Providence Series Books 1-4

by Mary B. Moore

  Landing on the ground in Piersville, I saw Brett, Coleman, and some of his guys waiting for us at the side of the runway.

  I’d decided not to wake Isla up, seeing as, she’d slept continuously from Manila to here and hadn’t even woken up when we stopped to refuel, so I carried her off the plane and into the SUV waiting for us. I kept her on my lap as Brett climbed into the back with me while Baz and Coleman took the front with Coleman driving.

  “Not that I don’t appreciate the welcoming committee, but what’s happened?” I’d expected there to be some of Coleman’s guys waiting, but the fact that he and Brett were there waiting was like a flashing beacon.

  “There were four possible suspects in Bali,” Coleman began. “Guntur and his guys got three of them.”

  “What happened to the fourth?”

  “Dead when they found him.”

  None of this fucking made sense to me. Killing one of your own guys? Or was there yet someone else out there?

  “And the three?”

  Brett turned from the tinted window that he was looking out of with a menacing grin on his face. I had grown up with him and he’d always been a deep guy who kept a lot to himself, but this all seemed to have made that worse. “They were dealt with!”

  I was tired from traveling for hours, I was tired with the time difference, I was tired of the shit…I was just plain fucking tired. “Brett man, I’m fucking done with this shit. I don’t have the patience to play guessing games or to even think deeply just now, so I need you to just fucking spit it out. What does dealt with mean?”

  “It means,” he turned in his seat so that he was facing me, “Guntur and his guys caught them. They questioned them. They got as far as they could. There were two American and one British national in Bali on unknown business. Guntur dropped four kilos of H on each of them and called it into the police. H and drug trafficking is illegal and punishable by firing squad in Bali, as you’ll remember from when you flew in. The warnings are fucking everywhere.” He sat back and took a deep breath. “They get lucky; they’ll spend twenty-five years in prison. They get unlucky…”

  I never would have thought Guntur and his men had it in them. They’d all seemed like nice guys, who granted were really good at their jobs, but to do that? It was almost evil genius. And that’s when it hit me. “This was your idea, wasn’t it?” I asked Brett getting a noncommittal shrug in return as Coleman and Baz snorted from the front.

  “What else did they find out from them before they did this?”

  It was Coleman who answered this time. “This is something we’re best to discuss when we get to the Townsend’s ranch, Luke. We only found this information out just before we came to the strip to get you and we need to discuss it with Jack, Hurst, and Ren too.”

  “I think Cole’s there, too,” Brett added and was again met with a snort from Coleman.

  “Ain’t no good ever comes from discussing shit with that ass!”

  I had to admit, Coleman had a fair point and Brett’s chin lift was the best acknowledgment that we were going to get out of him since it was his brother. Brett may be closed off, but there’s one thing that he was very open on - loyalty. That’s not to say that he didn’t agree with what Coleman said, though. Heck, no one could ever argue otherwise.

  We passed the Townsend’s main house and pulled up in front of Layla’s so that I could drop Isla off. Maya was going to be there with her sister and friend, who were visiting I’d found out. I made sure to be quick about it as we really needed to discuss all of this and get a plan of action together as soon as fucking possible.

  Making sure that there was enough security around them, we walked down to the main house and got comfortable while we discussed it all. The living room was almost overflowing with people ready for the debrief.

  “Today, our Indonesian counterparts apprehended three of the four suspects in Bali; the fourth one was already deceased when our men closed in,” Coleman started, and then scanned all of us slowly. “Cause of death unknown at this time, no witnesses. The remaining three were then questioned. During that questioning, it was ascertained that there were no face to face meetings and all contact and transactions were carried out via text messages and the internet. We have an email address and two IP addresses that are being traced at this precise moment, however, they have been rerouted so we’re being bounced all over the fucking world. At this precise moment, they are sitting in a Balinese cell having been arrested with four kilos of gheroine on each of them. As I’m sure you’re aware, the penalty for possession with intent to sell or to smuggle is death by firing squad. They’d better hope that they get a nice judge!” The entire room chuckled at that.

