Danburn: The English Dragon ― Erotic Paranormal Dragon Shifter Romance (9 page)

“One of them is a wolf, not a dog.” Kendrick didn’t even raise her head from her food when Elissa explained how she knew that. “To be honest with you, I never liked the place either. It’s always seemed to be over priced cheap crap. How about I take you where I shop?”

“Yes.” The way she said it made Elissa think that she might have said yes to anywhere but the one shop they’d been in. “And if you don’t mind, I’d really like to just get some jeans and some tee-shirts. I know that Danburn is all fancy and stuff, but I can’t dress up all the time. I can’t breathe.”

“I understand completely. And if you can get him in a pair of jeans and shirt, I’ll be forever indebted to you.” Kendrick told her not to expect miracles.

Elissa decided that she loved this woman and was going to enjoy watching her tame her son. Because there was no doubt in her at all that Danburn would be eating out of her hand in no time.

~~~

Bernie wanted to pull out his gun and shoot the fucker right where he stood. The nerve of him coming here and accusing him of trying to murder a young woman. Bernie had ordered it done, but this guy had no proof of it. He didn’t even glance in the direction of Collier. The man was as good as dead if this went badly. And he’d leave him out to rot in the sun too.

“You can understand our concern when someone ends up in the hospital with multiple gunshot wounds, and claims that she received them when she saw you kick the stool out from under one of your men.” Bernie nodded, trying his best to keep his hands steady behind his back. If he moved them to the front of his body, the man was going to be dead. Officer Jake Ludlow would be no more. “She’s told us what she allegedly saw several times now, and her story hasn’t changed. I’m just here as a courtesy call to see what you can tell us about it.”

“I don’t know what to tell you, Officer Ludlow. We have a good crew here. Men working on the tree lines even as we speak.” He had no idea what the lawyers had told the bigwigs about what he used this property for when he’d gotten them to buy it for him. He was sure they’d not said it was making drugs. “We have had some issues over the last several weeks, as you know, and we have cooperated with you on all of that. But men…I guess unlike me, they just can’t stand to be away from their families for long periods of time.”

“You have cooperated, yes. And that’s why I’m here as a courtesy and not with a search warrant. For the moment anyway. She said she saw some things that led her to believe that you murdered a man for stealing your stash of drugs.” Bernie shook his head. When he got ahold of this woman, he was going to show her what it looked like to have someone murdered. “What can you tell me about this man named August?”

“August? I’m not sure if we have someone by that name here. Do you know if that’s a first name or last?” He knew, as surely as he was standing here, that it was the man’s first name. Not that he’d be using it again. The man was currently rotting away in the bottom of a deep pit they’d found on the property. And when the body count got too high in that one, he’d just have some of the schmucks that worked here dig another one. “I can have my secretary look into that for you and let your office know if you want. I can have her call you right away with what she finds.”

“No, that won’t be necessary. I can wait.”
Of course you can
, he thought.
Anything to fuck up my day
. “While this person is looking for it, maybe you can give me a little tour of what you’re doing here. I heard you were line running. I’ve never heard of cutting trees called that before.”

Neither had he, but Bernie left him for a moment to go and call his secretary. She said August was the man that he’d had her delete from the system three days ago. Bernie counted to ten before he spoke to Angel, his niece, again.

“I know that and you know that, but I really don’t want the police to find that information out. It will go badly for all of us if they find out that we have a few dead men laying around that we’ve not told them about.” She said she got it now. “And I want you to find out all you can about someone being admitted to the hospital with multiple gunshot wounds. A female.”

“Do you know her name?” Bernie counted to twenty this time as she continued talking. “It would make it easier if I had a name to work with. Those hospitals, they’re getting very stingy with their information since the hippo law.”

“Hippo? You mean HIPAA? It’s the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, not an animal that lives in the fucking mud. And no, I don’t know her name. That’s why I’m having you look for information on her.” Mother fuck, his head hurt every time he talked to her. The next time he thought to hire his sister’s kids, he was going to shoot them all and be done with it. “If anyone asks about August Winehammer, what are you going to tell them?”

“Who?” He was going to kill her. “Oh, the man that you had me delete. I’m going to tell them that we don’t have anyone working here by that name. Which I guess is true since you had me take him out of the comp—”

He hung up the phone. There was no way he could continue talking to her and not kill her. Bernie was going to have to keep them away from his offices, because he was sure she’d give him up and then think it was fucking funny when he was carted off to prison.

As he made his way back into the offices, he noticed that the cop was gone and asked Collier about it.

