Chapter 3

Scott - Chapter 3

Chloe kept glancing at the large wolf that was standing next to her. She was terrified that he was going to leap out the door and kill the men standing there. Holding onto his fur seemed futile in that she knew it wasn't going to hold him back if he wanted to jump, but she had to do something or blood was going to be shed.

"Miss Davis, if you could please have Scott go in the other room, I'm sure we can talk about this." She only stared at the officer. She thought his name badge said Holden, but she wasn't sure, because not only was it on upside down but it was covered up as well. "We only wanted to talk to you."

"And that's why you drew your weapons on me? To talk? Do you even know the rules of engagement, you moron? What did you suppose I was going to say to you that shooting me was going to be an option? I'm not even armed at the moment." He didn't say anything but hadn't put his gun away either. "I asked you a fucking question, and I demand an answer."

"We heard how you beat Mr. Flynn here up, and we weren't taking any chances." She looked at George, who was a good head taller than her and outweighed her by at least a hundred pounds. "Size doesn't matter."

"All men say that. Next you'll be telling me that it's all in the performance." Joe, who had shown up about five minutes after the cops had, laughed, and so did Scott's grandda. "You come to these peoples' house, guns drawn and in force like I'm going to take you apart. You are only supposed to draw your weapons if you feel threatened or if I have a weapon myself. Scott was a person until you idiots drew your guns like we were lined up at a firing squad. So unless you anticipated that he was going to shift, which was a reaction to your actions, then bravo to you for being a clairvoyant. But, and this is just me, if I were you, I'd be more concerned what might happen to you if I were to release this wolf here. I'm well aware that he might not be able to outrun a bullet, but you might miss and I know he won't. I'm willing to guarantee that some of you are going to die. Are you willing to take that chance?"

"Are you threatening these men?" She looked over at the elder Flynn when he spoke, and wondered if he realized that pushing away from the table sooner might save his life. The man had to weigh at least four hundred pounds, and more than likely it was more than that. "You hurt my boy here, left your position before your notice was up, and now you're here threatening the lives of these fine officers? My goodness, you sure do have a filled up dance card. Why don't you just come along nicely and we'll get this taken care of. You should know that hanging with these people will only make things worse for you."

"If we were dancing, you fool, then I'd not be standing here holding back a large wolf." When Scott lunged at the men, she nearly laughed when William screamed like a little girl. When he sat back down on her feet, she wasn't sure if he was telling her he had her back or he was keeping himself from leaping again. "I gave my notice over two months ago. If you don't believe me then I can have a copy of it sent to you. Also, not only was it emailed to him, but it was sent by certified letter that was signed for by George. After giving my notice, the day I was to leave, George begged me to stick around until he got someone trained to take my place. He admitted to me today, in front of witnesses, that he'd not even tried to find someone. And that you'd be pissed at him again for not making me stay. Did you teach him to manhandle women who didn't do what he said?"

"Sometimes women, such as yourself, need to learn who the bigger fish is. And it doesn't mean a damned thing, you telling me that you sent him a letter. For all I know, you could have sent him a love letter. Is that it, he spurned you and now you're taking out some sort of revenge on him?" Scott growled and she felt it all over her body. "You let him go and there will be hell to pay, young lady. I'll have these men shoot him and you if you get in the way."

"Will you now? You'd better be worried about me, you arrogant fucktard. I'm way scarier than he is." She wasn't sure where all this bravery was coming from, but she was pretty sure he was going to call her bluff. "What the fuck are you doing here anyway? I'm reasonably sure you weren't invited."

"You hurt my son." She looked over at George, who was grinning at her. It was then that she noticed that he had a little dust on his upper lip. And his nose was bleeding. When William turned to see what she was looking at, she knew that he'd seen it too. "Will you fucking clean up? Do you have any idea what an embarrassment you are to me? You had one fucking job, one, and you couldn't even make that work."

"Dad?" When the elder Flynn wiped his own nose, George did the same. "I have a cold. And that's my meds. But I did tell her she had to stay there, that you'd be pissed off at me again. And I was right. You are."

