Angels (A Detective Pierce Novel Book 3)
Page 15
Rosa couldn’t understand why babies took so long to develop, but her big sister Sophia assured her that it took a long, long time.
“It takes like eight weeks. Remember when the Brewers’ German shepherd had her puppies?”
Val laughed and explained to her daughters that babies were different from puppies.
***
Once the cast came off his leg, Pierce had spent a few days tagging alongside Jimmy to learn how he worked. To his surprise, Jimmy’s routine mirrored most cops’ average day on a case, only he worked for himself and could dress casually.
When Jimmy mentioned that he had a special errand to run early on an approaching Sunday morning, Pierce asked if he could take care of it instead.
Jimmy stared at him for a long moment before reaching into the center drawer of his desk. When his hand emerged, it was holding a bright blue envelope.
“Let me tell you what this is, and then you let me know if you still want to help.”
Jimmy explained, and on Sunday morning at sunrise, Pierce found himself in a place he never imagined he would be again.
***
Pierce squinted at the kitchen window of the home that had once belonged to Amy Lowe and her ex-husband.
He was sitting in a corner of a supermarket parking lot as he had done countless times before, but for once, it had nothing to do with obsession.
Pierce chuckled to himself.
Actually, that was wrong. He was there because of an obsession, but it wasn’t his obsession.
Pierce’s left arm hung out the window of his car, and in his hand was gripped the bright blue envelope that Jimmy had given him.
The man the envelope was meant for was late, but that was to be expected. Pierce had no doubt that he’d been under surveillance for some time, but he could be patient. He wanted to see the man he came there to meet, and if it took hours he would wait.
Since the last time Pierce had sat where he was, the supermarket had changed names, Amy’s house had changed colors, and Pierce had changed his whole life.
“Long time, no see, Detective Pierce.”
The voice came from the passenger side of the car, where a tall blond man was standing ten feet from the vehicle. His name was Bo Raines.
Pierce studied Raines and saw that the years had left their mark. There was a crooked scar over Bo’s right eye, along with a puckered crater that was caused by a bullet wound. The puckered mark was near Bo’s throat and Pierce guessed that the wound had come close to killing him.
Bo also seemed thinner, and yet, still muscular, while his eyes had the look of a veteran of war.
“Hello Bo, if you’re concerned this is a trap, don’t be. Jimmy and I will be partners when I retire soon, and I thought that we should share everything.”
Bo walked over to the car and leaned his elbows on the windowsill. It would look like a casual gesture to the untrained eye, but Pierce saw that Bo’s weight wasn’t resting on his forearms. The man was ready to move at the first sign of trouble.
Pierce handed Bo the envelope. It contained letters from his father and mother as well as new pictures of his adoptive sister, Kimberly.
“There’s a letter from Jimmy in that envelope too. I think it explains why I’m here instead of him.”
“How are your daughters, Detective? I read about what happened to them.”
“They’re good, Bo, and please, call me Rick.”
Bo smiled, and for a moment, Pierce saw the innocent farm boy he’d once been.
“Jimmy picked this place to meet, didn’t he?” Pierce asked.
“Yeah, he said that it has a proven track record of being used for clandestine operations.”
“How are you, Bo?”
“I’m tired, Rick, but there’s no end to my workload.”
“No one would blame you for retiring; you’ve done far more than most.”
Bo grinned again.
“I met a woman down in Mexico recently. She’s told me the same thing.”
“Are you two serious?”
Bo said nothing for a moment, but then spoke.
“I want a life, but how can I when so many girls still go missing?”
“You’re allowed a life, Bo.”
“The woman in Mexico, she says that too.”
“She’s right.”
Bo reached into a side pocket and took out a phone.
“That’s for Jimmy, for next time.”
“I’ll see that he gets it.”
“Thank you, and take care of your family, Rick. They’re all we have in this life.”
Pierce watched Bo Raines walk away and started his engine. It was good to see the big man again, but being so near to Amy Lowe’s former home was giving him the creeps.
His phone rang. Pierce answered it expecting Val and instead he heard two small voices.
“Where are you, Daddy?” Rosa said.
“I’m on my way home, baby.”
“Hurry up,” Sophia said. “Mommy is making blueberry waffles.”
“I’ll be right there, honey.”
“We love you, Daddy!” came over the phone in stereo, and for a moment, Pierce was so happy that he thought he would burst.
