Blaze: Queen’s Birds of Prey: Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance (Queen's Birds of Prey Book 2)

by Kathi S. Barton

  Chapter 1

  Blaze had been staying at the hotel nearest the business of the man who had fucked up her blueprints for three days. It was better than her having to drive the twenty minutes both ways daily, she thought. It didn’t seem that they were any closer to getting this resolved than they had been when she’d first called the company. Deter Prints had a great deal to answer for.

  When she made something, a toy to be put together, she would have the company make blueprints. It helped with the size of each piece and the way they had to fit together every time, so that she could have the piece manufactured correctly the first time they made them.

  Not just her either. There were a total of sixteen companies for which he’d contracted to make the blueprints from the specs that the other companies gave him, so they could manufacture their products having pieces that they could cut out and put together. However, he was sending them shitty blueprints with poor craftsmanship, and was making the correct blueprints for himself, perfectly this time. He would then put them into production at his own plant with his own name on them.

  Deters would send back the work he was supposed to be doing for these companies, the specs blueprints, with so many flaws in them that it was little wonder they didn’t come out the way that they should have. Lucky for her, she’d only worked one week with the mistake before noticing the flaw, and hadn’t produced any of the products to go out. Some of the other fifteen companies had produced over a million of the suckers, and had shipped them out to customers. That didn’t bode well for their customer service and high-quality output.

  Have you heard anything to do with your prints from Lilly? I mean, has she gotten it any closer so that you can come home? She told Mercy that she had actually, and that she was just sitting around on her ass waiting until Mercy called to tell her it was okay for her to come home. You’re not in a very good mood, are you? This is really messing with our spring line of production. Don’t they know that?

  Yes. They know what we’re all up against. It’s about the only thing I say to them every time they ask me if I’ve had this sort of trouble before. I think they figured that if we were putting out a product for one whole season away, then we’d have to be the last one they fuck with. Mercy told her to behave. I don’t fucking want to behave. I want to find this Lloyd Deter and crush him with my beak. I want to hunt him down, tear out his little tiny throat, then spit on his burning fucking building.

  All right. I can tell you’re upset. When Mercy laughed, Blaze wanted to fly there and kill her too. Not that she’d be able to, but it sounded nice in her head. Want me to come and stay with you? I don’t think it will improve your mood, but at least you’d have someone to bicker at for a little while.

  No. I’ll be fine. But it just seems as if they’re taking forever to do one thing. Since Deter never had enough time to work with our design, I see no reason for us to have to wait around to have our blueprints released. It’s not like I don’t know how to fix it. I did that while they made me sit around and wait for them. Christ, this is stupid. Mercy asked if Jude had figured out anything. She’s working from her offices today. She told me that there isn’t any reason why they haven’t released us yet to start producing. But she said that it was a great deal of money that they’re dealing with on their end, and they want to make sure that everyone gets what’s coming to them.

  I can understand that. Blaze could as well, but that didn’t make it any easier on her waiting around for it to be all right. I’ll tell you what I can do. There are a number of things I want to deal with in our town. I could send them to you and have you look them over. You might have a few suggestions on getting things done while you’re waiting.

  That would be great. I’m bored mostly, and that doesn’t make me any less needy to get my ass home. Mercy told her she’d send them out now. Thanks. Also, I was wondering what our plans were for Thanksgiving. What with you having a family, I thought that we’d not ignore it, but go all out this year and visit New Village. I want to see the castle. I need to feel our roots around me again.

  I was thinking that as well. I don’t know about the castle, however. I know that it’s in ruin. Do you really want to go there and be reminded of all we lost? I’ll have to give that some thought. Blaze had not thought of that. But I’d love to go to New Village with you. I’m not sure how many people are still there that we might have known, but we can go there.

  Setting up a time to gather all the other birds together, they made plans to talk about it then. The thought of seeing the castle in disrepair was heartbreaking. It had been their beginning, their life for so very long. Then the six of them, per the queen’s request, had destroyed not only the castle and its walls, but the queen as well.

  The phone ringing startled her, and Blaze answered it with her usual pissy mood. The person on the other end laughed, and Blaze smiled. It was Clara. She’d know her laughter anywhere.

  “I have good news for you, and bad. Which would you like first?” She told her that she wanted the bad first. “Good, I was hoping you’d say that. Mr. Deter died of a massive heart attack last night in his home. He must have known it was coming on, because there was a note saying how sorry he was. I think last night was a stab in the heart to most of you, but that’s just me.”

  “Now what happens? I mean, that’s a great deal of money no one can collect on now, correct?” Clara told her that was the good news. “I don’t understand.”

  “Mr. Deter had a sixty million dollar insurance policy on himself and his business. Since he cannot run the business any longer, the money basically becomes part of the building. So the money will be there for all of you to collect on. Problem is, there is still the building and the people that work here. Most of them have only been working here for about five years. The rest since they were in their teens, so they’re ready to retire anyway. Know anyone that might like to purchase a solid—up until recently—printing company? Blaze asked if she was asking her to purchase it. “I am. You could do worse than having your own company that could make blueprints for you. From what I’ve understood from the people working here, Mr. Deter hasn’t been making the blueprints for some time now. Only the sixteen that were screwed up.”

