BOMAW Vol. 10-12 (117 page)

Lunch time rolled around again, he walked outside wondering if she would show up - Omiyah that is. Sure enough, she was waiting for him. He stood a moment in indecision with his hands in his pockets, staring at her as she sat in the car, gazing at him, waiting for his decision. She held up a hot take-a-way lunch for him, smiling, waving it like a carrot.

"Fuck this, I'm no fuckers idiot." He marched to the car to eat, and whatever else might take place.

Wisconsin... before dawn

Shanna could hear the sound of her shower, lifting her head ever so slightly to check the time, it wasn't yet 05:00am, but Royce was up. He'd spent the night with her again, something that was quickly growing into a habit she noted. Sighing, yawning, she turned to her back trying to make up her mind would she be getting up to fix him breakfast? Sitting up, she decided that she would, tired or not. If he could be up this early after the night they had of lovemaking, then so could she. Looking around the room, to the floor, she searched for her gown, finding it, she grabbed for it, pulling it over her head to clothe her naked body.

Standing, slipping her feet into her slippers, her mind automatically went into the night before. Jake had come over after working at his new house until late, his plan had been to shower there and head to bed, but noted that Royce was there, looking to be staying. Shanna tied the belt of her robe and walked from her room yawning again, into her kitchen. Her brothers had absolutely no tact whatsoever when it came to them looking out for her. She amended that thought, Derrick was the more considerate one, Shawn and Jake... no tact, no way! She didn't know who was worse in fact, because there were times that Jake would come on stronger because he couldn't be out done by how Shawn might handle any given matter, so he usually went that extra mile just in case it got back to Shawn, there would be no question of what he should have done. Jake had come in, noticed Royce there with no shoes on, just a t-shirt and gym pants on and had stood staring at him, rudely so - then asked right out.

"You fuckin' moving in or something?!"

Royce had looked up at him a bit stunned, but - he was starting to get the hang of things, he was starting to see, that if he was going to be with the McPherson baby sister, he was going to have to man up to deal with her older brothers.

"And that has - what - to do with you? If my thinkin's right, Shanna's 30 something, divorced, on her own - you her father?"

"If I make up my mind to be, damn skippy Barney Phife! You lookin' at her daddy, Jake - that's me!"

"Jake! Do no start! I'm a grown woman, and you're not my daddy! And as for him," She'd pointed towards Royce, "...his name is Royce Collier, not Barney Phife!"

Jake had turned from Royce to Shanna, ignoring her correction on his name, to inform her, "If you think you're gonna be shacking up with him, you can think again, lil'sis!"

"Jacob Patrick McPherson, now hear this, it is non of your business who I shack up with - or if I shack up at all!" Shanna blared, defending her right.

"Let's make something clear right now, Jake; it's not me that won't marry your sister, but your sister who won't marry me! I've made my desires known, would do it in a heartbeat! It's her!"

Once more Jake's eyes went from him to Shanna, "That true?"

Shanna stood with her head held high, "Sounds about right."

"That's bullshit! If he's good enough to screw the night through, then dammit, tie the fuckin' knot! If I can get married, you can sure as hell bet, no sister of mine is going to be shacking up like some-..."

"Get out of my house! Get - out - of my house! You're not gonna be tellin' me what to do with my life! I have one father, his name is-..."

"I know damn well what his name is, you just wait until I tell him how you're settin' yourself up! I'm not gonna have it!" Jake blasted back at her heading for the door, and turning to Royce before he departed, "You best get a ring paid for there buddy, get ready to put it on her finger, because this shit ain't gonna fly here, Barney, can tell you that right-..."

Shanna had slammed the door in his face before he could finish.

Bringing her mind back to the present, Royce came out of the bathroom to the smell of sausage cooking, walking into the kitchen, coming up behind her, he hugged her tightly, emphasized with an audible, "Emm umm," kissed her temple and left to take a chair by the table to put his socks and shoes on, having both in hand. "You didn't have to get up, 'could've picked up something to eat in town."

"Don't mind." She murmured, having so much on her mind.

Slipping on one sock and then the other, he asked, "Heard from Shawn yet?"

"Emmm, no, not really. Don't expect to 'till they're due back." She was frying his eggs, "Over easy?" She asked, holding one up.

