Keir’s Chapter
Keir:
Two days after a rather intense argument, followed by a meeting with the whole team and the Katz family, we had almost everything in place. All we had to do was finish one more task, then the trap would be set.
I was still scared, hoping another plan would come to mind that would make this one unnecessary.
However, eventually, I’d seen it from Fiona’s viewpoint.
And she was correct, I was biased and somewhat chauvinistic about it.
Plus, if I persisted in forcing my solution on her, I risked alienating her and losing her. I wouldn’t do that.
My team had voiced their thoughts, and it took a bit of talking to get everyone on board. When it happened, we moved into the planning phase. We talked that night and more yesterday. Between the discussions, we put the steps into place. I was still nervous, but I knew it had to be done.
When I wasn’t working on this, I talked to others who had heard Sentinels were in town and helped with the move.
We’d begun packing boxes and storing them in the garage in two groups – those to give away and those to take to Needles.
Trash was taken to the dump every few days, and donated items were dropped off at the local donation center.
No use in letting them pile up when we were there and could easily do it.
Plus, it helped to show we were making headway.
We’d discussed Gal's school situation. He had three and a half months left until the school year ended. Galen suggested that he and Gal stay in the house until he was finished, then they’d move to Needles.
I knew it wasn’t what Fiona wanted. We were going back and forth when we got a call from Banner last night.
“Hey, Banner, how’s it going?” I asked when I answered.
I was in the living room with everyone else. It was late evening.
“Hey, yourself. It’s going good.”
“Good. Calling just to chat?” I asked.
“No, I called to make things better for you and your new family.” There was a smugness to his tone.
“Better how?”
“Mind putting me on speaker? I think everyone will want to hear this,” he stated.
I did as he asked. All eyes were on me. They’d heard him just fine without the speakerphone.
“You have the floor,” I told him.
“Hey, everyone. It’s your favorite Sentinel and lawyer.
I heard there have been some questions about when all three of the Katz can join us in Needles.
Something about Gal needing to stay until the end of the school year.
Galen, I heard you plan to stay with him until then and let Fiona move ahead of time. ”
When he paused, Galen replied, “Yes, that’s the plan.”
“I have a different one. As soon as we wrap up the unfinished business there, all three of you move together, no waiting.”
“Banner, we talked, but it’s not fair to my brother to make him finish three months in a brand-new school. At least let him have a few months to adjust before he does his senior year. It’ll be hard enough as it is,” Fiona said.
“I agree. But that’s not what I mean. Gal will move and finish his junior year at his Phoenix school.”
“How?” Gal asked.
“Easy. You’ll do the final work remotely online.
You can connect with your classmates and even teachers via online coursework and video chats.
I checked. When all that craziness happened a few years ago with sickness and people staying in the house for months, hell, years, schooling had to continue.
Almost every school in the country had found ways to make it happen virtually.
It’s still a possibility. Now, if they try and say they can’t because that’s not necessary, I’ll draft the legal documents that say it is. ”
“Wait, how can you make them?” Fiona asked.
“They will. I found proof that they allow certain students from affluent families to take classes this way. They just don't advertise it. If they try to say no, I’ll threaten a lawsuit that will make it public knowledge that this option is available. I bet they’ll be inundated with requests for it.
They won’t want that. And if they still resist, we can prepare documentation showing that, due to Gal’s compromised immune system, he must attend school remotely.
And before you say he isn’t compromised, we know that. They won’t.”
“But they’ll ask for proof,” Galen stated.
“They will, but we have doctors who’ll swear to it. I don’t believe we’ll have to do it this way, but it's the backup option,” Banner added.
That had kicked off a lively, excited discussion that lasted twenty minutes before he wished us goodnight and hung up. Fiona, Galen, and Gal had been so happy at the end. None of them wanted to be separated that way, even for a few months.
I turned onto the street where the Katz house sat. The neighborhood was as rundown as it had been the first time we arrived. I was happy to take them somewhere they could have everything they wanted and the room to run in their animal forms.
I’d asked Fiona what they did currently when they wanted to let out their leopards, other than the small area Gal had shown us when we arrived.
She said there was a remote area outside of Phoenix they would go to, but there was always the risk that hikers or hunters would see them, so they had to be careful.
Between my property and that of all the Sentinels, which combined into a massive area, since we’d all bought and built homes in an organized manner, they’d have more than enough room to let out their leopards safely.
As the house came into view, I noted a strange car in the driveway.
Fiona’s car was being used by Gunnar today.
Nico had stayed behind until I returned, then he’d join Gun.
I heard voices before I fully stopped my SUV and shut down my engine—angry voices coming from the front of the house.
I rushed to get free of my seatbelt, out of the SUV, and up to the door to see what the hell was happening. Where was Nico?
Standing on the front porch was a man and a woman. The man was in his mid-thirties, and the woman was late twenties or early thirties. By their scents, they were both human. Standing in the doorway barring entry was a formidable-looking Fiona. In the shadows, I sensed but didn’t see Nico.
She’s doing great. Let her handle it, Nico said telepathically before I could say a word.
What the hell?
Watch and listen. She’s amazing, he replied.
“It’s all your goddamn fault that we lost our jobs,” the woman shrieked.
Ah, this had to be Wanda, and that meant the man was Daniel. I leaned against the post at the bottom of the steps. They were so into what they were saying, they had no idea I was there.
Let me handle them, Fiona requested.
They’re all yours unless they get out of hand, I replied.
Thank you.
“No, it’s your fault that you were fired.
If you hadn’t been having an affair on company property during company hours, which that kind of fraternization is against policy, then you wouldn’t have been fired.
If you, Daniel, hadn’t shown favoritism to Wanda and a select few others, you wouldn’t have failed as a manager.
