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Cynthia thought her plan was going well. Since they weren’t at the other house, they had to be in the one that she’d been in, the big house. But they’d been at the little house—no, no. She couldn’t confuse herself now. They were all dead, and it was just her. The only person she wasn’t sure of was Cass. She’d been there when she was arrested. Things were getting all muddled up in her head, and she was having difficulty keeping things straight.

She was currently strapped to a cot. Not a bed like she wanted but a cot that was too narrow by half and harder than her head. When she saw the doctor coming toward her, she made herself look pitiful. She knew that she could fool him, the little bastard.

“Ms. Warmer, I see that you’re back. Good for you. I never thought that you should have been sent from here in the first place. We’ll get you up and going in a few weeks as soon as we get your medications in you for a week or two.” She had to act like she was taking the meds so that she could be ready when Cass came to visit her. And she would. Just like she had before. “We’re going to have to keep a better eye on you this time. No more not taking your meds. We have a solution for that now. We have them in injections.”

‘What? No,’ she screamed in her mind. Shots would be more difficult to not take. She needed to make sure they came in pill form. Opening her mouth when she was told it was time to get her started on them, the doctor just laughed.

The pinch to her arm nearly had her acting out again. She had to maintain a clear-headed sister so that when Cass came to see her, she’d be able to kill her. And then there would be no more troubles with her sister. She’d be free to do what she wanted. And dating was going to be the first thing on her list of things to do that Cass could no longer do. Cynthia knew her plan would work. Just like it did at the house.

But it had blown up too soon. She’d meant for them all to be in the house when it went up. Now, she didn’t know. Didn’t know. Didn’t know. Cynthia felt the medication starting to make her not be able to think again. She’d be doped up for days on end if they kept injecting her with drugs without her permission.

Her Daddy was the last thing she thought of when the drugs took her under. Mother fuckers. She was going to have to do something to get her back on the pills.

When she woke up, she was in a room. There was wallpaper on the walls that looked familiar, but she couldn’t remember where it was from. Looking around with just her eyes, she nearly screamed when her daddy was in the room. He was supposed to be dead, damn it.

“You’re not talking to me? I suppose that’s fine. I have a few things to say to you, then I’m leaving here never to return.” She tried to reach out to her daddy, but she was strapped down with both her legs and arms. Jerking on them, she looked at her daddy. “Why did you blow up the house? There was no reason for it. No one was there, so I don’t know your plans.”

“You were all supposed to be there.” Against her will, she told him why she’d taken care of the house. “Why weren’t you there, Daddy? You never do what I want. It’s always about Cass, isn’t it? You love her more than me.”

“You wanted me dead?” She told him that she wanted them all dead. “Why? Why would you want such a thing? We’re your family, Cynthia.”

“If you’re all dead, the attention would forever be on me. They’d have to like me more because Cass was dead and gone. Don’t you see? It’s got to be all about me all the time. You’d want me to have that, wouldn’t you, Daddy? Have the attention all on me?” He didn’t say anything. “Good. Now, here is what I want you to do. I want you to kill Cass and that boyfriend of hers. Kill them both dead. Howie will have to go, too. He’s been having too much attention on him since I killed Margaret and their baby. I thought that people would…well, it matters little now, but you’ll have to kill him off, too. Then you kill Mommy. She’s worthless anyway, never wanting to show me off. After you kill Mommy, then you’ll kill yourself. Or have the police do it. Oh yes, that’s it. Have the police kill you because you killed all the other people.”

“You killed Margaret and her unborn child? I don’t want to believe that, Cynthia. Why would you do something like that?” She said that Margaret was hogging all the attention with her fat belly. He wasn’t paying attention to her, and she told him that. “That’s all you’ve ever wanted was attention, isn’t it? You never wanted anyone to outshine you.”

