Larson: McCullough’s Jamboree – Erotic Jaguar Shapeshifter Romance

by Kathi S. Barton

  When the picture was sent with his demands, he giggled again. He’d been doing that most of the day today, just giggling like a kid with a new toy. The baby gurgled a little and he looked down at it. There was something about the kid that made him uncomfortable. But when his phone rang, he answered it with a smile.

  “Hello, Larson. You got my message, I guess.” Dusty took the baby from him and sat on the ground with it. He sure was acting weird. Harley missed what Larson said and asked him to repeat it.

  “You kidnapped the wrong baby.” He thought he meant that he had the wrong kid and nearly asked Dusty about it when Larson continued. “You have fucked with the wrong people, Harley. And when I get there, you’ll pay.”

  “You’ll be the one paying, moron. Just bring me that forty million in cash and I’ll give you the kid. But you’d better hurry, I might drop him or something, and that’d be a shame, don’t you think?” Larson said nothing, but he wasn’t worried. “Just gather up your money and come here to give it to me. And once you’re gone, I’ll tell you were the kid is.”

  He giggled again. This time he had to cover his mouth because it didn’t seem to want to stop. Harley was a little worried about that, like he was going crazy or something, but when Larson said he was coming, he put his phone away and looked at Dusty.

  “It’s been a real pleasure working with you, buddy.” He nodded, but didn’t look up when he pulled out his gun and pointed it at him. “Dusty, I can’t have you taking some of my profits. I’m really sorry about this.”

  “You do what you gotta do.” That didn’t sound right, and he asked for the third time if he was all right. “I am, better than I think I’ve ever been. You’re the monster in all this, Harley. To think that you was going to put that little baby in that thing over there, it makes me glad that I’m not going to be with you.”

  “What do you mean? You can’t have figured out what I was going to do.” Dusty said it didn’t matter. “Yes, it does. You think you know me so well? Well, you don’t. I’m not saying I’m not going to kill you, but you have to know that it’s for the best.”

  “The best for who, Harley? The only person making out with this is you. And so you know, I just don’t care what you do with me after today. You were gonna kill this kid and that, in my book, makes you a monster. A monster is what you are.” He told him to take it back. “I don’t think so. Shoot me, I couldn’t care less.”

  He shot at him three times, each of them coming closer and closer to his feet, but Dusty never flinched, didn’t move out of the way of the bullets, nor did he beg him to stop. It was as if he really didn’t care what happened to him. It was then that he noticed that the blanket and the kid were missing. He looked around and didn’t see it, then looked at Dusty again.

  “What did you do with that kid?” Dusty only sat there. “Did you hear me? What did you do with that kid, Dusty? If you tell me right now, I’ll hurry and shoot you in the head. Where is it at?”

  “He’s standing behind you.” Dusty looked at him then smiled. It was creepy and sad looking. “He’s not no kid either, Harley. I think he’s going to make you wish that you’d never been born.”

  Turning slowly, he tried to think what Dusty had meant by that. The kid couldn’t stand, it could barely hold its head up, but when he turned around, he looked at the thing behind him, and it took his befuddled mind a few seconds to figure out what he was seeing.

  “It’s a dragon. A fucking dragon.” He stood there for several seconds more, and decided that it wasn’t real. Reaching out his fingers to touch whatever this was, he felt the heat of it roll across his hand. “Well, ain’t you about the best thing in the world? I bet I could make a few bucks off you too. Wanna be my partner?”

  The monster moved his head upward, towering over him about six more feet than his already tall stance. When he roared out, flames spraying from his mouth, Harley could barely contain his excitement. He had a dragon. A real live dragon. And when the dragon moved his head down to his level, the heat of his roar touched him.

  It was warming, wonderfully hot, to be touched by a dragon. But when he started to feel too much heat, he put out his hand again to stop him. To tell him that it was enough, to turn off the fire.

