Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Carrie picked up the phone at home and said her name. She didn't know who would be calling her at this ungodly hour, but almost as soon as she was going to yell at the person for waking her up, she heard Katie sobbing.

"They're gone. Dead. Their plane went down over the ocean a few hours ago, and everyone on board was killed from the impact." Her first thought was that it was someone in Harman's family, and then she asked her who had died. "The Barnhart couple that I was telling you about the other day. They were going to live on a nice island and live out their lives happily. Now, I have to wait to find out if they find their bodies so that I can make the arrangements for their funeral. I'm so heartbroken, Carrie, I just don't know what to do."

"Did they leave you in charge of their estate?" Katie said that they had and asked her what that had to do with this. "Plenty. I want you to pull out your files and begin working on what they wanted. Has anyone told that man? The one that beat you to snot?"

"I suppose that would be left up to me as well." Carrie could hear the strengthening in her voice the longer they spoke to each other. Carrie continued to ask her questions about the estate, and she could tell that her cousin was getting stronger all the time. "I know a little about the estate. Rain told me that I was to inherit everything so that I would distribute their wealth to the right places. She also told me that they were going to crash and not survive, but she didn't give me any details. I'm thankful that they were together when they breathed their last breaths. I've never met a more dedicated couple to each other than the two of them were."

"That is what I think about when I would see you and Harman together. Devotion as well as undying love. That's the two of you, too." She thanked her cousin. "All right, let me tell you my news. Joey and I are moving to the States. Can you tell that I've been practicing my proper English?"

"I did notice that, aye." Carrie thanked her. "What are you going to do when you get here? I'm assuming that you're going to live close to us. Please, please, please?"

"We are. There is something else that I need to make you aware of. Joey found out just as we were getting home. I'm not supposed to tell you this, but Belinda has cancer. She has it in her blood, and they don't know if there is any hope for her. Joey is devastated, as you can well imagine. The kids don't know, but I think they know that something is going on. My heart hurts for them all the time now."

"Oh, those poor babies. And Joey. She's not that old, is she? I mean, older than us but not by much." Carrie told her what she knew. "Thirty-five. I'm so heartbroken for that as well. I know that they have small children, and I loved meeting them. I hate that…there is so much that Belinda is going to go through with this. I wish I could do something for them all."

Carrie and her cousin talked for another hour. She not only made Katie feel better, but she did as well. After hanging up the phone, she got up. There would be no—

"Holy fuck. Where did you come from?" The woman said she'd come to help her family. "My family? What do you…who are you?"

"Storm Griffin. I missed meeting you when you were in the States. But duty calls. Your cousin, Katie, is my sister-in-law. But I came here because I didn't know where your brother lives. If you could give me an address, the two of us will pop right in there and out again, and no one will be the wiser." She asked her what they were going to do. "Make it so your sister-in-law doesn't die. I'm sure that no one wants that. By the way, you're fixed up too. No more cancer on you, either. It was very kind of you not to want to tell your cousin, but I believe Katie is much stronger than you guys give her credit for. What's your brother's address?"

Carrie didn't know what was going on, but she prattled off the address where her brother lived. Knowing it by heart, she could have driven there blindfolded. After being told she could open her eyes, Carrie hadn't even realized that she'd closed them. The two of them were standing in Belinda's kitchen. The very person they had come to see was sitting at her kitchen table sobbing into a napkin. Not caring what her friend and sister was crying about, she pulled her up from the table and hugged her tightly.

She noticed the look on Belinda's face when Storm hugged her. It was like she was in pain and shock at the same time. After getting another hug from Belinda, they sat down with her at the table. She started talking about how the cancer hadn't been caught soon enough, so there was little they could do for her other than to make her comfortable at the end.

"You have nothing to worry about." Belinda thanked Storm and told her that it was going to devastate her parents when they found out. "Then don't tell them anything. But I think you misunderstood me, Belinda. You really have nothing to worry about. The cancer is gone, and you're as healthy as…I was going to say ox, but that's kind of rude. I'm trying to work on my tact at telling people things. How's it working so far?"

