Chapter 12
Erin walked into the barn being used as an office for Jason, Ilsa, and Kevin and stood there for several minutes to allow her eyes to adjust from being out in the bright sunlight.
She saw all three with their heads bent, and watched for several seconds.
She grinned when Jason lifted his head and gave a start at seeing her there.
“Is everything okay?”
“Yes, I didn’t want to disturb you.”
“We can take a break.”
“How’s the case going?”
“Good, we were given a windfall and have been combing through the details.” He waved his hand to indicate all the papers strewn on the table between the three of them, then several stacks off to the side sitting on another table. “Did you need something?”
“Yes. I’m not accusing you of anything, but no one’s seen you except for coming and going for weeks.”
“What do you mean, weeks?” Ilsa asked as she leaned back in her chair and rubbed the back of her neck like she was in pain.
“Tomorrow is Thanksgiving.”
“What? No, we haven’t been here that long!” She looked at the men and saw shock on their expressions also. “You’re telling us we’ve been here for three weeks already?”
“Well, technically, it has been four. I just wanted to check in with you. I told you when you first arrived that we use this building as a meeting place. I’m here to let you know that people will be in and out all day getting ready for the Thanksgiving dinner we’re planning for around four.
The people coming and going will be dropping off crockpots of their dish to pass, and plugging them in here. ”
“What do you want us to bring?” Kevin asked as he leaned back in his chair to stretch.
“We’ve got the basics pretty much covered, you know turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, squash, corn casserole, biscuits, and pies. If there’s anything you always serve for the holiday, or a family favorite, feel free to bring it. Like I said, we’ll be eating at four.”
“Thanks,” Jason said, and looked at the others in confusion.
“What’s wrong?”
“One, I never learned how to cook until I arrived here, Ilsa and Kevin have been showing me some basics. With that said, I don’t know of any special family dishes.
I’m only stating this because I haven’t celebrated any holiday in over thirty years.
When I left for college, I never went back home.
Not that I didn’t want to, and I’m not saying this to cry in my soup, but my parents were just enough of a couple of bastards to disown me because I went to college.
I should have been a golden story, first one to ever attend, and all that, but no, I was treated like a piranha because I didn’t want to continue to live in poverty.
I was able to get a full ride scholarship, and worked at law offices during the holidays.
When I did attempt to go home, they wouldn’t let me in.
They even threw all my things I left behind away.
” He shook his head sadly, then looked at them with a smirk.
“What?” Erin asked as she walked forward and took a seat across from him.
She loved hearing other people’s stories, and hoped that what she’d developed with Broken would help them heal.
Not that Jason was there to work with the horses and people at Broken, but maybe the atmosphere would calm him.
Not that he seemed upset, but it was something to think about.
“Ten years after I graduated in college, got my law license, and started working, one of my cousins saw me in the town I lived in at the time, halfway across the country from where I grew up. Anyway, you’ll never guess what they saw me doing.”
“What?” the others asked.
“I was a lowly prosecutor for the city I lived in, Charleston, North Carolina, and he was one of the men sitting in the waiting area in cuffs. As soon as I knew who it was, I had to tell the judge I had to recuse myself, because we were related by blood. He, my cousin, not the judge, was pissed to say the least. He thought because we were blood, I could get him off. I believe it was drug charges and driving under the influence of those drugs. There was no alcohol in his system, just drugs. I believe, by me recusing myself, that set my career on the right path. Because within a year after that time, I was promoted, then went up through the ranks.”
“Is that the only family you saw after they kicked you out?”
“No, my cousin was given six months in jail, and mandatory rehab once he got out. While he was in jail for those six months, he wrote letters to my parents and siblings, along with his parents telling them how successful I was.” He chuckled as he shook his head.
“He also said that I was so full of myself that I wouldn’t get him off on his charges.
One thing I forgot to mention was that when I went away to college, he got into trouble back home and his parents kicked him out.
