Angels (A Detective Pierce Novel Book 3) Read online

  ANGELS

  A DETECTIVE PIERCE NOVEL – BOOK 3

  By

  REMINGTON KANE

  This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

  ANGELS - A DETECTIVE PIERCE NOVEL - BOOK 3

  First edition. May 14, 2016.

  Copyright © 2016 Remington Kane.

  Written by Remington Kane.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Angels - A Detective Pierce Novel - Book 3

  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

  CHAPTER 31

  CHAPTER 32

  EPILOGUE

  A PLEA

  ALSO BY REMINGTON KANE

  Further Reading: Parker & Knight

  About the Author

  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

  CHAPTER 1

  Pierce was in trouble and he knew it.

  He was unarmed, while his two dogged pursuers held weapons, along with a single-minded desire to use them against him.

  Pierce was at home on his farm, where he had been preparing his red brick barbeque grill for the first cook-out of spring. The two attackers came without warning and Pierce took cover behind the grill. As the pair closed in, Pierce dashed for the tool shed. The rectangular wooden building offered scant protection, but it was better than staying out in the open.

  One of his gun-toting pursuers was shorter than the other one, but seemed more determined. Pierce had already dodged two blasts from the short one’s gun, but feared that it was just a matter of time until his luck ran out.

  As he bolted from behind the shed, the taller of the attackers shouted to the shorter one and both of them aimed at their target. Pierce heard the weapons fire, but miraculously, they missed him, and he made it to a corner of the old barn.

  The sound of an approaching vehicle lifted Pierce’s spirits. Help had arrived. It was Jimmy Drake in his new truck, and Pierce’s partner, Jake Collins, was sitting in the passenger seat.

  Pierce’s pursuers looked at the truck and saw that the odds had shifted in Pierce’s favor. It didn’t intimidate them in the least. The pair ran faster and were already firing their weapons as they rounded the corner of the barn.

  Meanwhile, Pierce had circled around the old barn as fast as he could. When he reached the front of the building again, he ran towards his friends while pleading for them to help him.

  To his amazement, Jimmy and Jake just laughed at him as they climbed out of the truck. When Jake pointed to Pierce’s left, Pierce knew what it meant. His pursuers were not only back on his trail, but were close, so close.

  The two fired their guns again and Pierce was hit multiple times. He whirled around with his hands raised to plead for mercy and took twin blasts to the chest. Then, he fell sideways into the dirt and settled on his back.

  The short one walked over and stared down at Pierce with gleeful eyes, before shooting him in the face.

  Pierce sputtered, as the blast from the water gun filled his mouth. After sitting up, he reached out with both arms and grabbed his daughters to pull them close and kiss them.

  The short one giggled. She was named Rosa and was five-years-old.

  “We got you good, Daddy.”

  Six-year-old Sophia pointed at her father, while mimicking the deep voice of the villain she had seen in a recent Disney movie. “You can run, but you can’t hide,” and then she also giggled.

  The two raven-haired cuties had chased their father down while determined to blast him with their water guns, and Pierce was a soggy mess.

  He hugged them tighter, and smiled.

  “I love you two so much, do you know that?”

  Pierce’s daughters grinned at him, and then they each gave him a smooch on the cheek.

  “We love you too, Daddy,” the girls said as one.

  They were his angels, and Pierce just knew that life couldn’t get any better.

  CHAPTER 2

  “A lot of help you two were,” Pierce said.

  He was speaking to Jimmy Drake and Jake Collins, who were still smiling at his soaked clothing and wet hair.

  “Sophia and Rosa owned your ass, Rick,” Jimmy said.

  “Daddy, you said a bad word.”

  Pierce looked into the back seat of the truck and saw Jimmy’s five-year-old son sitting in a car seat. Jimmy Drake had married Ginny, the best friend of Pierce’s wife, Val, after Ginny had become pregnant.

  “Hey there, Josh,” Pierce said. “I didn’t see you back there, buddy.”

  “Hi, Uncle Rick.”

  Jimmy freed his son from the car seat. After giving him a kiss on the cheek, he lowered him to the ground and patted him on the butt.

  “Go find the girls, and watch out for those water guns.”

  As Josh ran off, Pierce removed his wet shirt.

  “They won’t spray Josh. The girls only like to shoot me; they think it’s funny.”

  “So do I,” Jake said.

  “Where are the ladies?” Pierce asked.

  “Stacey took my car and went shopping with Val and Ginny. Something about needing shoes for spring.”

  “Val went shoe shopping? Oh boy, that means they’ll be gone for a while. In the meantime, why don’t you two fire up the grill while I go inside and change into something dry.”

  Jimmy grabbed a package off the floor of the truck’s rear compartment, where Pierce also saw cases of beer.

