Micah (8 page)

He wanted to go to her, see what was
wrong with her and fix it. But in order to do that he’d have to
cross the line of sight for the man on the roof, and he’d be no
good to her dead. Taking out his gun, he took careful aim. The next
time the guy bobbed would be his last.

Micah waited. Without looking at his
brother, he told him what he was going to do and reached for the
man. It was something that he only used when he had to, and saving
his mate, even from herself, was a priority. As soon as he entered
the man’s head, he started talking to Joey.

“
Dan Chevy, twenty-nine.
Girlfriend just left him for someone else. Lost his job today and
followed her home. Killed them both at her home on Twenty-fifth.
Now he wants one of us to kill him because he doesn’t think prison
will be good for him.” He heard Joey say something, but he was too
deep in the man’s head to understand what. “Burning the building
was an accident. But he’s happy to have been able to kill so many
more since. He’s…fuck, he’s going to hit the pretty brunette in the
storefront across from him.”

When he lifted his head, the shooter
took as careful aim as Micah did. The advantage that Micah had over
him was he was a good shot. Dan was just starting out. As soon as
the bullet left his gun, Micah moved, but the shooter’s gun had
moved and was centered on him before he could get out of the way.
The pain in his chest threw him back, and he saw the shooter tumble
back just as his body hit the sidewalk. Fuck, Micah thought, his
mom and grandparents were going to be pissed if he died
today.

~~~

Howie moved between the two operating
rooms like he was on a mission. He supposed in a way he was. His
grandson was going to be fine, they’d told him, but needed to have
the bullet removed before he could shift. It was lodged in his ribs
a little too close to his heart. Howie knew that his other
grandson, Nolan, would bring him through. But the girl, she was his
biggest concern.

He laughed a little when he thought of
her being brought in. She’d been cursing up a storm about insurance
and money. Howie had thought his missus was going to have a heart
attack when the little bitty thing had grabbed Burke by the balls
and told him to leave her alone. He’d calmly told her that she’d
been shot and it was his duty to make sure she didn’t die. His
brother had made him promise. All the while he’d been talking to
her, a nurse had been shooting her up with something to make her
sleep. The look on little Reggie’s face when she realized what was
happening made him think that nurse had better not be around when
Reggie came out of it. Now she was in surgery too.

“
Do you think they’re
going to be all right?” He looked over at the love of his life and
pulled her into his arms. Howie felt better right away and told her
that he knew they would. “She’d lost a lot of blood, Burke said. Of
course it didn’t seem to slow her down much, but he was
concerned.”

“
She’s a spitfire is what
she is.” Katie nodded and smiled. “They’ll be fine. The one I’m
worried about is Gracie. That woman can’t lose another person in
her life. I thought for sure we’d lose her when my Micah
died.”

His son had been shot just a year ago.
Everyone knew that, but no one but Katie knew that he’d reached for
his dad with his dying breath, begging him to watch over them all,
his children and especially his wife. Then he’d asked his father
for one promise and so far, even a year later, he hadn’t been able
to make good on it. Howie was to make sure that Micah’s sons had
mates that would love them as he did his own. And that Howie should
care for Micah’s wife, Gracie, like she was his child. That was
easy but the rest, not so much. The boys were being
stubborn.

Howie had cried for three days before
he’d gone to see Gracie after Micah had died. Of course by then
she’d had her boys around her, which was the way it should have
been. But there was no talking to her then, not about the promises
he’d made to his son as he lay dying.

“
This girl, she might be
the bond that brings them out of this.” Howie asked her what she
meant. “They’ve been suffering. All of us have, but those kids and
Gracie have not had a good time in a long time. She was just
telling me yesterday that she’s no desire to have a Thanksgiving
dinner this year, and might not even put up a tree. You know how
our Micah loved those two holidays.”

