Trent (14 page)

“That brat caused me more trouble than you
did.” Before Noah could ask him how, he continued as if he’d been waiting for a
chance to spill his guts to someone. “Always right there. Peeking around the
corner when I was trying to get her to open the fucking door or to come out
when I told her. He was forever telling me that she wasn’t home, when I knew
that she was. I had to have him hurt a few times just so that I could go out on
a date with Sydney.”

“You never dated Sydney. The one time you
were seen with her was when she was out with someone else and you came and
pushed your way into her table. What did you do to young Benny?” He could feel
his anger taking control. One thing that Noah always prided himself on was his
control, but he was losing it now. “Tell me.”

The compulsion took Max to the floor, and
Noah had to back off a little or kill him. As he lay there screaming in pain
Noah pushed just a little harder. Finally, when his nose and ears started to
bleed, Max spoke.

“I had him tied up and raped.” Noah staggered
back. “The fucking little shit was driving me crazy and keeping me from getting
any from her. So I had him get a little of his own. When you all had me run out
of town, it took every penny I had to get back at him. And now that he’s taken
care of, I’m working on you. Bring Joe to me now.”

Noah’s anger was profound. Just as he was
lifting his hands up to deal with Max, Noah heard someone behind him. Turning
to see the man there, he knew in that moment that whatever Jefferson had
planned for Max, it was going to be no more than he deserved.

“Hello, Benson. Remember me? I’m Benny
Gibson.” The howling started. Not from Jefferson but from Max. His need to get
up from the floor to harm the younger man was making him sicker. Noah looked at
the two of them and went to the door. This was out of his hands.

~~~

Joe sat on the tree limb and waited for
Trent. He’d gone to get their clothing and told her to stay where she was. To
be honest, she wasn’t sure she could go far anyway…he’d worn her out again. Noah
had told her what had happened to Benny as a boy.

“Noah is at the cabin now.” She nodded,
telling Trent that she’d spoken to him as well. He handed her her pants and she
began the process of pulling them on while he watched. “He said that he left
the two of them in his house. Do you suppose that Jefferson will kill Max?”

“No. I don’t know why I don’t think so, but I
just don’t think that Jefferson has it in him. But then I had no idea what Max
had had done to him when he was a child. Had I known…had I known, Max wouldn’t
have been a threat to us all these years.” Trent handed her his shirt, and she
pulled it on and sat back down on the wood with him. “So much has happened
since I met you. I’m looking forward to things being normal. Do you think it
will be?”

He said he didn’t think so. “But we have the
cabin to run to when things get bad. Oh, and Scott is going to buy my house,
and Mom and Dad are going to help him get some furniture. I should have taken
more care to get things for it, but I was never really comfortable there. And
Elijah has three new clients that will help him save his money for buying me
out. So while they’re not normal, they’re looking better, don’t you think?”

“You did tell him that it wasn’t necessary
that he buy the house from you, didn’t you?” He said that he had, but Scott
wanted to own it, not be given it. “Are all you Calhoun men so stubborn? Or is
it just you boys?”

“Have you met my parents at all? I mean, they
are the very definition of stubbornness. I’m pretty sure we got it honest.” He
sat down on the ground in front of her and smiled. “I love you, Joe.”

“I love you too. Very much so. I don’t know
what I would have done had you not come into my life.” He said that she would
have survived. “Yes, but I’d not be happy. I don’t think I ever was. Safe, yes.
Even glad to have someone in my life like Noah, but happy was something that I
never allowed myself to be. It was easier to just be ready for someone to
disappoint me rather than give my heart to them.”

“When I was younger, about twelve, my dad and
I went up to the cabin. Just the two of us. Anyway, while there, Dad told me
about meeting my mate and falling in love. He said that it would change me in
ways that I’d never be able to comprehend then, but that when I grew up and
found her, I would remember his words and know that he was telling me the
truth.” Joe started laughing. She had no idea why, but she bet that TJ had told
his son the honest truth and scared his oldest boy. “He said that I’d have to
learn to share my things, pick up after myself, and to know that nothing that I
owned before was going to be mine again. All that I had would be hers, and I’d
willingly give it to her.”

“What did you say to that?” Trent took her
hand in his, the one that had his family ring on it, and kissed it. When he
pulled her down to the ground with him, holding her tightly in his arms, she
kissed his arm and let him hold her. “Trent? What did you say to him?”

