Brody

by Kathi S. Barton

  The next house came into view, and Mom and Jordan both said that this was it. Christy said that this house was a good one too.

  “How do you know? You’ve not even stepped foot into it.” Jordan got out of the car and ran up to the porch. It was a wraparound sucker that was almost deep enough to park a car on. And as soon as he put his hands on the railing leading up to the beautiful porch, Brody knew that it was going to be their home. He could feel it too, the vibes, as Jordan called them. “I have to admit, I can feel it too. Good sensations here.”

  His mom agreed even as they walked into the front entrance. It opened up into the large hallway that had a curved staircase that seemed to go on forever. Howie didn’t stay with them—he wanted to check out the kitchen—but the rest of them went from room to room while Jake told them what he knew about the house.

  “It did have ten bedrooms, believe it or not. But the previous owner wanted more space in the rooms, plus a couple of bathrooms down the hall. The master suite is bigger than a garage, and has a four-poster bed in it. They couldn’t get anyone to move it. I guess it’s extremely heavy.” They were in the library now, and he could picture his books, which he had a great many of, on the shelves. The tall windows would let in enough light that he could sit there all day and never turn on a light. “At one end of the hall, there is the master, as I said, but the other end boasts one as well. Same layout, but slightly smaller. And they both have large walk-in closets.”

  Mom was going on about the closets, but all Brody could think about was that it was going to be a home for Jordan. A place, with the fenced in back yard, where he could go and play. A pool for the summer months, and a nice big deck that was surrounded by trees. This place had it all, and he was in love with it.

  Jake came up behind him while he was staring out at the back yard. “You like this one, don’t you?” Brody nodded. “It’s not far from the hospital. The clinic that you can open, if you wish, isn’t that far either. Both within walking distance. There is a library, too, that we’re getting updated, and the pack ground butts up against this yard and ours. The gatehouse that we passed will be manned as soon as you take possession, and there are any number of pack and other shifters on this land, and all the others, all the time. Your neighbors to your left are Cattie and Tyson. They’re trying to have a baby now too.”

  He turned to thank him in time to see him and Forrest, who had come along too, holding hands. It didn’t bother him—in fact, Brody felt jealously, something that he’d never felt for another person before. Nor did it bother them at all when they kissed. They were mates, in love, and Brody was as envious of that as he was anything he’d ever thought of before.

  “I don’t mean to be rude, and please, if I’m sounding like it, it’s because I’m curious. There are a lot of same gender couples around here. I take it that the town is very accepting of that.” Forrest told him that he wasn’t rude at all, and said that they were. “I’m glad. I’ve seen a lot of people come in through the ER with wounds from people taking exception to what sexual orientation they were. None of them were small ones, either. And the fact that it would be that one thing that bothered a perfectly normal person, enough to drive them to maim and kill, never set well with me.”

  “Our parents weren’t at all accepting, neither mine nor Jake’s. But since mine are dead and Jake’s dad is in prison, there isn’t anyone that gives us any trouble. A few weeks ago, we had trouble with our neighbor. We all thought it was because we were gay. But it turned out he was wanting to kill us so that he could cash in on what he thought we were doing here—running a hotel. He’s moving on. Quincey convinced him that he’d live a good deal longer if he did.” Brody had no issues with anyone and what they did behind doors. “What do you say we figure out the paperwork before your mom has the furniture all in place even before the trucks get here?”

  It didn’t take them long to sign a rental agreement. It would be better if he didn’t own anything right now, he’d been told. That way it wouldn’t appear on any records where he was, and Rachel couldn’t claim that he’d purchased it for her. That would be something that she’d do, too. After that, they all headed to the hotel to play around in the indoor pool and have some beers. It was a good night for that, and Brody was looking forward to having celebrations in their new home.

  “Dad?” Jordan joined him in the living room of the suite they were in when everyone returned to their homes, and hugged him before having a seat. “Mom, she’s not going to come here, is she?”

  “I don’t know, Jordan. But you do know that you’re safe where you are during the day, correct?” Jordan nodded and laid his head on his chest. “You just have to do what they tell you to do when they tell you and you will be all right. Besides, you and I, we have a lot of things to look forward to, don’t we?”

  “Yes.” Jordan yawned. “I don’t want her to come here, but I know that she will. She was always telling that Ralph person that you owed her. I don’t know what she meant, because you gave her lots of stuff.”

  “I gave her too much, I think now.” Jordan said he might have. “Are you going to be like your grandma all the time and tell me like it is, instead of fibbing just a little?”

  “Yes. Mr. Henderson said that I could call him Grandda if I wanted. He’s a hoot, huh?” He thought that him and Ann both were—they were grandparents to Cam and Cattie. And for being in their nineties, they were in excellent shape too. “He even told me that he would keep me safe too. We’re going to go for ice cream tomorrow, and he’s going to show me the highlights of the town. He said that there weren’t that many, but he’d be happy to show me.”

  “You remember what I told you about being out with him.” He said that Grandda was frail and to not get too jumpy around him. “Yes, well, I didn’t say jumpy, but that covers it too.”

