Hawkins_McCullough’s Jamboree_Erotic Jaguar Shapeshifter Romance Page 14

  Jamie stared at her for several seconds. And for the first time in longer than she could remember, she felt uncomfortable with it. When she finally smiled at her, Lauren did the same. She was a deep thinker, Lauren knew that about Jamie, and was glad that she’d worked it out.

  “I never thought of that before.” Lauren said that she was forever thinking of ways to keep her ass covered when there could be shit flying around. “I can see that about you too. Perhaps I need to think more like that. I mean, the only person that I’m sure is looking for me is a guy that says he’s my father. But that’s it.”

  “Jon had a lot of lab fuckers searching for him when he first came here. It wasn’t until we killed him off in a fiery explosion that we were able to bring him back as his cousin, or something like that.” Jamie asked her about the death. “His mother, this fucking cunt, was trying to capture him so that she could use him for evil. No one here wanted that, and we took him out of the picture, along with his mother and another male. But back to this man saying that he’s your father. Why wasn’t I in on this?”

  “I’m sure that you will be.” Jamie laughed and told her to stop pouting. “I’m sure that Hawkins wanted to be my hero. You are forever saving this family’s ass.”

  “There is that.” Lauren asked her what she knew. “I mean, I can find people better than most. You tell me what you have, and I’ll look around. That way if—or when— Hawkins comes to me, I’ll be one step ahead of him. And I so loving being ahead rather than behind in research.”

  “I knew that about you as well. I like you, Lauren. I mean, hanging out with you is great, and you don’t hold back when you have something to say.” Lauren thanked her. “I like the others too, don’t get me wrong, but I have nothing in common with them. Not really.”

  “I don’t know about that. You seem to have a knack for making Bea smile.” Something occurred to Lauren. “You told her, didn’t you? About the baby, the day of the tea party? Hot damn, I’m good—you did.”

  “I did. Hawkins told his dad the same day while he was working with the others. We wanted them to know first. Then we were going to tell the family later.” Jamie glanced away before looking back. “You’re not mad about it, are you?”

  “Oh, hell no, I’m not mad. I love that you told them first. It seems sort of fitting that you did it that way. Hawkins isn’t their baby, but they’ve missed a great deal of time with him. Even when he was home, which I don’t think was that often, he was missing to them.” Jamie told her that Rich told her that she’d given them back their son. “You surely did that. He and I, we’ve spent a great deal of time together over the last ten years or so. I got to know everything there is to know about him. Even off work, we’d hang out together. And I noticed the change in him now that he’s home and I see him now. But it was over time. Not an all of a sudden change, but a gradual one that snuck up on me.”

  “He’s excited to be a dad. I am too, about being a mom. Just worried what parts of me the child will get.” Lauren smiled. “I mean the parts of me that were put in me, not my personality.”

  “Yes, well, you and I have about the same sort of personalities, I think. We don’t suffer fools well. We’re not afraid to let people know how we’re feeling, and when someone else has a better idea, we don’t run them down with our way or no way. That shit will get you killed almost as fast as a bullet can travel.” Lauren watched her laugh. Jamie had a good personality to go with her tendency to be like her. A good balance, she thought. “I’ll be looking into this. What was the place that you were taken in the first place?” Lauren wrote the name down, and then all the other stuff that she knew. It really wasn’t much, but Lauren had worked with much less. “I’ll see what I can dig up too. All right?”

  “Yes, sure. I’m not sure if it’s really my father, or some jackass pretending to be to take me in. I’m not going anywhere, but I could bring a world of shit down on you all.” Lauren said that she would look forward to it. “I’m sure you would. But the others might not.”

  Lauren thought that they might not, but knew that they’d be on board with helping out. The McCulloughs were nothing if not dependable, and could gather their wagons around the family better than anyone that she’d ever met.

  Frank—or Robert, as she’d found out about him—was still behind the dumpster. Lauren figured that it was pretty bad smelling too. It was ninety-four degrees out, and hotter than a brass bar in hell. Laughing again, she kept tabs on the cameras that had been put in the area as she looked for Jamie’s father. She wanted to be her hero too, Lauren thought.

  Chapter 12

  Marshall didn’t want to do it, but he was having no luck whatsoever finding his daughter by conventional means. So, he ran an ad in the paper that he was looking for anyone that might have been staying at the Our Lady of Trust between the years when he thought the child would have been dropped off. There wasn’t a phone number with it—he’d set himself up an email account just for replies. Marshall and Gordon both figured they’d be inundated with them.

  It was going to run for five days then stop. He’d then run it in some other town and see if he could get a hit there. It was a long shot, but one he was willing to wade through. He really wanted to find her.

  “I’ve also called in a couple of favors on the dark web for you to have someone looking there. It might not be anyplace that would know, but as you said, we’re getting down to the wire.”

  Marshall nodded and looked at the pictures on his desk. Four children, all of them boys, and not a one of them worth the sex it had taken to create them. Now they were trying to move him out of the company that he’d started when he’d been younger than them. His oldest, Michael, was the one pushing the hardest to have him retire. But Marshall just wasn’t ready for that.

