Chapter 2

Opening her eyes, she felt the heaviness of the drugs she’d been given weigh them down again. There were people in the room with her. In only a little glance, she saw her grannie and sister. If there were others in there, she didn’t care right now. Trying to get her eyes to stay open, she did take a look at her grannie.

When her grannie had had surgery a couple of weeks ago, it occurred to her that she was getting older-looking. She’d always been old to her, grannie having been around her entire life. However, now she looked to her as if she had aged several years since the day before she’d been shot.

If not for her, she wasn’t sure what would have happened to her and her sister all those years ago. But as far as she knew, they were all safe. Someone cleared their throat and she turned her head slightly to see the big man that had been in her ride with her.

“You’re going to be just fine, Maggie. Can I call you that?” She was just forming the words to deny him calling her anything so personal, but he was moving on quickly. “You were shot twice. Once in your arm, that went through and entered your chest. Your grandmother doesn’t know that part. She only knows that you were shot in the upper arm. There was a shot to your leg that had shattered your femur. And in doing that, you had a great deal of bone mass in the area that had to be removed.”

He asked her if she needed a minute to think. Shaking her head, he moved on. It was then that she realized that he was speaking to her through a link. One that she thought that they’d made on the ride to the hospital.

“Additionally, you have a concussion. I’m assuming that you got that when your head snapped back when you hit the ground hard when landing the second time. That is healing nicely. Any questions so far?” She asked him what they’d talked about in the ride here. “I claimed you. I was going to work up to that part of what happened, but your grannie told me that you’re the type of person that likes straight up, that you don’t like pussy footing around when it comes to information.”

“Meaning?” It was getting more and more difficult for her to grasp what was being said to her, so she let her eyes close and sleep take her under. Whatever happened now, she had an idea that this man was going to make sure that she was safe. A strange thought about someone she’d only just met.

The next time that she woke up, not at all sure how long she’d been sleeping, the room was dark, and there didn’t seem to be anyone in the room that she could see. Moving her legs, just so that they didn’t cramp up, she felt the pain of it immediately. Her left leg was on fire with pain.

“I have you.” She’d not realized that she’d cried out until a man’s voice spoke to her from her right. Turning slowly so that she’d not hurt anywhere else, MJ asked him to turn on a light. Asking her to close her eyes, she heard the small click and opened her eyes again. It was Marshall. The man she’d spoken to all the way to the hospital. “Your grannie went to my house to get some sleep. She and DJ are going to come back in the morning. They’re safe there. Plus, there are agents with them in the event someone tries to harm them.”

“When?” She licked her lips, trying again. “When was I shot?” Marshall said that she was shot eight days ago and has been recuperating since. “Grannie? DJ? All right?”

“Yes. I’ve made sure that they’ve both been eating and not skipping meals. We have a cook now. I never thought of that when I got the house, but it’s working out well. If you don’t like it, you can always say so.” She told him to slow down. His laughter made her smile. It was as if he’d been caught off guard by it. “Do you remember the conversation we had when I brought you here? About I being your mate?”

“Some of it.” She wanted to sit up, and she wanted to go back to sleep, too. There was simply too much going on for her to make heads or tails about things. “You saved my life.”

“Yes. You saved mine as well. I had no intention of finding another mate this late in my life. But here you are. And I couldn’t be happier.” She told him to hold his horses. “I can do that. You’re tensing up. Are you in pain again? They said you can have as much as you need.”

“I’m not too sore right now, but it’s there. Right on the edge of my mind.” She didn’t raise her head but found the buttons for the bed and slowly raised herself up. When it started to hurt, she stopped. “You said something in the ride. Something about claiming me. I’m assuming that’s what saved my life.”

“You’d been shot in your left arm that entered and exited there. The bullet then entered your chest on the left side, nicking your artery. If not for me claiming you, and I’m profoundly sorry for not asking you sooner, but if not, you would never have made it here.” Closing her eyes for a moment to think, she looked at him after a few minutes. “Tell me what you’re thinking. I won’t hold back, Maggie.”