“
He did. And him going
like he did only a few weeks before Thanksgiving has made them all
hate the days.” He and Katie had cooked them up a little turkey
roast last year at Christmas. The thing wasn’t fit to eat, but
they’d made the effort. Gracie and her boys hadn’t even put up a
single light. There had to be something to bring them out of
this.

“
Joey did a search on her.
She’s been through some hard times herself. You remember that thing
with the Websters? And what those men did to that family?” He
looked at his wife of seventy years, not believing this young thing
in the other room was the child his Micah had seen. “It’s her. And
she cares for her brother, too. He’s in a nursing home. Joey said
it was the worst one he’d ever been in, and he’d been in a lot
working his way through college. But she’s paying for it because
there is no insurance for him to collect on. That family had
nothing left after all the medical bills and funerals.”

The Websters had been living in a nice
little house until one night three men had broken into the home and
held the family hostage for a week before anyone knew what was
going on. If it hadn’t been for the children not going to school,
he’d often wondered how much longer they would have been caught up
in that mess if no one had gone and checked on them. His son had
been on the scene first and had told Howie about it.

“
The mother was dead. Been
gone for a few days, tied to the bed. She’d been raped so many
times that it was hard to tell she’d been female after those
animals had finished with her.” Howie remembered the sound of his
son’s voice, the hardness of it, his hatred of what had happened
coming through his pain. “The husband had been hung from the pot
hanger in the kitchen; his body had knives still stuck in it all
over him. There were burns on his skin like they’d tried to light
him up too. Most of his face had been cut off. We found his eyes in
the refrigerator right next to the spoiled milk. Just floating in a
glass of water.”

“
And the kids? What did
they do to them?” Howie had known that was what had bothered his
son the most. Micah had six wonderful children of his own that he
loved more than life itself, and he hated more than anything to
have them hurt…or anyone else’s kids to hurt. “Micah?”

“
I thought the boy was
dead. And to be honest with you, I had kind of hoped that he was.
The things they’d done to him. There was a ball bat—his, I’m
thinking—laying on the bed with him, all bloodied and covered in
brain matter. They’d been beating him with it, mostly to the head.
But the rest of his body had been abused as well. There were burns
on him too. At one point…at one point it looked as if they tried to
burn his penis off. Just set it afire like it was a candle. And
there was that too. Candle wax all over him. His head, all bashed
in and brain showing, was covered in the stuff, smelling like
apples and cinnamon. Never will be able to smell that without
thinking of that boy.” Micah was quiet for a time; Howie let him
remember. Sometimes it was better to get things like this out, but
for some reason he thought neither of them would be the same for
hearing it. “They had raped the girl too. Not as bad or as often as
they had the mom. Probably saved her for last for some reason.
She’d been chained to the wall, her little body beaten and burned.
Her hair had been shaved from her head, all those curls laying on
the floor just covered in her blood and urine. The poor thing was
in the same room as her brother, and got to see what they did to
him every day they had them. I nearly…I didn’t even see her until
someone came in the room and she whimpered. Her eyes never left her
brother’s face the entire time we were cutting her down. Then with
broken legs and an arm, she crawled to him and curled around him,
screaming at the medics to leave him be. It was all we could do to
hold her down while they drugged her up to care for
them.”

The papers had had a month of it.
Someone had leaked some pictures of the parents’ bodies. Some of
them had pictures of the bodies as they were taken from the house,
the dark body bags telling a grim tale of what might have happened
inside that house. Then a few of the boy had come out, his broken
body lying on the gurney, bloody sheets and all.

The girl’s picture had never been in
the paper, and neither of the children’s names had been
mentioned…not in the paper nor in the court rooms where the dead
men had been tried. The police had killed all three of the
murdering pieces of shit, but the men had been found guilty. Most
didn’t think it was doing anyone a bit of good to know
that.

There had even been talk about the
young girl inviting the men into the house. That she’d been the
leader of them the entire time. Howie thought that most of the
world was sick, and that hadn’t changed his mind. The poor child
had been through so much, and then that had happened.