“You’re finally getting it. No one should be above me in attention getting. I’ve worked really hard on that, and when people get in my way like Margaret did, I just take care of it. But since you didn’t die when I wanted you to, you’re going to do what I say and make sure that everyone will feel sorry for me for having such a fucked up father. I might even have to tell them that you abused me when things wind down a bit after you’re dead.” She didn’t understand the look on his face, so she thought that he was still finally understanding what she wanted. “When do you think you can get started on Cass and her boyfriend? You’ll have to plan things perfectly so you don’t get caught before you take care of yourself and Mommy. Oh, and Howie. Don’t forget to take care that he’s dead as well. I’ve never forgiven him for telling me that Margaret’s death wasn’t all about me. Well, you’ve no idea how much I wanted to tell him that I’d done it. But I didn’t. Daddy—where are you going? You’ve never answered me about when you were going to start on Cass being dead.”

“I don’t know you anymore. You’ve killed our daughter-in-law and our grandson.” Daddy backed away from her more. She didn’t understand why he was upset. “You’re not right in the head, Cynthia. There is something so…so…I don’t know what to call it, but that you’re a murderer.”

“Well, duh. I’ve done it before. And think about it, Daddy, we’ll be the same, you and I. I can’t believe that you and I will be the same thing. Murderers. I already know how you’re going to go down. They’ll blame it on your tumor. They’ll tell me how sorry they are that you did this to my entire family. Don’t you see? It’s going to be the best gift you’ve ever given me. I love you, Daddy.” He jerked back when she reached for him. She didn’t know what was wrong with him all of the sudden, but she was going to make sure that he understood this was for him, too. “You won’t have to be killed by me if you do this right, Daddy. Like I said, they’ll blame it on your tumor, and that will be what people talk about to me. How the thing in your head made you a monster. But we don’t want too much of the attention on you. That will just make me mad, and no one wants me to be mad at them. Just do what I tell you, and you’ll make me—”

“I’m not killing anyone. I don’t know where you—I don’t understand you at all. I mean, I knew that you liked to be the center of attention. That’s why I had Cassidy move out, so that—you’re not right in the head.” He seemed to come to some kind of resolution then, and she knew he had thought it through and was going to give it all to her. “No, I’m not going to kill my children or my wife. I don’t know where you got the thought that I’d do something like that. No. Just no.”

He left her there. No matter how much she yelled for him to come back, he wouldn’t do it. She told herself that he needed to think about it for a little while before he committed himself to giving her the best gift of all. She forgot to ask him about insurance money. She was going to need some cash before too much longer. Yes, he’d do it because he liked giving her things that she wanted. And this would be the best of all presents.

She must have dozed off or something because when she woke, she was alone in the room. Remembering her Daddy and what he was going to do for her made her giddy with excitement. There might even be something on the news about it. When the nurse came into her room, she asked for a newspaper or a television. How else would she know that he’d started already but by seeing it or reading about it? After another shot in her arm, she really was going to have to do something about that. She started to doze off again.

Daddy was going to do it. He was going to make this happen for her. She just knew it. Then she’d be so happy. Making sure she looked her best, she didn’t want the police, when they came to tell her about the murders, to be appalled at her appearance. She let the drugs take her under.

Waking up again, making sure that she was alone in the room again, she smiled when she thought of her Daddy making things happen for her. He should just want to do things for her as she’d been his beautiful daughter. She didn’t count Cass, hoping by now that she was dead.

Trying to move around on the cot, she realized she was still chained up. It was frustrating for her that she had to continue on this ruse to make people here think that she was insane. She wasn’t and realized that she should have had her Daddy make sure to tell them that she was as sane as anybody else. She would get out when the time was right, she supposed. But the waiting was going to be hard on her. Cynthia liked to have her plans all laid out in a neat row before she could start on them, like the thing with her Daddy. He’d do it even if it was only for her. She was and had always been a daddy’s little girl, and now was no different. Her door opened, and she saw it was one of the male attendants.

“It’s time to eat your supper, Ms. Warmer.” She held up her hands for him to remove the cuffs. Her legs would have to be loosened, too, because she had to pee. “No, I’m going to feed you today. You have to go to the bathroom? If so, I need to get a bedpan for you.”

“I’m not pissing in the bed. Let me up so that I can do it by myself.” He told her she wasn’t going to be released, if ever. “What’s that supposed to mean? I have to be released. I’m as sane as you are.” He laughed.

“You’re going to be locked down for the rest of your life after the stunt you tried to pull. By the way, I’m to tell you that none of your family will ever come to visit you. Your father told the head administrator what you told him to do. He said he’s not going to do it, but he wanted to give us a heads up about you never leaving here. I think that’s a safe bet now.” She told him that was told in confidence. “You’re being recorded twenty-four/seven now. Everyone is. I guess it sucks to be you.”