"I have no idea. I don't know anything about you, but for what little Joey knew about you and your husband. Are you really the queen of all wolves?" She said that she was and smiled. "That is so awesome. I know a few wolf shifters around here. They really keep things on the low down so that people don't know…I guess humans don't know. I think people would be upset about finding out about them. But to…you said that the cancer is gone? How is that possible?"

"I'm very magical. I've made you immortal. Your entire family is now. Including the child that you carry." Belinda put her hand on her belly and looked at her husband's cousin. "She didn't know either. As I said, I'm very magical. So is my sister, Rain. We have this thing going about how to outdo the others when it comes to this family. We love the Griffins so much and consider you a part of our family as well."

But I've only just met you. What if I'm a terrible person?" Without answering her, Storm just smiled. "As I said, I don't know you, so that could be a good smile or not. Tell me what you're saying to me so that we're on the same page."

"You're an immortal. You won't ever die. Not if you're shot in the heart or have your head removed. That last one is something that you should avoid at all cost. You'll still be alive thanks to my magic, but you'll also be headless. Best let that one never be a problem." Carrie wasn't sure if she was joking or not. As Belinda had been saying, they didn't know the woman. "Also, because you're now a part of this family, you have wealth beyond anything that you've ever thought of. And since I know you were all planning to go to the States, thinking that Joey would want to move on, you'll have a lovely house, staff, as well as a job. Though you never have to work, there will be a job too that you can step into as soon as you're ready."

"This is too much." Storm put her hand on Belinda's. "I just don't know what to think about this. I mean, I've only been…will my children stay little like they are now? I don't know, wouldn't that it would be such a burden to have them at this age all the time, but I'm sure that people will talk."

"They'll grow up and age until they're twenty-five or so, then they'll simply stop ageing. Believe it or not, Harman is thousands of years old. So is his entire family. Also, and I find this is the best perk of all. You'll never gain weight unless you're breeding, what they call a woman with child, then that weight will simply fall off in a few days. Your children will be safe too from any kind of diseases as well as long term hurts. They can be hurt, don't get me wrong on that, but there will never be a life-threatening thing for you to worry about. To any of you for the rest of your long lives."

Carrie looked at Belinda and then at Storm. Her head was just wrapping things up about the information, but it really was too much to be thrown at someone who was new to the magic. She finally found a question that she could ask without making herself look foolish.

"You said that we'd have wealth. Break that down for me in terms my brain can handle. When I spoke to Katie while there, she was worried about the money that she had and wondered if it would be enough to carry out her dreams." Storm asked her what the dreams were. "Oh, well, she wanted us all to be together from now on. I think that one is about to happen. But she wanted an old building where she could have her practice and where she could see people crossing the street if she were to look out. I think she had that or something like that at Barnhart, but I've never been to their offices."

"Mr. Barnhart sold her his name, his public name, so that she could attach herself to his clients. After a few months, he wanted her to drop his name and just use hers. Edwin was also able to purchase the building that they had offices at. It will be Griffin Law Firm when all is said and done. Katie will be taking on cases for the family, but she'll also do other work that is near and dear to her own heart." Carrie asked if it had been expensive. "A buck. So no, not expensive at all. Jimmy told Katie and my mate that he was just too old to go back to working as an attorney to straighten out the mess that Jimmy had made. In order for her to prosper, he did it this way so that Jimmy would also be out of a job."

"That's wonderful for her. I do hope she takes the biggest office and has windows put in if there aren't any there now. I bet…well, she'll need a few weeks to get over the death of the Barnhart's. The way that Katie spoke about them, I think they were closer than boss to employee." Storm told her what she'd heard. "Yes, I can see that, especially after meeting Jimmy. Having her for a daughter would have been a perfect blend for Katie. However, I can't help but think that she'd not be what she is today if she'd been pampered—just an idea on how they would have treated her."