“
The paper is going to
drag that all out again, won’t they?” Howie nodded as he held his
Katie to him. “Howie, we have to do something to help her. She’s
going to need more than just Micah as her mate. She’s going to need
all of us.”

“
I know, darling. I know.”
He’d heard how she’d taken on both Joey and Micah and had to smile.
He was going to enjoy this mating. He was sure of it. When Nolan
came out of the operating room where he’d been working on his
brother, he told them he was needed with the girl but that Micah
was going to be fine in a few hours. After kissing his mom and
grandma, Nolan entered the room across the hall. They all sat and
waited for news.

It wasn’t long before Nolan came out.
He was smiling and looked like he had a great secret. Howie could
tell also that something was bothering him, but not enough at the
moment to take away whatever had happened in the operating
room.

“
She’s going to be just
fine. The bullet entered her right shoulder and it was removed.
There was little damage done to the muscle, and after some rest and
a few days of pampering, she’ll be fine.” He laughed, a great burst
of a laugh that made him smile. “Now getting the rest might be a
problem. As soon as they stopped the anesthesia, she nearly came up
off that bed cursing up a storm and demanding to be let go. Baker,
her surgeon, had no idea what to tell her. And I, of course, could
only think that Micah was going to have his hands full. Wow, she’s
a pistol.”

Howie laughed too. It was great to
know that a woman coming to their family wasn’t going to be a
milk-sop. When Nolan looked down the hall toward where Micah was,
the sadness returned. Saying his name, Nolan only shook his head.
Howie decided he’d let it go for now.

They waited another hour before they
were able to see Micah. He was still a little groggy but doing
well. Howie was glad to hear him ask about Reggie first thing, then
his mom. His son would have been extremely proud of his
boys.

“
She’s in her room. Unlike
you, she came out of it with flying colors. I can tell you that
she’s demanding to be let go now. Of course, because of her being
shot, I’ve managed to have someone on the force say she has to stay
because of the circumstances of her injury. All a lie, but it held
her.” Micah leaned back as Nolan continued. “She’s asking about her
brother. Do you happen to know how to contact him?”

“
Yes, but I don’t think
that’s what she wants.” Micah glanced at him, then back at his
brother as he answered him. “He’s been hurt. Badly, and is living
in a nursing home with fulltime care.”

“
Not very good care as far
as I could see.” Everyone turned to Joey. “I’ve been doing some
research on his type of injury and where he’s staying. I’m having
him moved tomorrow. I’ve…she’s going to be pi…upset with me, but
I’m also assigning myself as his lawyer.”

“
I think you had it
right.” Howie smiled at his daughter-in-law when she spoke for her
son. “She’s going to be pissed. While I’m a little shocked by her
vocabulary, I can see where it would come in handy when dealing
with certain people.”

Her gaze lingered on Micah, and Howie
wondered what had happened there. Micah had never talked about
having a mate. When Howie thought about it, he realized none of the
boys had ever really talked about it. He wondered, just a little,
how the hell he and his wife were ever going to be great
grandparents if they didn’t have mates. Laughing to himself, he
watched Gracie handle her boys.

He’d loved this woman since the moment
she’d come into his life. And Micah, his son, had never gone a day
without telling her that he loved her. She was firm, yet
understanding. Got respect not because she had demanded it, but
because of what she was…a wonderful loving woman who would die for
her children. And he had a feeling that once the women came into
her life, the wives and mates of her sons, she’d shine again, much
like she had when his son had been alive.

Chapter 5

Reggie opened her eyes and realized
that they’d drugged her again. Sitting up, she moaned at the pain
and nearly lay back down. But the big man sitting close to the bed
had her full attention. Micah Bentley was certainly worth looking
at when he was awake. Asleep, he was simply gorgeous. Almost as if
she’d said his name aloud, he opened his eyes and looked at
her.