Page 8 of Weston (Sheppard’s Shadow #4)

Weston stood in the shower, holding onto the walls as the water sprayed down his body. It had been a hell of a week so far, and it was only Tuesday. Wondering how he was going to be able to do this full-time, he nearly screamed when someone touched him from behind. Turning, he pulled Rogen into his arms and held her.

“I don’t know why they’d have you tell the family that he died. It wasn’t as if he was related to any of you.” He told her what he’d been told from the police station. “Oh. Well, I suppose when you put it like that, I guess it was all right for you to break the news to me, then I tell them. That’s the way it happened anyway.”

Danny had been in his cell when a water main broke in the ceiling. He’d not been hurt, and there was very little water in his cell at that time. But he’d freaked out when his toilet had been flushed, and the water came up out of it, knocking him back. He’d been killed when he slipped on the wet floor and hit his head on the bed in his cell. It was a terrible accident that was going to cost the city in compensation for his family if they asked for it.

“Danny didn’t have any family but Sandy. His parents died when he was just a child, and he had no brothers or sisters.” He asked about cousins or anyone. “Not that I’m aware of. As far as I remember, no one showed up at the wedding that they had, and since then, I’ve never heard of anyone coming around. It’s just as well he’s gone. I’m assuming that there would have been a long-assed trial for him.”

“The feds are handling anything that might come from this accident. I’m going to let them, too. I’m only temporary here, and that’s how they want to run it. I’m very all right with them taking that part over.” She agreed and laid her head on his chest. “I have a long day today as well. I don’t know when I’ll be back.”

“I understand. I do, as well. We’ve broken ground for the fire station house, so we’re working on getting the ground prepped for the foundation. After that, we have the foundation for the school to prep as well. I don’t know how that’s going to work. The school and the station are several blocks apart, but we were asked to do it, and I’m going to try my best to get it finished up in time for school next fall.”

As they finished up their shower and got dressed, the two of them headed down to breakfast. They’d been working so hard, the two of them, that they were missing each other. Once this thing with the Feds was over and he could get things going on a normal workweek, he was going to take his lovely mate out to dinner and perhaps a nice hotel for the two of them to enjoy a night away from everything going on in their lives.

By the time he got to his offices, Belinda was already there. He loved having her around, and now that she was back to work, too, he had a lot of things for her to do. She’d taken some time off when she’d realized that Danny had indeed killed her family and then how they’d died. He wasn’t sure that he’d be able to function again after all that. But she was determined. She told him not to let him get her down. He had to wonder if she’d heard about his death.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” She’d put up her hand when he tried to explain what had happened to the man in the jail. “I’m going to hope that he suffered slightly before dying, and that will be the end of my thoughts on him. He is nothing to me, and I don’t want to talk about him again.”

“All right. I can understand that.” They got right to work, and by the time lunch rolled around, he was on his way to having the first bit of free time that he’d had since taking over the position of mayor of his little town.

After lunch, he had three calls that he had to make regarding new businesses coming to town. He’d been studying up on the things that he could offer potential businesses and thought that he’d done a good job of selling their town. After the second call, he was called back by the sheet manufacturing company, saying that they’d spoken to their board members and were willing to come to town to look the acreage over where they’d be able to build. He wanted to shout to the world that they were coming, but all he did was act professional and tell them he’d set up the meet and greet as soon as this week.

However, after the call, he did do a little gig in his office while talking to his brothers and mate. This was going to be a big deal soon, and he was happy that he got to be a big part of it. Archie and the others were proud of him, too, they told him. Weston was very proud of himself as well.

It took nearly the rest of the day to set up the meetings that he had for the following day. He supposed he was showing his hand, being this cooperative, but he didn’t care. The sooner the building was up and running, the sooner income was coming into the town and the people here. He picked up his phone when it started to ring.

“Acting Mayor Sheppard here, can I help you?” There was a sound like a small intake of breath at the other end, and he waited. When no one answered him, he tried again. “Hello, this is Weston Sheppard, acting mayor. Can I help you?”