Looking back at her, he nodded, "That's fine." He added, having given many things quite a few thoughts over the last week; he'd made up his mind, that he was with her, to stay. Which meant, because of her fierce loyalty to her family, her brother's, despite last nights fight with one of them - that it would require a certain degree of commitment to them from him. It hadn't been an easy decision on his part, but a necessary one. While he had chosen to serve in law enforcements for a small town, that didn't mean that he was disconnected from the reality of what went on in it, in larger cities. He was not so green as to be blind. That had been one of the reasons he chose to serve in a smaller town, he'd hoped it gave him more leverage for staying clear, and clean of the corruption that existed in far too many precincts and divisions. He hadn't wanted to be in among those that broke the law and used it to gain for themselves. And now, here he faced a scenario that forced him to make up his mind on certain matters. Royce knew; if he would be willing to gamble, that if he put his all into investigating the disappearance of one John Sykes, it would no doubt lead him to Shawn McPherson's door - if, he put money on that, he had a feeling he would win. He knew it, because from that night, so long ago where he rushed in with other officers responding to the hysterical call of Sylvia Payne - to see what he'd done to one, Ray Olivetti - whose face had been a bloody pulp by the time he'd turned him loose; Royce gained first hand mental data on the possible profile of Shawn Everett McPherson. Ray Olivetti could have died - in fact, had it not been for Sylvia's intervention, Royce knew, that he would have died, that Shawn would have killed him. Which told Royce, he was a man - if provoked, was capable of killing.

Shanna was his little sister.

Her abusive ex-husband had a restraining order on him from the state in which they lived and had been married.

She'd run home to her family from him for protection.

He'd followed.

He was now - missing.

It didn't take rocket science to figure out why.

Royce cut into his eggs as Shanna poured him coffee.

"What's on your mind?" She asked, sitting at the table next to him.

He wasn't so quick to answer because he needed to say this right, but say it, he did, "I'm thinking, you need to perhaps check on them - kind'ah - let them know, let him know - what's going on here."

Shanna stared a moment, thinking, "You're not talking about last night, are you?"

"No, I'm not."

"What are you talking about?"

"Chief's been profiling your brother."

"My brother?"

"Shawn. He's profiling him. Building a background profile on him surrounding his past. Getting a psychological background on him. He's..." Royce sighed, "...he's checking into his history - asking people around town about him - looking into his school records, talking to his teachers about him, his coach. Fellow students - things like that."

"Why?! Why is he digging about my brother?! He's got no right! He's got nothing on my brother!" She stood on the verge of hysteria.

He'd pretty much predicted this would be her response, "Calm down Shanna..."

"Don't you tell me to calm down! What reason has he got to be looking into his past!" She demanded, hot and riled.

"John Sykes hasn't shown up yet - his family insists - that you've had something to do with his disappearance. They're claiming now, that your father attacked them."

"My father? What?!"

"At court, in Ohio - they claimed that Bart attacked him and broke his arm."

Shanna stood, glaring down at Royce. "That whole family is a bunch of cowards and liars!"

"Regardless, they insist that he came here, looking for you. That the very last word they got from him, was that he was in a hotel here, he spoke with his brother, Andrew. The chief has gone around, looking into it, it's confirmed that he had indeed checked into two hotels. Ran out on one, checked into another one - closer to you Shanna, right at the highway here, the Super 8. Records show, he checked out of that one 03:20 in the morning. Chief's got all of that so far."

"That means he went back - because he didn't come here!"

"So you say, but a man determined is not going to check into a hotel closer to the target of his search, only to turn around and leave without making contact. For him to move closer to you Shanna, indicates that he knew where you were, why would he find you, then up and leave? The chief's gathering all the information he can find on John Sykes and the times he was here, and he's gathering information on Shawn. Your father. Your family, and what I'm telling you is this - call them up, let them know what they'll be coming back here to."

"Obviously you're in on it, trying to set my brother up?! My family?!" She asked, panicking.

"Dammit, Shanna! No! I'm not setting anyone up! I'm on your side! I love you Shanna! And what I'm telling you, is to show that! If I didn't love you, think I'd be sharing what I know about the Chief's digging, with you?"

