Bad Situation (Wolf Investigations and Securities Inc. #6)

Chapter 10

Settling In

Supper had gone well and been more like a pizza party than anything else. Harry had been well-fed and happy. In the morning, the real work would start. Not that what they had done today hadn't been work. Jenna thought it hadn't seemed they'd done enough, or at least she hadn't. They all turned in or left to go elsewhere. Harry had asked to stay, and she'd magicked a room where she wanted. Unsurprisingly, she'd stayed in the nearly empty room and asked to look through the closet in the morning. Jenna couldn't deny that she also wondered what was in the closet.

The next day, breakfast finished off a lot of the stuff in the refrigerator. She didn't worry about shopping because the cook said that a local grocery store delivered for free when the order was over a certain amount, which it always was. Harry looked like she'd slept well and was in good humor.

“Now that I am finally full, let's go to that closet and see what's hiding there," Harry said excitedly. "You'll let me keep that room while I'm here, won't you?”

“If you want it. We'll do the pet room next because I know there are some things in there you'll want for Chaos," Jenna observed.

They headed down the hall to the room they'd been discussing. After they entered, Harry threw open the door, which bounced on the wall.

“Oops. I didn't mean to do that, but it doesn't look like there's any damage.”

Harry immediately waved in a box that had been sitting on top and moved to the floor. She opened the lid, which seemed to contain a pile of clothing. It was older clothing, probably not in style, but Harry dug through the box excitedly.

“What's this?” She dug out a box full of pictures, and they looked through them.

“I think George kept trophies.”

“What?” Harry dropped what she was holding.

“You might as well keep going because we need to find out what's in here. Knowing what happened to their loved one may set some families at peace," Jenna suggested.

“Okay, but this isn't going to be fun anymore. Maybe it's just the box on top?”

They went through several boxes, each seeming dedicated to a different person. The pictures told the story. At first, they were happy pictures or at least not unhappy pictures. Then, some pictures showed abuse and mistreatment. Finally, the last pictures were of their dead bodies. It even showed where the body was placed before the space was filled. This had gone on for so long, and no one had done anything. Jenna felt bad because she might have taken action sooner when she was older.

“We need to give these to Damon," Harry observed.

“We do, but let's get through the last boxes first. It makes me wonder which is my mother and which is Grant's mother.”

“Hey, I'm so sorry you're having to deal with this, and it's such a difficult time.”

“What's this? It looks like a letter. I can't believe it. This is a letter Grant’s grandmother sent to the council, and they gave it to this monster. Maybe we should get Damon right now. Can you find him?” Jenna asked.

“I'll get him," Harry agreed, and she was gone in a flash.

It wasn't long before she was back with Damon and Marissa.

“Show me what you have!” Damon demanded.

Jenna handed him the letter first. It was one thing to show someone accused of a crime the letter that started an investigation but to give it to them was wrong on so many levels. After he read it, she showed him the box.

“He was keeping trophies of his victims. So far, we have only found boxes containing what you would consider women's items. There are so many bone chips in that pile there wouldn't be room for any of the men's items in this closet. I don't know if he kept them," Jenna explained.

“They've probably gotten complaints on George for fifty years, and some councilmen protected him and let him continue the evil he was doing. This must be shown to the council if they consider harboring a monster and allowing him to continue his actions. Most of the ones that could have been involved in this are probably gone. If any of them are left, I intend to have someone watching them closely to ensure that this doesn't happen again," Damon assured.

Poor Damon. He was always busy while some of the other councilmen did nothing, and when they did do something, it was usually bad. There was a small group that Damon put to work that helped him with some of the issues that needed to be taken care of, but it wasn't nearly enough.

“This particular box is from Grant’s mother. I haven't found one for my mother yet. If there is one, it's not in this closet,” Jenna admitted. “This is really the first closet that we've looked in, and that is only because Harry was staying in here, and I had considered turning it into an office. It will take some time to check the storage rooms and closets, not to mention the attic and the basement," Jenna explained.

