Chapter 8

"When he makes it to the prison, he'll be put into solitary confinement as soon as he arrives. He'll spend the next fifty or so years there, only having time out of his cell for one hour a day in thirty-minute time slots where he can go outside. He will never have contact with another person for his life stay. Even his meals, which will be given to him through an opening that can only be accessed when there is a tray—there is a chip on the trays that he gets—in it will be his only way to be fed. If at any time he doesn't return the tray, he will not receive another tray with food until such time as he does." Wrangler asked how he was supposed to be let out into the open yard. "Through a door that is locked on the outside by a hinge and locking system. I'm proud to say that no one has ever gotten back out into the yard nor into the cell unless we're aware of it."

Wrangler watched the mechanism as they worked it. He had been sent here by Nash to make sure that there wasn't going to be any kind of escape made by Douglas. The man wouldn't be allowed any visitors for the first five years due to his record, nor would anyone speak to him on the inside. If he was ever ill, then he'd be drugged, and a doctor would see him while he was out. While Wrangler could see all kinds of things that could go wrong with that, they seemed to have a good backup plan in place so that he'd not be able to get out. All his toiletries, as well as mattresses and blankets, would be changed out when he was in the yard when necessary. Also, the shower was right in the cell with him so there was no need for him to leave the area even for that. Any personal items, candy bars, or whatever were added to his cell while he was out in the yard when they arrived for him.

It sounded like they had this the way that it should have been. All locked up and made so that their prisoners couldn't get out, nor could they interact with others and be able to do them harm. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that Douglass would kill anyone that got close to him. Douglas was a horrific person, and he wasn't going to change just because he was in prison. Wrangler was still at the prison when Douglas was brought in.

Wrangler was about as tense as he'd ever been, even being around his own mother. The jaguars that had helped put him into the van that brought him here were helping again when he was taken into the prison. Even going so far as to follow him all the way down the hall to his new home.

Wrangler didn't envy him at all. He knew that if he had to be couped up all day like that, he'd go insane. Douglas was smiling the entire time, like he had a big secret that he was keeping that would, somehow get him out. He'd gladly kill the man just to make sure that Carrie was safe from him. The man was a monster, and there was no denying that he'd come after Carrie if given the chance. He didn't understand how someone could hate so harshly. His mother and grandfather had been the same. He began to wonder if there were more people like them in the world. It was sad if that was true.

Once he was locked in his cell, Douglas tried all the doors. He had a moment of fear when he jerked on the door to the cell, and it moved. The guard with him laughed, saying that it was like that so they'd have a little false hope. He thought it was great, diabolical, but fun nonetheless.

After he laid down on his hard steel bed, just a sheet of metal that had been soldered to the wall, with a thin mattress, Wrangler left. As far as he was concerned, Douglas was no longer a threat to his family. If he ever got out, any or all of them would kill him where he stood. His thoughts were that the man should have been killed a long time ago. There would certainly be a lot less deaths because of him being free.

On his way home, he stopped to get some breakfast. The guard that had been showing him around had told him that Little Drop of Happiness had the best pancakes in the world. Wrangler took it as a challenge to go and see if he was right.

As soon as he was seated, he looked over the menu and decided that he was going to have the pancake special. It was five pancakes, three strips of bacon, two eggs, sausage, and coffee. He didn't drink coffee, so he was glad that he was able to substitute it out for tea. Not his favorite either but he could drink it more than he could the other stuff.

He was just cutting into the fluffiest pancakes he'd ever seen when the waitress, her name tag said her name was Mel, put a note on the table. When he started to ask her what was going on, but she cut him off and started talking about how she'd bring by his bill to him in a minute. To take his time. Thinking her odd, he waited until she refilled his little water pot of hot water before he read the note.

"Kitchen. At gunpoint. Help us. Please."

Standing up, he asked where the bathroom was, and that he'd be back. She pointed to the door that was right next to the kitchen door where she'd been coming out of and made his way there. Only he didn't enter the bathroom but let his cat take him and was happy when she pushed open the door to the kitchen for him.

