Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Hazel was sitting at her desk when her mother walked into the room. Her father, having been arrested just a few days ago, was bitching about her not being in the cell next to him so that he could pound some sense into her head. Neither of them, she nor her mother, would go and visit him in jail, which pissed him off all the more. Her dad…her sire, wasn't a good man, and the paperwork she'd been given to go over proved that over and over.

"I just heard from our attorney. Tell me again how you got to know the Dixons?" Hazel explained to her that she'd gone to college with Booth, and he'd become a good friend of hers. "That's right. You did tell me that. He's a good man too. In fact, I like them all. Anyway, your father is wanting us to forget everything and start over. He graciously decided that he'd marry me again—though I have no idea why he'd think that I'd want that after all these years—but only if I don't make him sign a prenup. Then he went on to tell me that I had no head for money and I needed to be kept. Kept? What does that even mean? Anyway, I've told him in no uncertain terms that he could shove him thinking that I'd marry him up his ass. Stupid man."

"I've heard from him as well. He has a court-appointed attorney since he doesn't have any money, which is making him out to look bad. I didn't think that was possible, as he already looks pretty bad to me." She leaned forward and looked at her mother. "They've exhumed Grandma's body, and he did kill her. The same way that he had Grandda. Poisoned them both with propylene glycol. He would use it to sweeten their tea, I was told. I guess it's very sweet. Anyway, he killed them both, so he will be going to prison, hopefully for their murders."

"The very fact that he thought that he'd live forever boggles my mind. Do you suppose he actually thought that he would?" Mom shook her head and smiled sadly. "The man should have been fired long ago. The fact that he…well, let's not dwell on him anymore. I heard that you've been talking to Booth about some of the things that you want to do with the charity money that Margaret left for you to use. I must say, Hazel, I hadn't any idea that she was that business smart. To hear her son talk about her…him again. I wonder if there will be a time that he isn't a part of our conversations."

"I hope so. Anyway, Booth suggested that I go there and let him know just how much grandma left me to use just for charity. He said that he'd go with me or send one of his brothers. Dallas and his wife are going away for a few days, so it would be one of them that I've not met." Mom asked her how she felt about that. "I guess it would be all right. So long as he's chained up so he can't get to me. Booth told me, too, that he's not having a good time in the jail. He is claiming that since he's Kipling Cherokee, then he shouldn't have to be with lesser men than him. I have no idea what that means. He is a murderer. How much lesser do they get in his mind than that."

Mom laughed, and she joined her. She would go see her dad simply because it gave her all kinds of good feelings to know that he was in jail and not getting out. Not to mention just being unable to put her down like he was forever doing.

As soon as she made arrangements to have a car come around for her, her mother left her to go home. Mom decided that she no longer wanted to be living in the apartment over the garage of the family home. She wanted her own roots put down.

At a quarter till two, she was seated in one of the many rooms that were there for attorneys to talk to their clients in private. One of the Dixon brothers was on their way, running late because of a bit of car trouble, or she might well have been out of there by now. As soon as Jayden came into the room, he stared at her like he'd never seen a woman before. She was getting annoyed with him because he just kept staring.

"I'm a woman. Haven't you ever seen one before?" He nodded, then grinned. "You're not all that charming if that's what you're going for. Sit down and keep an eye on my father. That's what you're here for, isn't it?"

"Yes. I'll protect you with my life." She said that they'd have him chained up. She doubted that it would ever go that far. "You never know. Some people are stupider than you think. But he won't touch you. I swear it on my mother's heart."

"You're odd." When the door to the room opened up, she didn't see her father at first. Actually, she saw him but didn't know who he was. In the nine days that he'd been locked up, he'd taken on a change that startled her. "Father. I can see that you're not getting along well with the other inmates. Is that a bloodied lip you have there? And did you lose your comb at some point?"

"Shut your fucking mouth and get me out of here." The jailer told him to watch his language and to behave. "I am being good. What else am I supposed to do when she's not doing right by me, her own father?"

Once he was seated, his wrists and ankles chained to steel loops in the floor and table, she made sure that she knew the line in the table where he could reach her. Pulling out her notepad, she looked at the man who had been a bastard all his life. Finding her grandma's diary and reading it had given her a lot of insight into the man. Not to mention the things that she'd turned over to the police about bad dealings and other things that she had found out about her only son doing.

