by Susan Boles
Persuading Piper
Brotherhood Protectors World
Susan Boles
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Original Brotherhood Protectors Series
About Elle James
Copyright © 2018, Susan Boles
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.
© 2018 Twisted Page Press, LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No part of this book may be used, stored, reproduced or transmitted without written permission from the publisher except for brief quotations for review purposes as permitted by law.
This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, please purchase your own copy.
Chapter 1
Ian "Hawkeye" Elliott stood from the rocking chair on his front porch as his boss, Hank Patterson, came up the steps of his cabin facing the Crazy Mountains in Eagle Rock, Montana.
Hank motioned him back. "No need to stand up. We're casual here."
Ian sat, setting the rocker in motion. "Old habits die hard for me." He said.
Hank smiled. "Totally understood. You were in the military for a while. Like all of us. Takes a bit of getting used to out here in the civilian world again." Sitting in the other rocker on the porch, he motioned toward the mountains in the distance. "Pretty view you've got here."
"Yes." Ian responded, wondering what brought the boss out to his cabin on the edge of town. The view of the snow-capped mountains in the distance with pasture land dotted with horses and cattle between was truly beautiful; but he doubted that was the reason Hank had dropped in. The view from Hank's home was even better.
"Bit different from the view back in Mississippi." Hank observed, as though reading his mind.
Ian's muscles tightened, but he kept his expression, and his voice, casual. "Sure is. You don't see mountains in the distance there. Although, you do often see open pasture land."
Hank rocked in silence while Ian's tension ratcheted up.
At last Hank said, "When was the last time you visited there?"
"Not since high school graduation." Ian said.
"That's a long time to not go home." Hank gave him an appraising look. "You still have family there. Right?"
"My daddy's gone, but my mama still lives there. She always preferred to visit me where ever I was stationed when I was in the Navy. It was a treat for her to travel." Ian answered, not willing to admit that the girl he'd left behind was the reason he never went back.
Hank looked as though he might be having a bit of trouble swallowing that explanation. "I have a special mission. One that you are the only person who can handle."
Ian's curiosity peaked against his will. Hank let him stew a bit. Rocking in silence, looking out across the open land. Ian followed his gaze. He'd come to love this place in year he'd been here. He wasn't sure he wanted to go back to Mercy, Mississippi. Even for a short mission. Even for Hank and the Brotherhood Protectors.
Hank went on rocking and looking into the distance, apparently content to sit in companionable silence. But the more it stretched, the less comfortable Ian felt. At last, he couldn’t take it anymore and he broke the silence. “Hank, you know I love the Brotherhood and my job here. And you have to admit I’ve been a good employee.”
Hank nodded in agreement; but remained silent.
Ian plowed on. “I’m not saying I want to go back to Mercy, but I admit you’ve stirred my curiosity.”
Hank had the courtesy not to grin or make any move that looked like he’d won a wager with himself, but Ian wasn’t fooled. Hank had come here with a plan and Ian had just stepped into the middle of it. No matter how much he protested he wasn’t interested in a trip back home he knew he’d just committed himself.
“Did you know Matt MacKenzie when you lived in Mercy?”
Inwardly Ian groaned. It could not have been any worse in his most vivid imagination. “Yes.” He replied, cautiously. “He was the mayor when I was growing up.”
Hank glanced at him. “He’s still the mayor. And it seems he’s gotten himself in a world of trouble.”
Ian frowned. He couldn’t imagine the gentlemanly Matt MacKenzie in any kind of trouble. He was a lawyer who loved the law and conveyed that love to the citizens of Mercy; and Barkley County. Honest as the day was long. That was Matt MacKenzie. He’d been the most loved man in Mercy. At least when Ian lived there. And a great mayor.
“I can’t imagine what kind of trouble he’s gotten into that would merit someone from the Brotherhood coming to his rescue.”
Hank rubbed his hand over his chin. “I did some background investigating on him when the request came in and he’s well loved by the citizens of Mercy. It’s some citizens in the wider state of Mississippi who don’t love him quite so much.” He paused, watching Ian. “He’s got a mob hit out on him.”
“Mob hit!” Ian couldn’t conceal his shock.
“Yes.” Hank reiterated. “Mob hit. Seems that the honorable Mr. MacKenzie has been spying on state officials for a lot of years and reporting the information to the FBI.”
Ian goggled. In his wildest imagining he could not picture Matt MacKenzie working as a government informant.
“I can see you’re having a hard time believing this, but I assure you it’s true. There have been a couple of attempts on him already and he’s managed to survive them. But now he’s asking for protection from us.”