  “I brought steaks, Rick, and Jake here bought the beer. Val said that you would be worried about them running late, but she promised that they wouldn’t shop all day.”

  “That’s good, because I’m hungry.”

  The kids were by the barn when Pierce walked back towards the house, and he saw that the three of them were playing a game of hide and seek. Sophia had been counting to ten, while Rosa and Josh hid. When she finished her count, she waved to her father as she went off to find the others.

  Pierce entered his house through the door in the kitchen and saw that the girls had dumped their water guns in the sink. As he passed through the hallway, he saw more toys scattered about.

  The disarray would have bothered Pierce years ago, when he lived in the huge house alone, but now, now the clutter made the house a home.

  He was whistling as he headed up the stairs to change into something dry.

  ***

  Val and the other women had good timing. They returned just as the first steaks came off the grill.

  Stacey Hightower-Collins, Jake Collins wife, helped Val and Ginny in the kitchen, and the three women had a huge salad made in no time at all.

  Stacey and Jake had married a year after Pierce wed Val, a
nd Jake had become a father to Stacey’s daughter, Christine. Christine, who still liked to be called Christy, rarely saw her birth father, and she considered Jake her dad.

  As the group sat around the picnic table, Pierce noticed that someone was missing.

  “Where’s Christy?”

  Jake sighed.

  “She’s out on a date, but they may stop by.”

  “A date?” Jimmy said. “How old is that kid?”

  “She’s fifteen now,” Stacey said. “She’s dating a boy named Matt who is also fifteen.”

  Jimmy punched Jake on the shoulder. Jake was only thirty-three, but was a veteran cop with nearly a decade of experience.

  “You’re gonna be a granddad soon, junior.”

  Stacey glared at Jimmy.

  “Don’t even joke about that.”

  Pierce shook his head in wonder.

  “Dating? It seems like she was just around Sophia’s age. Wait, how are they getting here? The boy shouldn’t be driving if he’s only fifteen?”

  “Matt has a restrictive license, but he’s been driving for over a year,” Stacey said. “He and his mother moved here from South Dakota where the driving age is lower.”

  “What’s his mom like?” Val asked.

  “She’s very nice, and a recent widow. She moved here to New Jersey to stay with a sister, and to find work.”

  Jimmy pointed out at the field which was adjacent to Pierce’s property.

  “Speaking of work, how soon will it be until they start on the construction over there?”

  Both Pierce and Val sighed.

  “Any day now,” Pierce said.

  ***

  For years, Pierce had feared that the bucolic land surrounding his own farm would be sold to a developer. He had envisioned a multitude of new condos and shopping centers. Instead, the state was building a prison near his home.

  Pierce and Val had joined with their neighbors to block the project. While they were listened to and their concerns were taken into consideration, the project was still approved.

  At the hearing, a representative from the state attempted to shame Pierce when she discovered that he was a police officer.

  “Detective Pierce, you of all people should know how vital new prison construction is to the state, especially since the closure of Gateway Prison several years ago.”

  “Yes, I am aware that there’s a shortage of prison space, but why not build the new prison on the property that was once the old prison?”

  The woman, a state senator, had smiled at Pierce as if he were a dunce.

  “The state doesn’t have the funds to spend on demolishing and hauling away the buildings that housed Gateway Prison. It’s much more efficient to build on the land that’s adjacent to your own.”

  “Fine, save the money by starting fresh, but there’s a lot of vacant land in other places.”

  “Not in my back yard, eh, Detective Pierce? Well, this time it will be in your back yard.”

  Once it was built, Pierce’s home would be less than half a mile from the prison’s front gate.

  The battle had brought Pierce’s home to the attention of others as well.

  When a reporter dropped by to interview him and Val about the petition to stop the prison, the woman had fallen in love with the Pierces’ home, which had been in the family for generations. Once she learned how old it was, she arranged for a colleague to do a feature story on it. Pictures of the home appeared in a local magazine that showed a proud Val giving a tour of the house.

  There was also a video of its exterior online. Pierce had hated the publicity, but went along with it to please Val. The house was special, and had been kept in immaculate condition.

  When a real estate agent stopped by to make an offer on the house and the land, Pierce was stunned by his appraisal of its worth.

  “It’s really worth that much?” Val had asked. “Even with the prison being built next door?”

  “The prison has increased your land’s worth, Mrs. Pierce. Were you to build homes or condos on your property, the prison employees would move right in, and possibly some of the prisoners’ family members.”

  The bottom line was that Pierce and Val were millionaires, or could be, if they sold their land.

  ***

  Jimmy shook his head in disgust.

  “It’ll be a shame once that prison is built, but at least it’s being built facing the left side of the home, and not in view of your balcony.”

  Pierce nodded in agreement, and then noticed a figure standing out by the fence that bordered the property. Val had taken note as well, and shielded her eyes to see better.

