Broken Vows (Domestic Discipline Romance) (35 page)

It was easy to view twenty-four hours of footage in less than forty minutes when nothing much happened. The first day's footage was the same scene with only an occasional animal appearance. The second day was the same. It was on the third day when he saw something else, it was daylight and the images were crystal clear. He stopped watching, rewound to the beginning of the troublesome images, noted the timestamp, and then fastforwarded noting the timestamp at the end of the image sequence. The elk must have been shot nearby and dragged to where the carcasses were left. Their severed heads with racks intact were bubblewrapped and loaded into sleds dragged behind snowmobiles. From the beginning of the operation to the end, it took one hour and ten minutes. He reversed the video to the time-markers and watched a few portions again. Then he rewound again.

Josh found Kevin in an upstairs bedroom installing blocks on the windows so no one could raise them even if they were unlocked.

"I need you to watch something," Josh told him.

"Sure, have your contacted County Records yet?"

"Yes, they told me where to find the request forms online. I can fill them out online, but I have to deliver them in person, as they need photo ID and a signature. I'll request a complete record of the blueprints, building permits, the works. It can't hurt to have the full history of how this place was built."

"I called Dad," Kevin added. "His memory might be a little hazy on some things, but not on this. He said we were not the first carpenters on site. It took six years to build this place. Mr. Bentley started the house and then suffered health problems and shut down work. He started and stopped construction several more times, using different contractors each time. It caused a stir among the local men because he was hiring outsiders. When he finally hired Dad to come in to fix the mismatched mess, Dad would only take the job if he could rip out any inferior work he found. He also would only work with what was structurally sound. Mr. Bentley agreed except he did not want any changes made in the study or library. Dad could do the finishing work in those areas, but nothing else. Three years after the house was occupied, Dunbar Construction, a local firm, built the guesthouse and housekeeper's quarters. They hired Dad to do carpentry in both of those add-ons. I was at the University of Southern Florida by then."

"That's good background. I am anxious to see the original blueprints and building permits, but it will take a few days before they are ready." The men had been walking toward Josh's office while they talked and now Josh sat down at his desk, turned his screen, and motioned for Kevin to have a look.

Kevin watched for a full five minutes before commenting. "You do know who it is, don't you?"

I only met him recently, I wanted confirmation."

"Rewind, I need to see it again," Kevin requested. He watched it a second time, but fifteen minutes in, he had Josh stop the footage again."

"State Police," Josh asked.

"No, we start local, but I'm sure the State will be involved at some point," Kevin said. "We start with the Chief of Police in Durango, the Mayor, and the Chief Game Warden."

"Why have we been dealing with the Sheriff's office up until now?"

"Your property is outside city limits," Kevin said.

* * *

Three men sat in chairs across from Josh's desk, all viewing the video feed. There were a few exclamations of disgust, and even more swearing, but mostly they watched in silence.

"Will this hold up in court?" Chief of Police, Rand Michaels demanded.

"It was taken by a licensed surveillance camera on my property," Josh said. "The original is in the hands of the Home Secure Company of Farmington. They will validate where the cameras are located and when the filming occurred. As you see, it's date and time-stamped."

Game Warden, Jim Hodges, growled. "So far this season, people have found and reported eleven elk carcasses, but that is only when hunters find carcasses and bother to report them. With the kind of operation visible in this footage, they have probably killed hundreds. This is good evidence, but it would better if we caught them in the act."

"Are you suggesting a sting operation?" Mayor Moser asked.

Hodges laughed. "We ain't sophisticated enough for a sting operation. I don't know of any local FBI office around here. We have the proof we need. None of those men can deny their faces appearing in this video footage."

"I'll get the arrest warrants signed. We know who and where they are," Chief of Police Michaels said.

The Mayor held up his hand. "Let me pull Hollis Leonard's badge before you arrest him. We appointed him Interim Sheriff while he was already involved in a major poaching operation. This will be a nightmare for the Town Council. You know the
Herald
will blame me, and the council, for this. I need to call Tim Garvey and see if he can resume his duties as Sheriff effective immediately."

Josh looked at Kevin as the three officials bickered about how to handle the situation. "Gentlemen, I hate to interrupt, but we have work to do. I will have copies of this video delivered to your offices, or to wherever you tell me to send them."

Josh shook the hands of the three men and saw them to the door.

Kevin followed along behind him. "Denny is right. Brad Thomas at the
Herald
hates him and he will have a heyday with this. A Sheriff running a local poaching ring… it's clear in the video who is barking out orders and directing the action even if there is no audio. It won't be the first jail time for some of those good ol' boys. They are known for carousing and doing whatever it takes to earn easy money. It's just my luck the bastard, Blake Parker, wasn't among them." Kevin gave Josh a twisted grin. "He has been pestering my cousin again as if she hasn't enough problems supporting his kids, with no help from him!"

