Beckett (Robinson Destruction #4) - Kathi S. Barton Page 0,10

bothering him a little, so he told him to go ahead. The man that walked in was as big as Beckett. Not fat, but tall and muscled. They hugged, and then Houston sat down on the couch across from him.

“Beckett told me about Allie losing her job today. Or I guess yesterday. I’d like to explain it to her if you think that will help her to understand.” He said they’d both read the paper. “All the paper is telling people is what we wanted them to know. Yes, there were children hurt, but what they don’t say is that they were our nephews.”

“Are you having a fucking party out here?” Allie stood there with her sloppy T-shirt on and her very thin and see-through robe open. No shoes, no slippers, and certainly nothing under the shirt. That was very obvious by the way the light in the hall silhouetted her body from behind. Allen told her to go change; they had to talk. “Sure. Why the fuck not? I wasn’t sleeping anyway. There’s a fucking party going on out here. Do you need me to whip up some snacks while I’m at it? I have a nice vial of arsenic someplace I can sprinkle over the top of some popcorn.”

She continued to mumble about noise and football as she made her way back to her room. Allen started to apologize to the men, but they were both smiling like they didn’t have an ounce of sense. Allie was going to kill them both. He just knew it. Him too if she wasn’t finished with her anger by the time they were both bleeding out on the floor.

Allen went into the kitchen to pop some popcorn. Her bringing it up made him hungry for it.

~*~

Beckett watched the hallway. It would be his luck that she decided to go back to bed and leave him hanging. Smiling to himself, he couldn’t believe his luck. His car breaking down right outside the house that his mate lived in. And she, according to her brother, was as mean as the other women. When she finally came down the hallway again, he stood up. So did his brother. She only stared at them before telling them to stop being a fucking jack in the box. Beckett was laughing when he sat back down.

“What the hell are you doing here? Do you have any idea what time it is? We both have lives that we’re trying to get to in the morning.” Allen explained to his sister who they were. “I don’t care if they’re strippers at this point. I just want you to tell me why we’re having guests here, and that— Is that caramel popcorn?”

“I thought it might make you in a better mood.” She told him good luck with that and took the bowl from him. “Allie, this is Beckett and Houston Robinson. They’re here to talk to you about why you lost your job today.”

She put the bowl down and looked so sad that Beckett wanted to comfort her. Instead, he handed her the bowl back and told her it wasn’t that bad. She just stared at him, then looked at Houston before speaking.

“It doesn’t matter how bad it is. I’m no longer employed. And that fucking sucks. I didn’t know a thing about what was going on in the classrooms because they didn’t hire me as a teacher. I work in the stupid lunchroom. Do you have any idea how many times you have to tell a kid that it’s not poison we’re feeding them, but a nutritious meal? Kids are odd. Also, I want to point out that I had nothing at all to do with the food that is missing. That shit was going on long before I got there.” Houston asked her about the food missing. “Mostly, it’s things like ham and beef that comes up missing. No one bothers with the tuna or the fish. But they’re also taking out long sleeves of napkins, as well as some of the chafing dishes. I thought for sure they’d bring those back. But this morning, or yesterday now, they were still missing.”

“What do you know about the kids being hurt?” She said she’d not been told anything other than that some rich kids’ parents were making a stink about some kids being hurt on the playground. “It’s a bit more than that. One of the boys has broken ribs and a fractured arm, and the other is bruised