Oliver: Forbidden: Paranormal Romance, page 6
“That would be because of Jake’s grandma Jenna. That woman was the best thing that ever happened to a family. And then she was murdered. She comes to see us on occasion. You’ll have to meet her.” Forrest asked them what they had to do about Winston.
“Right. I forgot. Winston is Dent’s son. He’s out for revenge. I don’t know how he figured you were gay, or even if he thought so and thought that he could convince you that you were to ruin you. You did tell him that you were, correct?” Oliver said that he had, he wasn’t hiding anymore. “Good for you. This guy wants to move in with you, take some pictures with you coming onto him, and then sue you. For a great deal of money. Winston isn’t gay at all. In fact, he’s married with a couple of kids. Not that that makes him a straight guy, but the thought of having sex with a man sickens him. Each time he leaves you, he has to pull over and throw up. If he’d just let it go and try it, he’d be the happiest man on earth.”
They all laughed, and Cam told him that he’d take care of the man. That not letting him in the house anymore was the best thing. While Oliver wasn’t sure what that entailed, he did believe Cam and Cattie when they assured him that he’d have no more trouble with the man. If he did, he was to let them know right away.
“I will. He doesn’t know about Lyle, I told you that. But I’d like to see about getting extra security around him. If Winston followed me around, he might know that I go there to see him several times a day. Grace too.” Cattie said she’d take care of that part. “Thank you both so much. I’m glad to know that I was not crazy when I thought that having anything to do with that man was not the way to go. I’ve never felt that way around anyone before.”
They talked about dinner plans, and Oliver was invited to join them. He declined, telling them that he had two meetings tonight. One with a company that was going to come in and clean the house from top to bottom. The second one was with a company that was going to hire him a staff.
“I can cover both of those for you.” Jake sat down after kissing Forrest on the mouth. “The local pack could use the income. They have formed a staff of people that will do just what you want in the way of cleaning. Even painting and carpet cleaning if you want.”
“I’d much rather have someone just starting out in business instead of a large corporation doing the work. And if you guys recommend them, then they’re perfect for me.”
After Jake called the pack number and set it up, they sat around for another two hours, munching on things that their cook sat before them and talking about everything.
When Oliver made it home, well after midnight, he wanted to just roll into his bed and sleep for a month. But he needed to gather up some things that Lyle had said he wanted. Oliver had gotten him a computer when he’d first woken up, but the kid now wanted some books on investing.
Finding the ones that he’d had was nearly impossible, so he made himself sit down at his desk and order them for him to be delivered to the house. Then he thought about all the things that he was going to need for his video court appearance. Oliver thought about getting Lyle a nice suit, then realized that with all his wounds, he’d not be able to wear anything but the tie, and even that might be too much.
Going to bed, he saw that he had a message at the front desk and decided that he’d get it in the morning. Not having calls sent to his phone was about the smartest move he’d made in a while.
When he got up the next morning, thankful for the wake up call that he’d put in for daily, he was told that he had fourteen phone messages from a man by the name of Winston Dent. What did they want him to do with them.
“I’ll pick them up on my way out today. If he calls here again, you don’t have to be polite in telling him that I’m too busy to speak to him right now. All right?” He was told how Mr. Dent had gotten a little short with them when he’d called the last few times. “I’m very sorry about that. If he gives you any more trouble, I want you to call the police. I’ve made the chief there aware of him.”
“Very good, sir. And if you don’t mind me saying so, he is a man that I’d avoid as much as you can. He does seem to have something strange going on.” Oliver told him that he thought so as well. “Thank you. By the way, your things have arrived from the courier today. I was told that you would be holding things here until your home is ready. I am glad that you’ve decided to stay. It is a pleasure to have such a distinguished person with us.”
Oliver wasn’t sure how he was distinguished at all but thanked the man again. On his way out of the hotel, he thought about his life up until now. It had been, in his opinion, something to write home about, as his dad used to say.
The courtroom was packed. He knew two different things were going on today, but he didn’t know what the other one was. All he knew for sure was that by the end of this one, he’d hopefully have Lyle coming home to live with him on a permanent basis.
As soon as they were all seated, the judge asked for the attorneys to come up to him. Oliver looked around, surprised that Mom and Sunshine weren’t there yet. Even though they were both at the police station behind bars, they should have been there by now. Court started in about twenty minutes.
Jake waited until the attorneys sat back down before he spoke again. Cam, who was there with Oliver, told him that this was going to be epic. Whatever was going on, Cam seemed to be almost giddy about it.
“There will be a slight change in venue today, ladies and gentlemen. We’re going to have a pretrial hearing for a couple of people, then we’ll get to the first case of the day. If you’re here for that, then you can either wait or come back.” He looked at Oliver. “Mr. Moody, you will need to stay for this one as well.”
The people that had stood up to leave the courtroom filed out, with the exception of the ones that were with Oliver. The family sat back down. They were all there too, with the exception of Easton, who was with Lyle in case the video feed should fail. As soon as Mom and Sunshine were brought into the room, he knew that whatever had happened this morning hadn’t boded well for either of them.
