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  Within half an hour, maybe a little more, she returned with all they needed and then some. She’d taken a little piece of clothing from each of them to smell. To her, she said, it smelled of meds, but she was sure, Jamie told them, that they could sort that out and use that as well.

  He hoped so. Xander didn’t want anyone hurt. And while he couldn’t die, not since Addie had come into his life, he didn’t care all that much for pain.

  About the time they were ready to get to work, the men showed up to disembowel his basement.

  ~*~

  Seasoned men were sickened by the smell. It wasn’t that bad, not really, so Addie figured that it had more to do with the shape the body was in. Sharon had suffered at the hands of the man who had killed her and done so for a very long time.

  “I don’t think she was tossed down the stairs, do you?” She told Xander that she didn’t think so. “The coroner thinks there might have been a child as well. This would be the second one this man murdered. The others were in the pool.”

  “I think this is why she didn’t want to be brought up with her daughter around. Not only because there was a lot more damage done to her body than she said, but also the child. If there is one.” Xander held her. “You know, before you came along and held me, I could have gone my whole life without having another person touch me. And now, I don’t just like it a great deal, but I find myself needing it more and more.”

  “Good. Because I find myself needing you more and more.” They watched as the men continued to dig well after the body had been removed. What they found next startled him. Not just for what it was, but what it meant. “That’s one of my brother’s trunks, I’m thinking.”

  “Yes, it looks like the others. I’m almost afraid to open it.” He said that they’d have to claim it, no matter what it was, because they knew about it. “I can maybe get that part taken care of. Just don’t say anything about the others. That way, your brother is in the clear.”

  They had nothing to worry about. The trunk had nothing to do with the others on the property of Gabe, and more to do with the man he’d bought the house from. Not only did it have cash in it, from this century, but it also had fake identification, passports, as well as a sealed bag of clothing and keys to a car. It was a running trunk. But why it was under the basement was beyond her. It wasn’t as if he could have gotten to it easily. But Charles knew the reason.

  “I found those things, and me and the miss there, we put it all in there. Took her durn near a month for her to get that hole deep enough. I think she was thinking her days were counting off. I sure did miss having her around.” Xander asked if she could see him. “Nah, not see me, but I got myself some of those there colored pencils and I could draw her stuff. She was a kind woman. And after a bit, when she was here, I helped her find a way to take care of her little girl. That Penny, she’s all shiny like one, don’t you think?”

  “Yes, she is.” They watched the trunk being inventoried, and the story that Xander told was that he could smell something off—not really a body, he assured them, but something like mildew. No one believed that was it, but they also knew better than to say anything. They had a murder solved, and that was just fine with them.

  Xander sat with Addie in the kitchen as the rest of the basement was cleaned up.

  “I heard from your mom a bit ago. She said that Penny is in need of new clothing, as well as a few girly things. I didn’t ask what that meant.” Xander told her that it was probably a good thing. “I’m not so sure. I have to go there. To the mall. Where there are people.”

  “That’s usually— You are leaving your guns here, aren’t you? I’ve had enough going on with the police today, if you don’t mind.” Addie laughed. He was so serious. But all she promised him was that she’d not kill anyone that didn’t deserve it. “Define that for me. Who would deserve to be killed in a mall, shopping, for little girl’s clothing?”

  “She’s twelve, Xander. If you call her a little girl, I’m afraid that you’re going to be the worst dad ever born.” He claimed he was all right with that. “No, you’re not. And we both know it. Anyway, I’m to meet them at the mall and finish up with dinner. You’re supposed to call your dad and get together with him. Apparently, he wanted to go too.”

  “Yes, I can see Dad wanting to go shopping for a little...a young woman. He’s only ever had to shop for boys since we all were born. And since she’s his first granddaughter that’s born right now, he’d want to eat that up.” Ben joined them in the room. Xander sat up straighter in his chair, and she might have laughed but she found herself standing taller too. “This man, the one coming for Addie and Jamie. What are you doing about keeping these men here from not saying anything?”