“This is George Hathaway. Why are you sending the federal government after me? I no longer live in your town, and I want this harassment to stop right now before I have to sue you.” Just as he was about to answer him, Agent Cryer, one of the men who had been working with him, came into his office, followed by Belinda. “I’m on vacation, and you having me arrested—or attempting to is messing with my time. Didn’t my son tell you to stop looking into my life? I have things just about where I want them.”

The agent handed him a note and said to ask the man. After asking Hathaway where the rest of the money was, the man shrieked at him, telling him that he’d gotten it fair and square. That he wasn’t to worry about that again. He was told to put it on speakerphone and to try to keep the man on the line for as long as he could. Taking his cues from the agent, he asked him where the money was again.

“I have it in good hands. My wife and I didn’t make enough money for that job, and I deserved a bigger cut. Do you have any idea how…well, perhaps you do. Knowing how hard the job is, you’d have to understand what I was doing in order to see that I worked very hard for the money I have now. You’re not getting it back.” He was told to ask why he called him. “To have you stop sending the feds after me. Damn it, man, they’re looking for me everywhere, and I’m running out of patience with you in sending them after me. I’m not going to give up the money, and that’s all there is to it. Find it someplace else. That’s what I had to do to get some.”

“You stole it from the town.” Hathaway asked him why he’d care he was just a temp in the whole mess. “Because I’d like for this town to be here in twenty years. The money that you stole from here was to go for a new school, a new fire station, and for the new jail. Because of you, a man was killed when the water main that you knew about burst and killed someone.”

“You are not going to blame that on me. I don’t care about that little town in only that it gave me enough money that I could retire on. And then you come around having the feds coming after me every time I turn around. I’ve had to move twice because of you and I don’t plan on it again. I like it right well in the Bahamas.” Weston looked at Cryer, and he winked at him. “Now you listen here, young man, I’ve had about enough of your bothering me. You just do whatever you need to do to keep them off my back, and I’ll send you a bit of cash. It won’t be enough for you to live the high life, but it will give you a start on understanding why I’m not there anymore. Little towns are the best for robbery.”

“Did you just admit to me that you knew you were robbing the town of its taxes and other funds?” Hathaway laughed and said it wasn’t like the feds were ever going to find him. So yeah, he was admitting to it. “You’re a fool. And a thief. I hope they catch you wherever you are and throw the book at you, you slimy piece of shit.”

While Hathaway kept bragging about his ill-gotten gains, Cryer stepped out of the office and pulled out his cell phone. He couldn’t hear what was going on at the other end of the call. He heard the man tell whomever he was talking to that their man was in the Bahamas and had given them coordinates to find him. Weston hoped that he was talking to the man when they found him.

“You know what, I remember you now, you little pisser. You and your brothers were children of that bitch of a mother of yours. I remember her beating the shit out of you whenever you were out of her sight. Yes, now there was a good citizen. I believe it was her, too, who told me that I needed to make sure that the jail was taken care of so that she could—didn’t she get herself killed in the jail? Something to do with you boys of hers?” He laughed, and Weston listened to him talking about his mother. “Yes, that was it. Wasn’t it? She got herself killed by something going on at the jail. Oh, what a woman she was, that one. I think you’re well and good rid of her. She certainly knew how to keep me in order.”

A few minutes later, the line was disconnected, and he hung up the phone. Looking at Cryer and knowing the look on his face was a good one, he had to laugh. He’d bet anything that the fugitives in the Bahamas were well and truly caught. He just wished he’d been able to see the look on Hathway’s face when they showed up at his door while still on the phone with him.

“It’s still going to be a while for the money to come back to the town.” He told him that he’d figured no less. “I’ll be able to get you some money on helping out that will come to you personally that you can get. You were instrumental in getting them arrested.”

“Will they come back here to serve out any jail time?” He didn’t so much as blink. “I see. I don’t really, but I guess I can understand why they’d not be here. It would be a big deal to the town to have them in jail here, I’m betting.”

“We’ll keep you in the loop on what we can, Mr. Sheppard. But you have to realize that there is a great deal that we can’t tell you.” He told him that he understood. “Thank you for that. And as I said, there is a reward amount coming to you for your help in their capture. I only hope that it is enough to make you know what a great help you have been.”

