9
The paperwork wasn’t complete. Emma compared what she had found out while out on leave to what Beth had given her. Instead of giving her all the information that she’d asked for, she had about one third of it. And even that was full of holes and missing vital information. She looked for the playground contract and found it missing, along with the gates that were to be replaced at the school bus lot, the painting of the fire hydrants, and the new stop signs at two intersections that she’d earmarked for emergency funding. None of them were on the list that Beth had given her.
“Beth?” Emma heard her cursing—now that she was a cat, Emma could hear all sorts of things she’d not been able to before—and frowned. Beth had been...well, she’d been distracted today, sort of sad looking. “Beth, can you come in here please? I’d like to go over the file you gave me.”
“Just a minute.” Emma wanted to get up and go to her, find out what was wrong. Glancing down at the file in front of her, she had a feeling that she might know some of it. Beth was talking to her father-in-law again, Emma knew. The lines had been tapped last week, along with some cameras being positioned outside her apartment door to see the comings and goings of those who came to see her. The father-in-law, Joe Rogan, spent more time at his son’s house than his son did. “I’m on the phone. I’ll be there in a minute.”
Yes, Emma thought, there was something very wrong with her. There was a heavy tone to her voice. Her words were, while sharp, sad too. When Beth finally came into her office, Emma showed her the list she’d handed her, hoping that making her mad might bring her out of her funk.
“I think there is some work missing.” Beth took the file and flipped through it, then handed it back as she sat down. “Where is the work on the hydrants?”
“Hydrants? I thought the Boy Scouts were doing those. I’m pretty sure they were. And honestly, why do you even care?” Emma ignored the question and asked her why the city had paid Rogan Construction for the work. “Oh, I don’t know then. Maybe he bought up all the material and then provided it to them for some kind of badge. They’re forever getting badges for stuff like that.”
“Well, can you tell me if there is a merit badge for building the playground in the park? Or perhaps there is one for the stop signs being put up at Miller and Main?” Emma laughed a little, but her heart wasn’t in it today. For some reason, the thought of making this girl admit what she was doing with her father-in-law no longer had any appeal. “What’s the matter, Beth? Is there anything I can do for you? Or help you with?”
“Isn’t there something else you could be working on?” Emma was shocked by not just the question, but her tone too. “Look, I’m working really hard here, and you’re giving me jobs that are frankly beneath me. If you want to see about jobs, you should go over to the new building construction that is going on over at the hotel that is being renovated. Their permits aren’t up to date, and they’re not using the city contractors to do the work either.”
“You mean your family contractors.” Beth said nothing. “There is no reason for that building to use city workers, if we had any, because it’s privately owned and operated. And as of yesterday, because I checked, all their permits are up to date, and have been, and work has resumed.”
“No. You can’t do that.” Emma asked her why not. “You just.... Look. Maybe you don’t understand how this is supposed to work. They come here, apply for a permit to build or whatever. Then I send out one of the guys who works for Rogan to see about how much the building is going to impact the city. Most of the time it’s taken over by the city to do, and that’s when bids are put in to do it. It’s really cut and dry. I take care of that, as I take care of everything, it feels like.”
“But Rogan’s are not city workers, nor do they have a contract with the city for a permanent license to do work. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen them apply for a permit to work anywhere in this city.” Beth told her it was implied. “By who? Not me. And so you know, as of an hour ago, Rogan Construction is being audited.”
“What the fuck? Are you trying to ruin my family business?” Emma just stared at her when Beth started pacing. “You’re not playing by the rules, Emma. I don’t know where you got it in your head that you can just come in here and change things after they’ve been set up, but you need to just back off.”
“I’m the mayor, Beth, perhaps it’s you that needs to back off.”
Beth just paced, and while she was doing that, Emma reached out to Mason, who was with the police on the floor below them. You watching this?
