I have a picture of me standing somewhere in a desert area. Doesn’t really narrow it down, but it’s me. He continued his search. I’m going to check out the bartender who killed Hartman. Hopefully, we can nip this in the bud before anyone else comes around.
Clean up is here. I’m going to let them do their job. Before I forget to tell you, the deed to this hotel has been changed. It was a good idea for you to buy it outright so that you could come and change things around as you needed them. You’re a smart cookie. Anyone ever point that out to you? Anyway, I went by the courthouse earlier this morning to take your name off and put in the name you use when you don’t want anyone to find you. That’s a wonderful idea, by the way. I’d never think to look for you under Slaughterhouse Bakery. No one will ever know we’ve been here. He thanked her. I’m coming to you—back door. There isn’t any point in advertising that people are going in and out of the restaurant.
He was sitting behind the bar when Janice came into the place. She sat at the bar when he stood up and poured her a drink, a full glass of whiskey. He had a glass of water. Handing her what he’d found behind the bar and on the kid, she told him the younger man was Parks, and the other man was Hartman. The notes he found were about him, very little as it turned out, but they’d known enough to find him in Ohio.
“This is pretty cut and dried. Whose name is this, do you know?” He told her he did. “I’m guessing you’re going to have to have another clean up on aisle four then, huh?”
“Perhaps. If you were to read over the entire thing, you’d see that the person who sent them after me didn’t have much to go on either. I especially like the part where he calls me a fart in the wind. Do you suppose he really thought that, or did he think of himself as a funny guy?” She laughed with him. “It’s going to take me a few days to find Mr. Swartz. When I do, you want to make some extra cash?”
“You know I’ll go with you anywhere.” She sat there for a little while, sipping her second glass of whiskey. “No, I can’t go with you on another one of these trips. I’m getting too old for this shit, Gunner. I want to retire. Sit on a fucking beach someplace and not have to worry that the next time I start my car, it might blow me to shit. When I take a lover, I want it to be a fun filled night with breakfast in bed the next morning. Not a quickie with someone in a dark alley. You’re a good fuck, Gunner, the best I’ve ever had, but I’m wanting more than a big cock from a man that has less idea of commitment than I do. I’m finished.”
“I’ll have to kill you. You’re aware of that, aren’t you?” She nodded. “Pick a body out, and we’ll make sure they find you dead someplace. Otherwise, this will come back and do more to you than just put a bomb up your ass.”
“Thanks, Gunner.” She grinned at him. “When you find a mate, I’m hoping she fills your heart and makes you into the best man in the world.”
“Fuck you.”
They did what was necessary for her to be found dead over the next few days. He didn’t think she’d be able to stay out of this completely, but he was going to give her the best start he could. No one would be able to hunt her down again. More than likely, he wouldn’t be able to find her either.
Neither one of them had any kind of records on file that they’d be able to compare a dead body to. Just putting what Janice had on her on the body was all they’d have. He knew for sure that their dental records, DNA, prints, and anything else that would be used for identification wouldn’t be found. The two of them really were ghosts.
~*~
Wesley was putting away the tools he’d used that morning to fix a door in the house when he heard screaming. Rushing out into the yard, he was headed to the house when Penny came out the back door with her hand held above her head. Her blouse had blood on it. So did her face. Racing to her, she was ready to run him down when he grabbed her and held her to his body.
“Calm down.” He knew he was harsh in his tone, but he couldn’t understand what she was screaming about. Taking her hand that was covered in blood, he saw that she’d cut her wrist badly. “I need to seal this for you. All right? Then you’re going to tell me what you did to cut yourself this way.”
“All right.” He opened up the lengthwise cut in her wrist and licked it there. Then when the bleeding was almost stopped, he licked it again just to be sure. Closing up the wound, then with his hands, he sealed it as well. Then he held her. “I was cutting up vegetables that your mom gave me. I wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing. The television was on, and something on there scared me. That was when the knife slipped.”
Wesley felt like his heart was going to explode in his chest. It was getting better, but he’d been terrified something had happened to her. Lifting her chin up to see into her eyes, she told him she was sorry she’d panicked.
“You did the right thing, Penny. Had you not found me, you would have bled to death. What scared you on the television?” When she told him, Wesley asked her what had scared her about Butch. “You know, now that I think about it, I’ve never met him. Where has he been all this time?”
“He was coming out of a big house that the news people were telling a story in front of. I was only half paying attention when I saw Emmie’s brother. Butch was just standing there like he was confused about how he’d gotten there. I guess there was some kind of murder-suicide in the house.” Wesley was going to see if he could get some information on the man. No one seemed to talk about him much. “You don’t have on a shirt.”
He just glanced down at himself as he thought about Butch. “Yes. It gets really hot in the barn when I’m working. I didn’t know some maniac was going to come out of the house screaming bloody murder.” He lifted her chin up and looked at her face. “Why is me being shirtless bothering you?”
“Bothering me? I don’t think that would be the word I’d use.” He nearly fell backward when she licked his nipple then bit down on it gently. “Now, if you were to ask me if it was getting me all hot and bothered, then yes, that would be the words I’d use.”
