Thomas by Kathi S. Barton Page A

her.
    “ I love you as well.” He
nodded as he closed the door. She looked at the man who was driving
her home. “Who do I have to thank for this sort of
service?”
    “ Queen Kendra, my lady.
She heard about your problems today and sent me to care for you
until things are settled. She said that if any harm comes to you, I
should simply lie down and die. Queen Kendra said she’d be most
displeased if you were harmed.”
    Maribel thought she’d be displeased as
well and smiled. This was really the strangest grocery shopping
she’d ever done. And the most fun.
    ~~~
    Hannah watched her aunt and noticed
not for the first time she was overly tense and she seemed
completely distracted. When she glanced at Linyah, she too looked a
little out of sorts. She wondered what had happened but said
nothing yet. Her aunt had shown up almost immediately after Linyah
had. But Linyah did promise that she’d explain later. Lucky for
her, she’d contacted Misha and he’d told her what had
happened.
    “ I just don’t know why you
don’t just go and live with them for a time. They are your
grandparents. And probably just want to get to know you. I thought
you’d jump at the chance to see them. I didn’t know you could be so
stubborn.” Before she could tell her aunt no for what seemed like
the thousandth time, she spoke again. “It’s not as if you need
their money or anything. I mean, just go so that he’ll be
satisfied.”
    “ But you do, don’t you?
You do know why she won’t go and the reason he wants her so badly.”
Linyah stared hard at Wanda, who paled. “You’ve gotten yourself
into some deep trouble, and now he’s blackmailing you to do just
what he wants. You’ve no choice in the matter, or so you think.
What did you think was going to happen when you asked him for a
loan? Did you really think he’d just lend you the money and things
would be fine?”
    Her aunt looked like she’d been a big
balloon and someone had stuck her with a pin. Her body sagged,
whether from relief or something more, Hannah didn’t know
yet.
    “ He said I could just do
him a favor some time. A small one he’d said. He said it would
be…I’m at his beck and call constantly now. Even in the middle of
the night he calls me. I don’t know what to tell Daniel. I was so
glad that we moved here. I thought he’d just….”
    Aunt Wanda started crying and Hannah
wanted to comfort her. But Linyah pulled her back and shook her
head slightly. She sat still, but she hurt for the woman as she
watched her deal with whatever was going on.
    “ Perhaps you shouldn’t
gamble. What do you still owe the casino in your town? Nearly ten
grand, and you kept going back when they told you that your credit
was good. Do you honestly think that you were going to get ahead
that way?” Aunt Wanda nodded, her eyes red and swollen. “It wasn’t
going to happen, not with Little in charge of things. In fact, I
would say that you’re only going to end up dead if you keep this
up.”
    Aunt Wanda nodded, then looked at them
both. Hannah wondered then just how deep her aunt was in this.
Gambling was a horrible addiction, and her aunt seemed to have it
bad.
    “ I tried to make it right.
I even asked if I could make payments on what I owed. It was as if
they knew I have a gambling problem. And…wait a minute. How the
hell did you know all that?” Aunt Wanda looked at Hannah, pissed.
“You told her? You found out somehow and now you’re going to
blackmail me too? Well I got news for you, I don’t have a damned
thing left. My piss pot is so empty right now that it has a crack
in the bottom from being so dry.”
    “ I’ve no reason to
blackmail you. I have everything I want or ever need.” Hannah
huffed at her. “I really don’t care if you believe me or not.
You’ve been leading me down a merry path since I met you. I just
knew that whatever was going on, my grandfather was behind it. I
just…it’s why I asked Linyah to come here with me today. Does