  “How much do you know about the company itself?” Clara, the FBI agent that was in charge of the investigation, said that she knew all the specs on the company, but it was the people that she didn’t know. “Do you know if it was in the black before all this shit hit the fan?”

  “It was. Still is, now that the insurance money is coming directly to it. After payroll to the people working from home right now because of the investigation, and paying out for the loss of each of you, there will be enough to do the upgrades that were in the works before this all happened. Not that I’m taking his side or anything, but I think that was his plan with the money that he was stealing from the companies. I mean, I could be wrong, but that is what I’m thinking after talking to the bank. Who, I should add, had turned him down for any money. Something about his age and how the computer industry is making his job obsolete.”

  “Banks—you gotta love them.” Blaze thought that it was a good idea to buy the business, but had to talk to the other birds. “How long do I have to get an answer to you?”

  “Not me, the bank. They’re ready to take it now, as a matter of fact. The only reason I know that is because the banker and his minions have been here every day since this began. I haven’t any idea why it’s suddenly worth his time, but I think he has other plans for the place. I’m thinking that he has an idea to make a buck or two the same way that Deter Prints did. Not the same way, I guess, but still bilking people out of something good. That’ll be bad news for the people working here.” Mercy asked the banker’s name. “Get this—his name is Jacob Banks. Yes, I was surprised too. But he is here now. If you were to, I don’t know, call the corporate offices, you might be able to get it before he does. Just a thought.”

/>   Instead of talking it over with her sisters, she called the corporate office and asked to speak to the bank president. She knew the man very well—they’d dealt with him recently on another matter. Today he took her call within minutes of her being put on hold.

  “Blaze, my dear, how are you? Please tell me that you’ve decided to marry me and make me the happiest man in the entire world.” She laughed when he did. The man was younger than her, of course, but he was pushing seventy if not older. “I am at your disposal. What can I do for you?”

  “I’d like to purchase the Deter Printing building, lock, stock, and barrel. That is, if you can cut me a good deal since it’s going to go under within the next few days. I’m part of the scandal that is going on there. Now that I’ve been cleared and Mr. Deter has died from a heart attack, I’d like to take it over so that first of all, this never happens again. Also, I can keep the two hundred employees there off the unemployment line and using your banks.” He told her that he’d have to look into that, that he’d not heard a thing about any of this. “That doesn’t surprise me at all, if you want the truth of it. But I would appreciate it if you could look quickly. It’s my understanding that the local banker for your bank is there now trying to buy it cheaply. I don’t know what his plans for it are, but you know me well enough to know that I won’t do anything underhanded for you or the banks you own.”

  “Yes, I trust you more than my own wife, though I’d never say that to her. I wonder if he has any idea that’s against our company policy.” She said that she didn’t know. “You hang on a moment, Blaze, and let me see what I can do for you. If there are no liens on it on our end, I don’t know why I couldn’t cut you a good deal.”

  David Riker put her on hold, and she didn’t mind waiting this time. She did do some research on the local bank to see if she could find not just a name for the manager, but anything else she could find on him.

  His name was Jacob Banks, just as she’d been told by Clara. He’d been working at this particular bank for several years. As she dug deeper, using the darkest part of the web to get all the dirt she could on the man, Blaze found out that not only had he pulled this crap before, but he’d used bank money to purchase the buildings and pocketed all the profits when he sold them. Double dealing was what she called that. She asked Jude to see what she could find out about his accounts.

  “I don’t want you to think that I’ve forgotten you, my dear. But I’m having a bit of trouble finding Mr. Banks.” She told him that he was at the building in question. “Just what I thought. I’m sure you have a bit more information than I will ever find on the man, so why don’t you tell me what you’ve found out? I should have hired you and your sisters a very long time ago.”

  She told him everything that she’d been able to find. After talking to Jude the second time, Blaze had even more information to give him, none of it any good. The man was stealing from the hand that fed him.

  “From what we’ve been able to unearth, he has an account overseas, to which he funnels the money he makes off the buildings he double deals in. After that, the money is moved again, this time to two different accounts that are in his name and that of his wife, Mildred.” David asked her if she could put the money back. “I can if that’s what you want. Where do you want it?”

  “Put it in a holding account. I’m setting that up as we speak. How much is in the two accounts?” She told him. “Oh my, he has been busy. I’ll open three accounts, and you put one third of it in each of them. Then you and I will talk about the building and my giving it to you for a job well done.”

  “You don’t have to do that, David. I’m just glad I could help.” He said that he insisted. “All right. Thank you. If you’d like some help with your buddy at the building, there is a group of FBI agents at the building now. They’re working on figuring out how to get the money back to the companies that were screwed by Lloyd Deter. I can have their leader call you if you’d like.”

