
“I have a favor to ask you and Bruce.”
“Whatever you need, Amy girl.” We settle on the plastic covered couch and I turn to look at the pair of them.
“Parker and I are getting married, and I was wondering, Bruce, if you would walk me down the aisle.”
Shelly brings her hands up and covers her mouth as tears track down her face. I look at Bruce, and he’s looking the exact same.
I grab his hand and he pulls me into a tight hug. “I never…I never got the chance to walk Angie down the aisle before we lost her. It would be my honor to walk you down the aisle.”
I stay for a bit before I make the short drive to Parker’s house. Pulling up, I head in and start dinner.
I have the music up and I’m shaking my ass to the Beach Boys as I set the table. He’s taking his dinner break in about thirty minutes, and then I’m off to my first official shift at the bar.
I’m making my way from the kitchen to the dining room, past the big front window when I bend down to pick up a Parker sock. Why he leaves his socks all over the house is beyond me.
I hear an odd sound, like glass cracking. Before I can stand all the way up, feathers are flying all over the place, and I can see a little round hole in the glass. I drop down on my tummy and army crawl over to the bookshelf. I hear another gunshot and cover my head as I start to pray.
I finally make it to the bookcase in the living room and grab my cell phone out of my back pocket to call Parker.
“Amy, I’ll—”
“Parker! Someone’s shooting at me!”
“Where are you?”
“I’m in the living room, up aginst the bookcase. Parker, I’m scared.”
“I’m thirty seconds away. I got lights and sirens. Just stay on the line, Amy.”
I’m curled into the fetal position and praying that Parker gets here, quick.
“I’m almost home. I’m coming in the back door. Just hold on, baby.”
The back door slams open and Parker comes barreling into the living room. He gathers me up and sits down on the floor when his radio starts squawking.
“Parker, there was a black SUV that just barreled past me doing thirty over the speed limit. The vehicle isn’t familiar.”
“Pull it over. I’m willing to bet that it’s Marcus. Amy, I’m going to take you to Bruce’s. I really need to go help Tanner.”
We hustle out of the house and he drops me at Bruce’s. Bruce already has the door open and I run inside. “Someone was shooting at me. Parker’s going after the guy.”
Bruce wraps me up and hustles me into the basement. As he wraps me up in a blanket, the dam breaks and big sobs wrack my frame. I just want this over with. I’m tired of the shitstorm.
Parker
“Tanner, I dropped Amy off. Where are you.”
“Guy’s booking it down Main. Shit, he just turned down Tourney Lane. It dead-ends at Willow Park, not that he knows that.”
“10-4. I’m going to head around the other side of Willow, just in case he barrels through the park.”
“Crazy bastard just jumped the fucking curb. Looks like a front tire blew when he hit it.”
I’m driving as fast as I can. My hands are gripping the wheel so tight, I think I’m going to break the fucking thing.
“Holy shit! He just barreled into a main tree. Airbags deployed.”
I pull into the south parking lot and throw the car in park. Taking off through the park, I radio in for EMT. Shit, they’re ten minutes out.
“Tanner, EMT. Ten minutes out.”
I’m running through the park and see the SUV smack dab in the middle of it. Tanner has the door open and is trying to talk to the person in the vehicle.
I skid to a stop and look at the window. Rage bubbles up. Fucking Marcus. Tanner has his hands on the side of his head, keeping him still. Marcus moves just his eyes and looks at me with so much hatred. He smiles at me with his teeth covered in blood.
He manages to wheeze out, “She’s as good as dead. One
way or another, she’s going down. She ruined my fucking life.”
He coughs and blood sprays out, then his eyes roll back in his head. Tanner checks for a pulse and shakes his head. Running to Tanner’s car, I pop the trunk and pull out a C-Collar and we get him strapped in and out of the car. Tanner’s performing CPR, and after what seems like forever, EMTs arrive and take over.
They have him loaded up and out of there within five minutes.
Pulling my phone out, I call Bruce. “Parker, did you get him?”
“Hey, Bruce. Yeah, we got him. He’s on his way to the hospital. EMTs took him. I’m not sure he’s going to make it, though. He tried to drive through Willow Park and hit one of the biggest trees head-on.”
“Can’t say that upsets me, Parker, not when I got Amy crying like crazy.”
“I know. Can I talk to her?”
“Parker?” Amy’s shattered voice comes over the line.
“We got him. Well, he got himself. He hit a tree in Willow Park. Not sure if he’s going to make it, he was in bad shape when he left. I have to help Tanner clear the scene and get his SUV pulled out of here, then I’ll come pick you up. Okay, baby?”
“Okay. Do you think it’s over? With him gone, I mean?”
“I’m not sure. He made a vague comment. I’ll get ahold of Todd and see what they managed to dig up. I’ll be here for a while, so get some rest while you can. I’ll come get you later.”
“I love you, Parker.”
“I love you too, Sprite.”
Hanging up with Amy, I call Luke and see if he can go over and board up my window. Looking back at the car, I see Tanner moving around, bagging up a gun. I blow out a breath, wishing that the unsettled feeling was gone, but something tells me this is far from over.
Teetering Tea Pots
Shamus
I’m standing on the sidewalk in front of Titan Security. I buzzed my head and trimmed my beard, cleaning up as best I could. I’ve thought about it and thought about it, and this is my last shot. I have someone on my side this time. Usually, I would wear my kilt, but for some reason, I just felt more comfortable for this meeting with jeans on.