  “Dad, what’s an immortal?” He told him to the best of his knowledge. “He’s one. Grandda and Grandma, my new ones, are both immortals. I’m glad that they’ll be around forever. It’ll be good to have someone to go fishing with, I think.”

  Jordan went off to bed then and left Brody thinking about what he’d just told him. Immortal? He knew that Quincey and Howard were, being vampires. But the elderly man and woman? Brody wasn’t sure what to think about that. It wasn’t as if he didn’t believe him, he was just unsure where he’d gotten it from.

  Turning off the light in his room, he moved his son over to get into the bed. The kid had a perfectly good bed and he was sleeping with him again. Smiling, he got in and was promptly hit in the face. Jordan wasn’t one to understand sides on the bed, apparently.

  His phone woke him up at nearly one in the morning. Answering it with his name, he was surprised to hear the panicky voice of Emmi. He told her to calm down and he’d help her.

  “There’s a woman here in the hospital. She knows that you’re around here, and she’s looking for you. Everybody is telling her that you’re not here, but I think she’s off her rocker.” He asked if she knew her name, even as he was pulling on his pants. “I don’t know, dumbass. She’s screaming at the top of her lungs about you. We haven’t gotten around to exchanging email addresses and phone numbers. Are you coming here or do I need to call someone else? Christ, she’s getting closer.”

  “Go to the bathroom and lock the door. I know you can get around better, but please don’t hurt yourself.” He thought she said something nasty to him, but he chose then to ignore it—something about his ass and shoving something up it. “I’m on my way. And I’m calling the police.”

  He also called Jake to let him know. He sounded as if he’d been awake, and told him that Jenna had needed him when he asked if he had awakened him. Jake said that he’d send Forrest and things would work out. He hoped so. He only had one patient right now, and he didn’t want anything to happen to her.

  The place was a madhouse when he arrived. The police were there, and it looked like the entire de
partment had shown up. As he made his way to the second floor where Emmi was, it turned out that she had disappeared. Before he could panic again, Quincey appeared before him.

  “I have Emmi. She’s safe.” Brody nearly fell over, he was so relieved. “She’s not happy, as you can well guess, but she is not going to be hurt. I will return her, if you wish, but for now, I’m trying to have a conversation with her that doesn’t end up with me having a stake through my heart. It can no longer kill me, but I think she would give it a good try, don’t you?” Quincey was smiling, and in turn, Brody did as well.

  “Thank you so much. And I think you might be correct on the murdering part. She’s a tad touchy, isn’t she?” He nodded and disappeared again. The police were coming toward Brody when he realized that he’d not asked Quincey where he’d taken Emmi. “Did you find Rachel?”

  “No, sir. We’ve searched the entire hospital and she’s not here. We have patrols out searching the grounds for her now.” Brody thanked him. “Sir, if I were you, I’d find someplace better and safer to live than a hotel. It’s a nice place, but the security isn’t as good as you need.”

  “I have a house, just waiting on our things to arrive.” Brody looked around at the damage that had been done to the walls. “I’ll be happy to pay for this. Who do I have to see to make sure that it’s done?”

  “I’d wait on that too, if I were you. We need to get someone in here to take videos of it, as well as pictures, and he’s not able to come for a few days. Once we have it done, I’ll talk to the head of the hospital and tell them what you said. I know you’re divorcing her, so I’d keep track of all you spend on cleaning up her mess if I were you.” Brody thanked the man again. “Dr. Downs, she sure has a hard-on in finding you, doesn’t she? If you don’t mind me saying, I think you’re a lucky man to be getting distance between her and yourself.”

  “She doesn’t like that I didn’t care for her sleeping with other men in our bed, or that I took her money away. Rachel seems to think what is mine is all hers.” The officer said that he’d met a great many women and men like that in his job. “I bet you have. And I thank you for helping me out with this. I’ll talk to Jake when we’re done here, and see what else we can do to keep the people working here safe.”

  “We appreciate that. We do. And if you find that you need to find yourself something else to do—doctoring, I mean—we’re in need of a police physician. You’d go on calls with us, and help us out with cause and time of death. The last man we had retired a few months ago. We have a part time coroner, but he’s getting ready to hang up his hat for a fishing pole too. I didn’t realize how much we needed him until he was gone.” Brody wondered if the man was serious. It was his dream job to work with the police on cases. “You let me know and we’ll get you set up. I’ve heard nothing but good things around here about you.”

  Cleaning up what he could of the things that had been destroyed in Emmi’s room, he was able to bag up her things after one of the men took pictures of the things that had been messed with. There was not really that much except clothing and her shoes, but Rachel had done this to get back at him somehow. And now she was close enough that he’d have to worry all the time about his son. Nothing else mattered but Jordan right now.

  The sun was coming up by the time he was pulling in the drive. Mom met him in the parking lot—she was headed next door with Jordan and Howie to have a fine breakfast—fattening was what she meant. Brody joined them, and didn’t mention what he’d gone out for other than he had been needed at the hospital.

  The cruisers that went by the restaurant were great. He tried to relax and eat, but it was difficult when he kept looking over his shoulder all the time. Finally, when his mom pointed it out to him, Brody shook it off. What could Rachel do in broad daylight?