He didn’t know how much of a help he’d been. The man had called him. He had a feeling that Belinda had called the agent and alerted him to the call, but she only told him that he was caught, and that was all that mattered. Weston decided that he’d give her the money, no matter what it was, because of all the people he knew, she deserved it more than most.

The rest of the day was spent on going over contracts with Jameson. He said he was getting good at them and could spot trouble right away. He hoped that his little brother would be able to open his own offices soon. He deserved it, too.

By the time he was ready for home, having spoken to Rogen several times throughout the day, he was exhausted again. The day had ended on a good note, the money had been transferred to his account just over an hour later, and he, in turn, transferred it to Belinda’s account. It was just under five hundred thousand dollars, and she cried when she realized what he’d done. While Belinda wasn’t really his sister-in-law like Sandy was, he still loved her as if she were one. She had been through a great deal, and he wanted her to be happy.

Rogen wasn’t home when he got there. She was still on the job site, working on one of the things going on around town. Gathering up what he’d need to go and see her, he had packed up a picnic dinner for the two of them. He was pulling into the lot just as the equipment was being turned off.

“I thought we’d have us a little us time.” Rogen was all for it and told him she knew just the place they could dine. As soon as they were in the little tree grouping, he thought of all the things that he wanted to do to his lovely mate. But she was falling asleep on his watch, and it was all he could do to get her to eat dinner. She’d been working much too hard, and he needed to do something about it.

After making a few calls, he was able to get Sandy to cover for her sister the next day. Taking her home, Rogen kept telling him that she was all right when he knew better. He didn’t think she was sick or anything; she was just exhausted. As soon as he got her home, telling her that she had the entire next day off, she went to bed and closed her eyes. Weston watched over her as she slept.

~*~

Rogen felt better than she had in a while. Rolling out of bed, she took a quick shower and decided that since it was her that messed up the picnic yesterday evening, she’d go see Weston in his office and break a few pieces of furniture while playing around with him. Almost as soon as she closed the door to his office—telling Belinda to go away, she sat on his desk with the food and fed him grapes while telling him what she was going to do to him.

“First things first, I’m going to feed you so that you have plenty of strength to fuck me.” He took the grapes from her and nearly choked, trying to get them in his mouth. “You idiot. Don’t kill yourself. We have the rest of the day to have some fun.”

“What kind of fun did you want to have? I’m all for it no matter what.” She told him that she wanted him right there on his desk. “My pleasure. I just have a few things to move here so that we don’t break them. Then I plan on breaking you.”

Putting his laptop on the floor, he moved the picnic basket to be beside it. As his movements were slow, she could feel her pussy getting wetter by the moment. When he put his hand on her legs, she was so glad she’d worn a dress. It made things much easier for the two of them. Then he planted her feet onto the arms of his chair. As he held them there, stroking the inside of her ankle, all she could think about was him having her. Any way that he wanted.

Weston moved his hands up under her skirt slowly to her thighs, and then he pulled her panties off. She knew that he could smell her. She could smell herself. That spike of need was taking her breath away. It was all she could do not to pull him to her and have him eat her. When he asked her to lie back on the desk, Rogen did as he asked and waited. She didn’t have long to wait as he buried his mouth over her and suckled at her pussy, bringing her up off the desk quickly, only to be pushed back down by his gentle hands.

The climax took her breath away. It had hit her hard and consumed her. Even as Weston fucked her with his tongue, she held onto the sides of the desk and enjoyed herself. Christ, he was good at this, and she didn’t want it to ever end.

She came so many times, from hard climaxes that took her breath away to small, short releases that seemed to come from the bottom of her feet to her head. She was left feeling like she couldn’t go on to wanting more from him so that she could hit the epic climax that would render her unconscious. Rogen wanted it all.

Putting her legs up and over his shoulders, Rogen rode his mouth, using her hips and legs to do so. His tongue was doing all kinds of things to her pussy, fucking her and licking her from gate to clit that she came so many times that she didn’t know if she’d survive. Weston slid one of his fingers into her pussy, and she nearly came up off the desk. Grabbing a handful of his hair, she pressed him tighter against her and begged him for more.