Without a word about his lie about the cold and the meds, William turned to her. He hated her. She could see it right there on his face. When James moved to stand on the other side of her, it occurred to her that it was the elderly Calhoun that he was looking at and not her.

"William, got yourself a stellar kid there. Upstanding and all. I'm surprised that he's not running for some sort of office, the way he throws his weight around and bullies one of his own employees. And between the two of you, you sure do have some considerable weight, don't you? I told you when you gave him that shop that it weren't gonna do you no good. The kid ain't got a lick of sense in his fool head." James laughed then. "In the event you don't get it, I'm being sarcastic. I don't do it as well as some, so I thought I'd explain myself."

"Like you have children that are any better than mine? Christ. That boy of yours, what's his name? TJ something or another. Anyway, have you seen the way he runs around town with that younger woman? And what do you think people are saying about that?" William laughed, and so did James. Chloe had no idea who the other man was, nor the younger woman, until James spoke again.

"That's a right fine father-in-law I have in a son, if you ask me. Taking his newest family member to the doctor and making sure that she's all right. Well, in my book that's the way it should be, don't you think?" The officer to William's right leaned in and whispered. "You might want to listen to your boy there, William. You don't have anything on this here girl and you know it. And if you're thinking of making up something that we both know didn't happen, then you can go ahead and try that angle if you want. But I got news for you…I'm a betting man, and I'd bet you don't have a toe to stand on."

"I tell you what, James. You sign that building over to me and we'll just make this all go away. I'm willing to bet you don't need that building for anything anyway." William glanced at her before continuing with James. "Your kids, they don't need to be worrying about this stuff after you're gone. And you know as well as I you're pushing your time here on this earth."

"You think so? Well, I just might want to live forever. Yes, sir. I think I will. Just live forever. And while I'm at it, I might just watch you and that boy of yours rot away in prison."

"What do you think you know?" Chloe heard the panic in his voice, the way his eyes darted around like he was afraid. "You don't know shit, James, and we both know it."

But she did. It was why she'd taken the job there in the first place. To see just how involved, if at all, George had been in the death of her dad. And she'd come to the conclusion that not only was he involved in it, but that his daddy might know about it too. But wherever the evidence was, it wasn't in the big falling down business. At least not where she could find it.

Scott yawned and laid down on her feet. Chloe wasn't sure if he was holding her there or he was just resting. But she had a feeling that he was doing the first. She was about ready to slam the door in the face of these idiots anyway, and be done with the lot of them.

You do that and you'll only make them madder. She looked down at Scott when he spoke to her. Yes, I can speak to you, and you to me should you want. When I sealed up your wounds, I made a connection with you. Just think of me and then talk in your head. Sort of like a thought. I'll get it.

Nice trick. But what do you suppose is going to happen if they get me to go with them? Not that I want to, but they do have a gun. He told her to wait, the wagons had begun to circle around them. What the hell is that supposed to mean?

Before he answered her, even if he was going to, she heard the crunch of gravel in the driveway and looked out beyond the men. In that moment Chloe wished that she had a camera. No one would believe her when she told them about the men who had gotten out of the two trucks behind the cruisers.

Almost as if they sensed they were no longer alone, William and the cops turned. The cops backed up and pulled their weapons up to aim them at the newcomers. But in seconds, less she thought, not only were they tossed to the porch but their weapons were gone as well. Vampire, her mind screamed at her, and she tried to take a step back.

His name is Noah. And he's a friend of the family. He won't harm you. She wasn't so sure. I promise you, he'll never harm you.

I've been told that before. Vampires aren't the friendliest of people even on a good day. Scott promised her again that she'd be safe. We'll see.

"Hello, William. George. How's things going? I heard from my dad that you're here making a nuisance of yourself." She watched this man too…Trent, she remembered his name from the office today. There was an air about him that screamed for you to give him the respect that he deserved. It could have also been the fact that he had five full grown men behind him that looked like they could have been his clone. "I've brought my brothers around too. You know, to watch you get your ass handed to you. Dad is here as well. We're just one big fucking happy family."