"I'm going over to check on Mila. At least this should end the problem of idiots with guns roaming around on your land."

Jenny agreed with Kevin. "I still want a fenced-in backyard for the kids come spring. I don't want to be a helicopter parent, but I don't want them disappearing either. I want them to be able to play safely in their own backyard. We can get Emmie a little playhouse, and a sandbox and swing set for both of them."

"It will also be a contained area if we get the 'p u p p y' for someone's birthday," Josh added.

Emmie's little head rose to listen closely from the alcove where she was playing with her kitchen set.

"I think you just let out our little secret," Jenny whispered, bumping her husband on the hip as she went by. "She can spell that word."

Kevin smiled at the couple before wandering over to Mila, who was sitting on the couch feeding Little Kevin. "How are you feeling?"

Mila did not even try to hide it. "Rough, you weren't kidding. Metal against skin hurts. More bruises keep appearing and the ones I already had are getting darker."

His eyes shifted to the baby. "Have you taken anything for the pain?"

"Only aspirin, I called the doctor's office. They said try not to overuse it, or switch him to formula for a couple of feedings."

"I left one box of formula at your place and took one with us last night. I'll bring back the one from my place, in case you need it. You need rest. It is going to be a couple of more days before you feel better. How are the fingers?"

"Stiff and bruised. I feel like a slug, Jen waits on me hand and foot. She already has enough to do, but she will barely let me move."

"She is doing what any sister would do," Kevin scolded. "I only wanted to check in and won't stay. The stairway is back up, by the way. It won't come down again."

Mila tried to shift the baby in her arms. Kevin took him from her, laid him on his shoulder, and patted his back until they heard him burp. "Do you want him back with you or in the bassinet?"

"He will sleep now," she said, nodding towards the bassinet.

Kevin put the baby down and tucked him in for his nap. Then he repositioned Mila on the couch. "When he sleeps, you sleep. Give your body time to recuperate. In a few days, you can go back to reorganizing the world."

"I need to help Jenny get her studio in order. I also need to finish sorting the library books," Mila complained.

"All of which will still be there when you feel better. Are you staying here tonight or coming home with me?"

Mila looked up at him, surprised. She had expected him to offer to stay over at her place. "If you don't mind, I would like to go back to your place."

"I don't mind at all, it's where you belong."

"Josh, go," Jenny said exasperated.

"No," he said firmly. "Not until Kevin or Bubba arrives.

Jenny rolled her eyes. "How long will Bubba be a part of our lives? It has been five days now."

Jenny continued talking, not waiting for a response. "When Chief of Police Michaels found out Sheriff Leonard hadn't processed the fingerprints pulled from here, he brought his own men out to redo them. While they were here, Michaels and I talked about this place. He grew up in town too, and said the rumors about your grandfather and his wealth were outrageous. People thought he was another Howard Hughes, he was never seen and he was eccentric. He lived out here all alone with only his housekeeper to keep him company. There were stories of him burying barrels full of money and this place being full of priceless antiques. He says everyone thinks it was the housekeeper who was the one spreading the crazy rumors. I'm surprised there haven't been more people out here searching for loot, and combing the grounds with metal detectors."

"Don't refer to him as my grandfather," Josh said.

"Bentley, then," Jenny said patiently. "From what I have seen, Mrs. Dougherty wouldn't have known an antique if one had fallen on her. The house was full of junk. Even the few pieces I kept are not valuable. They are unique. What was valuable to her had no value to anyone else."

"Bubba will be here until I dismiss him," Josh broke in. "I like knowing someone is here to protect you, and Mila, and the kids, when Kevin or I have to run errands. We have had at least three break-ins, which is reason enough. Besides, he's not here all the time."

Jenny turned her head. "He's here now. I hear his truck."

"Who doesn't," Josh mumbled. "I'm going to pick up the documents from County Records. It ordinarily wouldn't have taken this long, but the records were archived in a warehouse where it took them almost a week to locate them. Their online records only go back to 1992, the original plans for the main house date back to 1985. Okay, I will be back soon."

"Stop to pick up, milk, bread and eggs on the way back," Jenny asked, kissing her husband goodbye.

Bubba was getting out of his truck as she waved Josh off. Kevin drove in with Mila and the baby, and parked beside him. Kevin gave Bubba a nod and waved to Josh, but then he slammed his truck door with such force, Jenny halted in her tracks and watched as Mila hurriedly jumped out of her side of the vehicle and bounded up the deck stairs. Kevin came behind carrying the car seat. Mila reached for the handle of the carrier, but he ignored her going straight through the guesthouse door putting the baby and carrier on the floor. He carefully extracted Little Kevin, put him in the port-a-crib, and stalked back outside past Mila towards his truck.