Rogen was limp with her releases and didn’t know if she could handle even one more. She could barely move when Weston stood up. She thought for sure that he was finished with her, so she tried to sit up to touch him. Instead, he worked his pants open and teased her pussy with his cock. It was too much, and she begged him to stop. But all he did was slam his cock deep within her.

She came screaming his name. Reaching up to hold onto him, she was delighted when he leaned over her and took her mouth. She could taste herself on his lips, and it was delicious. Even as he fucked her, slowly like he was trying to torture her, she knew that deep in her heart that when she came with him, she was going to come apart, holding onto the only man that she would ever love.

He abused her breasts, her nipples, and throat with his mouth. As he suckled at her breasts, he nibbled too at her nipples, making them hard and painfully full feeling. Rogen wanted more from him, everything that he could give her, and she knew that if asked, he would give her the moon.

Wrapping her legs around his waist, he filled her more. Tightening her pussy around him, she heard his moan of pleasure. Just as she was starting to feel like her body was readying for a release, she held onto him. As he fucked her harder, quicker, with each stroke feeling like it was hitting her in the back of the throat, her body readied for what was to come. When he stiffened and threw back his head, she marveled at the sight of him coming as he growled deep in his body. Christ, she nearly forgot to come watching him in all his glory. When she came then, her body bowing back on the desk, Rogen blacked out just as Weston was telling her that he was coming again.

When she woke, she was on his lap, his cock still deep inside of her while he held her. He was breathing hard, as hard as she was, and it was wonderful. Tightening her arms around him, he kissed her on the mouth and asked her if she was all right.

“I’m not sure.” He laughed a little and said he was feeling the same way, like the rug had been pulled out from under him, and he’d had the most delightful time. “I feel like I’ve been turned inside out. Then turned the other way until it just wore me out.”

“I’m feeling like that too. I love you, Rogen Sheppard.” She kissed him, a quick kiss on the mouth as he held her. “I hope you brought food with you. I skipped lunch today to do some banking, and I could eat a horse.”

They dined on the food that she’d brought. It wasn’t nearly enough, so they ordered takeout and had it delivered to their home. On the way there, walking as she had to come and see him, she told him how her day had begun, and he told her about the check he’d had transferred to Belinda. She thought that she’d cry. She’d married such a wonderful person in Weston. And she couldn’t believe that she’d not wanted anything to do with him at the beginning.

The food arrived just as they were getting out of the hot tub. Having it delivered at six when they wanted it had been perfect. Her body wasn’t nearly as sore as she’d been walking home, but she was happy, too. The tub had done them both a great deal of good. Now, all they had to do was eat and enjoy the rest of the evening together. It was just the way she thought couples did an early night of debauchery.

After eating their dinner, the two of them sat on the couch and read the newspaper. It didn’t take all that long, there were only about four pages of it, and most of it had to do with the sports around town. She found herself dozing off just as the clock was chiming for nine o’clock, and she was ready for bed. Getting a good night’s sleep was paramount after spending some good fucking time in his office. She might have to take him in his dinner more often if she felt like this at the end of the day.

Laughing, she made her way to bed with Weston. They both had plenty to do and to take care of, but she thought that she could stand it better if they were to take time for each other instead of catching little bits of time when they could manage it. The evening had been perfect, and she couldn’t have been more happier if she’d been able to spend a week in bed with Weston. This is what she had wanted all along. To be loved and taken care of by the man that she loved.

At midnight, she heard the phone ringing. It wasn’t any ring that she knew, so she let it go. Getting up to go to the bathroom, she did look to see who it was and noticed that it was an unknown number. Putting the phone back on the stand, she did her business and headed back to bed. Just as she was lying down, it rang again. Picking it up, she decided that at one in the morning, she didn’t need to be nice.

“You’d better have a good reason for calling me at this hour. If not, then I’m going to hunt you down and—” The caller said she was her mother. “My mother is gone. Thanks for bringing that up. She died about ten years ago now.”

