Page 14 of Harman

Katie didn’t offer her condolences to Jimmy. It had always been a strained relationship between him and his parents. And now that they were gone, she’d come here today to tell him, he just sat there with his wrists in cuffs. There was a large eyebolt in the middle of the table. The officer told Jimmy that if he started acting up, he’d be locked down or back to his cell in no time.

“So they’re both dead. At the same time.” She said that since they’d been sitting in first class, that was where most of the damage had happened. He looked at her and laughed. “They wouldn’t eat fish or anything close to that, and now they’re fish food. Kind of ironic, don’t you think?”

With a pop to the back of Jimmy’s head, he was chained to the table. She felt like she’d been given some kind of hope when he’d first agreed to speak to her. Now she knew there was no changing for some people. Especially him. Taking out her notes on things that she’d been asked to go over with him, she crossed off the top two. He’d been told about his parents and also been told there wouldn’t be a burial for obvious reasons. She looked up at him.

“You’re named in the will. Don’t bother asking me what it has in it. I don’t know. The reading of it will commence on Friday early morning here at the jail so that you can hear about it when everyone else does.” He asked if he was getting everything. Then he said that he’d better be getting everything. “As I told you, I didn’t write it out for them, so I have no idea what it says. I do know that I’ve been asked to liquidate their real estate as well as any stocks and bonds as needed to keep their charities working. I don’t know how much law you remember, Jimmy, but—”

“I’m a damned lawyer, Katie. And you’ll address me as Mr. Barnhart from now on. I’m going to go through everything that Dad left up to you, so don’t get too comfy. I’ll have you out on the streets again in no time.” He was handed a thick pad of paper so that he could take notes on things that he needed to go over with his own attorney. “We’ll just see how all my land is sold off when I’m in charge. I should be right now, but I’m biding my time right now to see how fucked up you make things for me. How much is their estate anyway? They worked like they were going to be around forever and never spent so much as a dime of all their money on me.”

“I do believe that they bailed you out every time you got into trouble, Jimmy. If I remember correctly, that was about weekly. Not to mention, you’ve been knocking around people who had to be paid off because of the lives ruined. I don’t know what’s in the will, but I know that if I was in charge of writing it out for them, I would have told them to leave you access to a buck. Because of you, they were never asked to go to garden parties, which your mother loved, nor the club. They’d asked that you not be brought there again several years ago.”

“Like I care. The place was boring, and I wasn’t allowed to touch the staff anymore, so that got boring fast, too. I tried to liven the place up, but all they did was turn me away. They’ll be begging me back now. I’ll have Dad’s money, and it’ll be a showdown for everyone that looked at me in that side-eyed way.” She told him that he didn’t know what he was talking about. And asked him why they’d welcome him back because his dad was wealthy. “Because I’m going to have all the money, duh. The first few weeks after I get out of here, I’m going to stay there all week, never leaving until they understand that this Barnhart cannot be told what to do.”

“Whatever floats your boat, Jimmy.” He told her once again to call him Mr. Barnhart. “No. Now, as for the next reason that I’m here. Each and every creditor here and abroad has been warned about you being able to charge anything, steal, or think that the Barnharts were going to be there for you. You’ve broken that bridge down all the way to the river.” He said that would change now that he had the money. “Again, you go on dreaming about that supposed money.”

Katie didn’t let him bother her. She wanted to go home and cry some more, but that wouldn’t bring them back. It hurt her in ways that she’d never had before to know that they’d not be around for her first child and her happiness now that she’d found her one true love in Harman.

“What else do you have for me to listen to you going on about? Is there any way that I can get this finished so that I can go back to my cell? Lunch will be served soon, and I have put in a special order because my parents have kicked the bucket.”

He grinned at her. She knew that he was trying to get a rise out of her. Ignoring him while she packed up her things, he was asked to sign off on the list of things that she’d told him. And, of course, he had to make a big production about that as well.

When she was in the main lobby of the station house, she was so happy to see that Harman was there waiting for her. He’d told her this morning that he’d try to make it, and even though she told him it would be all right, she was thrilled to see him. And to have him hold her.

“Mom and Dad invited us to have dinner with them. Dad said that he could understand if you wanted to skip out. It hurt them both to know that you’d lost such a good friend in the Barnharts.” She said she’d rather not go out. “I know that they’ll understand. We’ll eat in. Maybe order some Thai food or something.