"William. Acting like a fool again are you? Why don't you gather up your minions and give it a rest? I'd really hate to see one of these fine boys of mine mess up their night by having to tear your throat out." TJ, the father of the "boys" behind him, stretched his neck, much like Trent had done earlier. "I'm not in the mood to mess with the two of you. Get in your cars and leave here now."

"TJ, this is no concern of yours. I'm here to have this woman arrested. She assaulted my son and caused him bodily harm. You and your boys go on about your business and I'll attend to mine." TJ walked up on the porch with the rest of them, his sons right behind him. "TJ, this has nothing to do with you or your family."

"The minute you came up to my dad's house and demanded anything from him, it became my concern. And that of my boys here." TJ looked at her and winked. "You okay, honey? These men upset you?"

"I'm fine, and no, they didn't upset me, they pissed me off." TJ laughed, as did the men with him. "I don't know who might have called you, but I'm pretty sure that William and his son were just leaving."

"Now you see here—"

That was as far as George got before one of the boys grabbed him by the throat and held him up off the ground. Chloe was impressed. And it didn't bother her as much as she thought it should have that he might die right now. George clawed at the hand that held him, and it didn't even bother the man holding him. He just held him up with one hand like he weighed no more than her.

When she cleared her throat, everyone turned to her. Things were about to go shit up as her dad used to say. She'd have to do something to defuse this, or there were going to be a lot of hurt people. Mostly the Flynns.

"William, I want you to observe what is happening to your son. Do you noticed the lack of effort on the part of the man holding him?" The man told him her name. "Sterling then. Do you notice that Sterling is not even breaking a sweat? Even though it's obvious that your son is a fat slob?"

"He has a slow metabolism." Chloe just cocked a brow at him. "What's your point? As far as I can see, he's just adding fuel to my lawsuit. I'm going to own everything that he does in about an hour."

"Really?" She turned to the first officer, his face looking dazed and his eyes unfocused. "You see anything going on here?"

"Here?" She nodded and laughed when he looked around. "I don't know what the fuck is going on here. I came out here to be backup, not have the crap knocked out of me and my gun taken. Where is it anyway?"

"I believe a vampire took it. You should be glad that he didn't slice open your throat while he was at it. Or stripped you down to your naked self. He could have done that, you know." The cop put his hand over his cock. "I doubt that he'd have anything to do with your twig and berries, so you can just leave them alone. He might, however, need a nice snack. Are you willing to offer up your throat in the name of taking me to jail on trumped up charges?"

"Hell no. I'm just the low man out there. There isn't any reason whatsoever for me to be killed because some jackass won't sell a building to this guy for no other reason than he just doesn't want to. What's the hold up? And I'll have you know, I never get any complaints about my cock. I got myself more than just a twig and berries, bitch." Chloe pinched her finger and thumb together to show just how little she thought he might be. "You don't know shit. I'm a lot bigger than everyone I know."

"If you say so." She looked up at Sterling. "I think it's time you let him go now, please. While it's doubtful that you could cause him any more brain damage, he might just die and that would be a lot of paperwork for you. Besides, I think, like the rest of them, his brain is at the other end, not in his head but his ass."

When George was standing on his own two feet, she could almost feel sorry for him. The man was a drug addict, an idiot, as well as a fat fuck. But she also knew that for all his bravo, George was a being pushed around by his father a great deal.

"It's time you men left." The cops stood up first and made their way to the cars. They were staggering a little, and Chloe wondered what else had been done to them other than their weapons taken and them being knocked to the ground. When they were gone, Trent stood in front of William and George with his arms crossed over his chest as he continued. "You come here again and threaten my sister-in-law and I will come after you. You know that I can do it, too."

"You threatening me too? Oh boy, this is going to be the best payoff of my life. The great and powerful Calhouns are going to fall." William looked at her before he spoke again. "Honey, you have no idea what sort of shit you've just stepped in."

"Funny, I was thinking the same thing about you." When she made a lunge at him, she laughed when both he and his son fell back off the porch. "Don't fuck with me, William. I was raised knowing how to defend myself against bullies like you."

As the two of them made their way back to their cars, arguing all the way, she held onto the post next to her. Almost as soon as they were out of sight, she felt the world around her just blink out.