  His son kept saying that he was the oldest and that he should be running the companies by now. What Michael really wanted to do was live off the money that came in every day. He’d no more know how to run the business than Marshall’s wife would have when she’d been alive.

  It wasn’t the only reason that he wanted to find the girl—he supposed she’d be a woman now. It wasn’t even a make or break kind of thing, hunting for her. He figured that he would retire eventually, but to have his daughter with him would be something that he could look forward to. Instead of hearing how his kids were fucking up the business.

  “I have some information.” He nearly screamed at Gordon to tell him, but Marshall calmly asked him what he’d found and Gordon smiled. “You did that very well, Marshall. I’m glad to see that you’ve not lost the ability to hide whatever you’re feeling. But I have a lead. Strange though—it came in the form of an email I got before we ran the article in the paper.”

  “I’m a mess on the inside. I thought I’d practice a little before the board meeting in a couple of weeks. Those shits are going to try and convince the board that I’m not fit to work. I would love to have them say that I’m more than fit, but we’ll see.” Gordon told him he had this. “I hope so. What did you get from someone?”

  “It’s an email. And you’re not going to believe who sent it. You remember about two years ago, that soldier that came back from overseas all busted to hell?” Marshall told him he vaguely remembered something about it. “Her name back then was Sergeant Lauren Burcher. She’s now called Major General McCullough. Ring any bells?”

  “Yes. I had some dealings with a man by the name of McCullough. He had some property for sale and asked all kinds of questions before he would allow me to purchase it. I thought at the time he was insane or close to it, until I got a better look at the surrounding areas. He didn’t want me to pollute the area for the others.” Gordon told him that it was one and the same family. “What does this have to do with an email?”

  Gordon handed him the printed email. He read it over twice before he put it down on his desk and let out long breaths. It was from Lauren McCullough all right, and she might know his daughter.

  “How did she find out
this information? Like your email address, for one thing?” Gordon told him that it came on his business email, which was public. “All right. I’d hate to think it was a scam, but you said that the papers hadn’t run the article yet.”

  “No, and until we’re able to check this out thoroughly, I stopped the paper from running anything. Just to be on the safe side.” Marshall nodded and picked up the email again. “What do you want to do?”

  “What do I want to do? I want to take off now for the little town that is mentioned, and find out if it’s my child. But what I’m going to do is answer these questions that she put to you and hope for the best.” Marshall felt his belly tighten up in nerves. “I like that she says she wants to be the hero in this. She’s very careful not to give me too much information, but enough to pique my interest.”

  “I have no access to check this Lauren person out. Her files are sealed tighter than a virgin’s legs on her first date. All I can tell you for sure about this woman is that she’s married to a McCullough, has a job that gives her top-secret clearance, and she has the ear of the president. That one scares me a bit. For no other reason than I feel it, I think this woman is not one to screw around with.”

  Marshall wasn’t really listening; he was reading over the missive again. “She wants to know where I’m working. I wonder why that’s important. I mean, she could just look me up and find out that information, couldn’t she?” He said that she might be making sure who was looking. “Could be, I suppose. But why all the cat and mouse things? You suppose there is a reason for that as well?”

  “I haven’t any idea, Marshall. I would suggest that you reply, using your personal email. You don’t want this getting back to your sons. They’ll have a heyday with it.” They would too. Label him as crazy, searching for a long-lost child that may or may not be his. “When you email her, I’d be as upfront as you can be with her. Tell her all the reasons that you’re looking, and why now. I think honesty is best for this situation.”

  “I’ll do that.”

  He opened his computer just as his son walked in. Every time he saw his son, he wondered who his mother had been having an affair with. He looked nothing at all like either of them.

  “What is it now, Jonas? In the event you didn’t see it, I’m trying very hard to run my business here.”

  “For now. I was wondering if you’ve given any thought to my proposal to extend the line of credit to your secretary. It would help her getting her own supplies, as well as anything she needs without having to come to you for every cent.” Marshall pulled up the file that had been dropped on his desk several days ago. “I’d like to give her an answer. I noticed that she’s not here today. Is everything all right?”

  “Oh yes, everything is wonderful. Tess has been fired. For misappropriation of company funds. And it’s all because of you. Why? Weren’t you getting enough money from me every month?” Jonas sat down. More like he flopped down in the chair with a pout on his lips. “What does your wife say about you having an affair with my secretary?”

  “She doesn’t care so long as I don’t have any bastards, and that I’m not doing her in our bed.” His son just smiled at him, like he had this big secret that no one else could guess. “Using this against me at the board meeting will do you no good. I know for a fact that three of your members are currently having an affair with someone in their offices. That would be hypocritical, don’t you think?”

  “Since we’ve taken care of Tess, why don’t you go home or chase some other fool around their desk? I have things to do.”

  There was an envelope laid on his desk and his son winked at him. “There you go, Daddy Dear. The money that you owe the hotel that Tess and I stayed in when we were having a holiday. I do hope you won’t wait too long to pay this. I would like to take someone else there soon. It’s very romantic.”