"You're more than likely correct on that." Storm looked around the room, and Carrie did as well. The place that she was living in wasn't all that much different than the house where they were currently living. A dump. Belinda had done a wonderful job of making it less dump-like and more homey. But a dump is what it was. She looked at Storm when she said her name softly.

Belinda had gone to answer the phone, so it was just the two of them at the table. Telling her that this was all any of them could afford, she knew that there was a bit of a bite to voice. Storm didn't laugh at her. Nor did she make any kind of comment on living conditions.

"We're not a wealthy family here. No one is, actually. I think that's why Joey is so keen about getting out of here so that his kids will have a better chance than we've had. My parents are both gone and so is Katie's. But Belinda has family, and they are very…unpleasant to be around. I think it's been several years since she's had contact with them." Storm told her that they didn't like that their child was living in such conditions and blamed it squarely on Joey's head. He'd have a better job had the two of them not blackballed them all over town."

"Ya see. I knew that they'd done that." Belinda sat back down and asked what she'd missed. Storm told her, and she could see on Belinda's face that it had been Joey on the line. Then she told her the sad news. "He's been fired? For what reason may I ask?"

"He missed too much work." Belinda started crying and held her daughter on her lap, who was trying to comfort her mother. After a few minutes, Belinda looked at her and smiled. "I'm finished with the lot of them. My sister told Joey when he was fired that she took great pleasure in having him being terminated. And she'd continue to do so until I got some sense in my head and came home. Only I can't bring the children with me. They want nothing to do with them as they're, and I quote, ‘damaged from having a sorry drunk like their father.' Joey doesn't drink. I've never seen him with even a beer in his hands in all these years."

With Storm's help, they were able to get things squared away with the houses. Carrie didn't even want to go back home to get some of her things. But in the end, since they were leaving here first thing in the morning, Carrie was going to have to sleep there one more night. Also, which she thought was hilarious, they weren't going to mention anything to their landlord or Belinda's family. Not even later, Belinda told her.

Carrie made her way home after having dinner with the Griffins. Katie had been popped in, as well as Harman, to celebrate, and she was shocked once again by the look of love they both had on their faces. She wanted a love like that someday and hoped that it would come along soon. But she was immortal now. Perhaps she had a little while longer to hunt down her mate. Laughing, she pulled a shirt that was miles too big for her over her head after undressing and got into bed.

Tomorrow was going to be a good day and spent with family. She could hear Joey laughing in the other part of the house and wondered if Belinda had told him about the baby and no carcer news. Rolling to her side, she looked out the broken window over her bed and watched the cars fly by. Since the houses were so close side by side as well as front to back, there had never been a yard that anyone could play in. She wanted that, too. A magical place to raise her children. Yawning, she closed her eyes to get some rest. Tomorrow was going to be exhausting, and she couldn't wait.

~*~

Katie didn't offer her condolences to Jimmy. It had always been a strained relationship between him and his parents. And now that they were gone, she'd come here today to tell him, he just sat there with his wrists in cuffs. There was a large eyebolt in the middle of the table. The officer told Jimmy that if he started acting up, he'd be locked down or back to his cell in no time.

"So they're both dead. At the same time." She said that since they'd been sitting in first class, that was where most of the damage had happened. He looked at her and laughed. "They wouldn't eat fish or anything close to that, and now they're fish food. Kind of ironic, don't you think?"

With a pop to the back of Jimmy's head, he was chained to the table. She felt like she'd been given some kind of hope when he'd first agreed to speak to her. Now she knew there was no changing for some people. Especially him. Taking out her notes on things that she'd been asked to go over with him, she crossed off the top two. He'd been told about his parents and also been told there wouldn't be a burial for obvious reasons. She looked up at him.