He turned to Jenny before he left. "I need to work at my shop to make trim for the upstairs master bath. I'll be back after lunch. He got in his truck and spun away.

"Trouble," Jenny asked softly.

"Fight," Mila snapped, "That pig-headed…
man
!"

Jenny laughed, "That describes most of the male population at one time or another. I thought you two were getting along great."

"We were," Mila exclaimed. "He is such a stickler about everything, though."

"Any particulars you want to share?"

"No," Mila admitted. "What are we doing today?"

"Kevin finished building and installing the diamond-shaped shelves for my studio. I want to organize my materials in them."

"You work on your latest art piece, I'll organize," Mila said.

"Oh, but…."

"My hands and fingers are okay," barked Mila as she lifted Little Kevin and put him back in his car seat. She closed her eyes for a few seconds. "Please, Jen, I don't need anyone else telling me what I can or cannot do."

"Was that the source of the fight?" Jenny guessed.

"Along with a pig-headed man," Mila said over her shoulder, snagging Adam and putting a coat on him to go across to the main house.

Mila emptied box after box of yarn, arranging it by color in the shelving as Jenny had requested. Now that Jen knew this room would be her studio for a long while, she was organizing and decorating it the way she wanted. Unfortunately, the problem with mindless work was it gave you time to think.

Mila idly observed Jenny busy with her latest piece while the kids played quietly in a corner of the room the women had made into a giant playpen to contain the kids. Emmie did not ordinarily get into much trouble. Adam, on the other hand, could destroy anything in his path. Letting him run around loose in a room with scissors, knitting needles, and other potentially life-threatening items, was dangerous, hence, the containment. Jenny rarely talked while working and soon lost herself in her own creative world. Even so, she stayed attuned to the sounds of her children.

Mila glanced towards Little Kevin and wondered if she were involved in a structural design, would a single cry from him break her concentration. Jenny knew both her children so well she could translate their individual cries. She knew the difference between cries of anger and frustration, or between being mad or in pain. She knew Jenny was not an avid feminist as she was, after all her sister's life experiences had been far different from hers, she had been married now for a third of her life. Mila admired her older sister, she always had. Still, she was confused over how the person, who defied their parents and put herself through college, would allow her husband to spank her.

Mila had been living at Kevin's place for five days, in a separate bedroom. Their living arrangements were not sexual—yet. It was strange living together, but not cohabitating. They were settling into a rhythm of sorts. He was wonderful with the baby, attentive and gentle. He was the same way with her unless she tried to do something, anything. Her right hand was in a cast, her index finger was splinted and sprained. The fingers on her left hand were stiff and the bruises so dark it looked as if she wore a dark glove. He saw her injuries as limitations. They were limiting, which she accepted, but she also thought she should adapt and work around them.

Kevin had insisted she see a specialist and, of course, one of his endless supply of cousins worked for an Orthopedist. She managed to squeeze Mila in for an appointment in only two days. This doctor told them what they already knew. Mila's injuries would heal eventually, but it could be a month or more before all the bruising disappeared.

Mila interpreted the verdict as 'get on with your life and do what has to be done'.

Kevin interpreted it as a month of treating her as an invalid.

The worst was over. She had figured out how to diaper the baby, and could feed and lift him without difficulty. She did not trust herself to bathe him, yet, because she had to keep her cast hand dry. She asked for help when she needed it.

The previous evening Kevin had spanked her. Not for play, not to initiate her into what he considered a lifestyle, but for real. He had not even seemed particularly mad. He had gone out for a pizza. While he was gone, she had noticed the woodbox was nearly empty. Every evening there was a fire in his living room, which he fed from a huge stack of split firewood stored under the deck. All she had done was walk outside and carry in a few pieces. Okay, she had gotten a big splinter in her finger, and she had dropped a chunk of wood on her toe. It could have happened to anyone.

When he arrived back home, she was trying to get the splinter out of her left hand, which was difficult since she was right handed, and there was a cast on her right hand.

His
mad
had come after he removed the splinter, disinfected the wound, and confirmed her toe was not broken or smashed. His
mad
had come after a long lecture on her overdoing things, being stubborn, and not listening to him. She yelled back 'she would do as she damned well pleased and there was not a damn thing he could do about it'. His opinion differed from hers.