  Jonas left them, and Marshall looked at Gordon. When he put out his hand, he handed him the envelope. They weren’t paying the bills, none that had been dropped off to him over the last several months. All of his sons had been doing the same thing—treating him as if he were their own personal bank.

  “I’ve changed the locks on the house as you’ve asked me to do. Also, the safe combination has been changed. There are new staff members there, and none of them are likely to help any of your sons by allowing them to come in and take what they want from now on.” He thanked his friend. “I’ve also taken the liberty, I hope you don’t mind, of having the cars removed from the property. I can’t prove anything, but I do believe they were going to sell them off.”

  “More than likely. I saw an ad online just the other day that had a picture of my Jag on it. That’s a priceless car, and he was selling it for ten grand. I nipped that in the bud as well.” Gordon said that he’d make sure that there was a guard at the front gate from now on too. “Good thinking. Find someone that can’t be bribed.”

  It had come to this, him having to hide his things from his sons. Otherwise they’d have sold everything that they could get their hands on. Some even if they couldn’t. Jonas would sell his father’s eyes if he thought he could make a dime off them.

  Marshall worked until late in the evening. Gordon had come in several times over the day to tell him this bit of information or something. The email was all composed. All he needed to do was have Gordon look it over, so he could tell him if it sounded all right. As he was gathering up his coat and things, Gordon came in and read it over for him. Then Jonas came in the door with his brothers. All three of them.

  “Dad, you’ve gone too far now.” Marshall asked him what he’d done that had them so upset. “There is a man at the front gate to our home that isn’t allowing any of us to come on the property. He said that you told him specifically that he wasn’t to allow us to come in. Why would you do that to us?”

  “Several reasons. And the fact that I have to explain them to you shows me that this is the best thing I’ve done since you demanded your first bit of money from me.” David sat in the chair while Jonas paced. Chad wasn’t saying much, but of all his kids, Chad was the one that he was afraid of. He had an evilness about him that frankly scared Marshall. Michael was sitting on the side of his desk, something that they all knew he hated. “You’ll not be running in and out of here anymore after today either. I’ve put in fresh guards at the door and gate with the same instructions. Also, I’d be careful where you charge things from now on. Your credit cards have been cut off.”

  “You’re playing with fire here, old man. You should know better than to treat us like we’re nothing to you.” It was on the tip of his tongue to tell Chad that they had become nothing to him when he heard his computer ding. Pushing it to Gordon to deal with, he waited for his boys to have their say. “What do you think this is going to accomplish? You’ll be out on your ass in a few days. What are you going to do then? Nothing. You’ll regret this.”

  “No more than I do now that I’ve had to come to this with you four.” He sat down in his chair. “Anything else you’d like to tell me? I do have a busy night ahead of me.”

  David asked about his order for new shoes. They were being held up for non-payment. Michael said that he had been told the same thing about his four new suits. Marshall laughed. It felt good to get this confrontation over with. It wasn’t finished, but he was glad that they knew what steps he’d made to take away the things they liked most. Whatever money could buy them.

  “As I said, the cards have been cut off. And as of yesterday, all companies that you’ve dealt with have been informed that I will not pay the bills. Nor will you be able to have lavish parties in places that you have destroyed—unless, of course, you have the funds to pay for it. I’m finished with the lot of you.” He stood up again, his knees somewhat shaky. “Now, I think it’s about time that you left here. It doesn’t matter if you leave your badges or not. They’ve all been disabled as of the moment you used them to get in here tonight.”

  As they were leaving, Chad swiped everything off his desk w
ith a swipe. Then he stood and laughed as he crushed the things that hadn’t broken with his boots. Michael went to the liquor cabinet and broke several of the glasses there. Lucky for him, Marshall had had the liquor taken out days ago. David took out a knife, and for a moment, Marshall thought that he was going to use it on him. But he only sliced up the couch with it before coming toward the chairs that they’d been sitting in. But Jonas beat him to them, picking them up and tossing them across the room toward the windows. They wouldn’t break, thankfully, or he might have found himself hurtling through the air to the ground floor.

  Security walked in just as they were starting on the file cabinets.

  “It’s time to go.” They were armed, his new security team, and he was glad to see that each of them had their hands on their weapons, and they were ready to be pulled and fired. “We’ll see you out.”

  “I’m not leaving until he gives us what we want.” The security guard told Jonas that whatever it was, he’d taken it by destroying the office. When his son looked at him, he could see an anger in his eyes that had him holding his breath. “You’ll regret this. See if you don’t.”

  He sat down with a heavy sigh when they were gone. Marshall’s hands were shaking so badly that he sloshed water all over the desk as he held the glass of it from his friend. Gordon stood by him until he was all right again.

  “They threatened you, Marshall. Not once, but several times.” He said that he’d caught that too. “Oh, by the way, you hit send on the email before I came in. Must have been fat fingers. Anyway, it sounded good. I’m glad you told her everything that you knew. It might lead to nothing, but you can never tell about this sort of thing.”

  Marshall prayed all the way to his limo that this was his daughter. And that she could stand up to the men that his sons had become. But his luck would be that she was no different than them and just as money hungry as the rest of them. He supposed time would tell him.