Tanner

by Kathi S. Barton

  “I can do that. It’ll be fun.” Tanner nodded, but she could tell that he was going to fall asleep. “It’s been a long day, perhaps we should go inside.”

  “In a minute.” Laughing, she got out and dried off. Waking him up was like waking the dead, she thought. He didn’t want to get out of the warm tub. “Will you join me here tomorrow night and we’ll break it in? Then you can add that to your list of germs.”

  They were both laughing when they went up to bed. Tomorrow wasn’t going to be any better, she thought, but at least she’d have a good night’s sleep tonight. Almost as soon as her head hit the pillow, she was sound asleep.

  Chapter 10

  Rogan rode to the courthouse in the big van, but this time he just sat on the floor. There wasn’t any point in getting tossed around again, and the men in there with him didn’t seem to care where he sat down. He looked at the chains on his ankles and wrists. He’d be rid of them today. There wasn’t any doubt that his brother was going to come through for him. Ty was a pussy and afraid of him. He might have to work on Giyanna a little more, but then in the end, she’d be dead too. Things had gone on too long with her, and he wanted her out of his life. The nerve of her telling him he wasn’t going to get out. He knew better. The courthouse wasn’t all that fancy, but he supposed he didn’t expect much from this town. They’d let him get by with so much that he knew that they were a lazy lot. When he was inside the filled-up room, he wondered if something was going on after he was released from jail. There sure seemed to be a lot of people around for his trial if they were all here for that. The judge was calling things to order when this little lady in a cop’s uniform asked to talk to him. Whatever was going on, it didn’t affect Rogan so he didn’t pay any attention. Turning around, he looked for his brother. The sooner he got his shit together, the sooner he’d be out of here. Ty had better come through, that’s all he knew. “Your honor, this evidence has only just come to light, and that’s why you’re getting it right now.” Rogan glanced up front when he heard his attorney talking to the woman who had just spoken. “I’m aware of that, but as I said, this has just been found, and I’d like to have it used as evidence.” “I’ll have to have a look at it.” She said that she hoped that he’d say that. “All right. I’ll need an hour recess. There is no point in taking Mr. McGowan away. I won’t be that long.” His attorney came back to the table, but only gathered up his files and a pen. Rogan asked him what was going on, he had shit to do, and Rogan told him that he needed to talk to his brother too. “You’ll have to wait a bit longer, Rogan. There is new evidence against you, and the judge wants us all to be there while he reviews it.” He asked him what sort of evidence, and again said that he needed to talk to Ty. “I’ll be back.” That pissed him off, but he knew that if he opened his mouth, they would send him back to the jail. He knew that today was his big day, and decided to work on his list of things that he wanted to do. Like first off, he was going to put it out there that his wife was missing and he wanted her back at all costs. Then he was going to kill Giyanna. He wasn’t just going to kill her, he was going to make her suffer too. No breaking her neck until he’d broken all the other bones in her body. Rogan didn’t want it quick; no, he wanted her to suffer for every day he’d been in this place. Rogan looked around again and finally spotted Ty. He motioned for him to come to him, but he wasn’t doing what he wanted. Finally, he stood up as much as he could and yelled for him to come up. The officer that had been in the back of the room came to his table and told him to sit down and shut up. “I need to talk to my brother. He’s going to do something for me.” He was told again to sit down and shut his mouth. “You’re going to be sorry when this day is over. That I can tell you.” When he wasn’t able to get Ty to come to him, he stared at Giyanna. Christ oh mighty, she was a stuck-up bitch, he thought. Dressed up on her pretty clothing, she looked like she didn’t shit anything but gold bricks. And the man next to her, he knew him, he thought. Tanner something. He looked like he would have done anything to have her under him. He didn’t want his sister that way, but he didn’t want anyone else to have her either. When she finally looked at him, as if she knew that she was being looked at, she flipped him the finger then smiled at him. “What the hell is wrong with you?” The cop came back and told him it was his final warning. “She flipped me off, and I can’t do it back to her? What kind of idiot do you take me for that I can’t retaliate when I need to? You should go and tell her to shut up and behave. I didn’t do nothing wrong to her. Not yet anyways.” “If I have to come up here one more time, I’m going to load you into the van myself and take you back to your cell. And the only way that you’re going to hear your verdict is when I get around to getting back to your cell to tell you.” He stood up, showing off that he could stand upright, no doubt. “Shut up and behave.” He didn’t look at her again. She was just trying to get him into trouble so he’d go away. Well, he wasn’t going back to that place. Not so long as he could get his brother to do his duty to him. And Ty would, or he’d regret being born. Today was his big day, and he had fucking plans. The hour stretched out before him into the next one. By the time he was ready to tell them he’d had enough, that he needed some food and relief to piss, his attorney came out of the little doorway and sat down. Whatever had happened, he sure looked pale about it. Before he could ask him what the hell was taking so long, the judge came back in the room and stood at his special table. The cop was sworn in and seated at the left of the judge. “What the fuck is she doing up there? You said that you’d make it so I didn’t have to have a trial. And did you talk to Ty? He’s going to confess for me.” He shook his head and then leaned over to him, asking him once again to change his plea. “You mean to guilty? I ain’t done nothing wrong, and as soon as Ty clears this up for me, then I’ll be able to prove it to everybody that I’m not going to prison.” “Chief Calhoun, I’m to understand that you wish to add some evidence to this trial. I’m allowing this because the attorney for Mr. McGowan has agreed to it. Tell us what you found when you searched the house of Tyrrell McGowan. He took it when he paid the back taxes. I have the deed here, as well as a letter from the bank stating how it occurred.” What the hell were they doing in his house, he wondered? When she started to talk about how she’d been informed about some hidden boxes, Rogan stood up as best he could. The judge told him to sit down.

