“The bank’s cougar run. They’ll keep this quiet and under wraps. You keep what you need, and use the rest for whatever you deem appropriate. It’s your money, finders, keepers—all of it found on your property,” Jack said.
“Ours.”
“Okay, well, it’s yours to do with what you wish.”
“I want to pay off the house mortgage first, and keep some for renovating the house so we’ll have more room for the new baby. But the rest—well, we can talk to everyone and see what might benefit the most.”
“I’d just be careful about mentioning where the money came from,” Leyton said.
“Anonymous donor.”
Leyton said, “That works.”
When she got off work, she called Jack. “Is it all right to bring the kids home from Hal’s? Ted took them riding, and they saw the babies, but they want to come home now.”
“Yeah. I already called them to tell them we were coming to get them. They said no problem. Ricky’s bringing the kids to the house. He should be here in another twenty minutes. About the time you get home.”
“Thanks, Jack.” She couldn’t believe how he could do what normally only she could do with the kids. She would have to get used to that, and was happy to do so.
When she arrived home, the kids, eating snacks of peanut butter crackers and slices of peaches, greeted her. “Daddy and Uncle Leyton are out in the backyard filling up the holes to make it nice and neat like it was before,” Jeff said.
“That’s good.” She ruffled his hair.
“They put the play money in the kitchen,” Trish said. “But they told us we couldn’t count it because it’s too big.”
Dottie went inside the house and when she saw the bundles of $100 bills in the amount of $10,000 each stacked on the island counter, she couldn’t believe it. She felt like she was looking at a bank vault full of cash, except it was sitting in her very unsecure kitchen. She just stared at the bills as the kids told her about riding the ponies and seeing the babies.
She finally glanced at the kids. “Did they name them?”
“Not yet. Uncle Hal said there were too many of them and they had to go back to the drawing board,” Trish said.
Dottie laughed. She peeked out the big kitchen window and saw Jack and Leyton smoothing out the areas that had been dug up. Stryker was already back on his job as deputy sheriff, answering the myriad minor calls. She was thinking there might be a couple of hundred thousand that they’d dug up, so not that much money. So once she paid her mortgage off, and then did some remodeling on the house, she didn’t figure there’d be much left over. Boy, was she ever shocked to learn how much more there was.
Doing the math, there had to be close to three and a half million dollars stacked on her counter. She sat down hard on her bar stool, feeling numb all over.
Trish said, “Mommy, Daddy said we were going to have pizza to celebrate.”
“Sounds good. I’m thinking that’s his favorite food to eat.” Dottie wondered what they were going to do with all of this money.
Jack came into the house and pulled Dottie into his arms and gave her a big kiss. “We tried to straighten it up out there. So did you count it?”
“About three and a half million.”
“Have you figured out what to spend it all on?”
“The mortgage, some remodeling, redecorating.” She’d been squeaking by with her worn out hand-me-downs and the place needed new carpeting, paint, tile work. Just a lot of stuff. “And then some things for the community. Hiking and biking trails all over the area. Maybe a children’s garden. We were going to make one here, but it would be fun to do that and have a bigger one for kids in the community. Ponds with koi, fountains, ducks, egrets, so they’ll have wildlife too. Some fun things for the kids to climb on like giant turtles and little bridges to cross over waterways. But the kids would have their very own vegetable and flower gardens there too.”
“Which could be great for teaching them too, since everyone homeschools their kids,” Jack said.
“Right. Maybe we could spruce up the center of town—make a plaza with a fountain and flowers.”
“Sounds good to me,” Leyton said as he came inside.
“So what do we do now with the money?” Dottie asked.
“Thanks to the fact that cougars run everything in town, including the bank, that won’t be a problem. Stryker said he’d return to help escort you to the bank with the money. We’ll help get it there instead,” Leyton said. “We’re all armed and no one would dare try to take it from any of us.”
“We still can’t just deposit it all in our account.” She realized she needed to get Jack’s name on her account. They were married now, so everything needed to be in both their names, the house included. “The bank would have to report all that money to make sure it wasn’t ill-gotten gains.”
“Right, if it wasn’t a cougar-run bank. Cash of three-thousand dollars or over can cause the bank manager to question it. In our bank’s case, no. The bank’s president, Rick Mueller, and his wife, Yvonne, the investment broker at the bank, both are former FBI agents and he had been Special Forces, will take care of this. Now, that’s still too much money to deposit at one time though,” Leyton said. “So you can put it in several safe deposit boxes for the remainder. In most banks, they don’t allow cash to be saved in the boxes because thefts have occurred at banks and the contents can’t be verified or insured. But at our bank, no problem. Even so, there are three CSF agents, yourself, and one deputy sheriff who all know how much will be stored there. And then just spend it as you need to for the various projects.”
“Another idea is to put a big chunk of that money into investments, and then the money will create more income and can continue to be used, not just for a one-time affair,” Jack said.
“Now I like that idea. Then it can continue to fund projects for the community. I guess we need to get this over to the bank now.” It was making Dottie nervous to see that much money sitting in her kitchen. “What did you do with the metal containers?”