Yes, I am. Uppity little thing, isn’t she? Oh, and the Feds have already gone into the offices of Rogan and taken the computers and all paperwork they can find. And I think they’re at the house now. For sure they’ve gone to Beth’s. Did you know that when she was hired she signed a contract that said whenever they needed them, she was to willingly turn over her computers, both personal and business? Emma said that she’d turned it in yesterday when she’d found it. See? Right from the very beginning, I knew you’d make a better mayor than me. But let me ask you something…do you think she’d be so willing now?
No. I really don’t. Hang on. Beth turned to her and started to cry. Oh no, I knew something was wrong. Perhaps it would be a good time for someone to come in here too.
“He told me that you had to go. I thought that it was a wonderful idea, then I realized that I have no idea how to go about getting you dead.” Emma asked her what plan she’d come up with. “Kill you. I mean, that was my plan. But I just couldn’t figure out a way to make it happen and not get caught. Then I realized that that woman, Tisha, is in town, and that she was hanging with your family. You’d not believe how many thoughts of taking you out I had in my head. Then...then I had to go to the doctor.”
Emma just watched her, knowing that as a cat there would be no way for Beth to attack her and come out on top. But when she pulled out a gun and laid it in her lap, Emma asked Mason again to send someone in.
We’re working on it, honey. There is something wrong with the elevators. I’m taking the stairs up now. She told him to hurry. Are you in danger, love? Is she trying to hurt you?
No. I’m not sure, but I don’t think she has any intentions of harming me. There is something very off about her today. He said he was nearly there. Just be careful. I don’t know what is up her sleeve, but I don’t want either of you hurt.
“Tell me, Beth. You should know that with all that is going on with you and your father-in-law, people are aware of it. You’re going to go to jail.” Beth nodded, but didn’t look at her. Her entire focus was on the gun in her lap. “Beth, look at me.”
“I was going to have a baby. I was so excited that I got up every morning and put my hand on my belly to feel it. I know that it was much too early, but I needed the connection.” Emma said nothing to Beth, but told Mason to wait. “Then my husband found out. Joe knew, of course. But Joey and I, we never talked about having children. So when I told him I might be pregnant, he hit me. Just backhanded me hard enough to knock me against the wall of our bedroom.”
“He found out about you and his dad, didn’t he?” Beth just nodded. “What happened then? Did he go after his dad?”
“No. He didn’t blame him at all. Said that I was a fucking cunt. His own wife, he called me a fucking cunt. Then he picked me up from the floor and tossed me across the room.” Beth looked at her then. “He told me that he was filing for divorce. And that he was going to tell his mom too, so that she’d divorce his father. Do you know what happened then?”
“You lost the baby.” It was in the report that had been given to her yesterday. Beth had shown up at the hospital a few days ago with a miscarriage. “I’m so sorry, Beth. No matter who the father was, he had no right to do that to you.”
“It’s too late now. Not just for the baby, but me as well.” Beth picked up the gun, but with the muzzle in her hand. Emma felt safe in thinking that she was going to turn the gun over to her. “There is a file on my computer of all the accounts that you need to examine with the Rogan name on it. Some of them are overseas, and a few of them are in other states. We used a lot of the cash that was paid out for jobs that weren’t done, but I started squirreling it away so that when it was time, Joe and I could run off. I don’t think that’s going to happen. So I’m all alone. So very alone.”
“I’m sorry, Beth. But you have to know that you’re both going to jail. Not only did you steal funds, but you committed fraud as well. There is no hope for either of you.” Beth nodded, but said nothing. “Is there anyone that I can call for you? Do you need an attorney?”
“I honestly don’t have any idea. And even if you were to call one for me, I can’t afford it. I’m pretty sure you have me pretty locked up, don’t you? I’ve come to realize over the last few days that you’re not nearly as horrible as I made you out to be. And for that, I’m profoundly sorry.” Beth looked at her, tears in her own eyes. “How could he not want a child of his, or even a grandchild? I’ve seen you and your husband together. That’s what I guess I thought it would be like for Joe and me when we got away.”
“Not every person in the world likes children.” Beth nodded. “I need you to turn over the gun, Beth. The police are here. They need to take you downtown. If you cooperate, it will go a long way to what sort of sentence you get.”