“He’s using the john. I don’t think he believes us.” Bernie thought, just for a moment, that it might be worth going to prison for just to have the knowledge that he’d killed a lot of stupid people before going there. “What I mean is, I think that woman got a better look at us than Sams let on. There is no telling what other shit she got a look at.”

He had to think who Sams was…the second guy that had died by his hand on the day the woman was watching. He’d let her get away, and didn’t do anything about the bodies that were found. Instead of coming to him with what had happened, he’d gone home and packed his things to leave. The other shitball that had been with him when his men drowned was under his body in the pit as well. Fuckers. Bernie hated incompetent people.

“I thought he told us she was dead. Drowned like the other two idiots he had with him.” There was no way he could go back and ask him to verify his story now. It was really too late for a lot of the things that had gone down that day. “Do you suppose that they’ve been able to trace those two to working here? It’s not like we have uniforms or anything to make us look like we’re on the same fucking team.”

“No. We took off all the IDs and shit before we left them there. Good thing, too, because the police were hot on it. When they drove by us right after it happened, I thought for sure that we were caught. Who knew a missed turn could be so fucking inconvenient? We did miss one of the walkies, but I think it’s at the bottom of that lake, and there isn’t any reason for them to go looking for it.” Bernie didn’t think so either, but this shit was getting too real for him at the moment. Nothing to attach those two to what they did here. Until the woman, that is.

“She has to go.” Collier nodded. But before either of them could plan how that was going to happen, the cop came back out of the bathroom.

“Well, I’m ready.” Both he and Collier looked at each other, then back at Ludlow. “For the tour. It states in your contract with the state that I can drop by for a tour of the place when I want, so long as I don’t become a nuisance. Since I’ve never requested one before, I can assume that I’m not. A nuisance, I mean.”

“Well, you see, we’re closing up for the day.” He had no idea if they were working or not. That was not part of what he did here. He enforced and collected the money. A great deal of it, as a matter of fact. “I’m sorry about that. You’ll just have to—”

“Earlier you said they were all working. That you have a good crew and that everyone was working today.” Did he? He had no fucking idea. “So, if you’re ready, I’m ready.”

He reached for his gun. There wasn’t any help for it. The fucker had to go.

Just as he touched the gun at his back, the radio squawked on Ludlow’s shoulder. He didn’t so much as twitch his fingers when Ludlow answered the thing and stared him in the eye. He knew, Bernie’s mind looped over and over, he knew he was about to be killed.

When Ludlow finished with the call, he rocked back on his heels and smiled at him. “Well, gotta go for now. Bad timing for us both, I guess.” Bernie nodded at him, slowly moving his finger away from the gun and his hand down his back. “But you can be assured that I’ll return, and when I do, I’ll expect that tour.”

“Of course.”

As they followed him out to his car, Bernie wondered if he could find him a cop on the inside, someone at the station. He should have thought of it sooner, now that he thought on it. Everywhere else he’d been he’d had him a guy he could count on to give him a heads up when he needed it. As the cruiser pulled out of the lot, he looked over at Collier.

“Find out what you can about our police department here. Find me a man on the inside that I can depend on.” Collier nodded. “And Angel needs to go. If I find out that you put her in the pit with those other pieces of shit, I’ll toss your ass there too.”

“Right. And the woman? What do you want done about her? I’m not sure where she is, but it won’t be any problem finding her in this town.” Bernie didn’t think so either, but this had been fucked up for a while now. “I have a couple of people at the hospital. I’ll start looking there.”

“Find her, bring her here. I have no idea, but I think she might be worth more to us alive than dead.” Collier nodded and started to turn away when Bernie called him back. “Anyone else shows up here unannounced, you will never see the next sunrise. Do you hear me?”

“Yeah, I do.”

As Collier moved away, Bernie stood looking at the top of the castle that butted up against his land. He wanted that place. Not just for his own home, but for the simple reason that the man who owned it had fought him so hard over this property. He had to get to him too.

Danburn English was, by all accounts, a very wealthy man. And he was powerful. When Bernie had been inquiring about a few empty buildings in town, he’d been told that he’d have to make arrangements with English, that English was the one who owned them. Twice more he’d asked about a hotel that was there, small and insignificant and perfect for any man coming in to settle up with him, but he’d been told that English used it for his own guests, that no one stayed there except people he approved of. The man was unknowingly becoming a pain in his ass. And it was about time that the two of them got together and buried the hatchet.

“Perhaps in his heart, if he has one.”

Chuckling, he walked away. He had a shipment going out tonight, and he wanted to make sure that his men were aware of the fact that if there was one single fuck up, they’d all be dead. He wasn’t above going out and recruiting more people to come and work for him. He’d get a crew yet he could depend on.