“If you finish going through things and get it sorted out, I have wardens on the way to pick it up. They were nearby anyway. I intend to present this to the council. If you find anything else like this, we will handle that too. I know this is difficult, but maybe you can talk about it when your grandmother gets here, and it will help.”

Damon looked so sympathetic she just wanted to cry. Harry and Marissa came forward and gave her a hug. George had been a monster, and while Jenna had been around people who weren't nice, she saw a side of life that she never wanted to see. This would be hard for Grant when he found out what his mother had been through. Jenna thought the way he looked at it was that his mother had just abandoned him, but Jenna didn't think that she had felt able to leave. George sunk his hooks into her. Once he did, he would never have let her go. Grant's mother had wanted him to live, and had she gone with him, George would have come after them, and eventually, Grant would have died.

They finished going through the boxes, and there were personal items from 15 females, whereas there had only been 12 bodies. So, what did that mean? Were there three more hidden somewhere? Had he let the three go, or had they escaped? Harry moved the boxes to the front door, where she stacked them neatly, waiting for the wardens.

“I'm sorry you had to go through this with me, Harry. You've been through so much yourself with the blood drugs. You've got to be one of the nicest people ever," Jenna observed.

“It's part of life, and friends, you're one of the best parts of it. I hope if something like this ever happens to me, I have a friend standing beside me," Harry observed.

She could see tears in Harry's eyes. Her own face was wet because she couldn't hold back the tears when she thought about her mother and the horrific treatment she had gone through. Maybe now she could put her past behind her and move forward with her new mate, grandmother, daughter, and anyone else she and Grant added to their family. She was sure that his grandmother was probably also on her way here. Jenna looked forward to meeting her and was sure she would help them make this place a home. There had been a lot of hate and evil down here, and they needed all the love they could to balance it.

It was lunchtime, and everybody was gathering to eat their meal. There was a knock at the door, and Harry jumped up and answered it, curious. It was a lovely lady with dark hair and dark eyes who hurried over to Grant and gave him a big hug. Could this lady, who looked only a little older than him, be his grandmother? Almost anything was possible with paranormals, and it seemed that was what she was.

“This is my grandmother, Martha. Grandma, this is my mate, Jenna, the good witch, Marissa, her mate Damon, scary Harry, the famous witch, Tyne, and Moe, who I believe you know," Grant introduced.

“I'm not sure that Damon has ever been introduced as my mate," Marissa giggled.

“I'm glad to meet all of you. Aren't you a fearsome witch, Marissa? Sounds like you are your mate's equal, so why wouldn't he be introduced as your mate?” Martha asked.

“I like you," Marissa observed.

“I think I like you too, all of you, in fact, and I'm glad you are here to help my grandson get established and finally put my daughter to rest," Martha said.

“Speaking of your daughter, we found a box of her stuff you might want to look at. We will complete the investigation, and the information will be presented to the council to show what happens when you overlook complaints," Damon explained.

“Glad this was finally taken seriously, and I can't deny that I'm happy that George is dead. Many could have been saved if this happened a long time ago.” Martha pointed out.

“That's why we must pursue this and show the council what happens when a blind eye is turned to this kind of evil.” Damon directed.

“I see you all are eating. Is there anything left?” Martha wondered.

Jenna jumped up and immediately fixed her plate. By the time she returned, someone had directed Martha to a seat. She set the plate down in front of her.

“Thank you. It looks wonderful," Martha complimented. “I hope to be some help once I am through eating. I imagine there's quite a mess to be straightened out.”

“It's terrible, and it's hard to know where to start," Jenna admitted.

“We were beginning to work on some of it. We started with the closet. That's where we found the boxes filled with things that some of his victims had owned. I’ll admit it threw us off, and that was pretty much what we got done yesterday," Harry offered.

“I'll help, and we'll get more done today." Martha was nearly done with her food. “I wouldn't mind a tour of the place. Maybe I can pick out a room?”