~*~

Scott watched her closely. He was both pissed off and impressed. No one in his family could believe how she'd stood up to the two men and had come out on top. Nor that she'd fainted dead away like she had. Scott looked over at his mom when she came into the bedroom with him.

"She's fine, you know that, don't you?" He nodded and told her that he did. "Poor thing. Can you imagine how hard it was for her to stand up to those men? You grandda said he'd be crowing about it for years to come."

"Grandda was terrified like the rest of us when she fell over. Had he not caught her when he had, she'd have hurt herself more." Mom sat down on the chair on the other side of the bed. "She's not going to be happy with me. She might even hate me for what I am."

"I don't suppose you're wrong about that. I mean, you have money, a nice house, and a car. You're good looking, I suppose. You take a shower every day. You do, don't you?" He nodded and smiled at her. "Yes, I can see where she'd think you were the worst kind of man for her to fall in love with."

"That's not all of it and you know it." She asked him what he meant. "You know as well as I do that I'm a deviant. A pervert."

"Deviant? My goodness Scott, wherever did you come up with that idea?" He just stared at her. "So? You like things a little different in the bedroom. I'm assuming that's what you mean."

"It is, and you know that it's a lifestyle that isn't for everyone." His mom nodded, then shook her head. "Mom, she might not care for me."

"And she might, too." He wasn't embarrassed talking about his preferred sex with his mom. She'd been the one who had told him to find someone to talk to when he'd been having issues. He'd never told her what sort of issues, but she seemed to understand him on a level that both surprised him as well as embarrassed him at times. "You should let her make that decision when it comes up. And I'm sure it will."

He turned and looked at Chloe while she slept. There was a great deal about her that he didn't know, especially on a more personal level. Joe had gotten him as much as she could find about her financial life, as well as anything she'd been able to find out about the death of Chloe's father. By all accounts, the matter had been left on someone's desk for years now.

Mike Davis had been a good man. A great father to his motherless daughter, and someone that could be trusted with your life. It really was too bad that no one was there to have his back when he died. Chloe had, of course, taken it hard when her dad had been killed, and had spread it all over town that she was going to find the murderer, even if it took her the rest of her life.

The door opened and closed behind him, and he knew that his mom had left. But he was startled to see Joe sitting in the same chair when she spoke to him.

"I've done some digging. And while I was at it, I had someone look into a few other aspects of the police department. They're corrupt, as you more than likely know, but it's more than that. I'm thinking that they're getting some outside money from other avenues as well." He asked her if it was drugs. "No, that would make it better in a way. I think they're dealing in crap that we have only just started to find."

"Christ, what the fuck could it be if it's worse than drugs?" She told him. "Are you kidding me? Hit men? Our police officers are hiring themselves out as hit men? I wouldn't have thought that any of them could have hit the broad side of a barn, much less a target."

"I think it's a scam." He could see that as well. "They might not all be in on this, but enough of them are that we have a problem on our hands. They cannot only kill without consequences, but they're easily bought as well. Case in point, the Flynns."

He had to agree with her on that one. Even Noah, when he'd returned with the guns a few minutes ago, had said that the men there had been on the Flynns' payroll. Scott wondered if there were any honest people in the world anymore. If there were, they were few and far between.

He knew that his family was good. Hell, they'd instilled a code of ethics and a moral compass in them when they were just babies. Scott knew that it was something that few understood and even fewer people practiced. The Calhouns were the type of people that said what they meant and did what they said they would.

"Scott?" He sat up, looking over at his dad now. "Your mom said you zoned out for a moment or two. She's gone down to have Meggie cook you some dinner. And Joe said that you were resting when she left you. Are you all right?"

"Yes. I think so. I was thinking about what Joe told me. I was just wondering if there were many honest people in the world." His dad snorted and said he didn't think there were. "I guess not. I mean, her talking about the police force here makes me wonder what else might be going on right under our noses."

"You'd be surprised." His dad stood up when Chloe spoke. And when she stood as well, wobbling a little on her feet, he went to help her. "I'm okay now. I was…I guess you could say I was a little stressed out."