  “They ain’t got no cause to be going through my house. Whatever they found out there, I didn’t give them any kind of permission to go into my house.” He looked around, then back at her. “Girl, you’re barking up the wrong tree right now. If you know what’s good for you, you might want to go on back home and start your day over.” “Are you threatening me?” He told the woman cop that he was just saying it like it was. “Well, sir, that’s exactly what I’m doing here. Saying it like it is. But we didn’t need your permission to go through the family home. Your name isn’t on the deed. It belongs to a Tyrrell McGowan.” “He’s my brother, and if you ask him, whatever you found there, he did it. And he’s going to confess to whatever else you think you found there too.” He smiled at her. “I didn’t do a damned thing, and once Ty comes up here and tells you, then we’ll see who was threatening who.” Ty was asked to come forward. And when he was about two feet from where he sat, Rogan tried to reach out to him, to make him understand that he’d better do as he told him. But he jerked away from him, and Rogan was left holding nothing but air when his brother started talking. “I talked to Rogan while he was in jail, and he tried to convince me that I needed to take blame for all the murders. He also told me that I had to do my duty by him, your honor.” He asked him if he had done anything to warrant him confessing. “No, sir, I haven’t. I’ve not lived in this area for a long time, so it wouldn’t have been possible for me to have murdered as many people as you’ve found.” “What the hell is wrong with you? Ty, you’d better do what I tell you. It ain’t going to go well for you if you don’t.” Ty just looked at him, and he could see something there t
hat he’d never thought to see on his face. He wasn’t afraid of him. And he hated him. The latter, he didn’t care about. He hated both him and Giyanna too, but to see the lack of fear made his belly twist up. Rogan had counted on him being just afraid enough of him that he’d do what he was told to do. Ty looked at the judge again. “Your honor, I’m here to testify against my brother Rogan McGowan. He’s been a terror to this town and the people in it since I was a small child. I left home too young when it became evident to me and my sister that he was going to kill us the first chance he got. I found those boxes, at least some of them, when I was snooping around in his room. He had come home from someplace covered in blood, and when I went to find evidence against him, to get the police to help us, I found the stash of souvenirs.” The judge asked him how long ago that had been. “I was just shy of my tenth birthday.” “You went in my room? You were looking for evidence against your own flesh and blood? What kind of brother are you? You traitor.” Rogan didn’t like where this was heading. “You have to make him do what I told him to do. I ain’t going back to that prison. That is not a place where I think I should be.” “And where is it you think you should be, Mr. McGowan? Your wife took your children and left town to assume a better life for herself and the kids. Your own family has turned against you. For reasons that I can understand. We have more bodies that we can pin on you for murder, as well as your own parents. I have you recorded not only confessing to the crimes that you are on trial for, but also the threat of your sister and brother that you plan to kill. Where should I put a man like you?” He told the judge that Ty had done it all, that he was going to confess. “Are you, Tyrrell? Are you going to say that you committed these heinous crimes? That you went out, searched for people to kill, then did it, hiding the bodies so that no one would find them?” “No, sir, I am not.” Rogan tried to stand up; he was going to knock some sense into his brother. And failing that, he was going to kill him. But he was chained down like a fucking animal. “In fact, sir, if at all possible, I’d like to be there if he’s given life. It would make me feel a great deal better about things.” “I’m not going to get life, you moron. You’re going to do this for me, or so help me, Ty, I’m going to kill you too. Tell them you did this, or else I’m going to snap your neck like I did them others. You tell them, damn it. Right