"Grandma had been keeping track of you for a long time, it seems." He told her that he was glad that the old bitch was gone. "Yes, you would be. But it seems to me that she had figured out long before you killed her off that you'd had a hand in killing off your dad. Did you know that they had both been exhumed?"

"Like I care. There isn't anything there that can attach me to either of their murders. I certainly paid enough for that to happen. Why am I still in here? You were supposed to bring your credit card to bail me out. I'll need my job back, too. But you'll have to give me all the money you have on you while I have my home rid of any pests. I'm guessing that you're living in it full-time now." She told him that she was having it cleaned out of his things even as they spoke. "You aren't to touch anything that is mine. It's all mine, so I want you to leave my things where I have them."

"I found the safe." That shut him up, and when Jayden pulled her chair back just about two inches, she was startled out of her good mood of pissing her father off when he lunged at her. Had she been sitting where she'd been, he would have had her hands. She didn't even want to think about what he would have done to her had he been able to capture her. "Did you think you could hurt me, father? I have news for you. You'll never touch me or mine again. That would include anyone that works for me."

"So you say. And don't get too comfortable in that position that you think you're in. I'll be getting out of here as soon as you make some arrangements for me to have a better attorney than the one that I currently have." Her dad laughed. "He actually wants me to plead guilty for some of the crap that is being said about me. Like the money that you stole from me along with that mother of yours. You'll put it back, Hazel, or so help me, I'm going to make you wish that you had."

The low growl coming from Jayden had her and her father looking at him. Jayden just stretched his shoulders. And when something in him popped, she could see a bit of his gorilla. Jayden didn't seem the least bit happy about something, but as she turned to look at her father again, she realized that she wasn't afraid of him. Turning to look at her father, she could only stare at him and wonder how she never saw that bit of insanity that was just there on his face.

"Do you even care what you've done to all the people that worked for you? Or how killing your parents off would affect me? I loved them dearly, and you took them from me. Why would you do that?" He told her that sometimes it was necessary to make some waves before things were calm. "I haven't any idea what the hell that's supposed to mean. Do you?"

"It means, my dear daughter, that sometimes people have to die so that I can have what I want. And I want you to know that even though you are my flesh and blood, I would kill you in a heartbeat if you came between me and my money." She just stared at him. "Oh, get over yourself. You know as well as I do that you'd have done the same thing. Killing people for gain is how this world goes around, Hazel. Once you get over the first time, it becomes easier. You'll see. Once I'm out of here, I'll show you how it's done. You see that killing people isn't as squeamish as you think it might be."

"How many people have you killed in the name of you getting more money?" He asked her if she was setting him up. "No. I could care less if you got fifty or five thousand years before you can get out of here. So long as you're not around me, then I'll be thrilled. So tell me, how many have died by your hand because you are a greedy bastard?"

She didn't think that he was going to answer her. He looked at her like he was pissed off—which she was sure that he was most of the time or thinking about the number. That made her slightly ill to think that he had to think about how many people that he'd murdered.

"You stay out of my safe." Right then, she knew that there was something in that safe that was going to tell her not only how many people he'd killed but perhaps where the bodies were buried as well. Suddenly ill, she wanted to leave the room, but the moment she stood up, Jayden, who had been quiet until then, simply put his hand on her shoulder, and she felt a strength that she'd never felt before. She turned to look at Jayden. "You hear me, girl? I want you to stay out of my safe. And if you have already gotten into it, I want you to do your old man a favor and close it up and walk away. There is nothing in there that you need to see. Do you hear me?"

"I heard you. I already turned over all the paperwork inside it to the police." She turned back to her father, looking down at him from her standing position. "I won't be back. I don't know why I came here in the first place. But I will not return. Not even to identify your body once you're dead. Goodbye, Father."

She was out the door and standing in the hallway before Jayden stood up. Once she was there, standing with her hand over her mouth, the young officer who was there to lead her out of the jail simply pointed to the door next to where she was standing. On her knees in front of the commode, she threw up several times. There was very little on her stomach until she felt like she could move again.