“I love you too, angels. Daddy loves you both so very much.”
Pierce drove away from the site of his former shame and into a present that seemed to only get better with each passing day.
“Go to Mexico, Bo, and be happy,” Pierce whispered, and he prayed that it would come true.
EPILOGUE
ONE YEAR LATER
Pierce laughed as he sat at his kitchen table and watched his son, Benjamin, play peek-a-boo with his sisters, Sophia and Rosa. Benjamin James Pierce was only a few months old, but he laughed every time his sisters uncovered their faces and smiled at him.
Pierce had the day off and was taking his family to the zoo. His partnership with Jimmy had gone even better than he had hoped. Between his pension and his new income as a P.I., he was making much more money and the kids’ college funds were coming along nicely. He and Jimmy had so much business that they had hired an assistant to help them.
Jimmy and Pierce still had no formal office, nor did they need one in the internet age. Their assistant also worked from her home. Like Pierce and Jimmy, she was a retired cop.
Val picked up the carafe from the tabletop and spoke to her husband as she refilled her coffee cup.
“Ginny says that Christy has a new boyfriend; we’ll be meeting him this weekend.”
“That’s good, as long as he’s nothing like Matt.”
Matt and his mother had moved back to South Dakota a week after Amy Lowe’s trial ended. Pierce had checked with the county sheriff where Matt lived and learned that the boy was keeping out of trouble.
“It took Christy a long time to trust someone again, so be nice to the boy.”
“What’s his name?”
“Trevor Zane, he lives in Coke’s neighborhood.”
Pierce grinned at Val.
“It’s even better than that, Trevor Zane is Coke’s grandson. He’s a great kid. His mother is Coke’s daughter, Belinda.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yeah, unless there are two Trevor Zane’s in town.”
“It’s a small world,” Val said.
Pierce looked over at his children. The two girls were wearing colorful Mexican Puebla dresses that had become their favorite clothing. The dresses were a gift from a friend of Pierce’s who had recently settled down in Mexico for a well-deserved second chance at life.
“It might be a small world, Val, but I like it fine.”
***
Nearby, Amy Lowe, who was also known as prisoner 349A, handed over the money she had earned while working in the prison bakery.
It was a month’s worth of wages, but she paid it gladly. Her recent experiences and an examination of her life had caused Amy to come to the conclusion that money wasn’t important.
The woman taking Amy’s wages was named B
arb Kowalski, and Barb was larger than most men. Kowalski had been convicted of manslaughter. She had strangled her husband to death.
Barb smiled at the commissary chits that Amy had given her.
“You just bought yourself another month of access to our window, Blondie, but if you get caught looking with that thing you’re hiding under your shirt, don’t tell them who sold it to you.”
“I won’t,” Amy said.
Barb called to her cellmate.
“Let’s give the woman her privacy, I’ll buy you some candy while I get my smokes.”
Lana King hopped from the top bunk and joined Barb. Barb was so big that she often reminded Lana of her ex-husband, Conner King.
After the women left their corner cell, Amy climbed onto the top bunk and removed the pair of mini binoculars she had hidden beneath her gray shirt. The bars of the cell were so new that the odor of the black paint covering them still lingered. Amy had to lean against the bars to support her weight and attain the proper angle.
When she got the focus right, she grinned.
She was looking through a kitchen window and spying on Ricardo Pierce as he ate breakfast with his family. Rick Pierce, who was the love of her life. Amy’s new truth was that everything bad in her life had happened because she ended things with Pierce.
She gazed at him.
He’s so handsome.
Amy had a lot of time to think over the last year, and she knew that what she really wanted wasn’t money, or fine things, or prestige. She wanted Rick Pierce back.
Dave Owens had been blamed for the kidnapping of Pierce’s children, because the DA felt he lacked the evidence needed to convict Amy on the abduction of Sophia and Rosa. Despite an exhaustive investigation, no evidence could be found linking Amy Lowe to Dave Owens. Amy could have explained that she never met the man and had no idea why his body was found in the ruins of the cabin, but she had remained silent.
Having only been convicted of statutory rape, Amy was still given the harshest possible sentence. However, she believed she would be paroled while she was still young enough to win Pierce back, and she would do so, she promised herself.
Pierce was only with his wife because he couldn’t have her.
Once free, Amy would make him understand that they belonged together, and had always belonged together.