He was the one that threw all my things out because my parents allowed him to move in with them and take over my room.
He basically took over my place in that home and didn’t want my things to remind him that he didn’t belong. ”
He leaned forward and emptied his coffee cup, then walked over and filled it from the pot they made every day. With the cup in his hand, he wandered around for several minutes before he went back to the table.
“After my cousin got out of jail, he showed up at my work with my parents, his parents, and all our siblings. Including me, there were twenty people in the reception area. They didn’t ask for me, they asked for my boss.”
“Why?” Erin asked in confusion.
“Because they thought if they went to my boss, he could force me to support them. If I refused, then they were willing to tell her, my boss, to make my paychecks out to them, and leave me with only five percent to live on.”
“Holy shit, that’s absurd. I take it she didn’t do that?”
“No, she told them to come back in two days’ time.
All of them. As soon as she left, she called me into her office and told me what they wanted.
Then she came up with a plan. We talked it over, and brought in several other lawyers from the office.
We were able to draw up legal papers that they would be served with if they continued to harass me. ”
“Oh god, this is like watching a train wreck.” Erin giggled. “Not that your life is funny, but I’m dying to know what happened when your family returned.”
“Well, they did return, and they were led into a conference room. It was standing room only,” he said with a shake of their head.
“The worst thing about the entire ordeal was that not one person asked me how I had been doing. They only wanted to know how much money they could get out of me. My boss started talking, and when I stepped forward, everyone asked me who I was. I didn’t think I had changed that much in ten years, but apparently I did.
They didn’t recognize me, and it was my boss that told them to sign the papers if they wanted to talk to me.
I know it was mean of us, and if they had been smart, they would have read them first.” He shook his head sadly, and looked off into the distance.
He didn’t see anyone there in the present, nor did he feel Ilsa’s hand on his, or realize he’d turned his hand to grip hers tightly.
He continued talking, still looking into the past. “As soon as they signed them, I gathered them up, made sure they were all signed, and nodded to my boss. One of the other lawyers present when they signed notarized the pages right before everyone. It was my parents that started telling us how much they expected me to send them every week, it was some stupid amount of like a thousand dollars.”
“Did you even make that much?”
“Nope, remember, I was with the county prosecutor’s office, and low on the totem pole. I made enough to pay my bills, and still save. I lived frugally at that time, and only had a one-bedroom apartment.”
“What were the papers they signed?” Kevin asked quietly.
“Termination of relationship, or thereabouts. When they threw me out, got rid of my things, and cut me out of their lives at eighteen, they went no contact with me. After about five years, I got a new phone and never put their contact information in the new one. We had already been no contact for those ten years. They never showed any interest in me until my cousin showed up in court. When he saw I was actually a lawyer, and not going to college to be one, that’s when he contacted the family.
Those papers, signed and notarized severed my ties with them.
” He shook his head and looked at Kevin with a smirk.
“Did I mention that they never even read what they signed?”
“They only wanted your money,” Erin said.
“Yes, after they were notarized, my boss took them and read them aloud, and as my family sat there in stunned silence, I walked out of the room. That was twenty-four years ago, and I haven’t spoken, or seen any member of my family since that day.”
“Wow, what happened next?” Erin asked.
“Because my cousin lived in the area, within three months I was transferred to Washington DC, and things started happening for me. It took another ten years for me to get the job with the DOD, but I don’t have any regrets with any decision I have ever made in my life, except for maybe the fact that I didn’t cut them off sooner.
Once I moved to DC, and my career took off, the money came along with it.
Not that I base things on money, but I’m extremely comfortable.
I own my home, I have a housekeeper that cooks, cleans, and looks after me.
However, she’s not a live-in. She has a family at home, and I make sure she’s well compensated for her time taking care of me.
” He suddenly grinned, and scrubbed his face.
“What did you do?” Ilsa asked as she took her hand back from him.
“I may or may not have set up a fund for her three children so when it comes time for them to attend college, they won’t have to take out student loans.