  The flames licked at his body harshly. His clothing was on fire now, and no amount of stomping his feet would stop it. As he used his hands to stop the fire, he noticed that they were on fire as well, that flames came from his fingers like they had from the dragon’s mouth. Turning to look at Dusty, to tell him what he was feeling, he saw the look of horror on his face and decided that he was a prude. Harley had a dragon.

  The pain started then, even after the dragon disappeared, the boy standing before him taking his place. Dropping to his knees, he was sick with the pain now. There were blisters on his hands, and his clothing was still burning. Everywhere he touched himself parts of his pants and shirt came off. It was then that he noticed that his fingers were missing, his hand was falling off, and he was unable to speak or see very well.

  Lying down on the ground, he wondered what was going on. All he wanted to do was get his money and then watch as the kid was killed. It would have been like an art show for him. As his body became more and more painful, he knew that he was dying. Harley was saddened by that…he didn’t get to buy his own island to live on.

  Chapter 8

  Larson wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do now. He sat, rocking Sam in his arms, as the rest of his household moved around him. It wasn’t until his mom came and sat in front of him that he thought about speaking, though unsure what he wanted to say, but he did need to talk.

  “Jon is learning the business, but I’m not sure that I’m going to keep doing it. It’s dangerous. I’d like to have Thanksgiving here next year, if you don’t mind. I don’t think I’ll be ready for it this yearnow, but if it is, I’d very much like to host it this year. The house is still under construction but it’s coming along nicely, don’t you think?” She said it was and mentioned that the baby might need his diaper changed and to be fed. “Not yet. I can’t let him go just yet. When he cries, then someone can take him for a few minutes, but I need him here.”

  “All right, son. You just rock him then.” He did, back and forth in the big rocker that his mom had brought him a couple of days ago. “Would you like something to eat? Or to drink?”

  “No, I’m not ready for that. I have to get the office done for myself. I don’t think I’m going to do the job anymore. It’s lost its appeal for me. I might do something else, like work for Reese. Did you know that they bought her the building?” Mom said that she did know that. “I don’t think she’ll care if I come in and bus tables or something, do you?”

  “No, she’d probably like the extra help. Larson, we have to talk about what is going on with you.” He nodded and rocked harder, waking Sam up. “Careful, son. You don’t want him to cry, do you?”

  “No, I don’t want him hurt.” He rocked slower, this time looking at his little face. “He was going to put him in the shredder. I know that’s what Dusty said, but he really was going to put a little child in that thing to see him die. Mom, I can’t stand that.”

  “But he didn’t, because Jon made sure that he wasn’t harmed.” He nodded, but didn’t look at her. She had been crying too, and he wasn’t ready for.... He really just wasn’t ready. For what, he didn’t know, but whatever it was, he didn’t want anything to do with it. “Larson, let me take Sam to be fed and changed. All right?”

  “Will you bring him back to me?” She said that she would. “Mom, don’t let him go. You have to make sure that you bring him back to me. I need him.”

  He might have closed his eyes for a moment or two. They were burning now, and he wasn’t sure if he was seeing things well. When he felt the sting of a slap, he put his hand over his cheek at the pain of it and looked at Virginia. Larson started to ask her what she thought she was doing when she spoke.

  “You’re scaring everyone. Talk to me.” He said that s
he’d hit him. “Yes, I did, and will again if you don’t try and snap out of this. Your dad is terrified that you’re going off the deep end. I’m afraid that you’re going to leave me here and wander off. Talk to me, Larson. I love you.”

  “He was going to kill him.” She said that he didn’t though. “What sort of sick person is all right with just wanting to kill a little baby? One that can’t even hold his own bottle. Not that killing an older child is any different, but why, Virginia? Why would that be all right with him?”

  “Jon said that he thought that at some point Harley went off the reservation, that his mind had snapped. We don’t know, and will never know when that occurred, but he wasn’t right in the head. Not at the end, anyway.” Larson nodded. He wasn’t agreeing or disagreeing with her, just acknowledging that she was talking. “Larson, you’re going to have to come to terms with this. You’ve been sitting here for two days. And when you’re not rocking Sam, you’re holding a pillow like it’s him. Come back to me.”