It was then that it occurred to him that she was a cat, too, however, she was a lion. Being closer to the floor as his cat, he noticed that she not only had a chain of metal around her wrist but her ankle as well. This would prevent her from shifting. If she did, she'd lose not only her wrist but her ankle as well. More than likely bleeding out in the process. Whoever was robbing the place had done their homework to know what to expect, except for him. He was the odd man out today.

Making his way into the kitchen as quietly as he could, he could smell fresh blood. Seeing another waitress sitting on the floor with the same chains on her, she pointed to her left, telling him he supposed that someone was in that direction. He made his way there, but she stopped him before he could step around her.

When she put out her hand, it was shaking. Thinking that she wanted him to bite her for a connection, he put his mouth over her hand and waited. At her nod, he licked the area before biting down on her soft hand. She didn't make a sound but nodded when he closed the wound.

"The rest of the staff is in the cooler, with the exception of the manager. The others have been in there a long time, and I'm worried that they will die. Can you hurry this along so that I can get them out?" He told her that he'd do his best and asked her how many people were in the place. "There are eight of us that work here. Four employees in the cooler, the manager, cook, me and Mel. Then, there are four men with guns. They're waiting for the morning rush so that they can get more money. I don't know what they think is going to happen to them. Every one of the morning rush is police officers and guards from the prison. You're the first regular person that has been in here in months."

It didn't take him very long to take the man holding a gun to what he assumed was the chef out. Tearing his throat out, the man was long dead before he hit the floor. The man was so grateful that he bowed at him, then grabbed up the other waitress and left the kitchen area.

Moving to the other end of the kitchen, Wrangler encountered two more men and killed them both as well. There was only one more that he'd have to deal with, and he had to ask the young woman where he might be. She told him that he was sitting at the manager's desk, holding her on his lap with a gun to her head as he fondled her.

Entering the smallish room, snarling at the man, he stood up and fired six times in his general direction, missing him every time. The last two shots hit him in the chest when he stood up to kill the man. Slicing his paw across his throat, he dispatched the man quickly before he passed out.

The woman had been tossed to the floor, where she hit her head. It was bleeding, so he licked the wound closed and made his way to the bathroom to shift again. He knew that he couldn't die, but the pain of being shot and so close hurt like hell. He was never so thankful for Sunny and her magic as he was right then.

Mel had called the police while he'd been in the bathroom and knew that they'd be slightly jumpy—he would if it was him—when they came into their favorite place to eat with four dead men and a stranger there.

Wrangler laid his gun on the table he'd been seated at with his permit to carry along side of it. Sunny and her mother Lily had arrived too, making sure that the bodies of the men were ‘shot' and not had their throats ripped out when viewed by the police and anyone else that had to deal with them. The others, the staff that had been sequestered in the cooler, were now in the dining area with the others. Everyone knew their part to play when the first officer showed up.

By then, not only was Wrangler sitting on the floor, he had his fingers laced behind his head, his pockets were turned out and he had opened his shirt so that they could see that he wasn't carrying anything else with him. They were polite, if not a little jumpy as he'd thought they would be, but after a bit, they allowed him to get up and straighten out his clothing. He sat back down to eat the rest of his cold breakfast.

"Did you know these men?" He told the officer that he'd only stopped by here on the way home at the recommendation of one of the guards. He nodded. "We come here every day. It's a nice little place. I want to thank you for helping out my mom. She's Mel Sharpley, the owner of this place."

He told the other man that she'd been smart in handing him a note to warn him. Officer Sharpley said that sounded like something that she'd do. Smiling at him, the man sat across from him before looking around at the other officers.

"She is going to close this place up soon. This might just be the final straw for her. I hate to see it go. I've spent my entire life here at some point or another." Wrangler asked him what he'd like for him to do. "You're that Sheppard family. The ones that help out people that are in need, right? Well, I'd like to apply for help for my mom. She won't get what she needs to live off of, and being in her seventies, she'll hopefully be around for a bit longer. People want a cheap deal because they figure that she's old and doesn't have a brain cell one. But she's savvy. Will you lend her the money to fix this place up so that she can resell it at a better price? I don't know all the ends and outs of what might be needed nor the cost of such things. But I do know that whatever is needed, it will make a world of difference for the rest of her life. I'd make sure that you're paid back from the proceeds of the sale. She just needs a helping hand."