“I didn’t actually die but was in a coma. Your father told them to tell you that.” She didn’t know whether or not to believe her. Then she started spouting off things that only she would know. Or someone that had done a good background check on her. “Do you believe me now?”

“No. I don’t know who this is, but surely you could have called at a better hour than one in the morning.” She told her that she’d only just arrived in town. “Good for you. If you are my mother, which I still don’t believe that you are, you know that I’m a very hard-working person who needs to be in bed by ten to get up at an ungodly hour to work. Who is this really?”

“My name is Glenda Watson. I’ve been looking for you and your brothers and sister for the last three months. If not for the advertisement in the paper, I might well still be looking.” Lying down, snuggling next to Weston as he asked her who it was, she told him that someone saying she was her mother was calling. He, too, couldn’t believe it was now that she decided to call. “What will it take for you to believe that I’m your mother? I don’t know what else to tell you.”

“Call back tomorrow at a decent hour. I’m not saying that I’ll believe you anymore, but I know that right now, I’m pissed off because of the time and the fact that you were supposed to have died nearly five years ago. Where is Dad in all this? I heard, too, that he’s gone to another country just to deal with his grief. Nothing you can say will change my mind at this hour. Call back tomorrow.”

Hanging up on her mom gave her a satisfaction that she’d never felt before. Rogen had never gotten along with her mom, her father, either for that matter, but telling her that she was still alive when she’d gone to her funeral with the rest of her family just wasn’t cutting it. Awake now, she got out of bed and made her way downstairs to look on the computer about her mother’s death.

She’d been in a car accident while driving drunk. It would have taken a great deal of alcohol to get her mom drunk as she was a shifter, too, but at the time, neither she nor any of the others had thought about that. Their mother had been drinking since they were born and didn’t really think about how much it would take for her to be drunk enough to have an accident and die. It just didn’t make any sense as to why she’d come around now.

If she remembered correctly, it had been Calhoun who had notified them of her death. She thought about waking him up to see what he had to say, but just as she was convincing herself that this was all a scam for some reason, her brother called her.

“I just heard from someone telling me that she was our mom.” She told him that she’d gotten the same call just a little while ago. “I hung up on her. I don’t know what sort of scam this is, but I’m not playing with her. Mom died, and the insurance policies that we had paid off. We went to the funeral and had a party in her honor. Who is this person that is trying to cause trouble?”

“Did you actually tell her that we had a party in her honor?” He said that he’d not but wished that he had. “Why couldn’t any of this have waited until a decent hour? She told me that she just got into town, and I no more believe that than I do she’s our mom. What do you suppose is going on right now?”

“Hang on, I’m getting a call from Toby. He’s going to be pissed.” When she hung up the phone, she reached out to her family to get things settled up about this. If this person really was their mother, why the fuck didn’t she reach out to them all instead of using a phone. And how did she get her phone number? There were more questions than answers about this, and she wanted to hunt her down and figure this out. “She said that she was in a coma for the last few years and that Dad lied to us.”

They had each heard from her by now, and the only one who hadn’t had been Belinda. If the person really was her mother, then she’d missed out on a lot of things. Like the death of Benson and the grandchildren, Belinda moving to Ohio to start a new life, and even Toby’s kids, all of them under the age of seven.

“I was just thinking about contacting Dad. It’s been a while, but I should be able to talk to him.” Calhoun said he’d do it now. “All right. I know that we should more than likely wait until later in the morning, but whatever this woman is up to, it’s not going to go over well with anyone if she’s lying.”

Calhoun didn’t contact their dad with all of them on the same link. She thought that was smart of him. If she was indeed alive, then he’d be the one to get pissed off at their father rather than all of them at one time. If she was really alive, she was going to be really pissed off at both of them. There just wasn’t any reason for them to be told that she was dead when she had been kicking around for some time now. At least the three months she’d told her that she was looking for them. And that, too, bothered her. Why didn’t she reach out? Why do this on the phone? No reason that she could think of other than she wasn’t really their mother.

Weston joined her in the office and brought her a cup of tea and some of the cookies that had been in their picnic dinner tonight. She was just munching on them when her brother contacted her again. The news wasn’t good.

“Whoever she is, she’s not our mother.”