His mom looked like she’d gone a couple of rounds with a bigger person than her. She had a black eye, and her lower lip was swollen. Mom was still wearing the orange and green striped jumpsuit that was the uniform of the inmates at the jail, and that nearly had him laughing out loud. Those colors together were terrible. On his mom, they made her look like she was sick with something. Sunshine’s had food all the way down the front, or at least something that looked like food.
It’s blood. He didn’t turn and look around when someone spoke to him. He was sure that it was one of the others. He knew he was right when Henry told him it was him. She tried her very best to make them give her something else to wear, as she didn’t like the colors on her. She saw your mother first. Anyway, as you can imagine, when she tried to come here naked, one of the officers dressed her, popping her in the mouth with their boot when Sunshine was doing her best not to cooperate. A person with a gun certainly showed her who was boss.
Do you know why Sunshine is even in jail? Last I heard she was trying to get into the house after it was taken by the bank. Something about having sex with Jake when he was there. Henry laughed with him, telling him what had happened. I never thought of her enticing someone being a crime. Good for Forrest for pressing charges. Also, I can see her ass hanging out of her dress. She used to dress like that when she was a teenager. Didn’t look much different on her then than it does now. I wonder if she knows that the size she has on isn’t hers?
Doubtful. She is a very large woman, isn’t she? Sunshine looked bigger too. It was more than likely the stripes, but Oliver didn’t know. His mom didn’t look like she’d missed too much in the way of meals coming around either. Are we all calling you Ollie now? The reason I ask is because that’s all Cattie calls you. I thought I’d ask before I assumed anything with her. She scares the shit out of me. Even as large as she is with child, I know better than to piss her off.
I don’t mind it. I’ve never had a nickname before. My sister used to call me Olive Oil when I was younger, but that stopped about the time I learned to fight back. Laughing again, he paid attention then to what was going on around him. Jake, Judge Winslow, asked him if he had anything to ask about what was going on. “No, I don’t think so. Unless this affects something that we have going on later, then no. I don’t have anything to say to either of them.”
“You will be paying for us to get out of this fucking mess, you little fucker. I’m your mother, and I won’t allow you to leave me where I am without some help from you. I have a feeling that you’re behind all this shit anyway.” Jake told Mom to keep her mouth clean. “I am. You should hear how I really want to speak to you bastards.”
“Ms. Moody, you are tempting my good nature right now, and I’m not happy about it. Should you keep this up, in any way, shape, or form, I shall send you back to your cell and cut your time out of doors to half. I’ve had about enough of you and your mouth today.” She glared at him. “That is part of the any shape or form. Straighten up, or you’ll be wishing that you had.”
There were a couple of snickers around the room, but for the most part, the room quieted after Jake spoke. He began with Sunshine on what she was in court for today. That, too, was a little funny, but as long as she would remain behind bars, he was glad for it.
“Indecent exposure. There is also a charge of resisting arrest. Enticing an officer of the law with promises of sex for entrance to a residence. There is—” Sunshine screamed that it was her house. “No. According to the records I have in front of me, you forfeited the house when you couldn’t pay the back taxes or cover the amount of money that you were overdrawn at the bank. Keep your mouth shut, if you please. You are also being charged with theft of funds overdrawn at said bank. There are a great many more things here, mostly repeats of what you’ve done already. Do you want me to read them all, or would you like to get to the part where you tell me how you’re going to plead? As if I didn’t already know the answer.”
“I didn’t do anything wrong. It’s all their fault for not giving me my money.” Jake asked Sunshine who they were and where the money was being held. “That banker man. He said that we overdrew our accounts. We wouldn’t have if he’d done his job and made sure that there was always plenty of money in the accounts for us to use.”
“Right here, I have a document, signed by you, that states you didn’t want anyone to touch your funds. That you didn’t want the bank and their partners to continue to invest parts of your money each quarter to make sure there would be a good flow of funds into your account. Is that right?” She said she’d just wanted all the money at one time. Sunshine said that she’d not known what that meant. “That’s not true either, now is it? It was explained to you, several times before you left the office that day, that without adding any of the benefits that were there for you to use, you would—and it did happen eventually—get to the point where you had no funds at all. It would seem to me, knowing that you had a limited resource, that you would have taken better care to watch and make sure you knew what your balance was.”
“Well, it’s a bit too late for your sound advice now, isn’t it?” Jake told her that he was sure someone might have suggested that. “So I was told. Apparently, several times over the last few months. But that doesn’t seem right to me. I had all kinds of money, and now I have shit. How is that fair to me? It’s not. I think everyone should just back the fuck off, let me have some of my money back, and let me try again. I would like it all back, but I doubt anyone is going to be that generous to me. My brother over there, I’m sure he has every dime he’s ever made since our dad died.”
Jake looked at him, and Oliver stood up.
“I do, as a matter of fact. But I knew that it wouldn’t last forever, and I did something productive with it. Unlike you.” She called him names that he was sure she didn’t know the meaning of. “Yes, because that shows right there how smart you are.”
She screamed and lunged at him. Oliver didn’t move. He knew that she was chained up. Shaking his head at her, he sat back down. Looking down at his phone, he laughed out loud when it was from Jake. Egg her on, was all it said.