“MJ. And you’d better not. I might not like what you’re saying, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t want it to be the truth either.” He nodded and smiled at her. “Wipe that grin off your face and pay attention to me. I’m not a pushover, either. I have my life just about the way that I want it. In a couple of years, or less I think I’m going to retire and become a homebody that never leaves the soil of the United States again. I’ve had enough of traveling all over the place.”

“I have as well.” He didn’t say anything more, and she was happy about that. Her leg was bothering her as was her arm. Since she didn’t know if she should be hurting in the chest, she didn’t mention it when she asked for a bit of pain meds. “There are two kinds of meds you can have. One will put you under again. The other, a lighter dose, will just take the edge off. From experience, I’d take the edge off now so that the pain doesn’t get the best of you.”

She nodded, almost sick with the pain. Before the shot was given to her, however, she threw up twice. The next thing she knew, she was out cold and floating along the clouds before she was finished speaking to Marshall.

~*~

Marshall couldn’t help but frown while she slept. Even drugged up the way that she was, it was obvious that she wasn’t sleeping well. Reaching out, he put his hand on her head and felt the moment that she started to rest. While he hated to do that to her, he thought it best that she rested more than chewing his ass out because he’d taken liberties with her.

“I have two questions for you. The first one I think that I can answer but I want your input on it.” He’d only known Lauder for a short time, but he had learned quickly that she never minced words when she was looking for something. “ Those uncles of the women, what do you know about them? I ask that because I know about all there is to know about them but wondering what you actually knew. The second question is, did you send a pack of wolves to the house to guard it? I’m thinking that you did but I want to make sure that I don’t step on any toes while I’m gathering information.”

“I don’t know other than what I’ve gleaned from the family about the uncles. I know that they’re hell-bent for leather on getting the house and land surrounding it but the rest I have only guessed about. The second question is a yes. I did send them there. I think that Calhoun might have sent a couple of his burin there as well. I have yet to thank him for that, but I will.” He watched Meggie sleeping and thought of something else . “I have a question for you. Not a biggie if you don’t know the answer but have any of the men served time? They were carrying is the reason that I ask. I know that’s a big no-no when you’re out and about.”

“Yes. All three of them have been in prison at one time or another in their lives. Twice they’ve all three been in at the same time. Different reasons, but all the same sentencing. I don’t understand how they aren’t serving a longer sentence but I’ll figure that out.” He told her about how Mitzy had a direct line to the president. “I would imagine that’s true. The things that I’m finding out about your mate are something that few people know about her. She’s saved the president several times over the last few years, and he’s ever so grateful enough that he told her that when she retires, which I’m thinking she’s close to doing, he’ll make sure that she’s taken care of better than anyone else in the world when it comes to benefits as well as pay. One of the times that she saved him was when she was on his detail for a last-minute change in his men surrounding him, and she took a bullet intended for him.”

“I can see her doing that.” When she stirred in her sleep, Marshall touched his hand to her head again. When she quieted down, he smiled to himself. “She’s not resting all that well here. I don’t know why because I don’t want to look, but I keep putting her in a deeper sleep so that she can rest. I don’t know if you’re aware of this or not, but she would have died had I not claimed her right then. I have no idea why but I have a feeling that it was one of her uncles that took the shot at her.”

“I do as well. I’ve been looking at footage from the satellite images and also finding out where the bullets came from, as well as the idea of who they were coming from. I’ve sent out a team to have a look. So far, they’ve only found one shell casing, but they did find a cigarette butt too. I don’t know if it’s one of theirs or not. Do you know if any of them smoke?” He told her that he’d only seen them one time, and they all smelled of cigarettes and body odor. “Yuck. I cannot stand body odor on someone. Especially when they have the means to do something about it. All right. I’ll let you get back to what you were doing. I’ll get with you as soon as I know anything. Before I forget, you have guard wolves on the house that you purchased as well.”

