Cullen (A Dixon Troop #6)

Prologue

Emmie had been on the phone with her sister when the police called.

They had picked up her sister’s children, who were supposed to have been with Bash over the weekend, as he had tied them to the car and left them exposed to the weather.

She didn’t know if that was true or not; her sister tended more toward the dramatic rather than the truth. So she didn’t know what to believe.

“He’s done it again.” She hadn’t known what her sister, MaryBeth, had been talking about when she said that to her.

She’d called her asking for money—well, demanding it was more like it.

“He’s got caught leaving the kids out in the open so that the police fine them.

Damn him. I told him before they was gonna catch him.

I told him and told him. So what does he do?

He locks them to his car and runs off to play poker with his buddies.

I don’t even know why he bothers; he never wins anyway.

I’m gonna need for you to send me something more, Emmie.

I have some bills that need to be caught up on. ”

“I told you before, MaryBeth, you don’t need my money.

You have a place to live and a food card.

Hell, even your electric is paid by the city.

You want money for other things, and I’m not funding you.

I don’t even know why you call to ask for it.

I’m not sending you anything.” She asked her why she was being so selfish.

“Because I work hard for my money and I’m not going to give any of it to you. ”

“What if I told you it was for the kids? Then I’d bet you’d send me money. Sometimes I think you like them more than me.” She told her that she’d be correct on that. Not telling her what part she was right about. “The kids need coats. How does that hit you?”

“It’s nearly summer, so I’m doubting that they have any use for coats this time of year.” MaryBeth started cursing, and she simply put the phone on the base and walked away. She didn’t understand her sister at all.

MaryBeth had been asking and demanding money for the past ten to twelve years. Ever since she’d gotten out of town and moved to a bigger city. Emmie loved it here. There was no sister and no brother-in-law around where she could see them all the time. Then they’d had kids.

She would call her when fees were due, and there were functions that needed to be paid for.

But Emmie paid directly to the school for such things.

She’d had a direct line to the office, and they knew that she was the one footing the bills for the children.

Pictures were taken, fees were maintained, and she knew when they missed two or more days of school.

It might be against the school policy, but if they wanted their money, they sent them to the one that paid them.

Going back to the drawing board where she’d been working, Emmie finished up with the landscaping that she’d been working on for the blueprints and moved on to her favorite part of whole house design.

The outside decking, where it was possible to have one.

She’d been working for the same company for the last ten years and was one of their top performers.

Emmie was finishing up for the day when her cell phone rang again. She knew it was the school where MaryBeth lived and answered. They wanted to tell her that the kids had missed two days of school and weren’t expected in tomorrow either. She knew why, but didn’t like it.

On her way home, she picked up her dinner at the diner and ate the French fries as she drove.

Since she’d skipped breakfast and lunch, she knew that she’d be starving when she got home.

As soon as she was in the door, her house phone rang.

It could only be one of two people, and she answered it with a short no.

It would throw MaryBeth off for a second, just until she got her food situated.

“The police are here.” She asked her what she’d done now.

“Why do you have to be like that when I call? The police are here looking for Bash. They have some kind of arrest warranty for him.” She told her it was a warrant.

“Like I care what it’s called. They’re going to arrest him when they find him.

Something about missing his court hearing. ”

“Is it something about missing his court hearing, or did he miss his court hearing? There is a difference.” She started cursing again, and she simply hung up the phone.

She didn’t have time for her drama tonight.

When she called her back, MaryBeth was trying to be less dramatic.

“What do you want me to do about him going to jail? I’m not going to give you money to bail him out. It’s where you both belong.”

“You know Mom would give it to me if she was alive.” Emmie rolled her eyes and didn’t say anything. “Why are you so mean to me? What have I ever done to you to make you treat me this way?”

“I don’t have time to list all your faults right now.

I’m tired and hungry. Tell me why you called so I can tell you no, I’m not helping you, and we can get on with our evening.

” She didn’t curse this time, but she did pound something against the phone.

She was just ready to hang up when she got back on the phone.

“I think you know me well enough to know that I’m not going to be putting up with your bullshit.

If he’s in jail, leave him there. As I said, that’s where you both belong for treating the system like it’s your own private funding.

I’m not now, nor will I ever give you money again.

You fucked that up when I lent you money that you saw no reason to pay me back for. ”

“One time. That’s all. Just one time I messed up, and you’re forever going to hold that over my head.

” She asked if she had the money to pay her back.

“No. You know that I don’t. This is for Bash to get him out of jail.

I know you have it. Why don’t you open up your fucking purse and pay me some of that money I know you have? ”

“Because it’s my money. And when you pay me back, I’ll think about lending you more money.

However, I wouldn’t count on it. I’m still waiting for my money now, and it’s been five years since I lent it to you.

” She said she didn’t remember her being so cruel when they were kids.

“Because you never remember anything that has to do with me lending you money. Or you beating the shit out of me when I had something that you wanted. I’m not going to bail him out. That’s final.”

This time it was she who hung up on Emmie, but she didn’t just put the phone down, but slammed it several times in the cradle or whatever she had as a phone.

She never bothered her with her cell phone bills, so she had no idea what she used.

It was just as well; she wasn’t going to pay it either if it came to that.

Emmie ate her now cold dinner and cleaned up after herself.

She never left a mess to clean up after herself if she could help it.

Her sister wouldn’t do dishes for days at a time, so by the time she got around to doing it, they’d be so filthy that she’d just toss them out rather than try to save them.

Her sister would do a lot of things that would piss her off, and it wasn’t much to do with the state of her dishes.

She would, at times, leave the kids at home alone while she went out partying.

She used to not know about that, but now she had people helping her out with that information.

Was she spying on her sister? Yes, she was. It was that or the kids might be hurt.

She’d never met her niece and nephew. She knew for sure that they existed, but didn’t know much more about them than that.

There were never any pictures that she paid for sent to her, no warm greetings at Christmas or her birthday.

Just dues and fees made her know that at least that part of their lives was being taken care of.

However, the next time MaryBeth left them to go partying, she was going to hop on a plane and bring them home with her.

Every time her phone rang, she was sure that it was going to be someone calling her to tell her that the kids had been hurt.

Or that her sister had been murdered by Bash.

Or that it was the other way around. She didn’t trust her sister, but she was her family, all she had besides the kids, and she’d be devastated if anything were to happen to any of the three of them.

Bash could rot in hell, and she’d lose no sleep over him being out of the kids’ lives.

Making her way to work the next morning, she had three missed calls from her sister on the answering machine.

She’d not left any messages but had hung up the phone when it kicked on, telling her to leave a message.

Whatever was going on, Emmie wasn’t going to lose any sleep over it and didn’t care enough to call her back.

If she wanted something other than money, she needed to leave a message for her.

She got through most of her morning without any trouble from her family.

At noon, she received a call from MaryBeth, but again she didn’t leave a message.

After she had finished with her lunch, she left work early and went home.

She had plenty of things to do there that would keep her busy for the rest of the afternoon and into the evening.