“That sounds wonderful.” She waited for him to place an order for them and then turned and leaned on his chest. It was awkward for being in a car, but he was warm, and she felt like she was living with a cold heart for what had happened in the last twenty-four hours. “You don’t think that they changed their minds about the building, do you? If they left Jimmy in charge, I know that it would be a living hell for me.”

“It’s doubtful that anyone in my family, including my parents, would allow him to be around much after being released. I’m not saying that he’s going to be killed by them, but he won’t be around to bother you anymore.” She looked up at him. “I’m not making any promises that it won’t be Story nor Rain either, but as I said, he’ll be gone. Could be the entire family wants to get their two cents in on his death.”

“You’re serious.” He nodded, then winked at her. But she still worried that… “You know what, I don’t care who does it. It’ll be wonderful to have him out of our lives once and for all time.”

They made their way to their fast becoming their favorite restaurant, too. Harman went in to get the food but came back out empty-handed. She was so disappointed that she had to fight tears over that. She just wanted one thing to go right, and it should have been the food. Now she was going to have to go home and—

“They want to give you a hug.” She just stared at him. “They said they heard about the Barnharts and knew that you were close to them. So they want to show their respects and hug you too.”

She got out of the car and slowly made her way around it. The icy roads were terrible, so she was careful not to fall and break something important. Laughing when Harman picked her up so she’d not fall, she was giggling when they entered the restaurant.

The two of them ended up staying in to eat. Mostly, it was because their car had been snowed in when the plow trucks came down the street. Harman said that he could dig it out but wasn’t worried about it. When she looked at him, his head back and his eyes closed, she knew that he was enjoying his newfound sense with smelling.

“It’s a small wonder that I didn’t eat here all the time. Had I been able to smell things, I would have been in trouble for just hanging out at the door until they opened again.” She knew what he was talking about, but hers was with being in love with him. He made everything spicy and hot, calm and wonderfully still. She told him how much she loved him, and he kissed her on her mouth. “Let’s get to eating this before I come to regret not taking you home with me to be able to make love to you all night.”

They made love all the time. It didn’t matter what room they were in. He’d press her against something sturdy and take her that way. Or he’d put her up on a dresser or counter and eat her until she was exhausted with it. Even the dining room wasn’t off-limits to them. Anywhere and everywhere, the mood struck them. They were tearing at their clothing and going at it.

The desk had been broken in the day that it had been delivered. It had been exciting, too, because the delivery people hadn’t left the house when he’d tossed her onto the big desk and fucked her hard. Christ, just thinking of Harman and his cock made her feel all hot and sweaty.

Today and late last night, she’d been going through the things that had been left in it. Things that she knew that he was humbled by, not to mention, there were personal notes from Hannah that he’d kept in his top drawer. Love letters that had been written as late as the day that they’d left the house to go to the hotel.

She’d not realized that it was stuffed full of items that Jimmy had left in it. There was an entire drawer in one of the cabinets that was filled with accolades that he’d received over the last few years. She was sure there were more someplace in the house that he’d kept for sentimental reasons. Letters from families, too, thanking him for helping them when they needed it.

She put them in a box, thinking to give it to Jimmy, but she decided that he’d just toss it out. It would mean a great deal more to her than him any day of the week. Leaving them in the drawer, she decided to go through them when their passing wasn’t so fresh. Getting up when someone rang the doorbell, she looked before opening the door.

“May I help you?” She spoke to the person on the other side of her locked door as she had no idea who the man was standing there was. “I asked you if I could help you.”

“Yes, you can start by opening this god damned door. I’m not going to be conducting business with you this way.” She told the man that she wasn’t going to discuss even the time of day with him until he told her what it was he wanted. “I just told you. I need to conduct some business with you. Unless you’re some worthless housemaid or something. Open. The. Door. I’m not fucking around with you.”

“He can’t come in if he means you harm.” She looked around when Storm spoke to her. “I’m at home, but that man, he can’t enter your home with any intention of harming you. Just open the door, and you’ll see. He can’t come in.”

“All right, but if he hurts me, I’m going to blame it all on your ass.” Storm laughed. “You’ll have to tell me sometime how you knew that I was afraid. I’m assuming it has something to do with your wolfy magic.”

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