  Mom got a call from the movers just as he was paying the check. Thankfully, their things had arrived a day early, and he was almost too excited to drive.

  Calling Jake, as he’d been told to do, by the time they got to the house there were thirty or so men there to help unload the trucks. Not only did they get the trucks unloaded in an amazingly quick time, but they were willing to help them place things in the rooms too. Jordan was having his bed put together when he found him in his room.

  “Tomorrow we’ll go and get you a computer, all right? And a few other things that you need.” Jordan was so happy that he wanted to take him out today. “How about we invite everyone over tonight for a lot of pizza and desserts? Howie said that he could hire us a cook in the morning, and we’d be having good meals all the time.”

  “You know, that’s good. I’m a little bit tired of eating out all the time. They treat me like I’m a baby.” Brody smiled when he thought of the way Jordan had pouted when they asked him if he wanted a lid on his cup. “Do you think that Howie was serious, Dad, when he said he’d get me some lids for here?”

  “No, he wasn’t. But you have to pretend with him for a little while. You know how much he loves to tease you.” Jordan rolled his eyes, a habit that he was sure he’d picked up from Brody’s mom. “All right. I’ll be in my office trying to get it squared away. You come there if you need me.”

  “I’ll be okay. Taylor here, he’s going to show me how he fixed up his room at his home. You should see it, Dad. It’s really neat.” He nodded and said that they’d talk about it later.

  Brody loved the house. And in less time than he thought it had taken them to pack, it looked like they’d lived there for years instead of just a little while. Mom was directing three men in where to hang the pictures, and he even had a throw over the back of the large sectional that fit perfectly in the room. He talked to Henry, who was helping out too, and asked him about dinner.

  “Hell yeah, that’ll be wonderful. And Christy, you know her, she and I have some things to talk to you about too.” He could only imagine what the man had to say. “It’s not bad. I promise you.”

  “I think I’ve had a pretty good day so far, so this might be the perfect time to get me up to date on the rest of the group.” Henry told him to keep an open mind. Brody wasn’t sure what that meant, but told him he would.

  There were boxes everywhere in his office, but it wasn’t daunting as it might have been to some people. It just meant to him that he could start fresh in here—put things where he wanted them and fill the shelves with things that were personal to their new life. And he was sure that he and the rest of his little family would make a great many memories too—memories that would sustain him until he was pushing up daisies.

  The first thing he put on the shelf was a picture of him and Jordan. The second on was of Ms. Little. He missed the cantankerous old woman every day.

  Chapter 3

  Rachel was as pissed as she’d ever been. Going by her home, she found that not only was the place empty, but no one could tell her where they’d gone. And the large For Sale sign out front with a glaring Sold on it made her want to destroy it.

  She had a feeling that they might know where Brody was, but for some reason had decided not to tell her. Throw a couple of loud parties and people held it against her, just because she’d told them to fuck off when they told her to turn it down.

  It wasn’t as if she wanted to stay married to Brody. No, never that. She didn’t like him anymore than he did her, she supposed. But she did want money, and she’d get it from him in any way that she could at this point. Rachel wanted a life, her own life, and in order to get going on that, she needed cash. And a great deal of it.

  “Where the hell are you living, you piece of shit?” There were all kinds of little places that he could have been staying—bed and breakfasts out the ass; hotels that she’d been barred from when she’d let it slip that she wanted her husband dead.

  There was nothing for it—she had to find him in order to get what she needed. And as much as she needed the kid, she’d already decided that if she won custody of him—and she
didn’t think that was going to be a problem—she didn’t want him around. Rachel had hated the town they’d lived in. It was small, with no malls worth her time. Only a few restaurants, and they were just chain places. And this town, just down the road from the other one, where she’d figured out he’d gone, wasn’t any different—small and drab. But she knew that it’d be just the place for Brody. He loved small towns.

  Her cell phone had been cancelled. And when she’d gone by her mom’s place to get hers, she saw that it was empty too. Christ, they must have had trucks on standby to pack up the houses. There wasn’t even a little flag thing that her mom so loved to put in the flowers. Christ, it was more dreary looking than before, she told herself.

  It took her all of a day to find her mom. And to find out that she was living it up in a hotel wasn’t something that she wanted to hear about.

  “You can let me stay here for a few days, right? I mean, I literally have nowhere else to go.” Her mom stood in front of the door, barring her from entering. “Mom, I’m not in the best of moods here. Get out of the way and let me in. I need a shower and money. Please tell me that Brody left you some cash.”

  “He didn’t. But if we want to stay here for the time we have left, then we’re not to let you come in at all. I sort of like that idea. I heard that you had a good time with some spray paint at Brody’s home before the police caught you.”

  All she’d been able to paint on the house was an “S” for son of a bitch, and they’d made her clean that off too. She growled at her mother.

  “Won’t work, I’m afraid, Rachel. Because of you, I’m not able to see my grandson, live in a very beautiful home, and have a car to drive around when I want. I never realized how much Brody was doing for us until you had a child that didn’t belong to him. Oh, and let’s not forget the affairs. Christ, Rachel, do you have any idea how much that man did for you? You should be horsewhipped for what you did.”