"Yes. I'll loan her the money." Wrangler surprised himself with his quick answer. It wasn't like him to not think things over for days before still not having a solid answer. "I'll hire someone to come in and tell us what it would cost to do the renovations. Also, to tell us if it would be worth doing. That would be something that you'd have to think about, too. The place might have structural things wrong with it that we can't see right now." Billy, as he was asked to call him, said he'd thought of that too. "Good. You're a good son. What is your mom going to think about going behind her back and doing this?"

"She'll smack me in the back of the head, then tell me that she loves me for helping her. I'd just like for her to have enough money to buy food for herself and a roof over her head. Right now, do you think that will be possible?" He didn't want to commit to something that he had no knowledge of but said that he thought so. Again, something that he'd never done before. "Thank you for being honest with me, Wrangler. You've no idea how much I appreciate this."

"It's no problem. But don't be thanking me just yet. This might be all for nothing." He told him that he understood that, too. "You're a good son, Billy. Looking after your mother shows me too that you're not in this for yourself. Thank you for restoring my faith in humanity today."

After the police left and he was given a platter of food on the house, he left his business card with Billy and headed home. Excited to have a new venture to invest in, he started making calls as soon as he got home. It just so happened that one of the men in the leap that his brother ran was a construction company owner. He was more than willing to go out and check on the place.

~*~

Archie didn't want to go home. Tomorrow was their last day here, and they'd had such a wonderful time that he considered just saying fuck it all and live here forever. But he also knew that the two of them had obligations that they just couldn't walk away from. However, he thought knowing that they could come here and spend some down time when it got to be too much he thought would make leaving a great deal easier.

They'd walked the island so many times that he was sure that he could do it with his eyes closed. The two of them had tried so many different kinds of foods, things that he'd only read about when he'd been escaping through the words in a book. The colors were so vibrant that he couldn't imagine not having them around all the time.

Carrie had been napping during the day. He was sure that she was worn out from all the lovemaking that they'd been having. Just yesterday, she woke him up riding his cock so beautifully that he'd nearly forgotten that he could enjoy their lovemaking too. Christ, the places where they'd had quick sex boggled his mind that they'd not been caught a few times that it was very close. And each time, the two of them would come so hard that they would have to rest for an hour or two before being able to walk without staggering. It was the best fun he'd had, he thought.

Now, here they were in the big bed for the last time this vacation. Carrie was sleeping, and he was just dozing off when he remembered that he'd not set an alarm. Pulling his phone to him, he set his clock to wake up in plenty of time to get dressed, packed, and go to the airport the next morning. Closing his eyes, he fell into a deep sleep.

Waking up, his cock warm and wet, he looked down at his body in the moonlight to see Carrie sucking his cock. Reaching for the light so he could watch her enjoying herself, he knocked off not just his phone but the little glass of water that he had there nightly. Once the light was on, he nearly came watching her lick along the crown of his cock. She smiled at him even as she cupped his balls gently in her hands and fondled them lightly.

"I want you to come all over me." He nodded, not sure that he could form any kind of coherent words to convey anything. "I want to feel your cum all over me so that I can rub it into my skin."

"Yes." He reached down to his cock, fisting it in his hand as she sat up over him. He wanted to toss her over onto the bed and take her hard, but he also wanted her to have what she wanted. As soon as his balls began to fill painfully, he told her that he was coming. It started at the top of his head and raced down to his cock as he exploded.

He watched as his cum hit her body. Her breasts were covered in long drips of his cum that made him dizzy with the need to give her more. When she rubbed it into her skin, making her nipples hard, he came again, hurting a bit but enjoying his mate as she licked his cum off her hands and then rubbed it into her mouth. Coming again, three times in a row, was a record for them, but he was sure that if she were to touch him right now, he'd simply pass out. His body was tense with his need to fill her that he finally grabbed her body, rolled over, and slammed his cock deep inside of her wet heat.

They both cried out. He held her body to his as he emptied over and over into her. Dropping atop of her, it was all he could do to breathe. There wasn't going to be any moving by him in the next year or so. Laughing a little, he did manage to flop over, his body half in and out of the bed. But he wasn't crushing her, so he thought that he could live with that for now.

The next time that he woke up, the alarm screaming at him from across the room for some reason, he got up and stepped in the glass, managing to cut his foot open and had him cursing up a storm. Grabbing his phone, he dropped it again, shattering the screen and breaking his case as well.