  “Excellent. How I wish I could be there when he figures out that we’ve caught him. But catching him at this makes my day far better than I thought it was going to be. I have to tell you, Blaze. I was just going over the books for the company as a whole, and couldn’t figure out why we were losing so much money. I might have to have you look into some of my other banks to figure this out.”

  “Call Jude. She’s the best there is, and the one that found out about this for me.” He said he’d do that, and took her number. “She will be snappish to you a little until you tell her who you are. She’s not any more happy about getting interrupted when working than you are, sir.”

  After he told her that he’d call Jude, she hung up and called Clara back. After giving her the number and who she was to ask for, she was happy. It was a good thing all the way around. Now she had to tell the sisters of her heart what she’d done.

  “He’ll be in cuffs before he can calculate what he might be able to steal from the second floor. Thanks, I owe you.” Blaze told Clara that she came out on top, so she considered them even. “This will be a hell of a feather in my hat. Maybe even the promotion that I’ve been hoping for.”

  Good, she thought. She’d go over to the new printing and blueprint design company before going home, and try and see if she’d just made a huge mistake in getting the company. Even for nothing, she’d still have to pay payroll and taxes on the sucker until she could unload it on someone else. Blaze hoped that she had done the right thing.

  ~*~

  Clara had it first on her list to call her boss, then she had to call home. Now that things were working toward an end here, she could honestly tell her boss that she had gone a step or two above what she’d been told was needed.

  “The bank president, Mr. Riker, called me direct when he found out that I was working here, and had me arrest Mr. Banks for bank fraud, theft, as well as a couple of other things that he had only just been made aware of. Mr. Banks had an offshore account that someone who’d had their designs tampered with helped me with.” He asked her what was going to happen now with the building. “It’s under new ownership. The people who he stole designs from are going to get a full return on their monies that were taken, as well as the couple of hundred people that work here are going to get paid. It’s a good day, if you ask me.”

  “It is, Ms. Williams. Good job on all this. You keep this up and you’ll be taking my job before too much longer. In fact, I’d like to put you forward for it as soon as I put my notice in for retirement.” She told him that he was much too young for that, rethinking her idea that she wanted to be behind the desk more now that she’d done a good job. “I am in age, yes. But this job will wear you thin if you allow it. I’m an old man because I didn’t make time for myself. You remember that when you take my place.”

  As much as Clara loved to be able to be in the big seat, she really liked what she was doing the more she thought about it. There was a great deal of work that she could do, especially with the help of Blaze and the others. She was afraid that sitting at a desk all day would make her ass huge, like the women she saw in the office all the time. Not to mention, she’d never get to go out and do her job. But she had too many things to think about right now. Taking over the position would have to be low on her list for the moment.

  After making arrangements to get things in order at the printshop, Clara started for her hotel. Another perk that she loved was being able to be in lovely hotels around the world. Calling her brother, she was just telling him what was going on at the plant when he interrupted her.

  “I have a problem.” She asked him what she could do to help him out. “It’s not like that, Clara. I’ve told you before, you cannot save everyone.”

  “But you’re my big brother. I want to save you.” He laughed, but she could tell that he was still upset. “What is it, Bryson? I want to help you with anything.”

  “I know that. But all I need to do is vent. Just let me do that without y
ou trying to fix it for me, all right? Just venting.” As much as she wanted to run home and fix this, she knew that it wouldn’t help him. Bryson was a great guy, and worked hard for a living. “Dad is coming home to visit. I don’t want him here. We just got the house paid off and the taxes caught up. You know as well as I do that he’s going to start gambling again and put the house up for it. I know that it’s in our name now, but he’s too slick for his own good. I thought about changing the locks on the house, then thought, fuck it, I’m going to do it. So yesterday all the locks were changed, and there isn’t any way that he’s going to con me into giving him a key. Also—you’re going to love this—I talked to the local pack, and they’re going to run him off if they see him. I even gave them one of his old shirts to make sure that they’d know who he is.”

  “Good for you.” Bryson laughed. “That’s not really venting, you know. It’s more like you’re proud that you’re going to do what’s right.”

  “I know. I guess I wanted you to tell me that what I did was a good thing, and that I’m not mean for doing this, me being his son and all. That I’m not stupid for locking our own dad out of the house. We’ve worked hard to get this sucker up to par and having it ready for when we have a family. Like that’s ever going to happen.” She told him to hush. “I’m thirty-eight years old, Clara. I think that if I was going to find someone to marry, I would have done it long before now. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know what I’ve done.”

  After making arrangements to have him pick her up at the local car rental in the morning, they disconnected the call. She could have driven to where the plant was in no time, but the plane had been available so she took it.

  Clara went to take a shower and realized what a wonderful tub she had in her room, and decided to take a long hot soak. It had been a stressful few days, and she was going to treat herself.