"You're named in the will. Don't bother asking me what it has in it. I don't know. The reading of it will commence on Friday early morning here at the jail so that you can hear about it when everyone else does." He asked if he was getting everything. Then he said that he'd better be getting everything. "As I told you, I didn't write it out for them, so I have no idea what it says. I do know that I've been asked to liquidate their real estate as well as any stocks and bonds as needed to keep their charities working. I don't know how much law you remember, Jimmy, but—"

"I'm a damned lawyer, Katie. And you'll address me as Mr. Barnhart from now on. I'm going to go through everything that Dad left up to you, so don't get too comfy. I'll have you out on the streets again in no time." He was handed a thick pad of paper so that he could take notes on things that he needed to go over with his own attorney. "We'll just see how all my land is sold off when I'm in charge. I should be right now, but I'm biding my time right now to see how fucked up you make things for me. How much is their estate anyway? They worked like they were going to be around forever and never spent so much as a dime of all their money on me."

"I do believe that they bailed you out every time you got into trouble, Jimmy. If I remember correctly, that was about weekly. Not to mention, you've been knocking around people who had to be paid off because of the lives ruined. I don't know what's in the will, but I know that if I was in charge of writing it out for them, I would have told them to leave you access to a buck. Because of you, they were never asked to go to garden parties, which your mother loved, nor the club. They'd asked that you not be brought there again several years ago."

"Like I care. The place was boring, and I wasn't allowed to touch the staff anymore, so that got boring fast, too. I tried to liven the place up, but all they did was turn me away. They'll be begging me back now. I'll have Dad's money, and it'll be a showdown for everyone that looked at me in that side-eyed way." She told him that he didn't know what he was talking about. And asked him why they'd welcome him back because his dad was wealthy. "Because I'm going to have all the money, duh. The first few weeks after I get out of here, I'm going to stay there all week, never leaving until they understand that this Barnhart cannot be told what to do."

"Whatever floats your boat, Jimmy." He told her once again to call him Mr. Barnhart. "No. Now, as for the next reason that I'm here. Each and every creditor here and abroad has been warned about you being able to charge anything, steal, or think that the Barnharts were going to be there for you. You've broken that bridge down all the way to the river." He said that would change now that he had the money. "Again, you go on dreaming about that supposed money."

Katie didn't let him bother her. She wanted to go home and cry some more, but that wouldn't bring them back. It hurt her in ways that she'd never had before to know that they'd not be around for her first child and her happiness now that she'd found her one true love in Harman.

"What else do you have for me to listen to you going on about? Is there any way that I can get this finished so that I can go back to my cell? Lunch will be served soon, and I have put in a special order because my parents have kicked the bucket."

He grinned at her. She knew that he was trying to get a rise out of her. Ignoring him while she packed up her things, he was asked to sign off on the list of things that she'd told him. And, of course, he had to make a big production about that as well.

When she was in the main lobby of the station house, she was so happy to see that Harman was there waiting for her. He'd told her this morning that he'd try to make it, and even though she told him it would be all right, she was thrilled to see him. And to have him hold her.

"Mom and Dad invited us to have dinner with them. Dad said that he could understand if you wanted to skip out. It hurt them both to know that you'd lost such a good friend in the Barnharts." She said she'd rather not go out. "I know that they'll understand. We'll eat in. Maybe order some Thai food or something.

"That sounds wonderful." She waited for him to place an order for them and then turned and leaned on his chest. It was awkward for being in a car, but he was warm, and she felt like she was living with a cold heart for what had happened in the last twenty-four hours. "You don't think that they changed their minds about the building, do you? If they left Jimmy in charge, I know that it would be a living hell for me."

"It's doubtful that anyone in my family, including my parents, would allow him to be around much after being released. I'm not saying that he's going to be killed by them, but he won't be around to bother you anymore." She looked up at him. "I'm not making any promises that it won't be Story nor Rain either, but as I said, he'll be gone. Could be the entire family wants to get their two cents in on his death."

"You're serious." He nodded, then winked at her. But she still worried that… "You know what, I don't care who does it. It'll be wonderful to have him out of our lives once and for all time."