After closing the connection with Lauder, he pulled out his laptop and began working on some investments that he’d been putting off until now. He’d been around a very long time and had invested in things when they were just starting out. A computer company that he owned stocks in, as well as a couple of satellite companies that now were more prominent in people’s homes than they’d ever been before. He began moving money around and was deep into it when someone knocked on Meggie’s door. Instead of answering it, he stood up and put his hand on his gun at his side. The man who opened the door said that he was unarmed and that he needed to speak to him about his home. Allowing him in the room but not giving up his position of keeping his gun ready, he asked him what he wanted.

“The president said that you needed extra security on your home.” He nearly laughed when the younger man, seemingly only about twenty years old, asked him if he’d please not kill him. “I’m a computer expert and I was sent to go to your home and make sure that you have a secure network as well as up-to-date internet service.”

“And he sent you? Do you have any paperwork on you?” The man, a sergeant in the computer science lab in D.C., handed over a thick, sealed file that had his name on it. After opening the seal, he could see that things were correct in the paperwork that he’d been given. There was also a picture of the person that was sent. “It says here that you’re to make a call. While I don’t have any idea who that is, if you pull out anything other than a cell phone from your pocket, I’m going to rip your throat out. Not even being in the hospital will save you.”

“Yes, sir.” Meggie sat up in the bed then and then laid back down. If she was awake, he didn’t know, but she was telling him to behave himself and let the man do his job. Before he could ask Meggie if she was all right, she closed her eyes and told him again to behave. “He also said to tell you that he’s got your back on anything you need to do. I’m hoping that doesn’t mean that he is going to be all right with killing me. I have a family. I don’t like them all that much, but I have one.”

“What don’t you like about your family?” It was just small talk, something that he did now to put the man at ease. He had come across a little too rough with him. He about half listened to the younger man, Phillip Stars, until he mentioned that his mother was a drug dealer and his father was a deadbeat dad. “Does your commanding office know this?”

“I don’t think that he cared all that much so long as I don’t bring my homelife to work. I believe he was more set on my computer skills and what he could get out of me rather than my home life.” He immediately reached out to Lauder. “There’s something else that you should know. I put all that information on my app, and he made me fill out another one without my family on it. He had me put them down as deceased.”

Marshall told Lauder everything, even going to far as to tell her what he knew of the young man and his personal information. His address, phone as well as his social security number when he gave it to him.

“I really like my job, General Morton. I do. But every day, I have a feeling that I’m going to be sent away for good. I think that when people find out what is going on, I’m going to be in front of a firing squad or something.” He asked him the questions that Lauder wanted him to. “Oh, yeah, I do that already. Every time I go to see him, I record everything. I record it on my phone, but I don’t leave it there. As soon as I get someplace on my own, I upload it to the account I have in the cloud. I’m really afraid…you’re a wolf, aren’t you? I know that because he called you scum of the earth. His name is Director Jamison Patterson, by the way. He has an office at the White House. Not far from the Oval Office.”

“Ask the little shitter if he knows that he’s going to be dishonorably discharged when people find out?” He did just that and the kid sat down on the floor, more like he collapsed there. Once he started talking, Lauder popped into the room and took him by the hand. “I believe that you planned to tell all today. Any reason why? Or did you just find out about how this was going to affect you, so you fessed up?”

“I’ve known all along. I just…today he told me that I was supposed to go to the house and make sure that I clone General Morton’s computer. He told me that he was going to make sure that I never worked again if I didn’t do as he said. I figured that I was safer by coming here and telling the general so that he could…I don’t want to lose my job. It keeps me here and not with my family. They’re a horrible lot. I didn’t even know that I was going to get promoted, but Director Peterson told me that he couldn’t have his best boy getting so little pay while being a private.”

“I can save your ass if you tell me if you’re willing to go before his boss and let him know what’s going on.” He said that she didn’t have to ask him twice. He’d been looking for a way out for some time now. “All right. I’ll go to bat for you. However, if you screw me over, I’m sure there are ways that I can take care of you that you’ll be wishing for the firing squad instead of me.”

