Thatcher

Now this one, Rogen liked. The realtor was talking to Mom as Rogen walked around the living room. She could see her mom with a tree by the front window. A fire in the fireplace, as well as having her grandchildren over as she so desperately wanted. The big dining room would hold them if she were to have dinner, and the house had four bedrooms. All on one level so that Mom wouldn’t have to worry about stairs later in life.

“This is about perfect for her.” She told Thatch that she agreed. “I was thinking too that Maggie and I, we’d be more than happy to help her out with her new appliances and such. Just for her turning a corner, so to speak.”

Rogen kissed him on his head. Thatch was a wonderful man, and she loved Maggie to pieces. Thatcher had been very lucky growing up with them in his corner.

Her mom came around the corner with a look of absolute terror on her face. Before she could ask her what had happened, she was handed a paper. It told about the house, what was new and used, and how many acres it was. Rogen didn’t want to embarrass her mom. Thatch took the hint and asked the realtor if she’d come with him to see the yard. Give the ladies time to talk.

“It’s fine, Mom. I have it.” She asked her what it said. “It’s just a sheet telling about the house, when it was built, as well as all the appliances you’ll need to get. You have five acres, which means that Thatcher and I can come here on a run if we want. And there are the makings of a garden in the back. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

“I love this house, Rogen. It’s within walking distance to your home if you need me. I can go to the store, too, in the other direction from the house. And I’d love to have a garden to play around in.” Rogen told her that she liked it too. “Do you mind if we go to the basement? She was nice and all, but she talked too fast for me. Just show me the furnace and stuff. I don’t know squat about it, but I’d like to see if it’s rusty or not.”

“Sure.”

The furnace, according to the paper that she had, was brand new. There was a bit of water damage on one wall, but that could be fixed. The roof was only three years old, and there was a ceiling fan in each bedroom. Mom fell in love with the master suite.

“I’ve never had my own bathroom before.” She squealed in delight when she saw the deep garden tub. “Why, I could soak in here for hours and watch the animals in the back yard.”

Rogen made a mental note to ask some of the other shifters in the area to come by here once in a while so that Mom could have a nice view. They were headed back to the kitchen when Thatch came in with the realtor.

“I’ve been working her down on the price, Lisha. I told her how your husband recently died and you’re going to be moving here to be close to your daughter and son. She liked that.” The woman, Rogen thought her name was Sally, agreed it was a lovely thing. “Sally here said that she’d take ten grand off the price, and throw in one of them homeowner’s insurance packages.”

Rogen looked at her mom and asked her what she wanted to do. There was one more house to see. Mom asked if she could walk around once more alone. When they all agreed to wait for her, Mom took a long tour of the house. Rogen told Thatcher what was going on.

That’s wonderful, Rogen. And you told her that we’re buying the house, didn’t you? She told him not yet, but she would. I’m glad she found something that she liked. And someplace where she could live by us. But, honey, I might be a little longer than I thought. There’s been another shooting on one of the families from the pack. Have you found out anything yet?

Yes. I’ll talk to Shane and the police when we’re done here. You’re not going to believe who it is. He said he had to go but would talk to her later.

Rogen told Thatch what was going on. “I have to contact Shane and let him know so that

he can tell me if he wants to take care of it himself or let the police handle it.”

“Is it pack?” She shook her head and told him it was a human, as they’d thought. “Then telling Shane will be good, but he won’t be able to take care of it himself. He’ll want to, don’t get me wrong, but he won’t. Not with it being a human. You sure? Never mind. I know you are. You don’t do a thing unless you’re sure. All right. How about I call him to us. That way he can sniff out anything we might not see. Also, you might want to tell your mom that so long as you guys visit her often, she won’t have any trouble with rodents.”

Her mom told her that she really wanted this house. So, before Sally could tell her about financing and such, Rogen interrupted her. She had dealt with this sort of thing before.

“My husband and I will be paying cash for the house. But before we close, we’d like to have the carpets all cleaned and the garage out back to have the floors power washed. That way my mom won’t have to worry about getting dirty when she uses it, all right?” Dollar signs were all she could see in Sally’s eyes. “Also, and this is important for the sale to go through, my mom will need for you to make sure that the homeowner’s insurance is up to date. A house this old, she might have a few issues.”

“Yes, we can do that. I can get started on the carpets right away. When will you be moving in, Mrs. Hall?” Mom said as soon as possible. “Then I’ll call my boss now and have him get a start on this. I’m probably not supposed to tell you this, but you are my first home buyer. Thank you so much. I can’t believe it. Thank you.”

She and her mom stopped by the furniture store on the way home. Rogen had a list of things she would need, as well as a list of things that she and Jamie had had in the rental. When she saw her mom looking longingly at the new bedroom set, she tossed the used list away, and they had a wonderful time buying for her new home.

Chapter 11

Thatcher wanted to be in on both the meetings that Rogen had set up. One of them was with the Feds, who were at the hospital with Rogen, and he was here with the local police taking care of the person who had, so far, murdered three people. All of them pack.

“Mrs. Bundy, we have a warrant for your arrest.” The mayor, her husband, looked at them and laughed. He asked if Tommy had sent them. “No, sir. We’re here to arrest one April Bundy for the attempted murder of the Conrad family, and for the murder of Phil Jenkins and his wife, Patty Jenkins.”

“This is absurd. What is this really about? You there, Robinson? Is this your idea? Coming here at election time to make sure that I lose? Is that it?” Thatcher had been warned to keep his mouth shut. “You can’t be accusing my wife of killing anyone. Just look at her. She’d not hurt a fly.”

He was here for Rogen and that was all. However, he was not only armed, but he was also wearing a vest that had Police written on it to keep his upper body safe. So he stood there, keeping his mouth shut, but wondering about why Mayor Bundy would think this had anything to do with him.

“Your wife, sir, has been seen carrying out the murder of Mr. Jenkins and his wife. She had them pull over, and then she pulled a gun on Mr. Jenkins. After making sure he was dead, checking his pulse to make sure, April then shot and killed his wife, Patty.”

“There isn’t any way anyone saw me do anything.” Thatcher tensed up. He wasn’t sure, but he thought that she’d just admitted that she’d kill them. “Besides, this world would be a much better place if not for those monsters that shift into other beings. Why, you would think that I’d done something wrong by killing them. It’s my duty as a Christian to make sure that the world is clean of such things.”

“Mrs. Bundy, are you admitting that you killed these people? I want to warn you, we have on body cameras, and they’re recording every word you say. Don’t you want an attorney?” April waved him off and asked the maid to get some tea for everyone. “No, thank you, ma’am. I’d like for you to come down to the station, please. We have some questions that we need to ask.”

“I just told you that I’m a Christian and that I was doing right by the city. My goodness, man, have you seen how they are in our schools? In our churches? It’s an abomination to have them around. No, I’m not going anywhere. And if you were half the policeman that you should be, then you’d agree with me in having them all murdered in their beds. All the women are breeding more of those little creatures to grow up and become the same monsters that their parents are. Sucking all the life out of our God fearing community like they have a right to.” She thanked the maid politely and took a sip of tea. “Come sit down. We’ll discuss the next round of genocide for these people. If we could gather them all in one place, all of them at once, we can poison the food that they have at their meetings and be done with the lot of them. Come, have a tart. They’re very good.”