  “Two days?” She nodded and wiped at her tears. “I just don’t want him hurt. I have to be able to protect him, and I didn’t.”

  “Larson, you did protect him. Don’t you see? You didn’t allow him to leave the house, and you let Jon take care of the monster that would have hurt him. But he’s not hurt. Neither of them are.” He looked for Sam and asked where he was. “Larson James McCullough, I’m going to leave your ass here if you don’t straighten yourself up.”

  “Where is Sam? Mom said she’d bring him back to me.” He rocked, holding onto the little pillow, his own mind shutting off. “When he’s diapered and ready, I’d like to hold him.”

  Larson noticed that the room was dark. At some point, he supposed that it had gotten dark outside. Rocking again, yelling for his mom to bring Sam back to him, he realized then that he was all alone in the house. There wasn’t a single sound anywhere around him. Getting up, sore and achy after sitting there, he hobbled to the kitchen to find his mom.

  There wasn’t anyone around in there either, but there was a note on the counter from Virginia. He decided to get him a drink, having only just realizing that he was dry to the bone. After refilling his glass twice, he took the envelope to the dining room and sat down at the table. The lights were better in there, and he opened it to read where she’d gone.

  “I’m leaving you. I know that’s not the best course of action, considering that you’re going to turn rogue, but as I can see it now, you’ve hit that point already.” He wasn’t sure that was right, but he really didn’t know how long he’d been there alone. “I’ve left you on Saturday afternoon. I don’t know what day it is today, but you’d been sitting in the chair, rocking a pillow, for three days before that. I need stability in my life, and you aren’t giving it to me right now. I know you hurt, but why, I can’t figure out. We have Samuel.

  “Have a good life, Larson. I love you with all my heart.” Then she signed it Virginia. He got up to find out the date, and was dismayed to find that his phone, at some point, had died. He put it on the charger and reached for Colin.

  You all right now? You fucking shit, you scared the hell out of all of us. He asked him the date. The date? It’s the tenth. Why?

  No, the day of the week. Virginia said in a note that she left me on a Saturday. What day is it now? Colin didn’t answer him, and that scared him a little bit more. Colin, she’s left me.

  I would have too. The way you were acting made me want to knock the shit out of you to bring you around. He said he was sorry. Not as sorry as you’ll be if you don’t fix this with your mate. It’s Friday.

  Friday? It had been a week and he’d just been sitting there? He wondered a few things, like how had he not wet himself, but his brother answered that one by telling him that was all he’d done. Got up to go to the bathroom, only to return to the rocker and go back and forth. Holding a fucking pillow.

  Where is she? Where is Virginia? He didn’t answer him. Please, Colin. I need to find her. And I need to make this up to her. I don’t know what happened to me.

  No one does, Larson. You zoned out and terrified us all. He said he was sorry again, but he was awake now. She’s here. And you should know that she’s making arrangements to go back to her old place. So if I were you, I’d clean up, because I’m betting you stink, and come see her. And not empty handed, either.

  Yes, flowers and chocolate. Anything as long as I’m not empty-handed.

  He made his way to the bathroom in their bedroom and noticed in a distracted sort of way that the room was finished. That the furniture looked really good. Turning on the water, he noticed that he’d grown a beard, as well as his face looked gaunt. “I suppose not eating for over a week will do that to you.”

  It took him nearly an hour to shower twice and find himself something to wear. He had clothing, but it wasn’t what he wanted to wear. When you went to ask the person you loved more than anyone to come back to you, you should be wearing more than just a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. And a suit just seemed to be too much. So he went for casual funk. He had to wear a belt on his jeans too because he’d lost that much weight.

  The florist couldn’t have been more helpful to him. He’d only had to tell her that he’d fucked up…not in those words, but close enough that she ran around the store picking out things he needed. Larson was sure that it was too much, just a tad, but they were both having so much fun that he didn’t care what the cost was. And then he headed over to the bakery to get something sweet.