  “Rogers.” The name was bellowed through the house, and Addie was sure that the neighbors might have heard Ben say it. When the presumed Rogers came into the room, Ben asked him two questions. “Where are we? And what are we doing here?”

  “We’re nowhere but on the estate, sir. And we’re not here. Haven’t been here, nor will we allow anyone in this party to say a word to the contrary.” He looked right at her. “Agent Dyer, I have a question for you too, if you would allow it.”

  “Sure. But know this—if you ask me anything personal, you are so not going to like the answer.” He nodded. “Also, the answer is no, if you’re asking me out. It’s Mrs. Winchester now.”

  “Yes, ma’am, and congratulations to you both. But my question is, do you think you’d be interested in coming to the shooting range sometime and working with the newer recruits? When you were there with me, I think...no, I know that you made me a better shot with your...your methods.”

  “Methods? What did you do to that poor team?” Both Rogers and Addie laughed. Ben sat down as he continued. “Oh, now I have to know what is going on.”

  “She’s very intense.” Xander said he knew that about her. “Well, sirs, when we were on the range, a few of us weren’t having any troubles with shooting the targets. We were kind of cocky about it to the others. And not only did she take us down a few notches, she showed us the error of our ways by helping us with shooting in a war zone.”

  “How?” She grinned at Xander when he asked. “You shot at them, didn’t you? If so, then you are definitely leaving your gun here before going to the mall.”

  “No, sir, she didn’t shoot at us. Though I’m betting that some of us wished that she had. She brought in a group of men—seasoned, you’d call them—and they took us down, one at a time, while we did practice ops with blanks in our guns. It was extremely frightening, but at the same time highly educational.” Both Ben and Xander looked at her while Rogers continued. “She didn’t ask us any names—we didn’t know hers either. But one by one, the men would come to us and knock us around, until we were good at not just firing, but also reloading our weapons. In the month that she worked with us, not a one of us quit, we didn’t whine, nor did we know when she was going to show up with her men.”

  “They needed a little tweaking, that’s all.” Rogers laughed. “What? That’s all you needed. And if you say any differently, I’m going to pop you in the back of the head like Xander’s mother does. It hurts, too.”

  She made her way to the mall. Addie was no longer worried about Finch, but she was worried for Jamie. Jamie wasn’t hurt in any way, but she was disenchanted with her life because of her job. It would take her some time to come to the realization that people rarely did things because it was the right thing to do. No, most of the time, Addie had come to realize, people did whatever they wanted so long as it would profit them. Not all people, just a great many of them.

  The two of them were going to have to get together soon. Not that she was a drinking/dancing sort of person, because that would include people, but she’d do it for her friend. Sometimes, she knew, you had to upset your own life to help someone else out of their funk. And Jamie was in one.

  The mall was busier than she’d thought it would be. People were everywhere, and it wasn
’t until she realized that it was close to Christmas that she put it together. Next month would be Thanksgiving, then after that a short thirty days until Christmas. She didn’t have any idea how the Winchesters celebrated it, and knew that they would be going all out, as they did everything.

  She found them in a shop so colorful and so loud that she was sure she’d have to have her ears checked when finished. And after one look at the women, she knew that things were not going well. When Penny saw her, she hugged her tightly and asked if she could just go home.

  “Nope. And you know why.” She nodded and started to turn away, but Addie stopped her. “Is this what you want? To shop here?”

  She looked around and at the three women that were with her. Penny looked up at her and shook her head while tears streamed down her cheeks. Addie felt her heart crumble. Not just for her newly acquired daughter, but the people with her. None of them, it appeared, were having a good time here.

  “Have you guys had lunch?” Sara looked as if she had handed her a lifeline and started hustling everyone together and out the door. Before she could suggest pizza or something like that, they were sitting in a lovely little bistro and having tea delivered to their table. “I was going to suggest that we ask Penny what she wanted.”