"Hot damn girl, you sure do have a mouth on you." His dad laughed, and all Scott could think about was her mouth. And what he wanted to do with it. "I sure wish I could have been standing in front of old William when you told him and that kid of his off. My dad, he said that he was as proud of you as he'd ever been of anyone before."

"You and your father should be stood in a corner." That made his dad laugh again. "Flynn, he has it out for you guys, doesn't he? I mean, even before I came in the picture. When I was standing there, I thought it was me, but it's you he hates for some reason."

"Yes. My dad especially. He's always been a good businessman, knowing when to buy or sell. Made us what we are today, I guess you could say. But this thing with Flynn, it's a little darker than that. William and my dad sort of crossed paths even before the thing with the building." Scott asked him what had happened. "Well, it has to do with a pretty little thing called Christine."

"Mom?" His dad nodded. "I don't understand. What does Mom have to do with business deals and buildings?"

"Nothing. But she was the one that William had set his sights on when he first came to town. She had money, you see, and he didn't. So he set about on this mission to make her come to him." Scott thought of the woman that their friend Noah knew that had been killed for much the same reasons. "Your momma, she wasn't having any of it, and about a week after she finally went out with him, just to shut him up, she met me."

"And he blames you for her not being his wife." Chloe shook her head when Dad nodded. "What a moron. I mean, really. Don't men know how to take no as an answer?"

"I'm sure that most don't." Dad stood up then and moved to the door. "I'm supposed to tell you both that the house is being watched. The pack has been asked to help out. Also, Trent said that if you should go home tonight that he'd like to know. He's sort of worried that the police will pull you over for no other reason than they think they can."

After he left them, Scott leaned back in his seat. Chloe wasn't saying anything so he took the time to look at her. He knew on some level that she was aware of what he was doing, but he didn't know what to say to her. Nothing that wouldn't get him slapped anyway.

"You spoke to me. Out on the porch earlier, you spoke to me. I didn't think that was possible without sex." He wanted to tell her they could have that too, but only said it was the blood exchange. "I see. And whomever you take blood from, you can talk to them like that?"

"Yes. Although, you should also be aware that you can speak to Trent and Joe that way as well should you want to. They're the pack leaders. But don't call Joe the alpha bitch. She doesn't care much for that title." She nodded and closed her eyes. "Are you all right?"

"No. I'm not even close to being all right. I have a boss from hell trying to get me arrested. For what reason, I'm still trying to figure out. I have this guy, you in the event you don't get it, that says I'm his mate, and he can talk to me through this mind link thing. There are police officers out there that would just as soon arrest me as find out the truth, and I'm unemployed. Not that the latter part is anything to be upset about, but it's on the list now." He asked her if she liked making lists. "Yes. What is it? You have a problem with lists too?"

"No. I have my own list system that I use." He stood in front of her and was glad when she didn't back away. "My list for you would start something like this. A kiss first. Not a deep one, but one that would let me get a taste of you. Then I'd remove your blouse. Slowly at first, then perhaps just rip it from you when I got greedy. Your bra would also have to go. And that I would take off you, peeling it away from your skin and tasting each inch of you as I went."

"What makes you think I want any of that from you?" He could smell her and let his nose fill with her scent. "You're not going to manhandle me, are you? I don't think I could take one more man thinking they can toss me around like I'm nothing but their slave."

Had she hit him, it wouldn't have been any less painful for him. When he backed from her, not touching her, he thought of what she'd said. And he knew, as surely as they were together, that they'd never pair up when it came to sex. As he took another, then another step back, he felt his heart crumble in his chest.

"This was a mistake." She didn't move, but he was all right with that. At least sort of all right. "I'm sorry to have said those things to you. I'll…you should stay here with my grandparents. I'm going to head home."

When he turned and left her standing there, he told his wolf that it was for the best. That she would never get used to something like him. Even as he made his way down the stairs and out of the house, he kept telling himself and the wolf in him that she would be safe here. Shifting even as he leapt over the fence that divided his land from his grandparents', he knew no one would bother her so long as his family was around. Scott was all the way to his home when he realized that he'd not told his grandparents that he was leaving.