“I’m so very alone, Emma. I should have been a nicer person.” She didn’t move, and neither did the police as they stood by the door. “I never liked you when we were children. Even as a kid you were better than me. You never rubbed it in my face, and no matter how many times I tried to outwit you, you always managed to come out on top. Why is that? You had a scumbag for a brother, and here you are mayor of the city and well thought of.”
“I tried my best not to let you bother me. I let whatever you said to me, did to me, go. There was no point in holding onto my anger. It did me little good, and after I left here to go to college and work, I never thought of you again.” Beth nodded again. “Beth, they need you to turn over the gun.”
“Joe has the money in an account that he thinks I don’t know about. There is over seven hundred thousand dollars in it. He not only scams the city, but he takes kickbacks from some of the merchants who he bullies into it.” Emma started writing down names as soon as Beth said them. “His wife, Sandra, my mother-in-law, she’s not as innocent as she makes out either. There is a man she’s been fucking around too. And she has her own little stash. It’s in the barn under the old Chevy that her husband has been ‘working’ on for ten years.”
Emma looked at Beth; she was so different than the woman that she’d been an hour ago. No less sad, really, but she looked more defeated, broken. Emma asked her again for the gun. When she lifted it up, Emma stood. She’d ask for leniency for what she’d done for them.
“You’ll need a good attorney, but I’ll talk to them on your behalf.” Beth nodded. “It’s over now. All the money, thanks to you, will be returned. I’m sorry it had to end this way.”
“It’s our fault. I should have known better than to get involved with him.” She stood up too, the gun hanging from her fingers. “My baby didn’t need to be murdered, you know. My own husband, he took from me too. Just like his dad did. And now, now I’m going to jail for a very long time, and for what? For a good fuck? A murdered child? I’m sorry, Emma, and thank you. You’re a good person.”
Before anyone could move, Beth put the gun to her temple and shot herself in the head. There hadn’t been a moment of hesitation either. She just said her piece and did it. Emma felt the hot spray of her blood hit her in the face before she realized what Beth Rogan had done. She’d ended her own life.
~~~
Tisha asked the doctor to repeat himself. “I said, we can remove this cast. The bones have healed nicely, and there won’t be any trouble like you were told about stiffening muscles or pain later, I would imagine. I’ve also put in an order to have x-rays done of your hand and your head, just to make sure what I’m seeing is right. You’re healed, Tisha. Congratulations.”
“But that’s not possible. You said, just last week when I came in, that I’d have to go at least another five weeks with the cast, and that the headaches would lessen over time but may be there for a while longer. You said that.” He nodded and grinned. “I want a second opinion.”
“Okay.” He got up and left her there. The gown she had on was barely covering her, so when the door opened, she pulled it back over herself. The doctor was still grinning like a loon, but he wasn’t alone this time. “This is all the second opinion you need, I think. I’ll be with another patient when you’re ready in here.”
Tisha looked at Zach when he sat down. There was something going on here, something that she wasn’t getting. And when he took her hand in his, she jerked it back and told him to explain.
“I will. But I want to hold onto your hand while I do it. If you remember, when you get...excited, you tend to pull my hair.” Her face heated up to the point where she wanted to fan herself. “I’m going to explain to you what we think happened. Okay? When you bit me, taking my blood into your body, it healed you. And every time we made love—which, if you ask me isn’t nearly enough—you take a little more. Because of what I am, you’re healing quicker. That’s the first part of what I need to tell you.”
“I don’t understand. And just how many parts are there?” He took her hand again and kissed the back of it. He told her three, so far. “Zach, what do you mean, your blood healed me? I really am having a difficult time hanging on here.”
“Okay. Now, part two. When you and I made love the first time, you were weak. Your injuries were pretty extensive, and there was a lot of blood loss still. While you were with me, your body was still in the process of healing.” She nodded and told him to go on. “When...I should start with this. When one of our kind changes a person, converts them, they bite them in the belly region, the throat, and the leg. These bites give a human a lot of pain, and our saliva hits the system quickly to heal those areas. Understand?”
“You’re saying this because you want to convert me.” He nodded, then shook his head. “Perhaps you should continue. Right now, I want to scream at you for not getting to the point.”