“How on earth did he hear about us?” Ian wondered aloud.
“I don’t know for sure, but I suspect it might have been your mother.”
“My mother?” Ian repeated, feeling like a fool for parroting every statement back to Hank. He must have fallen into some kind of alternate universe. His mother was the last person who would put him in a situation like this. She knew his real reason for never visiting Mercy. It was the elephant in the room each time she visited him at a duty station. There, but never discussed. “I think you may have gotten some bad intel there, Hank.”
Hank leaned toward Ian. “You could be right. I wasn’t able to get Mr. MacKenzie to tell me who’d told him about us. And I doubt a lot of people in Mississippi have heard of us. I just extrapolated that since your mother lives there it must have been her.” Hank laughed. “Maybe Mr. MacKenzie has been keeping track of you all these years and knew about us that way.”
Ian felt a bead of sweat slide down his back. He would bet every penny he had that he was the last person Matt MacKenzie would be wanting back in Mercy after what had happened all those years a
go on graduation night at Mercy High School. The night he’d left Mercy behind. Along with Matt’s daughter, Piper.
Chapter 2
Ian strode through the doors of the Grits and Gravy Café in Mercy two days later still wondering how Hank had convinced him to take this assignment.
The fact that he could come and go here without raising suspicion was the deciding factor as best he could recall. Hank had practically shoved him on the plan to Memphis that same evening and he’d rented a car for the drive south to Mercy.
The old place hadn’t changed a bit in the time he’d been gone. College banners hung along the walls for the local colleges. Memphis Tigers. Ole Miss Rebels. Mississippi State Bulldogs. No favorites were played here. The same mismatched scuffed tables stood in the same positions. Wait. One change. Booths along the walls sported some new table top juke boxes.
As expected, his mama and all her cronies were having their weekly breakfast pow-wow at the big round center table. That had been a habit for as long as he could remember. It looked like they’d added a new member, though. A young woman he didn’t recognize; but would no doubt know all about in a short time. That was the beauty, and the nightmare, of life in a small town. Everyone knew everything about everyone. For generations back.
Matt MacKenzie pulling off being a secret FBI informer was a small miracle.
A quick scan of the café showed him Piper MacKenzie wasn’t there. A small reprieve since she’d find out soon enough he was in town.
“Ian!” His mama screamed when she spotted him standing by the door. “What on earth.”
Immediately every set of eyes in the place lasered in on him.
Wincing inwardly, he put a big grin on his face as he walked toward the table where his mama was pushing back her chair.
Coming here first rather than going home had been a deliberate move on his part because he’d thought it might be easer to bamboozle his mama in a public place. He’d never been good at fooling her. Hank had emphasized that Mayor MacKenzie didn’t want anyone getting wind of the mob hit, especially his daughter, so Ian was here undercover.
He braced for impact as his mama cannoned into him nearly knocking him off his feet, even though he outweighed her by a considerable amount. Shifting his feet to keep the two of them upright, he returned the tight hug she gave him. She dragged him by the hand back toward the other ladies. Snagging an empty chair from another table, he sat and faced the assault of curious eyes.
“Bout time you dragged your sorry butt home, boy.” Miss Edna had never pulled any punches with anyone. She must be eighty by now and still had no filter.
Lily Gayle Lambert, a long-time friend of his mother, said, “For Heaven’s sake, Miss Edna. Can’t you cut him some slack. He just got here five second ago.”
Miss Edna sniffed, and he was grateful she didn’t say anything else. His mama ignored the old woman’s waspish comment. Something he now remembered was a regular occurrence when Miss Edna expressed an opinion.
“I’m so thrilled you’re home, son.” She said. “I wish you’d let me know you were coming. Everything’s a mess and I don’t have any of your old favorites fixed up to eat.”
He squeezed her hand. “If I’d told you I was coming, it’d have ruined the surprise.”
Lily Gayle have him a shrewd look. “What made you suddenly decide to come home after all this time?” She squinted at him. “What’s it been? Ten years at least.”
He squirmed a bit. Here it was. The tricky part of the situation. And he had some smart, no nonsense ladies to convince he’d suddenly gotten a yearning to come home.
“As a matter of fact,” he said, “I decided it was high time I stopped being a kid and came on home like a man. I've missed my home and old friends.”
Lily Gayle kept those bright blue eyes trained on him and he fought the urge to squirm some more. No point in giving her any cause to think he was telling a whopper. The new woman looked puzzled, but chose not to comment. He knew someone would fill her in the moment he stepped out of the café.