He picked her up, and she giggled. Taking her back into the barn, he shoved her up against the wall and tore her clothing off her. While she worked on the belt and zipper on his pants, he was taking her breast to his mouth. Christ, the need to have her came over him like an electrical storm.
“Hurry.” He told her he was trying. “You have too many clothes on. Why are you even wearing a belt?” He jerked if off his pants. Penny laughed again. “This is going to be quick and dirty, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” He slammed his cock into her, and she screamed out her release. Wanting to make it last at least a second or two longer, he tried to slow down, but she wasn’t having it. As soon as his cock filled, his balls aching to release, she bit down on his shoulder hard enough to make him see stars and for his release to take him. “You’re not going to enjoy this much if you don’t let me have my fun.”
“Oh Wesley, I’m enjoying myself so much right now that I’m going to come again.” Her neck was borne to him as she threw back her head in submission. The need to bite her, to taste of her hot spicy blood, made his cock fill again. “Again. I need to come again.”
Biting her, just tasting her at her richest point, he nearly dropped the two of them to the ground when she came with him. Nothing could have prepared him for what happened between them. He was sure that while he’d not ask anyone about it, this making love with his mate was one for the books. Christ, he was so in love with her that he could have taken out an ad in every paper in the world, and it wouldn’t have been enough.
It was quick, their coupling. Coming three times himself made him weak in the knees, his breaths coming out in short puffs of air. Never in all of his life had he ever had such a reaction to a woman. He doubted he ever would again. Penny was his mate.
Holding her up by pressing her to the wall, Wesley touched her as much as he could. Her skin was cooling off. A breeze into the barn also had he
r sprinkled in dust. Kissing her neck where he had bitten her, Penny moaned twice before she pulled his head back by his hair.
“Stop teasing me. You have no idea— Well, perhaps you do have an idea about how I’m feeling right now.” He kissed her before telling her some of the feelings he was having. “Do you really love me?”
“Yes. I have for some time, but I didn’t tell you because you seemed so determined to keep me at arm’s length.” She looked down at the two of them, still connected in the most intimate way. “Okay, maybe not that far away, but you were making sure there were people around when we were in a room together. I thought I smelled or something.”
“No. Yes, you do smell. It was all I could do not to jump you every time you came into the house after working outside all day. Were you by chance avoiding me?” He didn’t even try and deny it. Wesley had been avoiding her. “I see. Boy, were we at cross purposes. I guess we could have been fucking around all along if not for me trying my best to keep away from you. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. This was great.” He held her up a little more, to have her mouth right where he wanted it. “I love you, Penny Bishop. More and more with every beat of my heart. And anytime you want to jump me, you don’t have to cut yourself. Please, don’t do that again.” She told him she wouldn’t. “Now, tell me why you were so afraid when you saw Butch on television. Do you think he was the one that murdered those people? I didn’t even know he was in Columbus.”
“I don’t know what I think, to be honest. Butch and Dutch are twins, did I tell you that?” He said he hadn’t known that. “They’re identical. But you’d never know that if you didn’t just talk to them separately. They’re so different; it’s like looking at two people that look alike but are from different families.”
“And what is it he does that is so different than Dutch?” She told him he would beat her up when he was near her. Steal from whoever had the money. “Sounds just like Dutch if you ask me. What else?”
“Dutch has killed people, and Butch, as far as I know, hasn’t.” He let her down to the ground when she shivered. “Are you upset with me?”
“Good heavens, no. Why would you think that?” He handed her the shirt he’d taken off earlier when it got to be too hot. “I love you. I was just thinking about the differences between them. When you said that Butch hadn’t killed anyone, how sure are you about that? For all you know, he might have fifty people in shallow graves around. I’m not being a smart ass here; I’m just trying to figure this out.”
“I know. But I know because he told me that once.” He looked at her skeptically. “No, seriously. He was telling me that when he said Dutch had killed a lot of people. That he was also going to kill me. That was about the time I started to carry a gun.”
“Something that I’ve been meaning to ask you. Will you marry me, Penny? As soon as it can be arranged. I want you to be my wife. I’m in love with you.” She stared at him, then told him the entire town thought they were already married. “Yes, my dad did do that, but it certainly was helpful when we found out his plans, right? All right, if that doesn’t make you want to be my wife, it’ll be harder for your relatives to marry you off if you’re already married.”
“Wow, that was.... You’re strange, Wesley Bishop. And no matter the reasoning, I will marry you. As soon as it can be arranged.” He did a little dance, and she laughed. “I will also require a ring from you. A pretty one. It doesn’t have to be diamonds, but a pretty ring.”
“You got it. Tomorrow morning we’ll meet at the courthouse and get hitched. That’ll be enough time for my family to get ready to welcome you into our big family.” He kissed her again, telling her again that he loved her. “I will make you as happy as you do me with every breath I take.”
When they were both dressed as well as they could be with what little they had left to wear, he walked with her into the house. He sent her off to their bedroom, hoping they’d be sharing it now, as he cleaned up the blood. There had been a great deal of it too.