Turning when he heard laughter, he watched as Carrie was rolling in the bed, laughing hard at him while trying to talk that he found himself laughing with her. It had been a hell of a morning so far, and they'd not even left the house.

After hurrying through their packing, him shifting to take care of his foot, they decided to have their luggage, more than what they came with taken to the airport and have lunch one more time at their favorite place. He'd grown very fond of lobster sandwiches and was going to have to find out if the cook could make them for him at home. Also, grilled pineapple. He had never tried it before at home now he couldn't get enough of it.

"I'm going to head to the bathroom. Did you want some dessert? I would love a mango smoothie." When she left, the waiter came to take away the dishes, and he asked for two of the desserts that Carrie had wanted. But he got them to go. They really needed to get going if they were going to get to the airport on time. When she came out, they took their drinks and headed to the car.

"I don't want to leave. We've made so many memories here that I just want to stay here forever." He told the love of his life that he didn't either. That he'd enjoyed this so much. "We'll be back, right? I mean, it would be nice to be able to think about having another vacation here. Now that we've settled up on the building that your brother wanted us to look into, someone will have to come down on occasion to make sure that things are going well here."

"Yes. But it might not always be you and I." She pouted at him, and he laughed a little. "I have enjoyed this so much and all because of you. You are my reason to live, my heart to beat and making me a better man. I cannot tell you enough just how much I love you."

"I love you as well, Archie. So much." They got to the airport in time to get themselves something to drink on the ride home.

Archie decided that he wanted to bring a little of the place that they'd had so much fun at to their home so while waiting on the drinks, he wandered into a gift shop and found a cookbook on the local cuisine. He was looking through the pages, thinking that it had just the things that he'd wanted in it, when someone brushed up against him while standing still.

While not really thinking about it, he did turn to look at the person. He looked to be about ten years old and malnourished. He was sure that the kid had tried to pickpocket his wallet, but Archie had it in his breast pocket, having been told that there were a lot of undesirable sorts around the area.

"Mister? You have any change? I've not been able to eat for a few days." He asked him where his parents were. "I can't go back there. They're planning to sell me and my sister off. She's got herself a job now but she doesn't get paid for a few more days. We're about starved."

For whatever reason, he believed the kid. Pulling out the money that he had in his pocket, he handed it over to the kid. It was about forty dollars, and when he took the five and tried to hand the rest back to him, Archie told him to keep it. To get his sister a meal, too. He wrapped his arms around him.

The boy was shaking. He was crying so hard. He kept thanking him for the money and that he'd pay him back. He didn't know how that was going to work but didn't say anything to the boy. After he seemed to have a handle on his emotions, he stepped back and put out his hand. The connection to the kid was immediate and he knew then that the kid had been telling the truth about not just him starving but about his parents as well.

Paying for the cookbook, he held onto the kid until they were out of the shop. The woman at the counter didn't look happy about having the boy in her place, but she didn't say anything other than what he owed on the cookbook. Hurrying out of the shop, he found Carrie just where he'd left her. Telling her briefly what had happened, he asked the boy for his name.

"William Damon. My sister calls me Wills. My parents called me Shit for Brains." He asked about his sister. "She's on the cleaning crew here. Cleaning up after people when they get on the planes. People sure do leave a lot of crap behind when they leave, don't they?"

"I agree. The beaches here are a prime example of that happening, too. Can you locate your sister? I have an idea that the two of you are in deeper with your parents than you told me." Wills lowered his head and said that they were. That they'd been hiding from them for a while now. "Get your sister, Wills, and we'll make arrangements for you to come home with us. You'll be safe there."

"Just like that. You're going to take my word for all this?" He asked him if he was lying to him. "No. Amber told me that if you start lying, it'll catch up with you sooner than later and that it's hard to keep track of what you say so it'll give you a heart attack trying to keep it all straight. It's just easier to tell the truth."

"Your sister sounds like a brilliant woman." Wills said that he could find her, and Carrie said she'd go with him. Archie went to the front desk, purchased two more tickets and was thrilled to no end that it worked out that there was enough room on the plane.