  “Oh, we did earlier. She was so in love with this place that we told her we’d take her here.” Penny nodded and looked a little brighter than she had in the store. “I love the Reuben they have here. As well as the sweet potato fries. Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever gotten a bad meal here.”

  After they all ordered, each a different thing, they started talking about shops. Quinn asked Penny want she wanted to wear, and she looked right at Addie. It was telling, that look, like she was drowning and wasn’t sure anyone cared if she got a life jacket or not.

  “Where did your mom take you to shop?” She told her. “Okay. We could go there, but I have a feeling that you’re going to enjoy something nicer than that store can offer you. While I’m sure that they have good things there, Xander is making good money and only wants the best for you.”

  “What about you? Do you need something pretty too?” The women turned to stare at Penny with strange smiles on their faces as she spoke to Addie. “You should get pretty dresses to wear. And some nicer jeans. Those have big holes in them. If I have to shop, so do you.”

  “You’ve been hanging out with your grandma too much.” They all laughed with Addie just as the food was being set before them. “All right, missy, one dress. But you have to get yourself something for school. It’s high time we both looked like Winchesters.”

  The rest of the day was spent trying on clothing. Ignoring the stares they got—and they got plenty of them—Addie had a good time. There was a lot of snacking going on as well, from pretzels to ice cream. There was nothing nutritional, nor were they very calorie conscious. It was, she thought, one of the best days she’d had in a very long time. And she’d done it all without ever drawing her weapon. To her, that was a gold medal experience.

  Chapter 6

  The boys, his sons, were having a good time, but all Kelley could think about was having a little girl out there that might need him. He was sure that she was around the most protective women there were about, but he wanted to be her knight in shining, or even tarnished, armor. So, when the cars pulled into the drive, he was the first one out the door and making his way to them all.

  “You buy much?” Sara handed him several bags, all of them from different shops. “My goodness. Is this all for one little girl?”

  He winked at Penny and she hugged him. Kelley thought for sure he could get used to that sort of thing very quickly. And with the other boys having themselves little girls, he was going to be in high heaven soon. Penny was going to be his practice granddaughter and his favorite, he didn’t mind thinking.

  “I got the prettiest coat, Grandpa. You should see it. It’s dark blue with lots of fur around the hood. And some poop kicker boots like Addie wears. She doesn’t call them that, but I can’t say that word, so I just say poop kickers. And we had lunch in a big fancy restaurant, where I got to order from the menu all by myself. And Addie and I paid our own check, but Grandma was mad, so we let her leave the tip. Addie said it was too much, but Grandma said that putting up with her for an hour was hard work. I don’t know what—” He put his finger to her lips and she smiled at him. “I’m talking a lot, huh?”

  “Yes, you are, but that’s all right with me. I was wondering if you got yourself a dress or something equally pretty I can see you in.”

  He got an “Oh, Grandpa” before she flounced—actually flounced—away, and he noticed that someone had cut her hair. “What did you do to my sweet little granddaughter?”

  Kelley wasn’t aiming his question at anyone in particular. He didn’t want his butt kicked either. But someone had to explain to him why she was wearing a dark blue coat and poop kickers. He then noticed that he was standing there with several bags in his hand, and he was out there all by himself with Addie. He nearly ran off when she said his name.

  “I’m going to be her stepmom soon.” He nodded, not sure what to think of the awe in her voice. “I know nothing of children. Less about girls. But I figured that since she and I were so new to each other, we should make this more about her and not about pink. Do you understand?”

  “Yes. I suppose I might. I just thought, you know, that she’d be a pretty little girl a lot longer. You know, might need me for a bit to slay dragons.” She told him that when a dragon came to visit, she’d make sure that he could pretend to kill it. “I’m not sure if you’re joking or not.”