When he started shoveling in her food, she didn’t get to say anything else. She wanted to spit it in his face, but she’d learned not to do that the last time she was here. They held her food, and being on the restrictions like she was, he might not come to her when she needed to pee, like she did now.

It was humiliating to have someone lift you up so that you could get on a bedpan. He was making sure that she didn’t get her gown wet, so he had it pulled up to her breasts. And since she was chained up, he had to wipe her, too. She’d never felt so embarrassed in her life as she was at this moment. When he finished, he actually praised her for having so much urine. Christ, she was going to kill this mother fucker as soon as she was released. There was no point in her being chained up like an animal. She was a grown assed woman.

When he finally left her, a nurse came into her room telling her it was time for her medications. This time, she was able to ask why they were keeping her drugged up when she was so obviously fine. She told her that she was to take her medications every six hours until she heard differently from the doctor.

“But I’d not count on him changing things up for you. Your father said you wanted him to kill your family so that you can be the center of attention.” Cynthia said that was made in private. “There isn’t anything you do or say that is private anymore. You’re being recorded, voice too, all the time. But especially when you have visitors. But you’re not likely to get any more of those now, are you? Your father said that none of them were coming here ever again. We’ve been told about your plot to have him kill off your brother and sister. Even your mom. He won’t do it. Just so you know. He’s a nice man and wouldn’t do that kind of thing ever.”

Surely, her daddy would do it. He agreed that he would. Well, maybe he didn’t agree, but he didn’t tell her that he’d not do it. But the more she thought about it, she came to the realization that he had told her that he’d never do it. Did that mean that he didn’t love her anymore? She for sure knew that it meant that Cass would still be around. And getting all the attention that she could get for herself. Damn it all to fuck and back. Why were they all treating her this way?

~*~

Conri put the phone back on the cradle. He looked at Cass and decided that he wasn’t going to keep anything from her. Starting right now with telling her about the things that happened with her dad today. The man was distraught and angry. And he didn’t know that he’d be feeling the same way if it had happened to him.

“Before you tell me, I want you to know that I’m not as fragile as I looked. I mean, I might be small—though I think everyone is small compared to you—but I might be small, but I’ve been dealing with Cynthia all my life. So that being said, what did she do to my dad?” He told her everything. Including the part where he was to kill them both so that she’d be the center of attention. “Okay, that’s a bit more than I think…did she really ask my dad to kill us?”

“Yes. And I forgot to mention that she’s claiming that she killed Margaret and her unborn son, too. I think that has your dad the most upset. That she’d killed an innocent child.” The tears were streaming down her face, and he so wanted her to not be upset about her sister anymore. “I’m sorry, love. I truly am. I can’t believe that she was ever released in the first place.”

“Something about her being a model patient. I think she was planning on getting out so that she could harm me. She’s not liked me since I got boobs.” The burst of laughter had her glaring at him. Then she laughed, too. “I’m sorry. I could have said that differently, but that’s when it all started with her not liking me. She used to hurt me, too. Then, when Dad came to me about moving in with my Grandma, I leapt at the chance. So when I turned seventeen, and grandma died, I just stayed in her house with plans of staying there until I got out of college.”

“What sort of things did she do to hurt you? I mean, you were just a kid when she got out the first time, weren’t you?” She told him that she was just shy of being sixteen. “Not a child at all. I’m sure it must have been hard on you.”

“She cut my hair once. If I’d not been paying attention to things going on around me, I might well have been bald. I was taking driving lessons, and she cut the lines to the brakes. That was scary and would have been dangerous, but the driving instructor was driving at that time. She confessed to that by being pissed off because I wasn’t killed. She tried to set fire to me once. The things she did to me never hurt me all that much because I’d learned to be on alert around her. I was never relaxed when she was pretending to be nice, either. She couldn’t fool me.” He told her he was sorry. “So am I. We could have been such great friends, I think. Maybe not. It’s hard to tell with her. Mom would come and see me at Grandma’s just to get away from her. She was constantly wanting her to take Cynthia out to lunch at the county club in Newark. She didn’t even have a membership there. The funny part is, she just wanted mom to crash the place so that it would be all over the news at how this deranged mother wanted her daughter to be seen by country club people.”

