Family Counsel (The Samuel Collins Series Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

and as soon as I set
him down, the Siamese was on his feet.  His fur stood up in a Mohawk all the
way down his back and his tail bristled to three times its normal size.  He
walked around the box suspiciously with his head tucked to his side, first from
a distance, then gradually closing in on the trespasser, and finally, he lifted
his front paw and batted at the box, while emitting a growl from deep in his
belly.  It was pretty much the same greeting he’d given me when we met, so I
didn’t pay much attention.  He’d gotten used to me; he’d get used to the cat. 
Eventually.  
    By then, I had an audience.  Felicia and the boys were oohing
and ahhing as I took Black Cat out of his carrier and set him down on the
kitchen floor.  The Siamese crouched down, his tail whipping back and forth,
making motions like he was about to pounce.  But then he changed his mind. 
With calculated deliberation, he looked at me and hissed, then the bastard got
up and sauntered out of the room.  A good example of one of the many reasons I
don’t like cats.
    Black Cat settled onto a towel I laid down for him in the
laundry room and Oliver and Max settled down next to him, stroking his fur and
scratching him behind the ears.  I opened two beers and handed one to Felicia. 
She looked preoccupied.  I’d been so relieved to have some reinforcements that
up until then, I hadn’t even wondered why she’d come over.  It wasn’t like her
to pop in unexpected, unless Maddie had put her up to it.  I leaned back
against the kitchen counter and took a draw off my longneck. 
    “So what brings you around here today, anyway,” I asked.  “Did
Maddie tell you I was going to be alone with the troops?”
    “Yeah.  But I’d forgotten,” she smiled. “Something came up that
I wanted to talk to her about.”
    Her red hair was freaking me out. I’d just gotten used to her
being brunette. I could tell she wanted to enlighten me on whatever she was
going to tell Maddie, but I preferred not to get involved.  Felicia was always
cooking up some scheme and I didn’t want to be any part of it. 
    “I have a brother,” she said out of the blue. 
    “Say what?”
    “I was looking through a box of my mother’s papers at Aunt May’s,
and I found out that I have a brother.”
    I could only imagine what was coming.  Whether it was by her
own doing or someone else’s, nothing normal ever happened to Felicia.  I set my
beer down, waiting.
    “I found a newspaper article.  He’s a quadriplegic.  A football
injury.  Broke his spinal column.” 
    I’d learned that when Felicia was trying to remain detached she
spoke in short, clipped phrases.  I wholeheartedly supported the diced sentence
structure if it kept her from crying. 
    “He’s younger.  Two years,” she continued.
    She had yet to tell me the most relevant detail, and in spite
of myself, my curiosity was getting the best of me. “Well, where is he?” I
asked impatiently.
    “I don’t know.” 
    “You don’t know?” Maddie’s family had more intrigue than a
mystery novel.  “Didn’t you ask your aunt?”
    “Of course I asked my aunt. What kind of question is that?”
    “A stupid one,” I admitted.  Felicia was kooky, but she wasn’t
an idiot.
    “Aunt May can’t remember from one minute to the next.”
    “Well there has to be some sort of record as to what happened
to him,” I said.
    “I’m sure there is, it’s just a matter of finding it.  The
foreman at May’s ranch said there are a bunch of boxes stored in one of the
barns.  There may be more of my mother’s things in there.”
    She had this hopeful look on her face like she wanted me to
offer to help her.  I had a better idea.
    “I have a friend who can find out what happened to your
brother.  Get me all the information you have and I’ll pass it on to him.”
    Felicia went straight to her purse and pulled out a slip of
paper and held it out to me with a giant grin on her face.  I should