“I told him that if I ever found a girl that
wanted to take my stuff, I’d run fast in the other direction and never look
back. Mind you, all that I owned at the time was a stack of girly magazines
that I was sure that no one knew about, a fifty-cent piece that my great-grandda
gave me when I was eight, and two comic books that I treasured more than I did
my own family. So sharing my wealth seemed the most ludicrous thing in the
world to me.”

She turned in his arms and looked up at him.
He was leaning his head on his hand and had the most boyishly charming look on
his face. Tracing his lips with her fingers, she thought of all the times that
she’d been alone, really alone, and wondered if she’d ever want that again.

“TJ told me that when we take over the pack,
we’ll have to be stern and hard on them at first. To show them that we are
there to help, but not to be run over. But we’d have to be gentle, too, as they
have had a hard time with their lives since Casey took over.” Trent nodded. “I
don’t know how to be a pack alpha with you. I know very little of your kind,
and other than the few things that your mother told me about being a wolf in a
pack, I don’t know all the rules yet.”

“I know. Mom is looking for a charter book.
I’m not sure who wrote it or when, but I know that there is one. As for being a
pack alpha with me, you’re going to be perfect at it. I have all the faith in
the world in you.” She started to ask him why, but he kissed her on the mouth
and sat up. “There is someone coming. Pack if I don’t miss my bet. Just stand beside
me and we’ll see what we can figure out for them.”

As soon as she saw the three men, she knew
that there was going to be trouble. Not sure what it was, she felt the need to
protect Trent from them, but knew that to do so would make him look less in
charge and more like a henpecked man. Instead, she stood at his side while the
men spoke.

“We been told you’re in charge.” Neither of them
spoke, and Trent took her hand in his and gave her a tight, quick squeeze. “Did
you know that there aren’t any jobs for us in the pack? No jobs means we have
to go elsewhere to find them. We’re wanting you to let us go.”

“All right. You’re free to go.” None of the three
men moved, but they did look confused. “I’m not going to hold anyone here that
doesn’t want to be here. I have plans to bring jobs to the pack and the area,
but if you think you can do better elsewhere, then by all means go ahead and
pack up your family and go.”

“We was thinking we’d leave them here while
we looked.” The second man who spoke looked like he was sneering at them. “You
can take them on like they was your own. That’s what a pack master does when
his men need to find work.”

“No. You leave them behind and I’m well
within my rights to kill them all.” The first man looked at his buddy but
didn’t comment. “It might be better for them if you take them now in the event
that when you find work, you find a pack that will put up with your bullshit. I
don’t have time to explain to the council that I’ve had to kill off three families
right away. As I said, I have plans for jobs, but I won’t have time to work on
that when taking care of a family that you’re basically abandoning.”

“What do you think of this? Your mate killing
off women and babies without a care in the world. You gonna let him do that?” The
third man pointed at her when he spoke. “You gonna just let him kill our families
when we leave? You got any kind of heart in you that would allow a man to kill
off a family?”

“First of all, I don’t appreciate you trying
to pit me against my mate and your alpha. And, really, did you expect less of
him? You’ve known him his entire life. And his family. Did you really think
that they’d not follow the rules and regulations of pack law because you think
there is something better out there?” The man flushed a little, and she took a
step toward him when he lowered his head. “When you speak to me, you look me in
the eye. And while you’re at it, you straighten up and act like a man about
this. Because as surely as we’re all standing here, you know what the law
states. You thought when you came here that he’d beg you to stay, that he’d
offer you just about anything to keep his pack the way it is. It won’t be the
same, not so long as Trent is in charge. There will be jobs here, so if you want
to leave, that’s up to you. But you leave one member of your family, and I will
help him kill them.”

She wouldn’t, and she was sure that Trent
wouldn’t either. But they had to do this, make a stand against bullies, or
they’d do this to them forever. And forever for them was just that. A very long
time to be pack masters of this group.

“You ain’t no better than Casey was.”

Before she could think about it too much, Joe
slapped the man, hard enough to knock him back into his buddies. When he
started to rise up, she pointed her finger at him and he stilled. Her power
nearly vibrated off the end of her finger, and she waited to see if she’d have
to use it on him. When he didn’t move, she spoke in a low hard voice to him.