If you hadn’t thought of using me as your personal drudge for all the call-offs and all the left-early, arrived-late staffing issues, you would still have a job.
You wanted to feel powerful, Daniel. Wanda, you thought fucking your supervisor made you special and untouchable.
It didn’t. Now, it’s time to leave.” Fiona’s voice was hard.
“You think you’re so special, but you’re not. I have connections in this town. You’ll never work in Phoenix again,” Daniel threatened.
Fiona tossed back her head and laughed. When she stopped, she met their eyes.
“Really? If that’s the case, tell me why you can’t get a new job for you and your little fuck buddy? From what I hear, no one will touch you two with a ten-foot pole. As for me, I’ve had a dozen offers. Not that I need them.”
“What does that mean?” Daniel asked.
“It means I’ve been offered a job managing a brand new, state-of-the-art lab. I can set it up to run efficiently and hire only the best. I can promise I won’t treat people the way you did. And if anyone acts like you, Wanda, they’ll be gone.”
“You’re lying! No one would hire you for such a prestigious position,” Wanda hissed.
“If you have such a job, why haven't I heard about it? Who in Phoenix would do that?” Daniel snapped.
“You haven’t heard of it because you’re not that important, Daniel. And even if you were, the opportunity isn’t here in Phoenix,” Fiona calmly informed them.
“Where? If you’re doing such a thing, why are you at home during a weekday? You’re lying,” Wanda sneered.
“Think what you will. All I’m waiting for is to finish coordinating my family’s move. As soon as that’s done, we’ll move, and I’ll begin my new position. But I’m already working on plans and how it will be structured. It’s so exciting.
“Too bad you can’t experience something this wonderful.
Maybe if you move out of state, you might find something at a second-rate lab.
I doubt any police forensic lab in the country will touch you.
I mean, Daniel, you have nothing holding you to Phoenix or Arizona.
I heard your wife was less than happy with your affair.
She kicked you out and filed for divorce.
She’s fighting for sole custody of the kids. ”
The verbal cut was smooth and to the bone. Wanda was the one to respond, though. She shrieked and then rushed forward, her hand coming up. I stepped on the first step, then stopped. Fiona easily grabbed her arm and shoved Wanda, who flew backward and almost fell down the stairs.
“Don’t you dare try to hit me! I won’t turn the other cheek anymore, Wanda. Whatever you do to me, I’ll return it tenfold. As for you, Daniel, you wanna give it a try? See if you have better luck than your girlfriend?” my mate taunted.
I realized she was burning for a physical altercation. Not the slap that Wanda tried to give her, but a real one. The male and mate inside of me wanted to protest, but the leopard side of me would welcome it just as she would.
“You goddamn bitch, you’ll get what you deserve,” her former supervisor snapped.
“You’re right. I am getting everything I deserve, just as you and this slut are. It must truly burn to know you thought you were better than people like me, only to discover you’re so much lower. I bet your wife was waiting for a reason to leave your pathetic ass,” Fiona replied with a smirk.
That was what broke him. Daniel surged forward with his hands raised and spread wide.
He went for her throat, but his hands never landed.
Instead, my woman batted them out of the way and wrapped hers around his throat.
Two steps and a turn had her slamming him against the porch wall.
Then she stretched her arms up and went up onto her tiptoes.
Daniel wasn’t a tall man, so Fiona was able to lift him off his feet.
His face turned red as he tried to gasp for air, and his feet drummed on the siding.
Wanda cried out and tried to jump Fiona from behind.
I was there to stop her. I grabbed her shoulders and yanked her backward.
When she looked back and up, her face went white.
“You stay out of it,” I growled. Her fear turned the air acrid.
“Don’t ever come back here again. If you do, what I do to you will be far worse than choking you. That goes for both of you. Now, nod your head if you understand me,” Fiona hissed.
Amid his strangled sounds and his lips beginning to turn blue, her former supervisor jerkily nodded twice.
To make sure her point was seared into his brain, after she lowered Daniel to the floor, but before she let go of his throat, she shook him.
His head was floppy like a rag doll. It banged off the siding loudly.
When she let go, he fell to his knees, a hand going to his neck as he coughed and wheezed.
I let Wanda go to him. However, when she touched his shoulder, he shoved her away.
It was a solid two minutes or more of his dramatics, and his lover’s crying and begging him to look at her and let her help him.
Finally, when he stopped with the noise, he rose shakily to his feet.
I’d moved to stand next to Fiona. I had my arm around her.
“I thought all the trash had been taken out. I guess we missed some,” I drawled.
“It's only a minor irritation,” my mate replied.
“Still, I think it might warrant me to add to it.” I let go of Fiona and took a step toward the two unwanted visitors. They both froze.
“You stay away from Fiona and her family. Never come here again. And if you think running to the cops will do you any good, try us. You won’t survive to try it again,” I snarled.
I let my animal side vibrate through the air. They wouldn’t know what I was, but they’d feel the threat. The way they went white, and the smell of piss filling the air, I knew the message had been received. As if the wet stain growing on the crotch of his pants didn’t broadcast it.
“W-we won’t,” her ex-supervisor whispered, then he took off running for the car.
The woman stumbled after him, yelling for him to wait for her.
A few moments later, the tires on their car squealed when they took off.
As they sped past the front of the house, we waved.
When they were out of sight, laughter spilled not only from Fiona and my lips, but from Nico’s as he came into view.
“That was so much fun. We’ve got to do it again,” he said, smiling.
“You’re crazy, Nico.” Fiona chuckled.
“But fun,” Nico responded.
“Come on, let’s go inside, Claws,” I urged her.
“You haven’t called me that for a while. I still like it,” she said as we went inside and closed the door.