“And now she’s been put away indefinitely. Your dad is to be notified if they think about releasing her. I would imagine that it would take a lot for her to be getting out now. What with the things that she did to the house and wanting to kill your family.” Cass told him that she’d killed before, and they let her out. “I guess that’s true. I never heard of her until now. I mean, wouldn’t it have been in the newspaper?”

“That was Dad. He didn’t want to hurt my brother’s chances at becoming Mayor. Howie would have been good as Mayor of his town, but after Margaret was killed, he just never recovered. I don’t know what it’s going to do to him when he finds out that she killed his wife and child. Margaret was almost eight months pregnant at the time.

He held her in his arms when she began crying again. It was all he could do not to shift and go find the other woman. She’d done so much to her own family that he found it hard to believe that she was part of the Warmer family. There was no doubt that she had a few screws loose, but he’d not say that to Cass. She was hurting badly enough.

Opening his eyes, not sure when he’d fallen asleep, Cass was still in his arms, but his brother Yanick was in the room. Asking him through their link how long he’d been there, he said it had only been a couple of minutes. Then he asked him what he could do for him.

“I have three of those projects that you asked me to look into. One of them is going to be a bust. There aren’t any volunteers who work at the hospital that are under the age of seventy. While they more than likely could do the job, I don’t know that many of them would want to go around delivering meals to people, too. Who suggested that?”

“The hospital administrator. He said it would cut down on the need for trained task assistants who get paid to do that.” Yanick said it figured. “I didn’t think it would work either. There isn’t a lot of the volunteers there in the first place, and like you said, they’re not young people who have the energy to do that sort of thing. What about the other two jobs?”

“I’m still looking into the one about the greenhouse. I didn’t think about growing the baskets filled with flowers locally. They spend upwards of three hundred dollars on each of the ones that are put on the street lights. Then they have to be watered, too. But I’m still looking into that one. I don’t suppose you know who is in charge of that, do you?” He told him to try maintenance. They might be the ones doing it. “Good idea. The third one I’m just going to forget about. With your notes on it and the way I see the town thinking about buying them shirts to do themselves is a wash. The Twelfth Man Club is a bunch of cheerleaders and their moms running the place, and I don’t know that they’d want to print-screen their own shirts. Too messy and time-consuming. It’s a good plan and would save them a bunch of money, but I don’t see anyone doing it.” Cass woke up then.

“I’m sorry. I must have been a little tired. I’ve not been sleeping well.” She smiled at his brother. “How are things going with you, Yanick? I heard you had a date with Missy Albert, and it didn’t go the way she wanted it.” His face got beet red, and now he had to know what happened.

“If not for you, she would have had enough evidence to make me have to marry her. I’m steering clear of her family from now on.” He asked what had happened. “Cass gave me a heads up about Missy being pregnant by her boyfriend. I guess it’s all over town that the boyfriend isn’t stepping up to the plate. He doesn’t trust that he’s the only one that has been with her. Well, I wasn’t going to either. Apparently, she’s been telling everyone that she’s going to have my child. I put a stop to that immediately. I said that I would sue if she kept running her mouth. I’d never heard the rumors, but Cass did and told me about them. Her dad wanted me to marry her so they could get their house ‘fixed up real nice,’ he said.”

It wasn’t funny, but he laughed. That sort of thing had been happening to them since before it was known they were wealthy. Being shifters made it so there was no chance for Missy to have Yanick’s baby, but he did wonder at the evidence she had.

“Yanick had donated a bunch of clothing to the clothing drive, and she’d gotten ahold of some of his clothing through that. It was iffy if the police were going to believe him or not.” Cass stood up and hugged Yanick. “I always have your back. Remember that.”

When she left them to their business, he sat up straighter in his chair. Yanick asked him if he’d been able to find out anything about Cindy, something that they’d all been calling her since the house incident. He told him what he’d told Cass, the entire thing.