Chapter
8

“Are you paying attention to me?” Kendrick wanted to shake her sister. She’d been wandering around the apartment for the last twenty minutes, and Kendrick wanted to be gone. She glanced over at Noah, who had not said a single word since they’d brought Louisa here over an hour ago when she’d been released from the hospital. “Louisa, you have to sit down and listen to what I’m telling you. In a few months, this will all be gone if you don’t abide by the rules here in this contract.”

“The things here, they’re really nice, but it’s so small, don’t you think? I mean the apartment, not the furniture. It’s all normal sized, isn’t it?” Kendrick told her all of it was normal sized. “No, it’s not. You have a nice big place at the castle, I bet. Oh, I get it. Is this just a place for me to stay until you get ready for me at the castle? I can stay in just about any room. When you set me up, make sure I have a nice pretty view.”

“You’re not going to be living in the castle. I’ve told you that several times now. You’re not living there because you’re living here. You can only stay here for six months if you don’t get a job. All your utilities, as well as your phone, will be paid up until then. After that—”

“I come and live with you. Why didn’t you just say that in the first place instead of all this other stuff? You want me to live here until you can get ready for me. Kendrick, you are always making things so hard. When do you think you’re going to be ready for me? Soon? Like tomorrow?”
Yes
, Kendrick thought,
I’m going to slap my sister
. “It’s going to be fun there. When I move in the castle, can I still come here if I want? I might have a boyfriend or something.”

“Christ, Louisa. You’re not going to live in the castle. Period. I don’t know how else to make you understand that.” Louisa pouted, putting out her lower lip so far that Kendrick thought she’d trip over it if she took a step. When she sat down again, Kendrick knew it was too much to hope that she was going to listen to her. “Now, back to this contract. You have six months to find a job and work at it. In that time, you’ll have spending money and—”

“How much? I’m going to have me a party here, and that’ll cost some money. I have to let my friends know where I am. And let them know that I’m going to be moving soon. You never told me when I was moving in with you.” Kendrick shook her head, telling her there was going to be no party. “But why not? I bet you’ll be having parties up there before I get to stay there. I just want to show off, Kendrick. Don’t be a stick in the mud.”

“I’m trying to make it so you can live, Louisa. Without having to end up like Mom did. Under a bridge somewhere.” Louisa laughed and told Kendrick that she’d never let that happen to her. “I’m helping you now. If you don’t do as this contract says, then I’m washing my hands of you.”

“You’re so serious. Don’t be like that. Life is too short for you to be sounding so serious all the time.” Louisa laughed again. “I know, and so do you, that my life is just fine the way it is. Because I have you. I just want to be happy, and that’s all. Living here will be really nice and all, but I want to live up there with you. In the castle. Can you imagine what kinds of parties I can have up there?”

“There will not be any parties given by you, because you are never going to live there. Never, Louisa. I’m not going to be sucked into your life like this again. You’ve used me up.” Louisa waved her off. “At the end of six months, if you don’t have a job and keep it, all this will be gone. And I’m not going to bail you out, either.”

“Yes you will. You always say that, but you always do. It’s what sisters do for each other. And there won’t be any need for this contract and six months of whatever, I’m going to be right there by your side in the big castle. Maybe we can come live here again when he’s tired of you. He can afford it.” Kendrick felt the tears again. Louisa had made her cry earlier when she’d told Kendrick that Danburn was never going to love her, that she wasn’t loveable. “We’re all we have, each other. Especially since you left Mom out there to die.”

“That is quite enough, young lady.” Both she and Louisa looked at Noah when he spoke. “You will read this over now and be quick about it. There will be no more pushing your sister into things either. This is all you will receive in the way of help, and if you mess this up, then it will be because you didn’t take the time to try and better yourself.”

“I don’t need you telling me what to do. Besides, who are you anyway? Some flunky that does what the jerk told you to do? This is me and my sister talking. You stay out of it.” Kendrick stood up and so did Louisa. “Are we leaving now? Going to the castle?”

“Sign this, Louisa, or you’re out on the street as of right now.” Louisa stood there and glared at her, but she picked up the pen and signed her name where she was told. “Now, Noah has your money for this month, and when it’s gone, that is all there will be. It’s more money than I was ever able to give you before, and if you spend it right, you can live off of it.”

Louisa squealed as she counted out the money. Then she looked at Kendrick. She could see her mind working out ways to spend it, and Kendrick would bet by the end of the day her sister would be broke, with nothing to show for it.

“When do I get the rest of it?” Kendrick told her next month. “But if I need more, you can get it to me, right? I’m sure he’s paying you pretty good to sleep with him. I might run a little short and you’d hate that. When I move in with you, you’ll make sure I have plenty of money too, won’t you?”