Jenna hoped that things would go well. She had a good feeling about Martha and hoped that she would be a close friend and family member. Martha had worked hard all her life, supporting her grandson and being a good provider. There were so many things that needed to be done in this place that Martha could just about pick her job. This might be a good start with getting some of the assistance that she needed around here. Hopefully, her own grandma would arrive before too long. She was a little further away and had to deal with a difficult child.

Everyone was eating., Jenna and Harry took Martha on a tour of the house because Grant had things that he had to do. That was the life of a pack alpha. They started in the attic. Harry was very good at moving things around magically, and they were able to see pretty much everything that was up there, including some boxes that could hold anything. Jenna wasn't sure she wanted to check out boxes two days in a row.

“I want to live up here," Martha said. “It will work well for me, giving all of us some privacy from each other, and that will have all the room I need for myself and for an office that I can work out of.”

“All right. We'll see if we can find some help for you to get this organized. You'll need a kitchenette and a bathroom. I'm unsure about the heating or air conditioning, so someone will have to check that out," Jenna observed.

“I'll take care of all that. All I need is access to a pack or personal account, depending on how these fits. Is there anything up here that you want?” Martha asked.

“I like the steamer trunk. I had thought about taking the desk, but you'll need one, and it looks like it fits well up here," Jenna admitted. “As far as the boxes go, I have no idea what's in them, and I'm not sure I want to know today.”

“We can look through them another day. There is plenty to do without worrying about this now. Why don't we finish the tour?” Martha suggested.

They continued through the house, and Martha suggested various rooms, including a small storage room that would make a great office for her. Why that had not occurred to Jenna, she couldn't say, but the location was great, and it was a perfect size. She would need two desks, one for herself and one for her assistant. Jenna enjoyed the shopping much better than anything else up to this point.

Jenna hoped that things would be set up properly and that she would be able to begin to take up the responsibilities of pack bitch. Martha taking over the attic might turn out to be a good thing. She had promised to take up some duties, and living in the alpha house would make it easier for her to do that. Their cook and housekeeper already had their own places to live nearby, so neither of them needed that space. The huge house would accommodate many more people, but it still left room for guests.

She would have to get someone to take charge of further education for the pack and someone else to work with setting up businesses with pack members. Jenna tried to remember some of Marissa's suggestions, but there had been so many. The main thing she remembered was that Marissa had said that she didn't have to do it all herself, and this was where she could find good people to work with her. It was lunchtime when her grandma and her daughter arrived. She'd not seen them in a long time and was thrilled that they were there.

“These are my grandma, Hilda, and my daughter Sarah. These are Damon and Marissa, Tyne and Moe, Grant, my mate, and his grandmother Martha, and Harry the frog Princess," Jenna said, hoping she had caught everyone in the introduction.

“Harry is famous. I've heard much about you and, of course, the others too," Hilda admitted. “What are you going to need me to help with?”

“There are so many things that need to be done that you can pick what you want to help with. First, we should eat lunch. Harry will be going to get takeout pizza. There should be plenty to feed everyone and leave some for Harry for later.”

Harry was gone in a flash, and she returned quickly, considering she had to pick up pizza. Her flashing was getting good. She was going longer distances, and her time was much quicker. Everyone sat down, and there was a lot of talking and joking as they ate their pizza and cheesy bread. This was what she could imagine a family gathering would be like. Her grandma had been good to her and her daughter, but their family had been very small, and she'd always wanted it to be larger. She'd missed having a father and never even known who her father was. She knew only who he wasn't. Fatherhood clearly hadn't appealed to him because he had no part in her life or the life of her mother once she had found out she was pregnant.

This would be a good environment to raise her daughter, where she would have a father and two grandmothers. There would also be close friends that they would see from time to time. Their life was beginning to come together. Jenna knew it would be a while before everything at the pack was straightened out and the issues that George had left behind were dealt with. That was all right because they had time. Having dealt with the worst of what they had to deal with, time was now on their side.