"I'm not stupid, you're trying to set me up! You're trying to get me to do something dumb to catch me out! My brother has done nothing! My father has done nothing! I don't care what your chief finds out!"

Royce stood facing her, "You're wrong about me! I'm on your side, I'm on his side, Shawn's. And whether you think you should or not, you're gonna have to trust me!"

"The only men I trust are McPherson's! I should have never gotten involved with you!" She screamed at him.

"Dammit Shanna, what do I have to do to get you to trust me? What?!"

"You say you love me? Then you be loyal to my family! To me, to my brother's! Anything happens to my brother, I will never forgive you for that!" Tears of desperate anger welled up in her eyes.

Grinding his teeth, facing her, he felt that he knew what he had to do, to deal with her, to bring her around to what he wanted, "You want that kind of loyalty out of me Shanna? You're gonna have to trust me then, you're gonna have to give me some of the things I want. You want me to go that far? You give something up to me..." He walked up to her, grabbed her by the arms, "... I want you Shanna, I want you the way a man wants a woman when she's worked herself deep into the deepest part of him. You want all from me, my loyalty, protection for your family, but - you're willing to give me nothing in return!"

"What can I give you, I have nothing to give you." She cried, her hands pressed to his chest.

Royce searched her face, her eyes, her lips, taking his time, holding on to her. "You know what I want Shanna, you know what I want."

She stared up at him, incredulous, "Now? At a time like this? What could you possibly want?"

"You! You want my loyalty? You give me in return! If you're my wife, then of course my first priority and loyalty, is to you."

"Marrying you means, that I would have to trust you."

"Exactly, I want that from you. Loyalty, should come both ways. You want me to stand by you, but you keep me on the outskirts - refusing to let me in."

"I can't just - up and - marry you, just like that!"

"I'll give you time - that's only fair. But I want you as my wife, none of this, dropping in for a few nights. It's not the kind of life, I want, what I want, I want with you. Which means, you're going to have to trust me one day."

"Why does this sound like a blackmail proposal?"

Royce softened, sighed, "It's not Shanna. I'm not blackmailing you, I'm willing to give you time. But I do want marriage, commitment, and a family, with you. You being a McPherson, I know enough about you all to fully realize what that means. I've made up my mind, this is where I wanna be. I'm willing to come here Shanna, take you on right here, in the midst of them, your brother's, your family. What does that tell you? I love you Shanna, I will never hurt you, and I am here to stay, come what may." He searched her eyes, trying to see if his words sank in. She stood stubborn, guarded, yes and resentful that he was using this event to his advantage over her. He didn't give a shit what she thought about it, he wanted what he wanted and he was learning quickly that in life, a man did what a man had to do to get what he felt was rightfully his. There was something to that old adage, 'Alls fair, in love and war.' As a man set on winning in all missions in his life, he accepted his decisions in what he must do and bent and kissed her forehead releasing her. Picking up his gun belt, his hat and vest, he headed for the door, "Call Shawn, talk to him, let him know what's going on. You hear?"

She stood in the kitchen gazing at him, then nodded.

He was gone.

She was scared once more. She would call her brother, but she wouldn't do it from home, just in case.

*

L.A Condo...early morning

Shawn sat in the sauna room, sweat rolling off of his naked body; in position of a man deep in thought, elbows resting on the back of the sauna bench, one hand hanging loose, while the other, flexed in and out of fisting - reflecting his intense thoughts. He'd had a vigorous workout, until his muscles were swollen and pumped. Immediately afterwards, he'd gone on a hard run within the estate. Now, in the sauna, with the doors to the work out room locked, giving him the privacy he sought before the rest of the family woke - he sat, he steamed. If anyone saw him as he was at that moment, they would have flinched from the look of him as he sat deep in thought. First conviction he'd made to himself that morning was that he was going to have to back off on the drinking. He realized that he was starting to do it a bit too often and last night could not repeat itself. He did not want his wife looking at him with the same eyes she once had for her previous husband. He hated when something he did triggered feelings and responses in her, left over from him, Armundo Payne Sr. Mind made up, he would chill with that even though he would keep the determination to himself. His family came first - his wife and what she felt, must come first. And that led to his next thought, to his daughter.