  Larson had to drive over to Colin’s. He’d never been so nervous and shaky in his whole life. Nervous because he was afraid she’d tell him to go fuck himself, which was no less than he deserved. And shaky because he was starving to death. He sure hoped he was going to hit the dinner time hour, because he could easily eat a horse.

  Driving carefully, he thought about all the things he wanted to say to her. He loved her would be the first thing, then he’d ask her—no, beg her—to forgive him and take him back. Larson didn’t know what he’d done, other than to zone out, but he knew that he’d hurt her. And badly. As soon as he pulled into the drive, he had to sit here for several minutes to make his body stop humming with the shakes.

  You going to sit out there all day, or get your ass in here and be a man about the shit you pulled on her? He grinned at the sound of Lauren’s voice. You heard me, so answer me, dumbass. What’s it going to be?

  I’m not well. She told him he was going to be a lot less well when he got inside. No, you don’t understand. There’s something wrong with me. I mean, I don’t think I’ve eaten for several days, and I can hardly hold on to the steering wheel, I’m so weak.

  Stay where you are.

  He could almost feel the concern in her voice, and it touched something deep inside of him. Laying his head back on the headrest, Larson closed his eyes. He really didn’t feel well, and when his door opened to his left, he didn’t bother looking.

  “Here, drink this.” Mac turned his face toward her as the other door opened. “Virginia is going to sit with you while you drink this down. It’s orange juice, and there are some crackers and cheese. Don’t eat it too fast or you’ll be sick.”

  “All right.” He looked over at Virginia. “Hello, my dear heart.”

  She glared at him, then laid her head on his shoulder. “You are an asshole. I had all these things that I wanted to say to you, blast you with, and now I can’t because you don’t feel well.” He told her that he was sure it would pass. “No, I’m pretty mad at you. What happened to you?”

  “I don’t know. I really don’t. All I could think about was seeing him dead. Picking up his little lifeless body and it being cold in death. I’ve never had anything affect me like that before.” Virginia told him that it had felt like that to her when he’d left her there. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am that I did that to you. I should have been happy that he was all right. That the family came together and helped us. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that he was dead.”

 
He drank down the juice and was handed another one, then Mac left them. He was still not feeling well, but he wasn’t as shaky as he had been. As they sat there, he thought of some of the things that had entered his head while he’d been zoned out. It was all he could think to call it, he was zoned out.

  “Wells is dead, correct?” Virginia told him that he was. “And his friend, Dusty, where is he now? I have the feeling that he’s not.”

  “No, he’s currently working with the police and a lot of other agencies in cleaning up a lot of cold cases. Then he’s going to go away for a very long time. I guess life without parole. But for some reason, and Lauren agrees with me, he won’t be in there long. He’ll try and end his life. This whole thing, it’s affected him more than anyone else.” She looked at him. “Other than you, I guess. I’ve missed you.”

  “And I you. I don’t know how to tell you just how sorry I am.” He turned when she did and saw the flowers and chocolate. “Well, I was going to try and butter you up with this stuff to have you let me back into your life.”

  “Chocolate works.” She pulled the box to her lap and laughed. “Where the hell did you find a ten-pound box of chocolate? I’m sure that it’s not something people just have around.”

  “I got it at the bakery. They were going to melt it down for some other things, but when I explained what a fuck up I was, they helped me out by making the little blocks of it prettier. Open it and look.” She did and laughed harder. “I don’t know that I’d approve of it, but under the circumstances, I think it’s perfect.”

  The blocks spelled out asking her for forgiveness. Actually, what it said was, “I’m an idiot. Please forgive me.” As she sampled some of the pieces, he ate the cheese and crackers. After the third bottle of juice, he was beginning to feel like he could walk without falling over.

  Virginia helped him into the house and into his brother’s living room. They were all there, even Jon, and no one of them looked very happy with him. He decided that the truth, in this case, was better than anything he could tell them.