“Hello.” He looked at Gunner when he came into the room with him. Not a sound had been made, and he wondered just how many people he’d snuck up on the same way. “Don’t think like that. Please. I’m home to stay.”
“I know.” Then he told him what Penny had told him. “How would I go about looking into this?”
“I’ll do it.” Wesley thanked him. He wasn’t even sure how to go about looking into murders. “Wesley, your pants are buttoned wrong.” Well, one more thing he was going to have to live down, he supposed. But he did fix his pants. Christ, two minutes more and— Wesley eyed his brother. “No. I stayed away when I heard her scream. I didn’t see anything.” He hoped not. Wesley would hate to have to tangle with his brother. He’d come out on the bottom, he knew it. Yes, he didn’t want to tangle with his older brother.
“Tomorrow morning, meet us at the courthouse. Penny has agreed to marry me. I just have to find her a pretty ring. I wonder how I go about that.” Gunner told him not to ask him, but Mom might be able to help. “I’ll spring the wedding on her, then ask for help with a ring. She’ll love it.”
Chapter 5
The semi pulled up in front of the house. Penny remembered at the last minute that she didn’t want to rush outside and get herself killed. Either of her brothers could be out there, and she didn’t want to have to worry about being unarmed. Picking up her gun, which she carried all the time when not at home, she made her way out to the truck bearing the name of some rental company she’d heard of.
“I’m to tell you the code before I get out of the truck.” She asked him what it was. “Seven lords a leaping. That’s a good one, by the way. Usually, it’s just a name or a number. This was fun. Can I get out now?”
“Sure, but you do know that if you come out of that truck with anything more than a clipboard, I’m going to blow a hole into your face.” He just said, “Christ, lady,” and slipped out of the truck. “Are you supposed to unload it?”
“No, ma’am. I was told you’d know to contact someone, and that there would be a lot of people here to help unload.” She told him it was only a loom; how many did she need to unload that. “Loom? I have a loom, ma’am, but that’s not all I have. There are boxes and boxes of stuff in there that I’m dropping off. All of it has your name on it.”
Penny was confused but did reach out to talk to Wesley. He’d been called away early this morning to help with a field. His new stuff would need to be cleaned up again. Not that he minded, he told her. It kept him from taking her to bed again when they’d only just gotten it made—for the second time.
My cargo is here. He told her good. Wait. Before you go and get all excited for me, there is more than just the loom on it that the driver says belongs to me. I didn’t order anything but the loom to be brought here. I certainly didn’t buy anything.
Let me check on it. My brothers are here with me. Would you believe me if I told you we’re harvesting pot? There are nearly two hundred acres of it planted with late corn. Christ, this is huge. She waited while he asked his brothers. The man driving the semi, Houston, was backing the big truck up to her barn. It’s all yours. Apparently, Raven found out that you loom things—what is that called? Anyway, she wanted you to be able to put some of your things in the shop in town that she’s working on getting opened.
I have my stuff all over the place now. Was she aware of that before she spent a fortune on material? She looked in the back of the truck when the doors were finally open. Wesley, there are several hundred boxes on this sucker, all of it fabric that I can’t afford. What the hell does she think I’m going to do with all this? Weave a blanket for the frigging world to cuddle into?
Wesley laughed. She did as well, finding the humor in it finally. But it was just a little overwhelming to her.
I don’t know. She’s not here for me to ask. And when I reached out to her, she told me she was very busy right now. I
guess she and her grandma have this business thing going on in the business district that they’re helping out. Sawyer told me about two hundred people are going to be fired if they can’t come to an agreement with the owner. Penny asked him where this was taking place. After he told her, Wesley asked her what she was going to do. It might be better if I have some idea what’s going on so that I bring enough money to bail you out.
It’s better if you don’t know—that way, you have plausible deniability. However, I guess plans were made to have someone here to help with the unloading. Do you know anything about that? Wesley told her some of the pack had been paid to empty it out for her. She asked him to contact them for her. Closing the connection, she turned to Houston. “There are people coming here to help you unload.”
Just after telling him where to put the loom, the only thing on the truck that she was aware of, she heard the first vehicle pull into their drive. Telling the man and his boys, he called them, to empty out what they could, she said she’d be back. The man, whatever his name was, laughed all the way to her back yard.
Penny had worked up a fine temper on her way to the company Raven was at with her grannie. As soon as she told the man at the front door who she was and why she was there, he got out of her way. She didn’t know what she looked like to have him backing away from her, but she was glad she frightened at least one person. Barging into the office, Penny looked around and decided she wasn’t nearly as pissed off as Raven was.
“Who are you?” The man she had pointed to stumbled out his name. “Mr. Holland, why are you even arguing with this woman? She’ll tell you right to your face that she’s never wrong when it comes to making a business deal. How the hell do you think she got so rich? It wasn’t because she hasn’t any business sense—you know that, don’t you?”
Wesley: Bishop’s Snowy Leap – Paranormal Tiger Shifter Romance (Bishop's Snowy Leap Book 3) Page 6