“I can’t imagine having a family member like that. I mean, Dad was bad, and he knocked us around a bit, but he never would have killed us, I don’t think.” Conri didn’t say anything, but Yanick didn’t seem to notice. “Well, I need to get going. I have some things I have to take care of at the house. I’ve decided to have all the carpets pulled up and replaced with hardwood floors. It’s apparently the way to go nowadays. Also, before I forget to tell you, I’ve been out to the greenhouse a couple of times. It’s coming along nicely, and the people working there seem to be having a good time.”

“Good to know. Brew asked me about it the other day, and I’d not had a chance to get out there. Thanks. I don’t suppose you’ve been to the car dealership? I heard good things going on out there since they figured out the commission checks and when they can get them.” He said that he’d not but would go out there tomorrow. “Thanks. I want to be here when Howard and Elizabeth come home. They’re not going to be in a good place when they talk to Howie.”

After his brother left, he went to find Cass. She’d not eaten anything last night, and he was worried about her. This thing with her sister was taking its toll on everyone in town, too. But he was especially worried about the Warmer family and Cass.

“I was just going to have a cup of tea. Would you like some?” He told her that he’d love a cup. “Good. I’ve been thinking about us and wondering if you’d sleep with me tonight. Not today. I want to talk to my dad and mom when they get back. They’re devastated, I would imagine. I know that I am. And we don’t even have to have sex, but just sleeping on you earlier, I slept better than I have in a while. What do you think?”

He couldn’t speak. His body was so ready for her that he didn’t know if he could go on much longer, sleeping in his big bed all by himself. When he realized she was waiting for an answer, he sat up on the stool and tried to remember how to speak. Smiling at her, he told her that he was there for her for whatever she needed him for.

“So you’re all right with sleeping next to me without sex.” It wasn’t a question, but he felt that he needed to answer her. “All throughout eternity, you don’t care to have sex with me.”

It was a trap. He didn’t know how he’d tumbled down the path that was going to get him into trouble, but he was as sure as he could be that he was on the crest of a fall that was going to have him regretting opening his mouth. Finally, he decided on the truth.

“I would have sex with you on this table with the tea cups rattling around. Against the wall, the door, hell, even the floor. But not until you say that you want it. And I stand by that. If you want to just sleep with me through all eternity, then I’ll figure out some way to make it happen for you. Forever.” She looked at him like she didn’t know him. “I told you before, if you want to have sex or make love with me, then you’re going to have to tell me. I’ll not force you into anything ever. I promise you that on the heart of my mother, you’re safe with me.”

“I see.” She didn’t move when the tea kettle began to scream the steam out of the little spout. She did, however, move the cups off the table and to the counter. When she turned her back to him, he decided that he could take in a deep breath, and it nearly killed him when he realized that she was in heat. As soon as she turned back to him, his breath caught in his throat. She was crying. “I don’t know how to be sexy. Or how to start sex with someone. I’ve had it before, but it was more of a one-night stand that didn’t mean anything to either of us. I don’t want that with you.”

“I don’t either. And honey, if you were to be any more sexy than you are right now, I’d be a dead man. I swear to you, you’re the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen. And I love you with all that I am.” She nodded, wiping at her tears. “Don’t cry, honey. It breaks me down inside to see you crying over something that I’ve said or done to you. I’m so sorry that you don’t feel like you’re sexy. You are. So much so.”

“Will you make love to me tonight? I know that’s hours from now, but I really do want to be there for my mom and dad. Howie is coming over as well tonight. I’m thinking that by the time dinner rolls around, they’re going to be going to bed. This sort of thing wears them out. You know, stress. Howie will be stressed too about Margaret and his son, but—I’m babbling. I do that when I’m nervous.” He told her that he loved her. “I’m glad you didn’t say that you loved me when I babble, or I’d be doing it all the time. You make me nervous.”

“Why?” She told him. “I don’t actually lift cars for fun, you know. I’m just this big because I’m the alpha. I do keep in shape. And as soon as the two of us bond or make love, you’ll be stronger, too. Not like me, but you’ll be able to handle yourself all the time, too.”

“So, you’re all right with sleeping with me tonight? I don’t know how sexy I’ll be after talking with my parents, but I want you in my bed.” He told her he’d be there for her. “Good. Something epic to look forward to.” She kissed him on the mouth and left him there. He’d not gotten any tea either.