“We thought of just burying them again. If you want to plant in that garden spot, they would be in the way of the new roots. Stryker took them with him to dispose of,” Jack said. “I’ve already called the bank to tell the manager that we have some cash coming in, and we’ll need to get several of the bigger safe deposit boxes.”
“Okay, I guess this will all fit into a couple of suitcases, and we can just roll it into the bank. I’ll go get them.” Dottie returned with her largest bags and the guys all filled them up for her. She was looking forward to getting with key people in the community and seeing what everyone wanted to do. That would be perfect when she quit her job, and she could be home with the kids and Jack still, whenever he was able to be around.
“What I don’t understand is why Jeffrey was trying to get you to Kate’s house that day,” Leyton said, still sounding angry about it. “Jeffrey was threatening to kill Kate and he had every intention of killing me if he could have.”
“What if he just wanted to make sure we weren’t at the house so Bishop or Curly Joe, his partners at the time, could dig up the cash? There was practically always someone at the house. Maybe he was afraid they’d get caught, and he really didn’t want me or the kids to get hurt.”
“Yeah, Hal was over there watching Dottie. If she had left the house with the kids to see Kate, he would have gone with her and the house would have been empty. Since she lives out a ways from town, no one would have been the wiser,” Leyton said.
“Hellion must not have known about the money. If Bishop had known about it, he was in jail so he couldn’t go back out to Dottie’s place and dig it up. Curly Joe was already dead. If Bishop knew about it, I can see why he didn’t tell Hellion about the cash. He must have told them about the weapons so that Hellion would be partners with him, but he was afraid to let him in on the cash. Bishop probably assumed he’d get to it when he could. Maybe sell the weapons first,” Leyton said.
Ja
ck agreed. “And he’d need some muscle backup in his line of work. He couldn’t just sell the arms without having someone watch his back.”
“Only they cut him out of the deal. Forget backing him.” Dottie shook her head. “No honor among thieves.”
“Well, it’s really a cutthroat business when it comes to money.” Jack rolled one of the suitcases out to the car. Leyton grabbed the other.
Dottie secured the kids in the car and then Leyton followed in his car.
“I’m sure glad to be home,” Jack said. “As soon as we learned Stryker had found so much money in the backyard, I wanted to be here for you, just in case Hellion or the others learned of it.”
“So they’re on call and will leave, but you’re stuck staying with me and the kids?”
Jack laughed. “Best deal ever. The other way to handle this is for you and the kids to leave. Either go and stay with my parents, your aunt, or someone locally. I’m comfortable with anything as long as you and the kids aren’t alone.”
“I don’t want to have to always run away or go into hiding. We stay with you. I know how to shoot a gun and I have one of my own. I’ve taught the kids to hide under my bed and stay there until someone they know says it’s all right to come out. Unless they smell smoke, and then they’re to slip out into the woods and wait for me or someone they know.”
“I’m sorry you’ve had to go through this, Dottie. You shouldn’t have to.”
“I agree. You were fighting in a war zone. And it’s relatively safe here. I just hooked up with the wrong sort of man.”
“Not this time.”
She sighed. “No, you’re wonderful for us.”
“I just don’t want you or the kids in any kind of danger.”
“We could be anywhere we stay and then maybe put those we’re staying with at risk too. I’ve been meaning to ask you about putting our names on both bank accounts and the house and anything else we need to.”
“My thought also. I’ll be getting direct deposit from work, so I’ll need to set that up here.” Jack wasn’t sure everyone would warm up to him right away. Not when he was a newcomer, but when they arrived at the bank, the Muellers greeted him like he was a long lost friend.
“He’s a keeper,” Yvonne said, winking at Dottie.
Dottie blushed. “Yes, he is.”
One of the loan officers took the kids back into a playroom where two other bank customers working on loans had their young children who appeared to be about six years old, both girls. They were working on puzzles and Jeff and Trish went in to help them.
Jack was glad that the bank was so family friendly since they were going to be here for a while. Rick took Jack and Dottie back to his office where he pulled the blinds to his windows that viewed the inside of the bank, offered them seats, and coffee, water, or sodas.
Once they had mugs of coffee, Rick called his wife in.
Yvonne joined them and told them how they could handle the investments. And then they did all the other banking they needed to do—adding Jack to the account, transferring money from his old one, signing up for direct deposit, and then finally opening some safe deposit boxes to keep the money secure until they needed it for projects.
“This is so good,” Yvonne said. “Taking a criminal’s money and using it for the good of our kind.”
“He probably would have had a stroke if he’d known what we plan to do with his money.”
“Maybe he’d buried it there for you and the kids,” Yvonne said.
Dottie laughed. “If he had, why not mention it? No. He hid it for his own safekeeping. By doing so, he put us at further risk in the event any of his partners had come looking for it. I’m glad we can do some good with it.”
After that, they went home for pizza. Stryker and Leyton also had a bite. Before Leyton headed home to his mate, Stryker received a call. “Yeah?” He looked at Dottie. “All right. Be right in.” He hung up the phone and said, “Well, that was Kate. She said her patient, the caracal? She escaped. I have to run in and see if I can track her down.”