He had no doubt everyone who’d been here ten years ago thought they knew what had happened. He felt a brief pang of guilt for Piper. She’d stayed behind and had to deal with the inevitable gossip after he’d gone. If she’d only agree to leave with him when he joined the Navy, the present would be so different. Shrugging off the useless thought, he tuned back into the conversation when his mama clasped his hand in hers.
“I don’t care why he’s here. I just care that he came home.” Her smile rivaled the sun shining outside and he bit back the guilt for his lie.
“Here. Here.” Said Dixie Newsom, another lady at the table. “Welcome home, Ian. We’re so glad to see you after all this time.”
Behind him the bell over the door jangled and conversation died like it had been sucked out of the room. A cold finger of premonition traced down his spine. Turning his head slightly, he saw the person he’d dreaded, and also longed, to see standing just inside the door, eyes glued to him, face white.
Aware that every eye in the room was glued to them and every breath being held to see what would happen, he gave her a small smile and a nod. Her eyes roamed the room, taking in the audience, came back to him and locked in. The world stood still for a moment until she gave him a brief nod before rushing out the door she’d just come in. His heart stopped for a moment as the door swished shut.
Chapter 3
Piper stumbled twice on the cracked sidewalk in front of the Grits and Gravy as she struggled to right the spinning world. Ian Elliott back in town with no warning had knocked her sideways for sure. Thank goodness she’d been able to maintain a cool exterior for the few minutes it’d taken her to put on that show of nonchalance inside.
Ten years slid away in the space of a heartbeat as she wondered if she’d made the right decision back then. Ian’d wanted her to go with him when he left to join the Navy. But, in spite of her deep love for him, she’d had to stay. No one in town knew her Mama was dying. Not even Ian. She’d kept the secret even though the price had been her heart’s desire.
And once Mama’d passed on two years later after a long, slow, secret struggle with cancer, she hadn’t reached out to Ian. She'd convinced herself he’d moved on. After all, he’d never come home again. If he truly loved her wouldn’t he have come back and tried to persuade her to join him? And, she had too much pride to ask Missy Elliott for news of her son. Or to intercede on her behalf.
She’d even gone to the extreme of asking Ms. Elliott not to tell Ian what had happened to her mama. In hindsight she knew she’d been wrong. She should have told Ian the truth and asked him to wait for her. But her mama hadn’t wanted anyone to know she was sick and so Piper had chosen her mama over her future with Ian.
Raising a shaking hand to push her hair out of her eyes, she realized she was still holding the flyers she’d meant to drop off at the café. Flyers advertising the big fundraising event for Streetpups, the rescue group that had been the saving of not only a lot of homeless dogs, but also of Piper MacKenzie.
All of those furry faces needing love had gotten her over Ian Elliott and helped her moved on. Ignoring the voice from inside that laughed at that thought, she decided she’d go home and work for a bit. She could come back later to leave the flyers and talk to customers about the event. When she was sure Ian was gone.
Arriving at the big white plantation house on the edge of town that had been in the MacKenzie family for generations, she paused at the sight of her daddy’s black Mercedes sedan parked in the circle drive out front. He was never at home this time of day.
Ham, her Pitbull rescue dog, bounded down the steps from the wide front porch, tongue lolling in the heat. Galloping up to her, he pressed his forehead against her thigh begging to be scratched behind his ears. Smiling, she obliged. Ham, short for Hammurabi in honor of her father’s commitment to law and order, wasn’t much of a guard dog, but his loyalty to her was something that made her smile every day.
“Hey, bo
y. Where’s my daddy?”
Ham just grinned up at her and accompanied her up the broad wooden steps to the deep porch where wicker furniture sat in inviting groups and a swing hung from the ceiling close to a moonflower vine that twisted its way up the porch railings. At night the white flowers, big as dinner plates, scented the air with sweetness.
"Daddy?" She called as she pushed through the old fashioned screen door that still graced the front of the house. Silence. "Daddy?"
A shuffling sound behind his home office in the front parlor startled her for a minute before the door opened revealing Matt Mackenzie running his hand through his normally immaculate white hair.
"Piper. What are you doing home?" He asked, eyes darting behind her as though checking to see if she was alone.
"I might ask you the same."
He gave her a not very convincing grin. "I left some papers I needed and came home to get them."
Glancing at his empty hands, she asked, "Can I help you find them?"
"Oh. Um. No. They must be at the office after all. I didn't find them here."
His eyes looked sunken to her. Surrounded by dark circles. His face thinner. His appetite had been non-existent lately and the weight loss showed in a less than flattering way.
"Daddy. Is something wrong?" She asked, remembering with a jolt the shock of her mother's diagnosis of cancer and fearing he might be hiding something from her.