She found herself face down over his knees, getting the first spanking of her life. All the combat maneuvers she had learned hadn't done her a damn bit of good. When wedged in between a man's legs, you were stuck. He had caught her cast hand by the wrist and held it in place, so he would not accidently reinjure it. Kicking, swearing, and crying had not helped either. He had peeled down her leggings and spanked her on her panty-covered ass. He had even announced this would be the only time he would do so. If he ever spanked her again, it would be on her bare bottom, not that her bikini-cut panties covered a whole lot!

It had hurt! It stung, it burned, and she swore she would kill him as soon as he let her loose. However, when he had finally let go, instead she turned and cried into his chest. Afterwards, he had carried her into the bedroom she was using and put her to bed. Then, he left and closed the door behind him.

What kind of a man walked away? She had needed to talk to him! She had needed… damn it. She did not know what she needed. She only knew he should not have walked away!

A few hours later, he carried in the dresser drawer they had been using as a crib. He did not say a word, just put down Little Kevin's makeshift crib and left again. They had not spoken the next morning, even on the trip to Josh's place. They had not spoken until they were in the lane following behind Bubba's ridiculous truck.

Mila had broken the silence. "You owe me an apology!"

Kevin did not answer at first. When he did, she knew he meant it. "No, you owe me an apology. I have treated you with respect and kindness from the day we met. I have been honest with you and have told you I love you. I cannot be any clearer. I believe a man has to protect and care for the people in his life, espcially the woman he loves. All I have asked of you is to listen and not overextend yourself physically. I am a trained medic, who has spent years going to classes, many more than the state requires, so I am able to help people when they need it.

"You had surgery only five weeks ago. Now your hands are injured. Would it kill you to let others help when you need it? When I walked out the door, the last thing I said to you was 'sit back and relax. I will be back in twenty minutes'. You couldn't wait twenty damn minutes to tell me
we needed firewood?
"

"I won't change who I am, Mila. I am a man who believes in domestic discipline. I believe in spanking. If you are involved with me, you have to understand this from the beginning. I only have your well-being and safety in my heart. This is who I am. Accept it or not, the choice is yours."

"Are you okay?" Jenny asked.

"What?" Mila blinked and looked around.

"You have been in another world all morning," Jenny said. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Mila shook her head no.

"It's time for lunch. Wow, you got a lot done. If it were me, every time I touched or looked at a new skein, I would be thinking of what I would do with it."

"I'm slow, but I can do some things," Mila quipped.

Jenny squeezed her sister's shoulder. "Don't let it fester. Whatever you and Kevin are fighting about, settle it. He might be able to help. Face it, Mila. We entered our adult lives with skewed views of pretty much everything. We had to learn how real people act."

Mila nodded. "It's Little Kevin's lunchtime too."

* * *

Kevin and Josh both returned at about the same time. Josh had plans for the afternoon, but when he logged onto his computer he saw he had contracts to review for Peak Designs, which had to come first. Kevin immediately disappeared into the upstairs of the main house where you could soon hear the constant thumping of a nail gun as he installed trim work.

Bubba took the opportunity to run errands for his business, clearing it with Josh before he left.

Jenny came out of her studio and went back over to her house where Mila was watching the kids. "I'm stuck," she announced to her sister.

"Stuck how?"

Jenny made a face. "Something isn't working right on the piece I'm doing. I've tried several different approaches, but nothing works."

"I can't help you," Mila said. "I can never see where you're going until it's finished. Then I simply know I like it."

Jenny grabbed a bottle of water out of the refrigerator. "Sometimes I can't see where it's going either, which is why I have stalled now. I need to give it a break. Kevin has cleared the library, didn't he? It is safe to work in there again?"

"Yes," Mila said. "I think he has checked it every morning since. I can help box what's left."

Jenny shook her head. "Yarns and materials are soft, books are hard. You have done enough today. You watch the kids and throw something in the crockpot for dinner. The Library Auxiliary is coming tomorrow afternoon to pick up the books and take them away. All that time you spent sorting them was unnecessary.  It turns out they would have done it. Anyway, I didn't want them to have to come out twice, so I asked Bubba to move all the packed boxes out of the library and to the foyer for them. He is certainly handy to have around for lifting stuff. Our own books will arrive sometime next week along with some of our furniture." Jenny stared off through the window for a couple of seconds.

"What was that look?" Mila asked.

Jenny sat down on the arm of a chair. "It's strange how things work out. Six months ago, we were living hand to mouth. When we put our things in storage, I really thought we would never get them out again. I knew if the house didn't sell, we would lose it to foreclosure. It was a scary time. It seemed so final when Josh sold the cars. He said it didn't make sense to keep them when we had vehicles here for our use." She shrugged. "It was a daunting prospect for me to walk away from everything, but he wasn't ready to tell me about his inheritance."