“Boy, if she doesn’t sound like Shannon.” Dottie and Jack saw the guys out to their cars.
“Yeah, I missed Shannon’s case. Who would ever have thought we’d have another I could be involved in like that.” Then Stryker climbed into his car, waved goodbye, and headed back into town.
Leyton told Jack to call him if they had any trouble, and then he went home.
When Jack and Dottie returned to the house, Jeff said, “Uncle Ted asked when you’re going to take riding lessons.”
Jack knew that would come up until he did the obligatory lessons. “How about tomorrow, if he can manage. While Mom’s at work, we can go out there and ride horses.”
Dottie smiled at Jack. “If you do a lot of riding, you’ll be sore.”
He took that as a hint that making love to her could be hard on him. “Won’t stop me.”
She laughed. “Insatiable. I know it.”
14
Dan finally showed up at the sheriff’s department the next day and was all business. Quieter than usual. Busy.
When he had a free moment and was just staring out the window of his office, Dottie rapped on the door jamb and said, “Dan, Jack and I discussed me resigning from the position so I could be home for the new baby, for the twins, and for Jack when he’s around.” She wanted to give Dan the news early. She didn’t want him to feel like she had to leave at a moment’s notice.
“Sounds good.”
“I thought I’d give two weeks’ notice, unless you needed me for longer in the event that you couldn’t get a replacement right away.”
“Figuring now that you have a husband and another baby on the way that you’d want to be home with your family, I already have it covered.”
“Oh. Okay, well, good.” She really was glad she wasn’t leaving him, or the town, in a lurch, but she was surprised he was already making arrangements for her to be gone when she hadn’t really decided much one way or another beforehand. He must have been able to read her better than she’d been able to read herself. She truly did want to be home with her family until the kids were older at least. Still, she wanted to talk to him about what was going on at home with him.
She walked into his office and shut the door. She had never felt nervous about discussing anything with him before. He seemed so distant, it was like an alien Dan had replaced the friend and boss she knew. “Is anything wrong?” She wouldn’t have ever brought up the blond, but the situation with Kate making a house call continued to nag at her.
Dan’s brows rose. “Why do you ask?”
“Well, you know Mrs. Fitzgerald.”
He gave a dark, little chuckle. “And?” He leaned back in his chair, arms folded across his chest.
“She saw a blond enter your house when you weren’t there. And then Dr. Kate made a house call.”
“Okay, listen, I’m not going to make up a story.”
Waiting to hear the real story, Dottie barely breathed.
“But I can’t tell you what’s really going on. Neither can Kate. People could die. Suffice it to say, whatever Mrs. Fitzgerald wants to speculate about the situation, it’s out of my hands.”
“Okay. Thanks, Dan, for being honest with me.”
That earned her a genuine smile, and she knew then everything was right with the world—at least between them. Whatever was going on with him was no one’s business, and she knew when he was ready, he’d share.
For two weeks, the CSF agents hadn’t been able to locate Hellion and his partners. Bridget and Travis had even flown out to Missouri, to ensure Hellion and Gigi hadn’t returned there. Jack had been Mr. Mom and seemed fine with the role for now until he had another mission to go on, while he watched over the kids for the time Dottie had left at work. All of them delighted in having him home. Stryker had never located the unusual cat that had escaped Kate’s clinic and left Yuma Town. Tracey and Hal had decided on names for their four babies with help from their cougar f
riends: Tabitha, Evan, Denise, and Liam. Great names for darling babies.
Dan had jumped right back into his work, giving her a parting celebration for a job well-done, and everyone came by on her last day of work. She’d halfway expected him to replace her with a blond. The woman, who took Dottie’s job as police dispatcher, was in her mid-thirties, had a ten-year-old boy, and a husband who worked as a reporter for the local paper. True to his word, Dan hadn’t said a word about the blond, though everyone in Yuma Town had heard about it. He seemed so quiet about that, Dottie was afraid the woman had left him, and he’d been upset.
As to quitting her job, Dottie had worried she might get bored. She’d had no time for that. Between having fun with Jack and the kids, and coming up with plans for things the community could enjoy, she was having a ball at the beginning of her first week of no work. Not to mention they were in the middle of renovating the house so they could be ready for the new baby. And she had just finalized the plans for the wedding.
She suspected she was having twins again since she was about the same size at this stage in the pregnancy as the last time.
They had all gone over to Hal’s ranch for Jack’s second lesson at riding before Dottie had her doctor’s appointment. Jeff and Trish were so excited about showing Jack how to ride a horse, she wasn’t sure Ted would get a word in edgewise.
When they arrived at the ranch, Jack was wearing his cowboy boots, and he had a cowboy hat, jeans, and a western shirt already, so he looked the part. But when he stood next to Lucy, he looked a little unsure of himself.
“You gotta put your foot in the stirrup,” Jeff said, “like you did before.” Then he looked at Ted as if to make sure he’d said it right.
Ted was smiling, his arms folded across his chest, and he nodded. “Only way to ride is to just get on up there and…ride. A few more times and you’ll be a pro.”