It’s not going to be a full ride, they’ll have to purchase their own books, and pay for their dorm, or someplace else to live, but they definitely won’t have to worry about tuition to any school they choose to attend.
Once this case is done, or at least once Grayson and the others involved are behind bars, then when I go home, I’ll tell Mr. and Mrs. Hastings about it. ”
“About that,” Erin said with a heavy sigh.
“I know you’re working on taking down some heavy hitters with the FBI, and I don’t want to disturb your work, but when you get a minute to breathe, I’d like to talk to you about my case.
” She looked between them with a frown. “I don’t know who would be better to take it, you or Ilsa. ”
“Why, what’s the difference?”
“You put people in jail, or try to, correct?”
“Yes.”
“And Ilsa, you defend people, right?”
“Yes, in a criminal case. I’m a criminal defense attorney.”
“Okay, I won’t get into all the details here, but there are three men sitting in jail, and their trial is fast approaching, like in May of next year. I got the word this morning. My lawyer called me, and he admitted that he wouldn’t feel comfortable representing me in this case.”
“Why?” the three of them asked.
“He’s a small-town family lawyer, mostly wills and estates. The guys sitting in jail have several felony charges against them, all because of what they tried to do to me. I want the book thrown at them, but I think I’m going to need a lawyer to help me. I’m willing to pay.”
“What is the case?” Ilsa asked as she grabbed a fresh pad of paper.
“I have the files in my office, but there are four men involved. I don’t want to say it’s complicated, but it is. I don’t want to take anything away from your investigation on Grayson.”
“Since we’re taking tomorrow off for the holiday,” Jason said.
“Why don’t you give us a brief rundown and we can decide.
You said their trail in on the docket for May of next year?
That gives us six months to look into it.
I’ve been known to work on several cases at a time.
” He paused and smiled gently at Erin. “Talk to us, Erin.”
Erin told them everything that happened with Paul Miller’s parents when they tried to take her ranch from her, and how they had almost succeeded in doing the same with Ducky.
She then went on to tell them all the problems she’d had when those criminals tried to steal a horse or two, about the attempt to seal her cattle, and how Ryan had gone undercover to help capture them, and how Duane had been involved. ”
“Holy shit, so this is a multi-state thing?” Kevin asked in shock.
“Yes, because they transferred guns over state lines, it’s a felony, and something to do with Federal. You’d have to ask Duane about it.”
“Oh my God,” Ilsa said in shock when she looked up from her notes, and stared at them with wide eyes and her mouth open.
“What is it?”
“Who got the guns for this Royal person?”
“I have no clue, why?”
“What if it was one of the guys that Grayson has under his thumb? One of his goons as Duane calls them, you know, people he extorts.”
Jason jumped to his feet to pace, and he looked at the others wild-eyed, the same way Ilsa had.
He turned to look at them and shook his head.
“This has the potential to be bigger than what we expected. If the person Royal obtained his guns from, then yes, it is a Federal case because they would have gotten them illegally from the FBI. I’m going to have to talk to Duane about this. Do you know if he’s in his office?”
“He’s not, he went to the grocery store for last minute items for tomorrow’s dinner. I’m sure you can talk with him later, or even tomorrow.”
“I suggest,” Kevin said soothingly, shaking his head and holding up his hand.
“No, hear me out. I suggest that you come up with some questions to ask Duane, and then give yourself a day’s rest. I’m sure we can come back to this on Friday with a clearer head.
I know I have several questions I’d like to ask him.
” He moved his own pad of paper he’d taken notes on.
“Maybe I should tell you about something else. Other people that are connected to Jason Royal.” Erin shook her head, rose to her feet, helped herself to a cup of coffee.
When she joined them again, she told them all about the trouble Naomi had gone through, and what her father and one of Royal’s best friends had done about taking life insurance policies out on Naomi.
When she left the trio several hours later, she left them with a lot to think about.