He had a moment of wonder. Like Wills, he wondered why he was doing this for strangers. He'd seen in the kid's mind when they connected that their parents had beaten the two of them just recently, and it was only now that his sister, Amber, had been able to get up and around enough to work. Wills was too young, of course, but he would keep an eye on his sister when he could so she'd not be found by them. He just could not understand people nowadays. They all seemed to be a bit or more at times like his own mother had been.

Amber was coming toward them with Carrie and Wills. The young woman had a backpack in her hands, and Archie knew instinctively that she couldn't wear it on her back because of the beating she'd recently had. As soon as the introductions were made, the three of them sat in the airport lobby while he went to get them some food and drink. Wills came with him.

"You don't have to do this, mister." He told him to call him Archie. "All right, Archie. We can get by on the money you already gave me for a few days. Amber is getting better, and we've found us a good place to hide at night."

"My brothers, I have five of them, would murder me if I didn't help you out. That's something that we've decided to do for anyone who needed it. Was to help out people that have been hurt by the very people that were supposed to love them." He handed him three subs and asked him to pick out some chips that his sister would like. "You'll be far enough away from them that they won't be able to hurt you. And if they end up finding you, they'll never harm you again. You have my word on that."

When Wills agreed that he'd take the food to his sister, Archie picked up a couple of fruit cups along with several bottles of water. While they had asked for water to drink, he didn't know that either one of them would turn down some more of it. As soon as he sat back with his little family, he handed out the things that he had and noticed that one of the subs was already gone. Good, they weren't shy about eating when someone offered it to them.

When their flight was called, the four of them got up to stand in line. He could feel the exact moment that Amber was stressed out and turned to ask her what was happening. Apparently, their parents had figured out that they were staying at the airport.

Calling to Sunny to help them out, it was her mom that showed up. Lily was dressed like the people in line with them, but she glowed with magic. Just putting her hands on Amber and Wills, she asked them both to stand very still. Archie let out a huge breath, with the older couple walked right by them without noticing the kids.

"My name is Lily. I've been keeping an eye on the two of you for a bit now. You've done so much for my earth every day by picking up things left behind that I wish to reward you." She looked at Amber. "You're in a great deal of pain. I can almost taste it on you. How about I fix that up for you and your brother?"

She didn't wait for an answer but touched her hands to their face. Amber was shocked, he could see that but it was Wills that seemed to be the happiest. Not knowing how he had been hurting, he was glad to see that the young boy was smiling. Then, what Lily had said occurred to him.

"Is Amber going to be a part of my family?" She just smiled at him, and he grinned back. "Oh, this is going to be epic. Which one?"

"I shant tell you. You're much too eager to have entirely too much fun with this. They'll be safe with the family, and that is a great deal more important than anything else right now." He agreed with her. Archie didn't like it but he did agree. The queen of the earth looked at their new family members. "All right. The four of you will be safe but you're to keep an eye out for traps. The couple will stop at nothing to get you two back."

"Yes, all right. And thank you for taking the pain away. I was sick with it." Lily told Amber that it had been her pleasure. "I don't know how to thank you, too, for keeping us safe. It's been a very long time since anyone has shown any kind of compassion to either of us. Now we have had it twice in one day. Thank you all."

When they were seated on the plane, he was glad now that he'd purchased the last two seats in first class. They were the first to board, and they'd be the first to disembark. While the flight wasn't long, Wills must have been exhausted as he fell asleep almost as soon as they were allowed to take their seatbelts off. He did notice that neither one of the sister and brother duo did that so he was content to let them sleep until they landed.

Archie hoped that all his family was present when they got to the airport. He wanted this meeting between whoever was her mate to happen quickly. Archie only wanted the best for his family and honestly didn't care which one of them would find a mate in Amber. He wondered too if whichever brother it was, they'd be fine with taking on Wills too. If not, he'd have a place with them. He had enjoyed talking with the boy and thought that he'd fit right in with the rest of the family.

Leaning back, Carrie laid her head on his chest and closed her eyes. Archie wasn't tired, but he was happy to be able to watch over his little family while they did sleep. Christ, he thought, who would have thought that their wonderful vacation could end on such a note as having brought more family with them. Smiling, he was glad that he was going back now. But in a few days, he knew that he'd wish they were back on the island.