Standing again, he looked at his mother and sister. “I would also like to point out that I’m in no way responsible for any of their bills or outstanding bank accounts. I, in no way, will pay to have them removed from jail. And even though I’ve been able to purchase both their homes, I will not allow them to move back into—” His mother called him a fucker. “Mother, that word is getting old. Perhaps you could use your jail time to learn some new curse words. Or better yet, learn the value of money when you’re down and out broke. As I was saying, I’m not going to allow them to move back into the homes or get anything from them unless it’s photographs. The homes are being donated to the city for use when there is an emergency, a house fire, or something akin to that so that any displaced family will have a roof over their heads in their time of need.”
“You’ll help a complete fucking stranger and not your own mother? I knew that I should have worked harder in smothering you when you were an infant. I would have, too, had it not been for your father always getting in the way. Well, I fixed him, didn’t I? He’s gone, and I did it.” Mother seemed to realize what she’d said when there were several audible gasps in the room around her. “I was joking. I wouldn’t kill him. He was the best thing that ever happened to me. Why look what he did. He left us all very rich. For a time anyway. I wouldn’t kill anyone.”
“Yes, why would you?” Jake looked at his bailiff, who, from what Oliver had been told, was a hold over from the previous judge. “Take Ms. Moody into custody, Jim, and see that she is booked for murder, please.”
Oliver knew that she’d killed his dad. Lyle had told him, and there hadn’t been any reason not to believe him. But to hear her confess, to say that she’d done it and without any apparent remorse, hurt him in ways that he couldn’t explain. He looked at Jake when he said his name.
“We can move onto the rest of the morning if you wish. Or I can call a recess to give you a little time.”
Nodding, he stood up. Rushing out the door, he just barely made it to the men’s room stall before he threw up several times. She’d done it. His mother had killed his father.
“Ollie, are you in here?” Oliver had to smile. It would be Cattie that would come for him. It would matter little to her that it was a men’s room, or if the place was full of men pissing in the urinals “Ollie, if you don’t answer me, I’m going to start banging open doors. And I know for a fact that you’re not in here alone.”
“I’m in the first stall. Thanks for telling the room my name, Cattie.” She told him he was very welcome. “You know there are times when I know you are aware that you’re not being complimented. Why do you act like someone is all the time?”
She opened the door and smiled at him. “Because I only allow them to do it just the one time before I blow their nuts off. I say it that way because it’s only men that think they can say smart assed things to me and get away with it. Are you all right now? I should have warned you or something, but I didn’t know she was going to confess like that.”
The other person in the bathroom left them. Cattie scolded him for not washing his hands before he got to the door and made him come back and do it. Oliver wondered briefly if she had ever been shy in her life, then dismissed that. Anyone as non-shy as she was would have needed plenty of practice.
Standing up with her help, he did go and wash himself up. Rinsing out his mouth, he asked her if there were going to be any other bombshells awaiting him in the courtroom. Cattie shook her head, then nodded.
“We’ve exhumed your father’s body. Lucky for us the examiner back when your dad died wouldn’t allow her to have him cremated. I’m still looking into his reasons for that, but lucky us.” Oliver told her that he was glad she was on his side. “You’re family, Ollie. I’d never hurt my family. And I’m glad to be able to welcome you to the family too. You’re a good man and are going to be a good addition to this crew. Speaking of additions, I’ve had a little conversation with your boy Winston. He’s been fired from his job for falsifying records with Wayne. He was glad that you and he had a talk too. It saved him a great deal of time and money, he thinks.”
“What else do we know about Winston? Or is it too early to tell?” She asked him if he meant things they could pin on him or that a ghost told them about. “I think pin on him for now. I’m still getting used to Lyle seeing my dad. What do you have?”
“He’s being helped along on his path of destruction of you by his mother. I don’t think Winston had all the facts before he pursued you. Now that he does, thankfully, because of the records your dad kept, he’s just sitting in the jail cell thinking. I don’t know what his outcome is going to be, but he’s thinking at least. What we can’t pin on him yet is just small shit. B&E. Breaking and entering doesn’t hold much of a penalty, but it’s enough that we can hold him. Also, he’s killed before. No time served yet, but we’ll get to that. The man he murdered might well have deserved it, but his dad isn’t talking.”
“He killed his father? I’m assuming that his mother forced him into that as well.” Cattie said that she had. But Winston seemed to think it was self-defense because the father was as bad if not worse than the mother. “I hope that it was self-defense. I mean, I don’t want to be his mate or anything like that, but he didn’t really strike me as being a prick or anything.”
“No. That is his mother. By the way, there was a guy at the hospital with Lyle. I checked him out, and so did Cam with his freakiness. He’s there to talk to Lyle about living with you. He’s on his way back here now to speak for you taking him in.” He asked her what sort of stuff they were talking about. “I don’t know, dummy. I guess what Lyle wants out of his life. Things like that. They may or may not be brought up when we go in and talk about it this afternoon, but it would be nice to know your nephew’s thoughts on shit.”
