Page 9 of Brewster

“Good for you.” They got into the large, pale, white limo and headed to the police station. As soon as they pulled up in front of the place, several officers came out and surrounded the opening door. She didn’t know what was going on, but she was glad for the extra security, whether it was for her or for Conri. He told her that it was for him.

“You enjoy the extra as well, but these men are my pack, and they like to make sure that nothing happens to me whileI’m visiting them. Not that too much can harm me, but it’s a nice perk that I can take advantage of while I’m in town.” She thanked him. “No need for that. I do believe that Brew would insist that I have your protection as well. He’s a good man in love with his mate, and that’s the way that it should be.”

She was put into a room with mirrors all around. There was a recording device in one corner and a large table with three chairs. The large ring in the middle of the table, there for handcuffs, she assumed, was another thing that she was grateful for while visiting her uncle. Hopefully, they used it.

The man brought in didn’t look very much like her uncle. The man in front of her, with his wrists and ankles chained up, looked like a man much older than she knew her uncle to be and a mess. It wasn’t until he was sitting across from her that she realized that it was indeed him and that he had been beaten up as well.

“Daniel? It looks as if you’re getting a bit of what you served me while in here.” Conri laughed and didn’t bother hiding it from the other man. “What is it you want? And so you know, you’re not getting any money, the calls will stop as of today, and there will be no special treatment of you unless they treat you more badly.” Again, Conri laughed, and then he told Daniel that he had a few things to say to him as well.

“You’ve been trying to abuse your so-called power with my pack members. I’ve given them permission to take you to task when you try that again. Especially the women officers.” Daniel told him that they should be down on their knees doing what he wanted. “No one is going to do shit for you, old man. And the sooner you learn that, the better off you’re going to be. It stops now, or they’ll handle you like they would any other human that bothers them. Understand?”

“What I understand is that you’re a dog, and you’ve been a dog all your life. Whatever you say about them is nothingcompared to what I am to you.” That didn’t make any sense, and both she and Conri told him so. “I know what I said, and I stand behind it. You’re nothing but a dog.”

“I’m a canine, actually.” Conri let a little of his wolf go, and he could see the size of the man. His nails, long and lethal-looking, dug deep into the wooden table and left long scratches there. “You don’t want to fuck with what I consider mine, Daniel Patrick Marshall. I will end you with just a swipe of my hand.”

Daniel did swallow hard. It was good to see him a little afraid. She discovered just then that she was no longer afraid of him. She wasn’t stupid enough to pretend that she wasn’t a little leery of him, but she wasn’t going to back down right now. Calla was sick of all the shit that he’d been doing to her over the years.

“Now that you’ve had your say, I’m going to tell you what’s really going to happen. You’re going to go ahead and pay off my fine and give me some walking around money. Seven grand. It’s an odd amount but that’s what I’ve been wanting. Then when the banks are open again, you’ll make it so that I can get into your accounts like it was before. I don’t want to have to be turned away again, Calla, or so help me, I’m going to cut that ugly face of yours to ribbons.” He looked at the officer behind him. “You there. Give her some paper so that she can write this down. I don’t want any fuck up from her saying that she forgot something. Give her a nice pen, too. This shit is going to happen, or I’m going to be pissed off, and you know better than to piss me off Calla.”

“No.” She stood up, and he tried to do the same. “I told you when I arrived, you’re not getting any money from me, and I’m not going to bail you out. I like you in here. It means that I can walk around and not have to worry about you coming up behind me for anything.”

Conri didn’t stand, but she wasn’t worried about him. The man was big enough and strong enough to take care of himself.As she was leaving the room, each step away from him making her feel better all the time, she sat down in the bullpen or whatever they called the open station house room and collected her thoughts. It was heady being in charge of herself.

“My lovely bride, how are you?”She nearly burst into tears hearing from Brew. Only she couldn’t find him anywhere near her.“Just think of what you want to say to me, and I’ll hear it. I’ve spoken to Conri and his second, and they told me where you are. Good job on taking someone with you so that I didn’t have to kill my good friend.”

“I’m not entirely stupid.”He laughed.“How are you feeling? I hope that you’ve had enough rest. I don’t like being without you for days on end. Also, why would you kill Conri? He’s been keeping me company while you were sleeping. I’m so glad that you’re awake.”He laughed again.

“I can tell that. Conri is taking care that Daniel understands that as soon as he’s out of jail, he’ll be dead. Telling him that he’s better off in there instead of out where I can get him is going to have to make a lasting impression on the man. I have no trouble at all ending his life if he keeps messing around with my heart.”He paused a moment.“You are my heart, love, and I want you to remember that for the rest of your days.”