  “I’m not. But back to Penny. She doesn’t know how to be a girly girl. And neither do I. Thankfully, your wife is girly enough for all of us. There are dresses in those bags, as well as panties—not underwear—and bras.” He said he didn’t need to know that. “Yes, you do, Kelley. And there is more you need to know. She loves you like someone that she can worship on a daily basis. But I’m serious about this. I’m going to need your help on how to be a good mom.”

  “You can depend on me, I promise you. And I surely do like that she loves me, but I think there might be more.” She nodded. “You tell me, girl, and I’ll fix it up for you. Unless you want me to tell my pretty wife that you don’t want to shop anymore. I think that it would break her heart to hear that.”

  “No, nothing like that. But it’s about the holidays. I haven’t any idea how to do that.” Kelley asked her what she meant. “Well, do you put up a tree? Are there gifts for everyone, including the adults? I’ve been around since long before there was a reason to celebrate the season, Kelley, and I haven’t ever had a tree or anything that goes with it.”

  “Never? You’ve never.... My goodness. We’re going to have to fix that, aren’t we?” She said that’s what she was hoping for. “Good gravy. We have to get some...ornaments. That’s what they were talking about tonight. Ain’t a one of them got any other than the few that their momma gave them as kids. I didn’t even.... Goodness gracious, I got some shopping to do now too.”

  He was nearly to the house when he realized that he’d just walked away from her. Glancing at the young woman—well, young looking woman—he realized what she’d said to him. She’d been around before they’d had a reason to celebrate the season. Sitting on the porch steps, he wasn’t surprised when she came over and sat next to him.

  “I’m not sure what I said that has that look on your face, but I can assure you, I meant nothing about it.” He asked her about her age. “Ah, yes, that’s about how old I am. Older actually.”

  “I didn’t know.” She nodded. “Does Xander know how old you are? Or have any idea how long you’ve been around?”

  “Yes, he does, and it freaks him out.” He nodded, seeing that about his kid. “Kelley, may I ask you a question? About yourself and Sara?”

  “Sure ‘nough. But I have to tell you, I ain’t as honest as you might be, girl. Holy jingle bells, I surely ain’t.” They bo
th laughed, and Kelley put his hand on her leg, just for the contact for a moment. “When the boys were wee little ones, me and my darlin’, we was so poor that we’d not been able to rub two nickels together to come up with a dime. Then one day, my boy Caleb, he nearly killed himself to avoid hitting a man by the name of Cartwright with our truck. Cartwright was in a poor way, what with his wife passing and all. And he wanted Caleb to hit him, send him off to be with her.”

  “Xander said that he made it so that they’d all be able to go to college, as well as that he came to dinner nearly every night.” Kelley told her he was a good friend. “What brought him up, Kelley?”

  “Nothing really. And everything. He was so rich that we’d not have had him over if we’d known that. I suppose that was the reason he didn’t tell us. But he didn’t care, I’m guessing. Dinner was just that with him around. And Christmas was special too with him. He didn’t go overboard, show off ‘cause he could afford more than we could. He’d give the boys some money and a few things of clothing. And when they graduated from high school, he’d give them a little more. But college, that was a big deal to him.” He grinned at her. “Sorry, my dear, what was it you wanted to ask me?”

  “It’s more like a question that was put to me. And before you get your buttons all snapped off, listen to my entire story.” He nodded. Kelley did like this woman. “I’ve been asked to head up the FBI. As well as have input to the CIA. That’ll means that I have to move out there, or at least have a house there, so I can go and work a few times a week. At least until after they get things back to the way that they should be.”

  “You’re thinking of not taking it.” She nodded at him, excitement and happiness all over her face. “I see now. You do know that we’d miss you something terrible. And not to mention, that little girl of yours. But we got our own limo now—had to convince me of that purchase. And a plane that we needed too when things started to go for Caleb and Owen. I’m sure going to put some use to it when it gets a bit warmer. Plus, there is the added fact that Xander can do what he does just about anywhere. So, I don’t see why you don’t want to take it.”