now.” He looked around when no one was speaking. The room was as silent as a tomb. “What the fuck is wrong now? He’s going to do this. I told him to, and he’d better fucking do what he’s told.” “What do you mean, you’re going to snap his neck like you did the others?” He asked the judge what he ament. “You just said that. That you were going to snap his neck. What are you referencing this to? Not that it matters—we have you on a recording telling us what you’ve done. But I’d like to hear it from your mouth. Did you kill those other women, and now want your little brother to take the blame so you can get out?” “I don’t know what you mean.” He didn’t either. Rogan was confused as to what he was asking him. “I told him that he had to take the blame for this. I don’t know what else it is you need to know. Ty killed those woman and our parents, and he’s going to say that he did or I’m going to hurt him.” “No, you’re not. Mr. McGowan, I hereby sentence you to state prison to await the trial in the deaths of fourteen women, as well as three men. And in that time, you’ll be put in solitary confinement so that you don’t hurt anyone else while you’re there.” As he was being dragged away by his arms and legs, he was screaming at Ty. The fucking little shit had done him wrong. “You tell them, or so help me, Ty, I’m going to murder you too. Do you hear me? I don’t belong in jail, and I’m not going. Let me go.” He tried his best to jerk from the cops that held him, but between holding him like they were and the chains getting all tangled up on him, he was falling all over the place. “Let me the fuck go. I have to find my wife and kids. She’s going to pay for leaving me. Just like them others. Ty, you’d better make this right.” They shoved him in the back of the van again, and this time the other cops weren’t with him. These fuckers were going to pay for this. And he was going to start with his brother. After him, then Giyanna. There wasn’t any reason that either of them should not have confessed to get him out of here, and he was going to make sure they knew it. He just had to figure out what the hell was going on. And the fact that they’d gone through his things—well, that shit was going to get taken care of too. “Hello, Rogan.” He turned and looked at the man he’d not seen before. He was dressed in a dark suit, and that was probably it. He asked him if he was there to get him out of this mess. “In a way, I suppose I am. I’ve come here to make sure that you don’t have to spend the rest of your life in prison, just as you wanted.” “It’s about fucking time someone did what they was supposed to. You gonna confess? I got me some shit I have to do, and being in prison ain’t gonna help me.” The man smiled, and he could see the gleam in his eyes, like one of them dogs that was running around his property that eyes shone up at night. “What are you going to do?” “Kill you.” He didn’t even get a chance to tell the man that wasn’t right. He felt his throat being sliced open just like one of them canned hams that he got himself sometimes. Trying to stop the bleeding, he put his hand as close to his neck as he could, but all the blood did was pool in his hand. Rogan was getting weaker with every handful of blood he lost. Falling back, he closed his eyes. “Well if this isn’t wrong, I don’t know what is?” Then nothing. ~~~ Tanner knew that he was supposed to be working, but for the life of him, all he wanted to do was find Giyanna and go out on a picnic. Today was bright and sunny, and she’d been working so hard since the trial. He could understand it; he was shocked by it too. Standing up, he sat back down when Noah joined him in the room. “How is that lovely wife of yours today?” He told him that she was acting as if nothing had happened. “That’s probably the way she’s been handling her brother for years. I just spoke to young Ty. He’s going to be helping you in your practice. I hope you don’t mind, but he needed something to occupy his mind too.” “No, that’s fine. I was going to talk to you about it anyway—he and I already spoke about it. But thank you.” He nodded. “What else are you here for? I know you well enough to know that you don’t come out during the day just to tell me things like that.” “No, I’m here for something else. And