Conri joined her a few minutes later, and he told her that he was to take her out to dinner. That Brew would join them. She didn’t know how that was going to work but didn’t put up a fuss. She was suddenly hungry and thought that she could eat her weight in French fries.

They met Brew at the local hamburger joint. It was a nice place and had been around for some time. Scottie’s Den was a good place to get a nice hot meal and to also hear about how the Scotties, the local high school mascot, was doing in the local sports arena. She thought that the local football and basketball were the only things that people around here loved more thanthey did football on television.

After ordering, her getting a triple order of fries and a burger, she waited while the two men talked. There were things too that she needed to talk to Brew about but none of it was as important as making sure that Daniel knew his place. If she was honest with them, she’d tell them that she wanted him out of her life in a permanent way. Right now, she couldn’t care less if he was killed while in jail, so long as he didn’t try to hurt her again.

“Calla?” She smiled at Conri. “I must leave now. I’ve had some things going on at the pack. I would like to extend a visit from my mother. She’s been wanting to meet the woman who tamed Brew. She believes you to be saint-like for having to put up with him daily.” The three of them laughed.

“I’d love to meet your mom. You told me that your father is gone, correct?” He said that he was indeed gone. “Good. Maybe when this thing is over with Daniel, then I’ll come around to see her.”

After Conri left them, the two of them talked while she ate. Never would she have thought that she could finish the fries, but she’d not been eating as well while Brew was down, and it was nice to have him there while she enjoyed her food. The malt that she got while there was better than she’d had in a while, and it was made with chocolate ice cream and darker malt. Enjoying food had never been something that she partook in, but this was fun.

“Conri had a talk with Daniel before he left. You know that he’s going to be killed when he leaves the jail. Not so much for what he’s done to you but for the things that he’s been doing to the pack members that are working at the jail. Especially the women.” She asked what he’d been doing to them. “Mostly ordering them around and the like. Twice, he’s touched them in an improper manner that has their mates upset. They’ll have a first swipe at him.”

“Wolves are very jealous, I heard.” Brew said that they were and that it would get someone killed if the mates weren’t together very long. “I hope someday that Conri and his brothers find mates. I bet they would be good mates to their partners.”

“I believe you might be right.” They talked about things that were going on around town. With it nearly being summer break for the kids, they were out looking for jobs to do through the summer. The town was sort of down on its luck in some areas. The season for summer fun was heating up, and the pool was being worked on so that it would be ready when the kids started to show up.

The two of them walked back to their home as Conri had taken the limo with him when he’d left them. She did wonder what sort of trouble he had going on at the pack. Brew had mentioned that he would help him if he needed it. What surprised her was that he’d not turned him down but said that he might well need him. Whatever the man wanted from her as well, she’d give it to him. There was no way that she was going to let him have trouble, and she not help him in any way that she could.

Conri was a good man and seemed to be a good leader. He’d been leading his pack for some time now, and from what she’d heard, he was doing a very good job of getting more work for the people and being able to retain his younger pack members, unlike a lot of packs that she’d heard about.

The two of them spent the rest of the evening going over paperwork. He’d put her on all his deeds and investments, and she had done the same for him. There was a great deal of money that he had and hers, while to her was a lot, it wasn’t nearly what he had in his accounts all over the world.

“This account is very old, but it has been a good investment. I’ve been using the proceeds to help around town instead of reinvesting it into the company. I do believe that the way thatthe company is going, always updating its working schedule, it will be around for a bit longer. Also, we’re invested in a lot of smaller grocery stores. There are a few of them around here that we have.” She asked the name of them and he told her. “It’s good to have a place like these to just pop into them to get something that you might be missing. I don’t know if I’ve ever used them, but they are great to have around.”

“I’ve used them a great deal. But just because things are on the shelf of the cheaper store, that doesn’t mean that they’re cheap either. You have to watch every penny to make sure that you’re getting a good price.” He agreed with her. “Did you know that there are some stores that buy things from the dollar store and put them in their store for double the price? I’ve seen that happen in gas stations a few times. Little toys for the kids. I can see parents buying them to keep the kids quiet while they’re going on the trip. It helps the store’s bottom line to have things like that in the store for the kids. They’re the worst at buying things that aren’t really all that good of a price.”

The two of them enjoyed talking about different things. She wasn’t as well-read as he was, but she could hold her own in a conversation. They also played chess, another game that she wasn’t all that good at but enjoyed. Brew had had decades of practice while she’d only had about five or so years of it.

---