“He knows about you, too, Agent Perry. He said the w…his words, the w goddamned army is here at your disposal, and they’re all fuckers not helping him out.” She asked him if she knew what that meant. “I’m sorry, I don’t. I have learned not to ask him anything. He made it so that I couldn’t get any food for a week, and he held up my pay for three weeks one other time, too. I don’t mess with him anymore.”

After the two of them left him, both of them popping out of the room at once, he was notified by Micheal ten minutes later that he’d not sent the computer guy to him, but he’d come directly from the office of Patterson.

“You should check into a couple of things then. Somehow, your signature ended up on the paperwork that I have in my possession, a letter of recommendation on your letterhead as well as some very good-looking notes that you put on it.” He asked if he could send someone to come and get it. “Never mind. I don’t know that I’d trust them any more than I did Patterson. Christ. I should have known something was up. It’s an election year, and they’re working behind me to get me out of office. I won’t go into details but you make sure that you keep an eye on your family for me. All of you are going to be sitting ducks until this thing is taken care of. You keep that paperwork, and I’ll come and get it soon. If I can get in touch with one of those women who can pop in and out of places, I’ll…Christ, one of them just popped into my office. Hang on.”

About the time that Meggie was waking up, Michael popped into the room with Becka. He knew that she was pretty powerful in her own right. She and her mate Brad lived in the other world with the queen of faeries as well as the queen of all magic. But to be able to just go to DC and return the man and herself to the hospital was mind-boggling.

“What the ever-loving hell?” They all turned to stare at Meggie. “I fall asleep, and I wake up to having everyone in my…Sir? What the hell are you doing here? Didn’t I tell you to lay low for a few weeks?”

“You did. You even told me that Patterson was after my job. Did you know that he’d filed to run for my spot on the ballot? Well, you did, and it’s not as funny as I thought it would be. He wanted access to your home computers and that of everyone else in your new family.” Meggie laid back down and then asked for something to take the edge off. “You’re not to hurt yourself anymore. By the way, your new family is finding out all kinds of things about your father and his brothers. More than I could have found with an army of men.”

“They have an army of faeries at their command. So do I. And you know what? They’ll die before coming back empty-handed. Not that I’d order it, but they’d be so…that’s what we’re doing there. Finding a way to keep them with enough self-esteem to not feel like a failure if they can’t…Sorry. I do love the little creatures and can’t stand it when they’re hurting.” Becka smiled. She had a twinkle in her eyes, too. “You need some dirt on Patterson? I have just the group that can find it for you, and he’ll never know what the hell hit him.”

“I believe that I’d like that.” Meggie snorted and told Michael that she’d offered to do that, too. “You did, but then you went and got yourself shot up, and now I’m having to worry about you too.” He looked at him. “Or I might well have been if not for you having the entirety of Perry’s nest involved with you. You’re a lucky woman, MJ. I envy you that.”

“You want them? Then you do just what I told you to do.” She looked at him and he could see the anger there but also pain. “Marshall, I think that I’d like to leave here. There is just too much going on that I can’t properly rest. Even the dumbass president is bothering me. Can we go to your home? I miss my sister and grannie.”

“I’ll make those arrangements right away. I do have a bit of furniture coming later today, but the bed will be put up first and foremost. Grannie, as she insisted that I call her, is having the time of her life with DJ, staying at a local hotel to be close to you.” She nodded and closed her eyes only to open them quickly. “I need my gun, too. I can’t believe that I’ve not asked you for it before now. But I think that I’d rest easier if I had one.”

“Here. You can have mine.” He handed it out to her butt first. “Just be careful with it, Meggie. I don’t want you to accidentally shoot me. It has silver in it. I’ll remind the others about it as well.”

“MJ. Okay.” Her eyes fluttered closed, but she wasn’t quite finished speaking to him it seemed. “Marshall, just so you know, I don’t know if I like you yet, but you’re starting to grow on me.” With that, he heard her soft snores and turned to look at Michael.