  “They were hired to…” Coleman stopped and looked at me and I felt people move closer and a hand on my arm, but I was too busy listening to what he was saying.

  “They were hired to catch and rape Isla and to torture Luke whilst taking video footage of both to be sent back to a further anonymous player.”

  I saw red and lunged forward wanting to run to Isla to make sure she was okay. We’d been that close to people who were hired to rape her; to rape her.

  “Mr. Montgomery calm down, Ms. Banks is fine.” A voice I didn’t recognize rumbled in my ear, but I was trying to twist out of his arms.

  “For fucks sake, Luke, calm the fuck down will you, before this guy does some sort of Vulcan shit on your neck!” I recognized Cole’s voice as what he was saying sank in. I would be no good to Isla injured or unconscious.

  Then it hit me, “It’s Mrs. Montgomery. We got married.”

  I didn't expect the roaring laughter that my news got. “Okay, assholes, pay up!” Cole yelled as people brought out wads of money…wait was that my Dad collecting?

  Isla

  I couldn’t believe that I’d slept the entire way back to Piersville, including a stop off for fuel. The last thing I remembered was landing in Manila and looking out across the tarmac, and then Luke was shaking me awake saying that we’d arrived.

  Looking around Ren’s sister Layla’s house, I fell in love with her style. It was classy and subtle. Everything was brown leather and the floors were a light varnish with brown walls, but the extra accessories made it as beautiful as it was and really stood out. I knew that Maya had been told that this one was to be renovated, too, but what the hell could she do to it? I got that answer when I went upstairs. Layla had obviously focused on the areas that were going to be used and had left the rest as they’d come. The spare rooms hadn’t been touched, bar the one that we were staying in, and had primed walls and bare wood flooring; it was still a dream to stay in, though.

  “So, you’re pregnant?” Maya’s best friend Amy asked with a grin on her face. She had come to visit Maya, finally, along with Maya’s sister Lucy, and the three of them had been waiting for me when we’d pulled up. Luke had to go and meet with the guys to go through plans and scary, angry man stuff, and we’d stayed here to catch up with security around us.

  “No, you twat,” Lucy huffed. “She’s just big boned, can’t you tell?”

  Shooting her the bird, Amy turned back to me. “Um, yes?” It was a question because, really? You could clearly see that I was pregnant, and I was pretty sure with how squeaky and excited Maya had been, that everyone around us now knew it, too, if by some miracle they hadn’t known before.

  “Back off, Ames,” Maya cut in. She had her micro pig Pippa on her chest, who currently had its nose buried under her chin and was lying on her like a newborn.

  “You stroke your pig,” Amy waved her off.

  "Stroking the sausage is what got Isla in this situation in the first place," Lucy snorted, getting a glare from Amy for interrupting her.

  “The big girls are talking!" Amy snapped. “So, what was it like taking a pregnancy test? I’ve always wondered what it would be like to see whatever shit they have that says ‘You’re knocked up’ on them!”

  “I never took one, it was the hospital that told me!”

&n
bsp; The look that came onto her face screamed that this had been the wrong response and it was proven when Amy jumped up and yelled, “Tests! We need tests!” while clapping her hands excitedly.

  Quite why, I didn’t know, because it was kind of obvious by the size of my belly that I was pregnant; but even if it hadn’t been, the scans were definitely enough. Now, though, I was intrigued and wanted to take a damn test.

  “Oh shit, let’s all do one!” Lucy said, jumping up and screaming, scaring the shit out of the poor pig who squealed, jumped off of Maya’s lap, and ran behind the couch leaving a trail of pee behind it.

  “Ahhh, you’ve got all of this to come,” Amy said as she patted my shoulder and grinned. Fucking awesome!

  Maya

  “Okay, everyone, place your tests on the side here and we’ll press start on the timer. Ready? Go!” Amy hit the screen of her phone and put it beside the four white sticks sitting on the side in the bathroom. How I’d got roped into this I didn’t know!