“That’s all there will be for thirty days. Spend it wisely.” Louisa nodded and smiled. “All right. You have everything you need and enough food for a couple of weeks. If you find a job right away, let Noah know. He knows how to get in touch with me.”

Noah had told her to let him handle any calls from Louisa. She had wanted to tell him she’d do it, but right now she was very glad that she’d agreed with him. Kendrick would bet that even before she got down the road Louisa would be calling, asking about the castle.

Louisa wasn’t stupid…she really wasn’t, but until the last few days, Kendrick had never realized how single minded she was. Manipulative really. And Kendrick was sure that was the reason she had given Louisa whatever she asked for. It was Louisa’s sheer determination to have it that had worn Kendrick down over the years.

As they moved toward the door, Louisa stopped her.

“What’s your phone number? I bet you have one of those fancy phones, huh?” Kendrick said nothing. “How am I supposed to call you to find out the arrangements for me to move into the castle with you? Because we both know that this guy isn’t going to give you any messages from me. I need to talk to you. You’re my sister, aren’t you?”

“I am. But you’re nearly thirty-five years old, and it’s about time you stood up on your own two feet. I’m finished with all the drama of your life and you wanting me to fix everything. Figure it out on your own from now on.” She asked her again what her number was, as if Kendrick had not said a single word. “Call Noah if you have a question about something. I have to get my life together, and I’ll be too busy to talk to you all the time.”

“Then I’ll just come there.” They had anticipated her saying that, and Kendrick told her that Danburn’s security would keep her off the property. “That’s not fair, Kendrick. You get to be there. Why not me too? I’m your sister. I have just as much right to be there as you do.”

“Yes, you are my sister. My older sister who has been living off me for most of her life. I’m done, as I have said to you several times. You have to make your own way in this world. I can’t always be there for you.”

“You know you won’t let me suffer. You never have.” Kendrick said nothing as they made their way out to the limo that had brought them there. “Oh, that’s really nice. Do I get one of those too? I would love to go to the grocery store in one of those. Can you imagine what people will say? When does mine get here? Or are we sharing that one? Kendrick?”

“Goodbye, Louisa. Get a job and a life that gives you what you want.” Louisa told Kendrick that she’d given her all she wanted, and Louisa liked it that way. “But I’m not now. Goodbye.”

As the limo pulled away, Louisa waved at them with a huge smile on her face. Noah handed Kendrick a handkerchief and she let the tears fall. When the phone rang, Kendrick lay down on the seat and cried harder. Her sister was going to hurt her, she just knew it.

“That was Danburn. I told him you’d talk to him later, that it was finished.” Kendrick nodded at Noah. “I’m very sorry, my lady. I had no idea what sort of person she was until now. And I do believe I’ve never known someone who seemed to love saying the word ‘castle’ as much as she does.”

“I saw that too. And I had no idea either, if you want to know the truth. I knew that she was needy and greedy, but never to this point. She actually thinks that no matter what I said to her, I’m going to continue to drop everything and run to her aid.” He said that he could see that. “What will I do, Noah, when she calls me and tells me that she has no money and there is no food in the house?”

“You will do nothing, my lady. I will take care of her. And if there is something that I need from you, then I will ask. She will have to be cut off completely to understand that you mean what you say.” She knew that too, but it didn’t make it any less hard for her. “Danburn wanted to know if you would like to meet him in town for dinner tonight. I did explain to him that I thought you might need a night just snuggled on the sofa with him.”

“And was he all right with that?” Because to Kendrick it sounded wonderful. “I’m sure he has a lot more things to do than to hold my hand because my sister hurt my heart.”

“He said that he would bring you home a pretty. I have no idea what that might mean, but he is very happy to hold your hand, as well as the rest of you, because he knows that you’re hurt.” Kendrick nodded. “We have one more stop to make, my lady. Then we will head to the castle. All right?”

“Yes. But could you just call me Kendrick? You call Danburn by his given name. I’d very much like for you to do the same for me.” He said it would be an honor. “You might not think so when my sister calls you fifty times a day.”

“I’m made of good stock, Kendrick. And I’ve been around for some time. She cannot pull any wool over my eyes, and after today, I saw what sort of person she was. We’ll get along just fine.” Kendrick doubted that and hated to think he’d quit working for Danburn because of her sister. “Let me worry about her. You just enjoy being lady of the castle.”

Yeah, lady of the castle. She wasn’t sure she’d ever get used to being lady of anything. But she was going to try, damn it. As soon as she finished with the bank, signing all the required paperwork to get things rolling, she was going to fucking enjoy herself. She asked Noah how to do that, and he laughed all the way to the bank.

