“Yup…just reminding you of what…”
“I goosed you this morning,” Logan said.
“Uh-huh. So you still owe me four more gooses,” Kieran said, giggling, “See…a gaggle of gays!”
Logan burst out laughing. “I have no idea how you made that connection, but I get it. Four more gooses today.”
~/~/~/~/~
After all of Fionn’s clothes and personal belongings were sorted, it took very little time to pack up what was going to California and put aside what Fionn would need for the next two weeks. Logan sent Theo and Norman to load up the van, while Kieran supervised. Rom joined Logan in Fionn’s bedroom. Relieved to be finished, Logan leaned against the wall and looked around, appalled at the conditions Fionn had been living in. When his eyes landed on the young dragon, Logan saw the shame in his eyes as he stood there, arms crossed against his chest in a defensive pose. His anger at Fionn’s father flared, but he pushed it aside for now because he wanted to know about his hoard. “Fionn, Kieran told me you’re afraid your father will take your hoard so you want to move it.”
“I’m not ‘afraid’ the asshole will do it…I know he will. Why do you think he tried to kill me? Because I’m gay? No, he just used it as an excuse. He knew I was gay way before any of this happened…”
“But,” interrupted Rom, “he claimed hedidn’tknow you were gay when I told him that’s why you didn’t want to marry a female dragon. Why would he have said that if he already knew?”
“I’m confused about something else,” said Logan. “There are laws protecting the hoard of a minor and I need some background so I can help. Why does your father want your hoard?” asked Logan.
Fionn paused before he said, “Look around…what do you see? Anything that shows my father’s wealth? Nope, that’s because he never spent any of it on me or my mother…even when she got sick and was dying, my father didn’t care. My mother’s will left me her hoard and my father got nothing and ever since, he’s been trying to get control of it. First, he tried getting me to sign it over, thinking I was stupid, but my mother warned me not to sign any papers my father gave me, no matter what.
“Next, he tried to get himself appointed guardian of it, telling the Court I was too young to know how to protect it. When that failed, he bought me very little in the way of food and clothing, hoping I’d use some of my hoard to buy food so he could find out where it was. And if he did, most of it would have mysteriously disappeared. When that didn’t work out, I’m sure he made a deal with the female dragon I was supposed to marry as another way to get his hands on my hoard.”
“Was the female dragon legally an adult?” asked Logan.
“I think so,” answered Fionn.
“Rom, what do you know about this woman?” Logan asked.
“Not much, but I do know she was an adult because his father made a big point of that, but I don’t know why it was important.”
“I do,” said Logan. “If Fionn had married her, he would have lost control of his hoard. His adult wife could petition for guardianship of it and it would have been granted.”
“That fucking son-of-a-bitch! I bet he had a deal with her to steal my hoard,” exclaimed Fionn, beginning to get agitated.
“Yeah, that’s my guess too,” said Logan. “By the time you reached legal age, there’d be little, if anything, left.”
Rom shook his head. “So that’s why when I supported your refusal to marry, he decided to kill both of us,” he said.
“Exactly. But to prove this theory, we need the name of the female dragon. Any idea where we can find out who she is, Fionn?” asked Logan.
“Yeah. C’mon.” Fionn led Logan and Rom down to his father’s study and once inside, went to a desk, pulled out a drawer, reached in and pushed a button. On the opposite wall, a panel slid back, exposing a small room filled with file cabinets. “My father keeps all his papers in here,” Fionn said, “well, except for his hoard information. That he keeps in a below-ground safe.”
Fionn walked into the room and headed for one file cabinet. “This is where it would be, if it’s still here.” He opened the lower drawer and started rifling through the file folders and, when he found the one he wanted, pulled it out and handed it to Logan. “Here, her name might be in here.”
Logan opened it up and found a picture of a woman, wondering if she was Fionn’s intended. He quickly read a few documents in the file folder, found her name and a letter from her agreeing to marry Fionn. He flipped through the rest of the documents quickly until he found one that alarmed him. “Fionn, do you think your father would miss this file, if we took it?”
“Probably not. His plan failed and with your brother appointed as my guardian, my father knows he can’t get me to marry her anymore.”
“Good. Cody needs to have this information. Now, what do you want me to do to protect your hoard?” asked Logan.
“My mother hid my hoard in different places and while I have access to them, I’d feel better if I could move it all to California until this crap with my father gets sorted out,” said Fionn.
“Okay, I need to call a couple of people to get that done. Are you finished here?” asked Logan.
“Yeah…wait, I forgot something. I’ll be right back.”
“Rom, are you ready? Did you get all your stuff?” asked Logan.
“Yep, my suitcase is packed and down at the front door,” he said.