They made their way to their fast becoming their favorite restaurant, too. Harman went in to get the food but came back out empty-handed. She was so disappointed that she had to fight tears over that. She just wanted one thing to go right, and it should have been the food. Now she was going to have to go home and—

"They want to give you a hug." She just stared at him. "They said they heard about the Barnharts and knew that you were close to them. So they want to show their respects and hug you too."

She got out of the car and slowly made her way around it. The icy roads were terrible, so she was careful not to fall and break something important. Laughing when Harman picked her up so she'd not fall, she was giggling when they entered the restaurant.

The two of them ended up staying in to eat. Mostly, it was because their car had been snowed in when the plow trucks came down the street. Harman said that he could dig it out but wasn't worried about it. When she looked at him, his head back and his eyes closed, she knew that he was enjoying his newfound sense with smelling.

"It's a small wonder that I didn't eat here all the time. Had I been able to smell things, I would have been in trouble for just hanging out at the door until they opened again." She knew what he was talking about, but hers was with being in love with him. He made everything spicy and hot, calm and wonderfully still. She told him how much she loved him, and he kissed her on her mouth. "Let's get to eating this before I come to regret not taking you home with me to be able to make love to you all night."

They made love all the time. It didn't matter what room they were in. He'd press her against something sturdy and take her that way. Or he'd put her up on a dresser or counter and eat her until she was exhausted with it. Even the dining room wasn't off-limits to them. Anywhere and everywhere, the mood struck them. They were tearing at their clothing and going at it.

The desk had been broken in the day that it had been delivered. It had been exciting, too, because the delivery people hadn't left the house when he'd tossed her onto the big desk and fucked her hard. Christ, just thinking of Harman and his cock made her feel all hot and sweaty.

Today and late last night, she'd been going through the things that had been left in it. Things that she knew that he was humbled by, not to mention, there were personal notes from Hannah that he'd kept in his top drawer. Love letters that had been written as late as the day that they'd left the house to go to the hotel.

She'd not realized that it was stuffed full of items that Jimmy had left in it. There was an entire drawer in one of the cabinets that was filled with accolades that he'd received over the last few years. She was sure there were more someplace in the house that he'd kept for sentimental reasons. Letters from families, too, thanking him for helping them when they needed it.

She put them in a box, thinking to give it to Jimmy, but she decided that he'd just toss it out. It would mean a great deal more to her than him any day of the week. Leaving them in the drawer, she decided to go through them when their passing wasn't so fresh. Getting up when someone rang the doorbell, she looked before opening the door.

"May I help you?" She spoke to the person on the other side of her locked door as she had no idea who the man was standing there was. "I asked you if I could help you."

"Yes, you can start by opening this god damned door. I'm not going to be conducting business with you this way." She told the man that she wasn't going to discuss even the time of day with him until he told her what it was he wanted. "I just told you. I need to conduct some business with you. Unless you're some worthless housemaid or something. Open. The. Door. I'm not fucking around with you."

"He can't come in if he means you harm." She looked around when Storm spoke to her. "I'm at home, but that man, he can't enter your home with any intention of harming you. Just open the door, and you'll see. He can't come in."

"All right, but if he hurts me, I'm going to blame it all on your ass." Storm laughed. "You'll have to tell me sometime how you knew that I was afraid. I'm assuming it has something to do with your wolfy magic."

"Wolfy magic? I love that. Yes, it had everything to do with that. Just open the door, and you'll see. Also, you'll need to remember this, you're an immortal." That wasn't all that reassuring, and she told her that.

When she laughed, Katie opened the door. That was when she noticed that there were several large wolves just behind the man. That helped more than Storm's words of wisdom.

"About damned time." He couldn't enter. No matter how many times he tried, and he did try a lot, he couldn't get past the barrier that was there. When he pulled out a gun, pulling the trigger all in one movement, the bullet freakily stopped at the door jam and dropped to the ground.