~~~

Danburn knew that she was resting on the couch. He’d been told by no less than ten people in the house that he was to let her rest, that she’d had a hard day. Noah had told him what had gone on with her sister and he’d tried to cut his day short to be with her. But things, like usual, got in the way, and he’d not been able to leave the office until an hour ago. Sitting on the chair across from her, he could see the tear stains on her cheeks and felt his heart twist up for it.

Danburn had sent someone to watch Louisa after he’d talked to Noah. And true to form, not only had Louisa gone out and spent nearly all of the money that she had, but she’d had a party too. The police had been called in twice to have them tone it down, and each time, the party had gotten more out of hand. It wasn’t until the third time Jake and his men arrived that they ran the “guests” off and restored order to the neighborhood. Jake had also told Danburn what the apartment looked like when he was there. That conversation, and what he’d had to do after it, was what had made him late coming home.

“The furniture is gone. I don’t mean destroyed, but simply gone. When I asked her about it, she told me that she had friends that were without. Since her sister was shacking up with you in the castle, she wasn’t going to worry about it, because apparently she was going to be moving in with you two tomorrow anyway. I have a feeling that she’s going to be a pain in your ass for a long time to come.” Danburn told him she wasn’t moving anywhere near them, but he only laughed at him. “The kitchen was full of booze as well as empties all over the yard. When I explained to her she’d need to clean that up, she waved me off like I was nothing more than a fly bothering her. That girl has some serious issues.”

“You have no idea. She told Kendrick that I wasn’t going to keep her. That in a few months, less really, I’d get tired of her and kick her to the curb. She seems to think that Kendrick is going to continue taking care of her until her death.” Jake said that he got that as well. “But you did leave a man behind to keep track of her, right? At least until this thing with Bullock is gone.”

“I did. I have men living across from her around the clock. And the cameras that we have set up at the doorways and windows are being watched all the time. You think this will bring him out? That Bullock will come for her?” He said that he thought so. “She sure is an easy target by the way things look. And the fact that she can’t keep her mouth shut helps too.”

“She’s called Noah six times an hour since they left her. The only time she wasn’t calling was when the party was in full swing, I guess.” Danburn had made a drive by the house as he continued to talk to Jake on the phone. “Christ, she’s at it again. There are two men moving out the bed while I’m sitting here watching.”