“Move and I will tear your head off. If you
think I can’t, then say something like that to us again.” He sat down, then
curled into a fetal position. When she looked at the other two men, they were
bowing as well. Joe looked at Trent, not really sure what was going on. He just
winked at her before turning to the three men.

“You boys get back to your homes and stay
there until you hear from me. In the meantime, I want you to pull out your pack
laws and read them over. A great deal will depend on you knowing them well.” After
they left, Trent looked at her and smiled. “Christ. What were you just telling
me about not being any good at this? You nearly made them wet themselves. Me
too, as a matter of fact.”

“He insulted us.” Trent nodded and pulled her
to his body. “I don’t think I like being in charge. It sort of goes to your
head for a few seconds.”

“So long as you know who’s in charge at
home.” She told him he could be in charge everywhere. “No, darling, it’s you.
You’re in charge at home. I love you.”

As they made their way back to his house, she
wondered what was in store for them now. Something good, she hoped. She wanted
a good thing to come their way.

Chapter 10

Jefferson was sitting in the lobby of the
building waiting for one of the Calhoun men to show up. He wanted to talk to
Trent alone, but he knew that he was asking a great deal of the family.
Jefferson really wasn’t sure what he was going to say to Trent—there was plenty
to tell him—but he had to talk to the man, and soon.

Yesterday had not been one of his better
days. Which he supposed was an understatement. He’d done things yesterday and
well into this morning that would…it would get him killed. By electrocution, if
the state was still doing that.

When he heard the door open, he and the
secretary who had been coming in when he’d gotten there stood up. Jefferson was
ready. For what, he really wasn’t sure. He looked at the man and wondered if
he’d made the right decision in coming here before turning himself in.

“Mr. Marshall. I wasn’t expecting you.” He
knew this Calhoun…it was Elijah. Not Trent who he’d hoped to speak to. “If you
want to see Trent, I’m sorry. My brother no longer works here, but he is coming
in this morning if you want to talk to him. He won’t be too long.”

“I do.” He sat down, knowing that if he left
now, he’d not return. “I’ll just wait right here. He won’t have to hurry on my
account. I just…I would very much like to speak to him, please.”

“He’s coming in soon to set up his new digs
for his other job. I’m not sure how long that’ll be. My dad and he are having a
breakfast meeting with the council right now. I’m sorry, but had I known you
were coming in, I could have let him know.”

Jefferson told him it was fine and he’d wait.
He could hear the pride in Elijah’s voice about his brother and his new job. He
had always thought the men in the Calhoun family were close, but thought now
that perhaps that was an understatement. Jefferson had never had any siblings,
and had wished when he was younger that he’d had a couple. But now, all he
could think about was how he’d just shamed his entire family name.

“Would you like something to drink?”

Alcohol came to mind, but he only shook his
head. The things he’d done last night were.... He looked down at his hands and
could see a spot of blood on his nail. Picking at it until it was gone, he
looked up when the door opened. Not them. Not the man he wanted to talk to.

Max had been curled into a ball when Jefferson
had come into the room last night. Noah had been there, of course—it was his
house—but the fact that Max had been telling Noah what he’d done to Jefferson had
brought out his temper. And Jefferson had never been very good at holding onto
his temper. It wasn’t as if Max was bragging about it, but almost like he was
being forced to tell. It wasn’t until this morning that Jefferson had figured
it out. He was being forced to talk. Looking at the briefcase next to him, he
was also glad that he’d not been asked what was in it. He had to talk to Trent.

The briefcase held his will, what cash he had
on him and in his house, as well as the deed to all his properties. He wanted
Trent to have it. He knew the man didn’t really need it, but there was no one
for him to leave it to and he liked the man a great deal. There was also a
confession of what he’d done to get to Max, as well as the entire layout of the
plan to bring the man down. Also, there were pictures of the body. Max’s body.

The things he’d done to the man…the way his
rage, let go when Jefferson realized that he no longer cared what happened to
him, had torn the man to shreds. Some of the things that he’d done, the way his
body had been covered in blood and other things, had made Jefferson sick, so much
so that he’d gone into the bathroom and thrown up for twenty minutes. Until
there was nothing left in his belly but air. Even then, Jefferson had lain on
the cold tile floor of Noah’s bathroom and sobbed at what he’d done.