  “That’s a woman; I can make out long blond hair and a skirt.”

  “Someone you know?” Jake said.

  “We’ve been getting strangers stopping by to ogle the house ever since the magazine ran that article on it,” Val said. “And just last week, we had a couple pull up to the front door and demand a tour.”

  “What happened?” Jimmy asked.

  “I flashed my badge and they decided to leave,” Pierce said.

  “Some people are so rude,” Stacey said. “Imagine asking a stranger if you can come inside their house.”

  “It’s the main reason we put up the gate,” Val said. “It keeps them from driving in, although anyone could still climb over the fence.”

  When Stacey turned to look at the woman by the fence, she smiled. Farther along the road was a red jeep with its top off. She recognized the jeep by the desert decal on the driver’s side door. As the jeep drew closer, Stacey saw her daughter’s long red hair blowing in the breeze.

  “There’s Christy and her boyfriend now. It looks like they’re stopping to talk to that woman.”

  “Christy knows the code to the new gate, doesn’t she?” Pierce asked.

  “Yeah, Val gave it to her at the house earlier.”

  “What’s the boyfriend’s name again, Matt?” Jimmy asked.

  “Yes, it’s Matt,” Stacey said. “And he’s a really sweet kid.”

  ***

  Out on the road, that “sweet kid” Matt had slowed to get a better look at the woman standing by the fence.

  The woman was old enough to be his mother, but she was also shapely, had long blond hair, and was wearing a short skirt.

  Inside the jeep, Christy slapped her boyfriend on the arm playfully.

  “Keep your eyes on the road and off of that lady.”

  “I’m just curious about her, that’s all,” Matt said, and pointed at a car parked on the opposite side of the road. “Maybe she broke down.”

  “Maybe, but she probably has a phone,” Christy said.

  Matt stopped the jeep when he was aligned with the blonde’s position at the fence.

  He smiled at the woman, who was even more beautiful close up.

  “Are you broken down, ma’am?”

  The woman gestured at the house.

  “My car is fine. I was just admiring the old farmhouse. I love old homes.”

  “Okay, just checking.”

  “That was very nice of you,” the woman said. When she smiled at Matt, the boy felt his pulse quicken.

  “Let’s get going, Matt,” Christy said.

  Matt waved goodbye to the woman and drove towards Pierce’s gate.

  As Stacey had said, Matt had grown up in South Dakota. He was a big kid for fifteen, and had a mop of blond hair and large brown eyes. Those eyes had widened in interest when he first spotted the blonde.

  They reached the gate and Christy told Matt the right four numbers to enter, to make the gate swing inward. Matt drove in and parked. Moments later, the young couple joined the gathering at the rear of the home.

  Pierce’s daughters ran to Christy and hugged her about the waist. Christy babysat them often and was like a big sister to the girls. Meanwhile, both Pierce and Jimmy were giving Matt measuring looks. Neither man was related to Christy, but they knew her well and thought of her like a daughter.

  Matt met the
ir stares with a smile of greeting, and soon there were handshakes exchanged.

  ***

  Back out on the road, the blond woman walked over to her car and climbed in.

  She had seen the Pierce home before, many times before, and had been inside it on numerous occasions. Of course, that was all a long time ago, before she had made what she now considered to be the biggest mistake of her life.

  Had she not made that error. That million-dollar home and property would have been hers, as well as the man that owned it, Ricardo Pierce.

  She had gambled and lost, and now she was twenty years older with nothing to show for it. Meanwhile, Pierce had somehow managed to hold on to a property that she had thought his useless father had gambled away.

  Pierce had prospered in her absence, had recovered from her loss, and she, she had wasted years on a man who turned out to be a fraud.

  She nodded to herself as she started her engine. She would get wealthy one way or another. Yes, Pierce and her ex-husband weren’t the only men in the world.

  Professor Amy Lowe drove away from the Pierce home and went in search of a sugar daddy.

  CHAPTER 3

  Weeks later, Amy Lowe had come to the conclusion that finding a wealthy husband wasn’t going to be as easy as she thought it would be.

  Over forty, she was still youthful looking and beautiful, even gorgeous, but she was no longer 21 and wasn’t getting any younger. Men her age wanted young women, while men older than her also wanted young women.

  The fact that she was a college professor meant nothing to some men, while it intimidated others. The young men in her classes ogled her, but they were for the most part penniless, while the young women in her classes only served to remind her of her lost youth.

  Had she simply been looking for a man she found compatible, she would have fared well. But no, she wanted a man with money, and the more money the better.

  Desperate to improve her circumstances, Amy had joined an online dating site that paired older men with younger women. She submitted a picture that was ten years old while convincing herself that she hadn’t aged a day since it had been taken. Of the six men that responded, only one was under the age of seventy. He was a sixty-four-year-old banker from New York City who was bald and fat.