  “Can I touch your belly?” I’d been dying to since I saw Isla earlier. I couldn’t believe that I was going to be an aunt! To be fair, I didn’t give her a chance to say yes or no, I just did it. “Does it feel strange?”

  “Not really, I mean, yeah when they move, but the rest of the time not so much apart from the cramps.” Isla shrugged.

  “That’s your uterus expanding,” Lucy explained. Jesus, that sounded horrible!

  As we waited for the timer to go, we chatted about pregnancies, labor, and birth. By the time I heard the beep, I actually felt nauseous. Who the hell would put their body through that? And Isla was going to do it twice at the same go. There was a reason that the saying ‘Ignorance is bliss’ existed and it was for topics like this. Ten centimeters? A plug? After birth? It was brutal!

  “Right, grab your tests, ladies!” Amy said and we all reached for our sticks.

  “Negative!” Amy yelled and did a happy dance while Lucy just shrugged and put hers down on the counter again.

  “Positive,” Isla said beside me. Amazingly, even after the conversation that we’d just had, that would star as the leading feature in every nightmare I’d have in the future, she grinned.

  Looking down at the test, I picked up the instructions and read them through. “What the fuck is this? Wait, I got mine mixed up with someone else’s!”

  “It can’t be mine,” Lucy said. “As in one hundred percent can’t be mine unless it’s immaculate conception.”

  “You lying bitch!” Amy laughed, and if I wasn’t so busy freaking out, I’d have laughed with her. Lucy was wild, as in wild. There’s no way that she was a virgin.

  “No, it’s true,” she said leaning against the counter. “Never!”

  “Well, fuck me,” Amy whispered, staring at her in shock.

  “People, can we focus on what the fuck is on these tests!” I was freaking out now to the point of shaking.

  “Well, mine is in my hands honey,” Isla said, and then picked up one of the spare tests sitting on the counter in its packaging still. “Do another one!”

  Sitting on the toilet I tried to pee again, but I was having issues so soon after the last one. Waterfalls, opening cans of soda, pouring water, the sounds of a stream… the sound of the faucet going on was the breaker and I looked at Lucy gratefully.

  “Right,” I put the test on the counter and washed my hands. “Hit start!”

  And more pregnancy chatter commenced, but this time I blocked it out and tried to think calming, soothing thoughts.

  Lucy rubbing my arm caught my attention and I looked at her. “Could this be a possibility?”

  The look I gave her must have said what a stupid question that was, I mean had she seen my fiancé? “Yeah, but I’m on the pill, Luce. I never miss it!”

  “Have you been sick or had an upset stomach recently?” Gah, damn her and her medical brain.

  “Nope, not one thing!”

  “Wait, bitch,” Amy butt in. “What about your strep at Christmas?”

  “It didn’t make me sick, though. The doctor gave me antibiotics, that was it!” Lucy’s flinch said it all. “Antibiotics?” I whispered. Now that I thought about it, I vaguely remembered the doctor mentioning it when he’d given me the prescription but I’d felt so shitty that I thought I was going to pass out at the time.

  Before Lucy could answer, the timer went off and we all turned and looked at the test. Oh fuck me! Before I could pick it up, Lucy snatched it off the side and ran out the door cackling.

  “Where the hell are you going?” I took off after her.

  “To call Mom and Dad!” Oh fuck no!

  Chasing her down the stairs and into the living room she ran putting the couch between us. “Give it back, bitch tit!”

  “Hell no,” she grinned, pulling out her phone. “The golden child fucked up, finally!”

  Moving around to the left of the couch, Lucy squealed and ran around the other side, so I jumped up onto it and launched myself onto her, taking us both down on the rug.

  “I’m gonna punch you in the tit if you don’t give it back!”

  “Get off me, you rabid heifer!”

  Doing the only thing I could that always worked, I rolled Lucy onto her stomach, climbed onto her back, grabbed a handful of hair, and yanked. “Give it back!”