I will get to it. But for now, I’d like to ask you what you think about working for me.” He asked him what he meant. “You seem like you might be bored with working for me. And I will remind you that at one time, you wished to be my watcher. What do you think of your job now?” “I love working for you. It’s afforded me more time to do things that I want to. Hang out with my family more, and to be with Giyanna whenever I want. She should have been mentioned first, by the way.” Noah nodded and smiled. “Are you thinking of firing me?” “Oh no, never that. But I do have something that I’d like for you to do. Did you know that the current mayor is stepping down at the end of his term? I have it on good authority that he will regardless of whether there is someone to take his place. He is ill, you see, and wants to spend his final days with his family.” “No, I didn’t know that. You want the job? You’d be good at it.” He said that he did not want it. Too many daylight hours. “Okay, that’s right. I never thought of that. Who did you have in mind?” “Giyanna.” Tanner just stared at him. “She would make a good mayor. With your sister-in-law already in place as the chief of police, and your older brother running the pack, I can see her making a good showing in the polls. And she knows the law as well as anyone.” “I think she’s happy where she is helping my grandma.” He nodded. “You think she’d take it? And now that you mention it, what does that have to do with me and this job?” “She would be great for many things, that wife of yours. I wouldn’t be surprised if she were to make it all the way to the White House with you in her corner.” He asked if he was serious. “Oh yes, very much so. And she’d be just as good at that as she would be anything she sets her mind to, don’t you think?” “Yes. I mean, she’s smart and very good at making people believe in t
hemselves. The other day she was talking to a couple of the elderly. In no time she had them up and working the loom that Mom brought over, and weaving things like they’d done it all their lives.” Noah told him that was just a drop in the bucket for her. “You really think she’d go for being mayor?” “I do.” Noah got up and moved around his office. Not touching things but still talking about Giyanna. “She’s much stronger than even you think. And I believe that you have a good understanding of her strengths. The fact that she handled her brother well—both, as a matter of fact—that makes me think that she’d be a whiz at managing Congress, or any other branch that has to report to her.” “Are you going to ask her?” Noah just looked at him. “Ah, so this is a ploy to make me ask her about running. You old devil you. But you’re right. She would be very good at being mayor. As for the rest, I don’t know. I’ll tell her what you think, but I don’t know how she’ll take to it.” “She adores me.” That she did, he told Noah. “And she loves the fact that I make her smile. No matter her mood, I have something about me that makes her smile.” “I was told it was your old-world class. Which reminds me, the shop renovations are coming along nicely. The wallpaper is spot on to what you wanted.” Noah agreed with him. “Jenny is doing a great job with the faeries at the greenhouse too. I think they want her to be their boss now that she’s proven herself with them.” “It would be good for her as well.” Tanner said that Giyanna was going out to see her today, to see if she needed anything. “It will be good for them to see her. Her brother might like to meet her as well.” It hit Tanner right then. He knew how he knew the woman. She was the one holding the baby next to Tyrrell in his dream. Holy Christ, they were mates, or whatever humans called falling in love. He looked at Noah when he laughed. “You knew too.” He said that he had a little inkling about it. “They’ll be happy together then? Tyrrell has been sort of down lately. I think he’s feeling like a failure about his life, and the things that has happened with his brother.” “Rogan is gone, and once Tyrrell figures out that he could no more have stopped his brother from killing than I could have, then he’ll be all right. The love of a good woman, that’s what he needs. But you mustn’t tell anyone what you know. Just let it flow like it did for you and Giyanna.”