“You like me.” With a clap on his back, Michael said that he’d gotten that too. But worried what her state of mind was. “Oh, you’re just jealous. She likes me, and that’s perfect.”

He’d never felt so sappy than he did in that moment. Marshall made arrangements for Meggie to be able to go to their new home and it was Rosie who backed him up by saying that she’d be her personal doctor when they go there.

This family was something else. He knew that. But the way they came together for him was something he’d not expected. Of course, he thought that he’d not expected anyone to be in his corner anymore, so it was a nice surprise that there was someone there for him.

It took them nearly two hours to get things set up so that not only could she go home, but there was medical equipment there for her to use as well. In addition to a bed, which would be easier for her to get in and out of, there was an IV pole, a mobile tray for her to use to eat with as well as several gowns so that she’d not have to wear her own clothing to keep them from being stained. He thought about what she might be wearing in her gowns and had to take a cold shower. Marshall had a feeling that with her living there, he was going to need a lot of cold water until they could work things out for themselves.

A nurse was waiting for them when they arrived. As soon as he had Meggie in the bed, she begged for medication. They had given her some to tie her over, knowing that she’d be sore, but once she was home, he thought that she might have been hurting worse than he could have imagined.

Once she was asleep and resting better, he decided to go and pick up Grannie and DJ. They could do what they wanted and decided to call them before leaving. But the hotel told him that they’d left earlier, and he didn’t think they were returning. It nearly gave him a heart attack, thinking that they’d been kidnapped when they were ringing the doorbell.

Hugging them both, he was happy that they allowed it. DJ pulled away first, but Grannie clung to him like she needed it. Allowing them both to wander around the large mansion-like house, he made sure that the nurse, who was also carrying a weapon, knew that he’d be back soon. He needed to get some paperwork finished up so that he could be with his new family for the next few days.

“You don’t have much in the way of furnishings, do you, Marshall?” He told Grannie when he returned that he’d been working on that, too. “I’d like to have my old bed here if you’d not mind. I have all the lumps figured out, and I don’t know that…I had a difficult time sleeping on that mattress at the hotel, something terrible. If you’d rather not, I can understand that too. Even if it’s only for a few days, I’d like to be rested.”

“A few days? I thought that you and DJ would live with us here full-time. I know that DJ has been staying with you to keep you safe at home, but I’d very much like to know that you’re here and being taken care of, too.” Grannie asked him if he thought DJ was doing a terrible job. “Don’t be reading into that, please. I want you both to be safe and here I can make sure you are. If you’d rather live in your own home, I understand that as well. But you can rest assured that I’ll keep you as safe as I can there as well.”

“I don’t want to live there no more, to be honest with you.” He asked her if she could tell him why. “Them sons of mine. They…well, they ruined it for me. Always barging in and making me hand over money that I don’t have. What did they expect me to live on if I’m forever handing them all the money that I have. Nothing, I’ll tell you right now, they care nothing for me but what I can give them. Ungrateful curs. The lot of them can go to prison for all I care about them. I don’t mean to sound like a harpy, Marshall, but I really don’t want to live there where I feel exposed to them all the time. Why, just two months ago, they got into my herb garden and my squash patch and smashed everything to pieces. I just…I just can’t take it no more. And I just know they hurt my MJ. I just…Oh, Marshall, what you must think of me.”

“I think that you’re a wonderful woman that has had enough of their bullshit and now needs for them to pay the price of their hurting you and the girls.” She held onto him while she sobbed about her misery. It hurt him to his core that she’d been put through all that. When DJ came to find her, she led the still-crying woman to the kitchen, where some tea was being brewed, and there were fresh cookies.

Marshall’s household staff were all magical creatures. Even the cook, Pie, was a brownie and had a little bit of sixth sense about her. He wouldn’t doubt for a moment that she’d put on the tea and had cookies ready the moment that Grannie and DJ had joined his household. He was going to make sure that there were plenty of people around just to make sure that they had everything that they needed.