“Yes. The point. You were already hurt. My bite and my cat’s saliva from eating you hit your already injured system hard. Like you were being converted.” She just stared at him, trying her best to keep up. “The combination of the two things, the injuries and us having sex, did it.”
“Did it? You mean, it healed me but did more than that.” Zach smiled and nodded. “So what you’re saying to me, and I hope that I’m right, is that I might be a cat too.”
“Would that be so bad?” That wasn’t very helpful. “I’ve talked to Mason and my Aunt Georgie, who said that she loves you dearly by the way, and they think that it didn’t hurt you as much as it might have because you were already on pain killers. Not heavy doses, but enough so that when you converted, it was for the most part painless. You’re a cat, love. A cougar like me.”
It took a moment for what he was saying, everything he was saying, to sink in. “Did you know that I was a cat? I mean, before this?”
“No. I mean, I think my cat knew. He’s been acting sort of strange around you, even you have seen that.” She had and nodded. “Anyway, I had it in my head that converting you would be painful for you, biting you while you were still hurt, and that recuperating like you were it would be too much for you, so I never brought it up. I knew that my blood would heal most of the smaller wounds, but I never thought of it converting you as well.”
“So, I’m a cougar.” He nodded. “I can shift and run with you in the woods if I want. That’s what you’re telling me. Please, tell me that’s what you’re saying, Zach. I could use some good news right about now.”
“This is the best news, I think. But you can’t shift, not yet anyway. There is the matter of the cast. I don’t know what that would do to your cat should you shift with it on. It’s like a great many things that could happen to your cat if you’re, say, tied up when you shift. And when you’re in a tight place with your human self, it could—”
She lifted her hand and he shut up. “Can you please go and get the doctor and tell him to take this cast off me? I have a need.... Does it hurt?” He shook his head. “I want to go and be a cat. Like you are.”
“I understand that, but I have to tell you one more thing. Okay? The last part.” She nodded and asked him if it was bad. “No. I mean, I hate to bring this up, but I have to tell you some things first. You are aware of your inability to have children, so I want to tell you that even though you’re a cat now, you still can’t have children. We can heal things, but not replace. Understand?”
“Yes, but damn it, get to the fucking point again. But if it’s bad news, please don’t tell me now.” He told her it wasn’t, but still didn’t speak. “Zach, I’ve fallen in love with you. But right now, I’d gladly kill you for keeping me waiting like this. Tell me, for Christ’s sake.”
“Do you want a child?” He’d just told her that she couldn’t have one, so she wasn’t sure where he was going. “There was a baby born just this morning, his parents are both deceased. There was an accident and.... He’s a cougar, and needs someone to take him before he gets in the system.”
“A baby?” He nodded. “What happened? I mean, you said you just found out. Do you know them, the parents of this little boy?”
“They’re a part of our pride. I know them both, not as well as Mason does, but yes.... They were traveling back home from a short vacation and were hit by a drunk driver not far from here. They tried everything to save them, but they were.... The damage was too extensive for them to be able to shift and heal. Mr. Wayne taught at the college, his wife was a nurse in the clinic here. They had to take the little boy by Caesarean section a while ago to save his life. The police had found a relative, a grandmother, and she isn’t in a position to raise him.” She asked him about anyone else. Other children. “No, he would have been their first. And since the accident, the police have tried to contact Mr. Wayne’s mother, but she.... She won’t have anything to do with the child either. Apparently, she hated the daughter-in-law and refuses the child.”
“Why, was she a bad person?” He said that April was one of the nicest people that he’d met. “Well that bitch. You can tell her for me that...never mind. I’ll tell her. To have a child of your own child and not want.... I’m going to keep her away from him if it’s the last thing I do. When can we take him home?”
Zach grinned. “We have to wait until he’s strong enough. While he was born healthy, even under the circumstances, he’s a little weak.” He kissed her on the mouth this time. “So, that’s a yes? We’re going to take him as our own?”
“You never doubted it, did you?” He didn’t say anything. “You were afraid I’d say no? You think I’m that cruel?”