Taking clothing from Noah’s own dresser,
Jefferson had taken a long hot shower then, scrubbing his body until it burned,
and then dressed in the smaller clothing. He stuffed his clothing in the trash
can in the bathroom as he left. Jefferson wondered what Noah had thought about coming
home to—

“Jefferson?” He looked up, glad to be pulled
from what he’d been thinking about when someone said his name. Trent was there.
He looked…well, the man always looked put together to him. Jefferson was not
really sure what that meant, but it suited Trent more than he could have
explained to someone. Standing up, Jefferson pulled him into his arms for a
tight and desperately needed hug. When it was returned, Jefferson started to
sob like a small boy, his knees weaker from the relief of it until he had to be
pulled up or fall on his face. “Come on now. Let’s get you in my office. You
can tell me what’s the matter.”

“Your brother said you didn’t work here. I’m
terribly sorry to have come here, but I didn’t know where else to go. Or who to
talk to. I’ve done something horrible.” Trent told him he was going to keep an
office here for other reasons, but no, he didn’t work for the firm any longer. He
asked Jefferson if he needed something. “No, I need to just give you something
and not take up any of your time. You’ve been really kind to me, and I—”

“Nonsense. Come on now. We’ll sit in here and
you can tell me what has you so upset. Tell me what has you thinking you did
something horrible. I’m sure you didn’t. Tell me.”

He really wanted to. Jefferson wanted to talk
to this man more than he did anyone. There was something about him, calming and
so strong, that Jefferson knew that if anyone could help him, this man could. Not
that Jefferson thought that he’d use the help, but he knew it was there all the
same.

“Max is dead.” He waited for Trent to ask him
what he’d done, but he only nodded. The other man—he thought it was Trent’s
father—sat down in one of the wingback chairs that sat near the desk and smiled
at him. Trent was in the other one, and Jefferson was sitting on the couch. “I
killed him. Last night. I killed Max Ford. I was at Noah’s house when it
happened. I’m sure the man is very upset with me for leaving such a…it was a
mess there, and I just left it. I have a note for him. And some money to have
it cleaned up. I’m not sure if…if he knows anyone that does that sort of thing.
On the television there is always a firm that can do that for—”

“Did he hurt you? Did Max hurt you in anyway?
I want to see it if he did.” Jefferson stood up, not even sure why that was
important, and pulled up his shirt to show Trent when he asked. Pulling off the
gauze hurt…it was sticking to the dried blood less and less, but it was still
painful. He knew the cut along his belly was bad, but he’d done the best he
could to stitch it up. He’d found some old pain pills from when he had a tooth
extracted and took those. They barely dulled the pain, and today the pain was
making breathing and moving most difficult. “Let me have Sandra get some
medical supplies, and we’ll see if we can fix that up better for you. Anywhere
else?”

“My back. I’m not sure what he did to me
there. I tried to see it…did you hear what I said? I killed Max.” Trent nodded
and went to the door, and spoke quietly to the women still out there. Jefferson
looked at TJ, who was staring at him sadly. “I don’t think he understands what
I’ve done.”

“He does. Probably more than you do. Just let
him help you. And don’t worry about Noah. I’m sure he’s got it all taken care
of too.” Jefferson nodded and sat back down. He knew what he’d done; these men
did not. “Jefferson? We’ll help you get through this.”

Nodding again, he knew that he wasn’t getting
through anything. Max’s death had been well planned, and he’d done it. From the
moment he’d hatched this plan—the second Max had killed Sydney—Jefferson had
known that he was going to kill Max. The man had deserved it, that was for
sure. But the police should have taken care of it.

When Trent came back in and sat down,
Jefferson asked for a glass of water. His mouth was dry now, and the story he
had to tell was long and horrific. TJ got up to get the water and handed it to
him without a word. When he put his heavy hand on his shoulder, Jefferson felt
the overwhelming need to cry again. Instead, he took a long pull on the water
bottle and looked at the floor.