"Hazel? Are you all right?" It was Jayden speaking to her from the doorway. Telling him that she needed a few more minutes had him telling her that he'd be there. "I have your purse and jacket, too. Do you need either of them? I can bring them in if you do."

"My purse. I can…I have a toothbrush and paste in there. Can you hand it to me?" She heard the door close, and then she saw her purse being shoved under the door. It wasn't locked, neither door, but knowing that Jayden was just out there made her feel like she was safe. "I know Booth very well. He and I have been friends for a long time now. You're a gorilla, too, correct?"

"I am. All of us are. Not Amy, I'm sad to say. We aren't able to change our mates into a shifter. But you'd have a great deal of the magic that we were born with." Nodding, she reached over and flushed the commode. Helping her to stand up, he stayed with her, one arm around her waist until she was at the sink. While she dug in her purse, he continued speaking. It was just what she needed, she thought. A calm distraction. "I've spoken to my brother Dallas, and he said that you've yet to turn over what you found in the safe at the office. Brilliant idea if you ask me to let him think that you've already been in it."

"I don't have the combination." He asked her if she'd looked under the drawers in her office. "Do you think he'd just put it under there? I've not looked, no, but I will as soon as I get to the office again."

"It's after five now, Hazel. Will you be returning to work now, or will you wait until tomorrow? If you'd not mind, after talking with Dallas, he thinks you should have your attorney there as well as the police. The way that your father was talking, I don't know that I'd even want to see what sort of stories that he left in there. At least I don't think that it will be good news."

"More than likely not. But you're right. Tonight isn't going to be a good time to go sorting through his mess." She looked at him and smiled. "I would love to get some dinner with you. Somewhere that has cloth napkins. I know that seems silly, but I rate my need for comfort food based on what sort of napkins the restaurant might have. If they're paper ones, then it's mostly fast food. Then, if it's paper already wrapped around the silverware, then it's a couple of degrees ahead. Cloth napkins, ones that are lying on the table folded up for you to use, that's comfort food. I want that kind of comfort tonight. Would you like to join me?" He told her that he'd love that. But it would be his treat. "Deal. The next time, I can get it. I appreciate you being here for me. Both in there and in here. I never… I don't want to talk about him anymore. Not tonight anyway."

He didn't say anything else about what had happened. She was happy for it, she wanted something to distract her, and he seemed to be willing to do that for her. As soon as she was in the car, a nice limo that her family had been using like this one for decades, she leaned her head back and closed her eyes. It had been a rough day. This was the perfect way for her to become less stressed. At least for a little while.

~*~

Jayden couldn't believe his luck. He'd almost turned down sitting for Booth's friend in favor of hanging out at the house with his grandparents. Both told him that he'd make it up to him if he'd do just this one thing for him. As it turned out, he was going to owe his brother for hooking him up with his mate. Opening the door for her when they were to enter the restaurant, he decided that he wasn't going to be his dumbass brother, Dallas, who was pissed off that he had a mate. Nope, he was going to go at this the way that he knew that he should. Being honest upfront was the way he was thinking.

"You said a couple of things back at the jail that I'm only just thinking about." He asked her what that might have been as they were being seated in the back of the large room. "Let me think about how you worded it. I know there was a double meaning to it, but then I didn't…are you my mate?" He grinned at her, and she looked away. "I thought that was what you were saying. I don't—"

"I am actually mate to you. I belong to you if you want to get technical about it." She asked him what the difference was. "Sort of like that old saying? You know, you speak, and I will do as you command. I think that's sort of outdated if you ask me. I think of it more as if we're together equally."

"Equally? I don't know anything about happy couples that belong to each other. My father, both my parents, were really all I had as a role model growing up. My grandma and grandpa, of course but they were somewhat old when I was born. At least my grandda was. He was ten or so years older than my grandma." He said that he had both sets of his grandparents as well as his parents as great role models. "That's wonderful. I know that I've read someplace that you mate for life. I don't know if I want that. What if you get sick of me?"