  “Make me!”

  “You’re not telling them I’m pregnant, you rancid cooter…”

  The laughter coming from the door had both of us looking up in its direction. Taking advantage of her distraction, I snatched the test out of Lucy’s hand...and then it sank in that Ren was standing there, white as a sheet and holding Pippa, while Cole laughed his ass off. Luke stood watching us in horror and Tony said, “Sweetie, I don’t know what she did, but surely it wasn’t bad enough for you to smother her to death with your ass was it?”

  Just for badness, I raised up and dropped back down as hard as I could onto her back, enjoying the ‘guh’ that wheezed out of her.

  Catching sight of the white stick in my hand, I looked back up at our audience, covered my face with my hands, and then burst into tears. I knew it was Ren that picked me up off of Lucy’s back, carried me over to the couch, and stroked my back while I bawled.

  “Holy shit, he must be strong!” I heard Tony say. “And she’s only gonna get heavier now!”

  “I di…didn’t…mean to,” I tried to get out in between all of the tears and snot that I had no control over.

  “Maya, I’m happy, baby,” he whispered in my ear and my head shot up in shock.

  Tony shoved a handful of tissues into my hand. “Let’s get rid of a little bit of this shall we,” he gestured at my face. “It’s about to touch your lap, and that’s just disgusting!” I wasn’t sure if it was drool or snot, but he was right - it was disgusting.

  “But I’m pregnant!” I held the stick up about two centimeters away from Ren’s face.

  Looking at the lines on it, the biggest grin broke out on Ren’s face and he replied, “We’re pregnant, and I’m fucking over the moon about it!”

  Just as he was about to kiss my hand, Cole interrupted. “Uh bro, she pissed on that stick you know. That’s piss stick. Or stick piss. Either way, it’s piss!”

  Jerking his head back from my hand, he leaned toward me and was just about to kiss me when we heard, “Hey Mom and Dad, guess what?” Spinning around so quickly I almost fell off Ren’s lap, I went to scream at her, but Lucy stood with a shit eating grin on her face and my parents looking at us from her screen. I gathered from the shocked looks on their faces, they’d heard mine and Ren’s conversation.

  “Um, guys,” Cole spoke up. “Before this goes any further, can I just ask…is no one else disgusted by the fact that Maya’s still holding a piss stick in her hand?”

  “Hey, she won’t be getting her period for nine months,” Amy said leaning against the wall with her arms crossed over her chest. Cole shuddered at the word. “Then again, she’ll bleed for weeks after it,” she continued. “And it w
ill be heavy. Ooo, did you ever watch Carrie? It’s gonna be like a crime scene down there afterwards!”

  Cole ran out the house yelling about whatever while the rest of us, including my parents, all looked at Amy in disgust and horror.

  “What did I say?”

  Chapter 13

  “?”

  “I sent a surprise to Indonesia for the eldest Montgomery and Banks female. They should be getting it any time soon.” The deep voice said in my ear.

  This asshole was coming in useful, but I’d come up with a change of plan and I knew this fuck would go along with it so long as it attacked the Montgomery’s.

  “Leave them now and focus on another. We need to keep them off balance and we can’t do that if we focus on a specific member, but at no point will you target George Montgomery. He needs to bleed, to hurt in the worst way knowing that he lost everything that meant anything to him.” I planned to take his family and his business, and this asshole was the perfect person to do it for me. After all, when it was all over, I had to look squeaky clean and have no ties to any of it for my plan to work.

  Hanging up, I rang the next contact. “It’s time to make the next move on the

  Townsend’s. Focus on the weakest links and get back to me when it’s done.”

  Ending the call, I put the burner back in my desk. I didn’t care what he had to say back, I’d said all that needed said.

  Chapter 14

  Isla

  W e were sitting in Luke’s parents living room surrounded by his parents, Gram and her friend William, and Luke’s brother Adam. My boys Johnny, Reed, and Caleb had just turned up and weren't looking amused.