The man, whoever he was, didn't have time to marvel at the things that had happened. He'd disappeared. Just gone. Stepping out onto the porch, she looked at the trail of blood that ended at the outer edges of the decking. Looking at the wolves that were lying down now, she asked the one in front if she was supposed to know them.

"I should hope so." It was Edwin who introduced each of the wolves to her. All Harman's brothers and their father. Sitting down on the porch steps, he had to put her head between her legs and breathe slowly. "Honey, are you all right?"

"Since you didn't tell me which one is Harman, I'm going to assume that he's off doing wolfy business with that man. I don't want details, but a simple nod would be fine." Edwin nodded. "And this wolfy business that…I have no idea why I'm asking this, but I'm assuming that he won't be bothering anyone ever again."

"That would be a good assumption. Yes." She wanted to smack Edwin on the blunt of his nose but didn't know if she could get up quickly enough to bar him from the house and attacking her. At his laughter, she glared at him. "You're kind of cute when you're upset. Did Harman tell you that?"

"He knows better than to screw around with me when I'm upset. Do you know anything about that man? I mean, there is nothing we can ask him now that he's wolfy food." She gagged a little. "He won't eat him, will he? I kissed him…tell me that you don't eat the people that you take care of."

"We don't." She let out a sigh of relief that she was sure people at the next town over could have heard. "We do, however, tear them to bits too small for anyone to see. There will be blood, I suppose, but that's easily explain away, too. There will be a missing person's report, I guess, but—"

"Shut up. Just close your…what is that called that is full of teeth." He told her it was a mouth. "On a wolf, you dumb ass. I know what it's called in human language, but…never mind. I'm going into the house now. You can come or go. It's entirely up to you."

She sort of wanted him to come in. Not wanting to think about the man, she decided that she didn't want to be alone. As the million questions kept circling the drain to her mouth, she wanted to shoot questions at Edwin until she understood more of what was going on.

When he entered the dining room, she'd been using it as a makeshift office, she continued packing up the things all over the desk. She only had to glance at him for a moment before she saw that he was clothed now that he'd shifted to his human side.

"As you're aware, I'm going to be taking over the estate for Mr. Barnhart. I'm going to use some of his money to open a law office that is free of charge to anyone who needs legal advice. They won't be taking on cases, not at the office, but they can do what they wish after hours. Violations of that stipulation will mean their licenses will be revoked. It's a nice loophole that I've used before when it came to copyright infringement." He asked her if she was going to have lawyers ready to take the cases. "No. I'll have the people take a list of professionals that deal with whatever their problems are and they can pick from there. I'm not allowing any cases to go out from that office because I don't want a conflict of interest to get in the way."

"That sounds kind of tricky to me. But then, I've not been an attorney for some time now. All right. We'll support you on this. I'm assuming too that you won't allow attorneys to lay out pamphlets or anything to sway the people coming in." She told him that she wouldn't and would keep an eye on that for issues. "Good. It sounds like you have it under control then."

"Except for one thing. I need a building. I don't want the foundation involved because I'm sure that people will find some fault with that. Instead, I'd like for you to lend me the money to buy the building. It will have to be a sale because, again, people will talk." He said again that it was tricky as well. "You've no idea. There will be law books there as well. For attorneys that can't afford their own that they can use or borrow, I guess. The books can be taken home. I like that idea, but if they don't return them, then they'll be charged the full amount for the book as well as banned from using the place again. I don't want to fill out someone's law library by having people steal what is there."

Harman joined them in her new office just as she was carrying the boxes she'd packed into the room. The books, all law books, were on the shelves, too, and she couldn't have been more proud than she was seeing them all lined up the way that Jimmy had had them.

Twice now, she'd had to pinch herself when she had a moment of thinking things weren't real. Even her love for Harman would catch her off guard, and she had to sit down for a moment and breathe because she was so nervous. She called herself lucky. In all her life now. However, it didn't make her any less afraid that the other shoe was going to drop and soon.