Through the binoculars, Amy watched Pierce smile at something Val said and pretended that he was smiling at her.
She loved him, had always loved him, and, would always love him. It was her truth, and she knew she couldn’t change it.
“I love you, Rick,” Amy whispered, and in her heart, she truly believed it.
A PLEA
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—Remington Kane
ALSO BY REMINGTON KANE
The TANNER Series in order
INEVITABLE I - A Tanner Novel - Book 1
KILL IN PLAIN SIGHT - A Tanner Novel - Book 2
MAKING A KILLING ON WALL STREET - A Tanner Novel - Book 3
THE FIRST ONE TO DIE LOSES - A Tanner Novel - Book 4
THE LIFE & DEATH OF CODY PARKER - A Tanner Novel - Book 5
WAR - A Tanner Novel - Book 6
SUICIDE OR DEATH – A Tanner Novel – Book 7
TWO FOR THE KILL – A Tanner Novel – Book 8
BALLET OF DEATH – A Tanner Novel – Book 9
MORE DANGEROUS THAN MAN – A Tanner Novel – Book 10
TANNER TIMES TWO – A Tanner Novel – Book 11
OCCUPATION: DEATH – A Tanner Novel – Book 12
HELL FOR HIRE – A Tanner Novel – Book 13
A HOME TO DIE FOR - A Tanner Novel – Book 14
FIRE WITH FIRE – A Tanner Novel – Book 15
The TAKEN! Series in order
TAKEN! - LOVE CONQUERS ALL
TAKEN! - SECRETS & LIES
TAKEN! - STALKER
TAKEN! - BREAKOUT!
TAKEN! - THE THIRTY-NINE
TAKEN! - KIDNAPPING THE DEVIL
TAKEN! - HIT SQUAD
TAKEN! - MASQUERADE
TAKEN! - SERIOUS BUSINESS
TAKEN! - THE COUPLE THAT SLAYS TOGETHER
TAKEN! - PUT ASUNDER
TAKEN! - LIKE BOND, ONLY BETTER
TAKEN! - MEDIEVAL
TAKEN! - RISEN!
TAKEN! - VACATION
TAKEN! – MICHAEL
TAKEN! – BEDEVILED
TAKEN! – INTENTIONAL ACTS OF VIOLENCE (COMING SOON)
Also
THE CONTRACT: KILL JESSICA WHITE – A TAKEN!/TANNER NOVEL – Book 1
BOUNTY OF BLOOD – A TAKEN!/TANNER NOVEL – Book 2 (COMING SOON)
MONSTERS – A Detective Pierce Novel – Book 1
DEMONS – A Detective Pierce Novel – Book 2
ANGELS – A Detective Pierce Novel – Book 3
REDEMPTION... Someone's taken her
DESOLATION LAKE
PARKER & KNIGHT
SLAY BELLS
Join my Mailing List and Learn about New Releases. Also, get access to FREE Books and Short Stories, including The TAKEN! ALPHABET SERIES, QUICK – A TANNER Short Story, and A LITTLE OFF THE TOP – A TANNER Short Story. REMINGTON KANE http://www.remingtonkane.com/contact.html
Did you love Angels - A Detective Pierce Novel - Book 3? Then you should read Parker & Knight by Remington Kane!
From REMINGTON KANE
The author of The Taken! & Tanner Series
PARKER & KNIGHT
When beautiful, nineteen-year-old Tiffany Grace is found murdered inside the house next door, Detectives Rick Parker and Joanna Knight are brought in to investigate.
What they find is a tangled web of love, lies and infidelity between the homeowners, Alex and Mandy Kent, and their young neighbors, murder victim, Tiffany Grace, and her handsome brother, Steve.
As Parker wades through the Kents' marital woes, he also has to deal with his own, as his marriage comes to a close.
Did Alex Kent kill Tiffany, a young woman he lusted for deeply?
Or did Mandy Kent kill her, to keep her from her husband?The truth is even more twisted than Parker and Knight could have imagined.
Read more at Remington Kane’s site.
About the Author
REMINGTON KANE is the author of the wildly popular TANNER SERIES as well as the equally thrilling TAKEN! SERIES.
While The TANNER Series and The TAKEN! Series are similar in that they're both packed with action, the hit man Tanner has a little more grit to him.
Please visit www.remingtonkane.com to learn more.
Read more at Remington Kane’s site.