“God, no. I think you’re amazing. But you’ve only just turned, or at least know about it, and this hasn’t been the best of times lately. I wasn’t sure you’d want to take on an infant too. I was hoping, but worried that you’d think it was too much.” She asked him when they could see him. “Later today. I have to make arrangements with Ed, our attorney. And we have to get the house a little more...I’m having some trouble getting things finished at the house at the moment.”
“Money.” He didn’t say anything again, and this time she took his hand into hers. “Did you know that my dad has been wanting to help you for weeks now? He said a man that can make his little girl happy and safe, he should have it all.”
“I don’t know your father that well. He’s been around, I know that, but he’s not.... I can honestly say that I never made an effort to know him when I was growing up. Not because I was afraid of him, but…well, he’s sort of out of my league. Kind of like Holly and Emma were to me.”
“You’re a snob.” He denied it, but she was having too much fun right now. “Yes, you are. A snob. My father is one of the nicest people you’ll meet.”
“I know that. I mean, lately he and I have been hanging out together, and I’ve gotten a little more comfortable around him. He’s never made me feel less than him, nor has he rubbed in in my face that I can’t provide for you like he has.” Tisha asked him why he thought he would. “I don’t know. Like I said, I’m only just getting to know him. What do you think he’ll say about all this?”
“You mean the baby? Or me being a cougar?” He told her both. “I think first of all he’ll be on top of the world to know that he’s going to be a grandda. While he’s never said anything about it, I know that he’s been wanting a grandchild. As for the cougar part? I have no idea. I know that he’s aware of shifters…he also knew what you were before I did. Burt, as you know, is a shifter, and introduced us into that world. I think that Dad will be happy. Oh, who am I kidding, he’s going to be thrilled to death with both.”
The doctor came in then and asked if she was happy with her second opinion. Laughing, she told him she was and asked to have the cast removed. After some setting up, she was put in a room where it could be done and Zach stepped out to make a few calls. One of them, she knew, was to her dad.
“I hope you don’t mind, child, but I’ve had the nurses put together a little packet to take home with you.” The doctor sat down in the chair to talk to her after he checked her leg. “It’s about having a child and what to expect. Having a baby that isn’t human isn’t much different than most parents run into. And a lot of it will be something that you’ll have to learn on your own. Like diaper changing. Feedings and so on. Like I said, much like a human child.”
“I’m nervous.” He told her that she should be. She was taking on a lot. “Holly and Emma, you know them. I think they’ll be a great help, don’t you?”
“Oh yes. Excellent source of help, there. Also, you can count on Mercedes and Georgie. You have a great family that will bend over backwards to give you anything you might need.” She had a feeling there was more he wanted to say to her, and was stalling. So she started talking about nothing in general to help him.
“Zach and my dad are going to be able to get the house finished faster now. I know just which room I’d like to put the baby in. Do you know if the Waynes had a name picked out for their son?” He said he wasn’t aware of any. “That’s fine. We’ll work his last name into his somehow so he can have that much.”
“There are more.” She didn’t say anything because she wasn’t sure what he meant. “Children that are not wanted, not planned. Just abandoned as if they were no more than a read newspaper. You have no idea how...you and Zach taking this little boy, you give me hope that there are others out there like the two of you. People willing to take on a child that no one wanted.”
“How many?” He said numerous. “You know how many there are. Tell me how many children that you’ve run into this month.”
“Ten.” Her heart broke for them and for him. “Not all of them are infants. Most aren’t, as a matter of fact. There is one little girl that has been in and out of the system so much that she’s jaded. Not being loved, it can make a person simply give up. But this little Wayne child, you’ve done right by him, and that makes me think there is hope for them all.”
“I’d like to see her.” He shook his head and told her that wasn’t what he meant. “I know, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t help her. Maybe not all of them, but I’d very much like to.... Zach and I can help, and we will.”
By the time she was ready to go, not only did she have Loren’s file, but she had a picture of her as well. Tisha knew that some way, somehow, she was going to try her best to bring the little girl home with them too.