Fisher (Prince of Tigers, #3) - Kathi S. Barton Page 0,23

they pulled into the parking lot to the campground. There wasn’t anyone at the front office by then, having closed up at five. He supposed they were out the door before the second hand passed the twelve. He would have been if he’d had to work anywhere.

The place was nearly empty as they drove around. He’d been looking for the lot number three on his side of the car while Mary did the same on her side. By the time they’d made their way around twice, he was sure she’d had the number wrong. There didn’t seem to be a single three in the entire park.

“There it is.” He looked to where she was pointing and saw that not only was there no camper in the place, but there was a lone bag of trash out by one of the stones that divided the space from the road. “Where the hell is she? She was here just this morning. My spy told me she was staying put because she hadn’t the money to pay the bill. What could have changed in the last few hours?”

“Maybe they had her towed.” It sounded logical to him, but Mary just glared at him. “It could have happened. Or, you don’t think she used more of the money that is supposed to be ours, do you? Damn it. She’s spending it as if it belongs to just her. If she keeps this up, there isn’t going to be enough for her to have any of it.”

“What makes you think she’s going to get any of it in the first place? After all she’s put us through in the last few weeks, I’d say we should just cut her out altogether. I mean, she did sell off the house without giving us a part of that money.” He’d not even considered that. “She should have thought of us first thing, Louis. We’re the only family she has. Now she’s out there someplace spending our mother’s money as if she doesn’t have a care in the world. I’m telling you right now, that if she’s spent it all, I’m going to kill her. I’m not joking around about that either. She’ll be dead.”

Louis believed her. And if she didn’t do it, he was going to. Just last week, he’d put a hundred-thousand-dollar policy on his sister and made himself the beneficiary. He was going to get his money one way or the other. And he really did prefer to get it legally, after she was dead.

~*~

The drive was much better this time. It was light out, which made it so he could see some of the scenery. Fisher had talked to Piper on the way down, but having her seated right next to him was so much more enjoyable. He could see her expressions as well as hear her laughter. It was well worth losing sleep on the way down just to be with her now.

“I’m so excited to see how this is going to work out for me as an office. Just knowing I can still work is such a relief, since I wasn’t sure I could continue. Thank you so much for helping me sell my truck. That was much easier than I thought it would be. And I promise to pay you back every penny for the camping pay off.” He didn’t tell her again that what he had, she did too. It had upset her so much she’d cried. That hurt his heart way too much for him to want to do that again. “Peter said my office will be easy for them to set up. And he’d make sure there were plenty of views I could see while working. I wonder how much of a distraction that will be.”

Fisher didn’t need to answer her. She was rambling and didn’t require anyone to comment. It was, to him, something he’d never witnessed before—a person emptying their head of all thoughts until they felt they could slow down and speak normally. He realized she was quiet. Glancing at her while he drove, he asked her if she was all right.

“I am. I was just thinking about meeting your family. You said they were excited to do that, but what if they don’t care for me?” He told her if he loved her, then they would. “I don’t know what being in love with anyone would be like. I mean, I loved my parents, but I haven’t been on a lot of dates to