"I don't think that will happen to us. Would you like some wine?" He kept her on her toes while serving her wine and then the relish tray of assorted goodies when it was brought to them. Jayden did answer her questions but he also kept an eye on what she was eating. She looked entirely too thin for him. "I don't have a great many answers to any questions that you might have. My parents, they'll be the ones that I ask if you have anything that you'd like to know."

"I don't know what it is that I'd like to know, to be honest with you." He nodded, telling her that he was there for her if she did. "To be honest, Jayden, I'm not sure how I feel about having a mate, period. I mean, you seem like a nice man, but I also know that looks are deceiving. What do you do for a living, for starters?"

"I'm a literary arts teacher. Sounds more fancy than it is. I teach high school lit. The school board thought that just saying I was an English teacher was sort of boring, so they added some titles for me. But basically, I teach literature at the high school. I also can teach at the college and lower grades level but I don't do that all that often. My brother Booth, as you know, teaches Spanish and Latin. A couple of more language classes, too, if they have enough kids to sign up for them. German and I think Italian as well." She told him that was right. "He loves it. But then, he's always had an ear for things like that. Words to music that he might have only heard the one time."

"How long have you been a teacher?" He told her about six years, since he'd gotten out of the service. "Oh, I thought Cullen was the one in the service. I must have messed up."

"He is in the service. More than likely, he will retire from it, too. You were right. All of us have done our time for America, but he's the only one that stuck with it. We just wanted to get our education paid for, but things changed for us when our mom won the lottery a few years back. We still work even though there's no reason for us to do it. But it makes me feel better about myself to have a job." They were served their salads, and she laughed when his was put in front of him. "I love greens. What can I say?"

"That's the biggest side salad that I've ever seen. I bet you eat a lot of greens and raw vegetables." He said that his entire family did. "No wonder you all look so healthy. I have finally been able to cut out my eating at fast food all the time. I mean, I do treat myself occasionally, but it's really weighing—pun intended—to have it for every meal of the day."

"You won't gain any weight because you're my mate. You'll have to eat more greens now, just to keep up with me." He felt his face heat up when she seemed embarrassed, too. "That didn't come out the way that I wanted it to. What I meant to say was that you'd not put on any weight unless you're breeding. Having a child. Then…you know what? I'm done talking for now. What kind of business does Cherokee do? Booth might have told me, but I've forgotten now that I've put my foot in my mouth."

She was laughing again, and he thought that he could be embarrassed for the rest of his life just to hear that from her. Once their meals were brought to them, his was seafood and green beans. She had a salmon filet that she shared with him. The conversation was great, too. They seemed to have a great deal in common.

"Cherokee is a national brand that makes hand-woven baskets. Working baskets, my grandparents called them. We make other things too, but that's our primary breadwinner." He asked her what working baskets were. "Oh, that's an easy one. If you would have asked me how to weave them, I would have told you that as well. But they're baskets that are made from cut-down clothing. We work hand in hand with charities that collect clothing in their drop boxes so that they don't end up in the landfill. We take them and cut them down into long strips, then weave them into a long braid that is turned into a basket. Also, rugs and placemats. My great grandma Margaret Hines started the company up by taking her children's clothing, all twelve of them, and cutting them down when they were too worn to use anymore as clothing. Then she'd sell them for the harder times. Which, as it turned out, wasn't all that hard after a few years. Grandma was selling so many baskets so well that she was able to put out a donation box for the clothing and have it picked up by her husband."

"That's wonderful." The two of them spoke about their perspective jobs as they enjoyed their dinner. He had the rest of her salmon, and she ate some of his croutons from his salad. Jayden was enjoying himself by the time they were declining desserts, that he didn't want the evening to end.

"I have an idea that I'm not going to sleep well tonight. I have been thinking about that safe off and on all evening. Now that we're finished eating, it's about all I can think about. Would you mind very much if we were to go by and see if the combination is under the drawer as you suggested?" He told her that he could simply read her dad's mind and get it. She smacked him on the chest. "Why didn't you suggest that in the first place? We could have had the sucker open by now, and looking at all the crap I'm going to need to sort through."