“When I was sixteen,” he said, still looking
at the floor, “Sydney Carlin moved in next door to us. My family owned the
block, you see, and we would usually rent out one or two of the buildings when
someone needed a place to stay. My dad liked her a great deal. She was
friendly, sharp, and my mom and she would go on girly things together. Sydney
had dinner at my home, sat with us, and watched television when she could. She
was my first and only true love. We were friends, she and I. I could tell her
just about anything, and I did. My life, I thought, was perfect. Then about a
year later, Max came around. I suppose he’d always been there, in the
background of things. I never noticed him or didn’t take notice of him until a
few months later. That was when Sydney told me she was going to have a baby.” Trent
asked him if she’d ever told him who it belonged to. “No. She only said it had
been a mistake and that she was going to give it up. That she was in no
position to care for it. I know that now, but back then I thought I could be
her knight in shining armor. I could barely keep my own room clean…I have no
idea how I thought I’d care for a woman and her child. I wanted to…I was only
seventeen and thought that I was deeply in love with her, but I told her that
I’d help her. She was so kind to me about it, telling me that I had to grow up
and find myself a wife and have my own children. Sadly for me, it never
happened.”

“The medical examiner only mentioned there
was a child, and that she’d lost it upon death. I know that it was a few years
ago, but there was never any mention of how she’d been killed either.” Jefferson
told Trent that he knew that. It was what he’d asked his father to do for him,
and he’d told them what else he’d done for her. “Your father stopped the
investigation?”

“Oh no. Not that. I just asked Dad to not
mention the baby or how she was found. I mean, we never had anything to do with
the police never finding who murdered her. I knew, but after what happened
later, I could never bring myself to…I’ll explain in a moment. But when she
died, my father told the coroner that there was no reason to shame such a girl.
And that her parents, if they were out there, wouldn’t need to know about that either.
My father agreed with me, saying that if it were his daughter, he’d not want to
know that he’d lost a grandchild as well.” Trent nodded. “As far as I’ve been
able to find, there really wasn’t anyone left to mourn her but myself. Her
parents never came forward, and there was no one that came about the baby
either. I don’t know that he, whoever he was, had any knowledge of the child.
She never dated when she lived in the brownstone. But she really was a very
nice woman. And I did love her.”

“Of course you did. From all accounts, she
was a good person and didn’t deserve to die the way she did. But I’d like for
you to explain what you meant about explaining something to us. What happened to
you, Jefferson?” Jefferson looked at TJ. “You said that something happened
later. I’d like to know what that was, please.”

“Max—he went by Benson back then—hated me. I
guess I didn’t really blame him, but I really didn’t care. Still don’t, not
really. He was forever hanging around the building that Sydney lived in and
banging on her doors at all hours of the day and night. I would wait for him,
you see. Run him off by telling him I was calling the cops. They would show up
and he’d be gone, but Sydney would tell them what he’d done if she was home. Or
my parents would. I couldn’t ever find a police report that was filed about it,
but I’m sure that Max knew it was me.” Jefferson glanced at the two men, then
looked at the floor again. “I became a watchdog for her. Helping her hide out
when he came around, warning her when I’d see him coming up the street. When
he’d hang around her door, I’d sneak out the other door and go and tell her he
was there. I tried my best to keep them apart. Even Noah had come by a few times,
and I would keep him away as well. But I found out that all he wanted was her
friendship, much in the same way I did. He told me that he just liked her and
that he’d never cause her any harm. I believed him.”

Neither of them said anything to him. He
needed a moment and sat still on the couch before he could talk about her
death. Max had killed her. And Jefferson was more than likely the only one in
the world that really knew the whole story.

“She’d been at work all day and had invited
me over for dinner when she got home. My dad was working, and my mom was at
some function that night, so I said yes. Sydney and I would hang out together
sometimes when they were gone at night. It wasn’t often, but we had a good time
together. Anyway, I’d gone home to get something that I wanted her to see. She
was encouraging me to go to college and become a better man. But before I
returned, Max had gotten into the apartment. It was my fault.” Trent asked him how
it was his fault. “I left the door opened so that I could return without her
having to come and unlock the door for me. She was in the kitchen when I left,
making us a bowl of popcorn to share while we watched a movie. It was how he
got in and behind her. Max was right there, and I did nothing to help her. Nothing
at all.”

“You said that you saw him kill her. Is that
right?” TJ asked. He nodded “What do you think you might have done to save her,
Jefferson? Like we told you before, he would have killed you as well, and then
he would have gotten off Scott free. Doing what you did, you might well have
saved a great many other lives.”