He not only got the combo from Kipling but a few other bits of information that scared him a little. Kipling was putting out his feelers for a vampire to change him into a man of the night. To live forever. Then, when he really thought that he could live forever, he was going to be running for the president's position and take over running the country like he had his wife's business. In the ground, then sell it off to the highest bidders. Also, and this was what had him scared the most, he was also looking for someone to kill both Hazel and her mom. He was going to have to have a talk with their vampire friend, Elizabeth, and see what she could do about him.

After asking Dallas about a few of the things in the safe—a great deal of it, he didn't have any idea what it was. They decided that they might be better off having the FBI there rather than just the locals. Jayden also knew that a few, if not all, of the police force were on Kipling's payroll, as well as a few bankers across the state. It was going to be a shit show, just as his brother had told him had happened before with Kipling and his safe.

After talking to his mom, having woke her up from a good night's sleep, he had her make a couple of calls. He could have called the president himself, but he was sure that his mother would be able to not just get him out to Kipling's office but know who else to call while she was at it. His mom was a miracle worker when it came to politics. He'd always thought that and would continue to be one as far as he was concerned.

Hazel called her mom who came to the offices straight away. She hadn't even told her what they expected to find it in before she was saying that she'd be right there. About an hour after she arrived, dressed like she'd not just gotten up, Kipling was brought in. He did look like he'd just rolled out of bed and hadn't been able to wash his face yet. Whatever they pulled out of the safe, it wasn't going to bode well for Kipling.

"What the fuck do you think that you're doing? I specially told you to stay out of my business. Damn it, Hazel, I should have killed you when I did my mom. I know things would—that's entrapment right there. She made me say that." No one even bothered to tell him that he'd confessed now to the murder of his mother, too. There were things much more important going on. One of the officers asked him for the combination to the safe. "I don't remember it. It was there, and now it's gone. I guess I'll be going back to my cell now."

It was Hazel who rattled off the numbers. When asked where she got them, she pulled out the desk drawer that it was actually written on and showed it to them. Her father never shut his mouth for twenty minutes, screaming about how she was in his beeswax. Jayden simply shook his head, wondering where the man had learned that from.

While the safe was being opened, a camera was directly in front of it. Kipling had been told to shut his mouth no less than fifty times, he'd bet. The man went from threatening Hazel and her mother to saying that he was entrapped. Finally, after threatening him to be taken back to the jail, he keep his mouth closed. But he was glaring at Hazel in a way that had her standing behind him and her father after that.

"Christ." He didn't look, but he had a pretty good idea of what might have been stashed in the thing by reading Kipling's mind. "All right. We're going to do this by the book here. Everyone is going to sign off on what we inventory from here."

There were several more people brought in, all of them having initials on their bulletproof vests, wearing cameras themselves, and carrying guns. They were not taking any chances with whatever they found, and he was happy about that.

Two of the men he knew, just because they lived in town. The others, mostly he assumed from DC, and were there on behalf of the president. Jamie was a good man and a better president than even he knew that he was. He was also Amy's big brother, Dallas' mate.

"Jayden, Hazel just told me the good news. I've always wanted a son that I could depend on." It was Dallas who turned to him next, asking him if he was going to get around to telling his own family. All he had to do was point at the men around the room, and his brother nodded. "Well, I'm thrilled. I think this could be under better circumstances, but I'm happy all the same."

"Thank you. I have to tell my parents now, I guess, before Dallas tells on me." He winked at Hazel and told her that he'd be back. Stepping out of the big office, he called his mom on his cell phone. "Mom, I have some wonderful news. Is Dad around?"

"He's in the kitchen having a cup of tea with your grandfather. I swear to you, Jayden, if they mess up that kitchen again, I'm going to brain the two of them. They're…" She let out a long breath. "What is it darling that you wanted to tell us? I may or may not share it with him."

"I've found my mate. Her name is—" That was as far as he got before his mom started screaming for Dad to come to her. They were all there, surrounding the phone, and he could almost see them when he had to repeat himself several times. It was fun, and he realized that having a mate was going to be fun for him and the rest of the family.

Now, all he had to do was figure out was where they might want to live, furnish it, and move in. Sure, he told himself. A piece of cake. Then it occurred to him that she might well have a home that she wanted to live in, too. He hoped, not that he wouldn't move for her, that it was near his parents and grandparents. He would do it but hoped it didn't come down to that.