Piper
Iron Angels MC, Book Two
Piper
© 2018 by Samantha McCoy
First Electronic Publication: September 4, 2018
United States of America
All rights reserved. No part of this publication mat be reproduced, redistributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in any database, without prior written permission from the author, with the exception of brief quotations contained in critical reviews. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this work may be scanned, uploaded, or otherwise distributed via the internet or any other means, including electronic or print, without the author’s written permission.
The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to actual persons, living or deceased, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Cover Design: Dark Water Covers
Samantha McCoy
[email protected]
Chapter One
Piper
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Reaching over, she smacked the alarm. Maybe she could call in sick, claim to have anal glaucoma — as in she couldn’t see her ass coming into work today, but doubted the chief would go for it. The weekend had been brutal. Death and destruction. Not to mention the ride back was horrid.
Piper threw back the covers and stood with a groan. Four hours on the back of a bike had not been kind to her.
“When did I start feeling so old?” she asked herself out loud.
Heading to the kitchen, she flipped the switch to start the coffee brewing and popped a piece of toast into the toaster. As the smell of her life force filled the room, she stared out the window to the little park across the street. It was empty, but soon children would be running around. Mothers and fathers playing with their little ones. It wasn’t something Piper had ever really thought about, but one day she wanted to be one of those parents.
Gotta have a man first!
“Like that will ever happen anytime soon,” she mumbled, stepping away from the view.
Grabbing the toast from the toaster, Piper shoved it into her mouth as she quickly made her coffee and headed back to her bedroom to get ready for work.
Being a Houston Police Detective was one of the greatest joys in her life, most days. Today however, was not that day. She knew she would receive some repercussions about getting involved in what happened back in Austin, but there was no way she could have just left her sister, Sapphire, sitting in jail.
Piper still didn’t know what exactly happened to Chaz Montgomery, but she had her suspicions. And if she were honest with herself, as a member of law enforcement, she should have said something to the APD, but she didn’t. It was a choice she made, and if given the chance to do it all again, she would have still made the same decision.
Chaz Montgomery was a parasite. He was being investigated by several different agencies for everything from drugs to human-trafficking. But no matter how close they got, nobody could ever find anything solid to pin him down with. Now, they wouldn’t have to. As far as Piper was concerned, whoever took him out, did the tax payers of this country a favor.
No three hots and a cot for that motherfucker.
Grabbing her gun out of the safe on her dresser, Piper attached it to her hip and headed back to the kitchen. One cup of coffee wouldn’t get her through this morning, so she grabbed her travel mug from the cabinet and poured the remaining coffee into it. After adding cream and sugar, and with a quick stir — Piper was heading out the door.
The early morning Texas sky was something that Piper loved. The colors, right before the sun peeked out, deep blues and purples, fiery oranges and reds were beautiful. This was the part of the day she enjoyed. Before all the heat, before all the crowds of people, before all the crime turned the city ugly. In the quiet, still of the morning, Piper found peace.
Jumping into her classic Nineteen-seventy-two Chevelle, she fired it up and let the rumble soothe her even more. She loved this car. It was a present from her mother and Piper cherished it. Still in perfect showroom condition, it was her most prized possession.
Backing out of her parking space, Piper headed off to the station. Traffic in the city, no matter the time of day or night, was always crazy, but early morning rush hour was the worst and she tried to avoid it as much as possible. Forty-one minutes later, Piper was pulling into the station just a little before five a.m. She took her time getting out of the car and walking into the building. She had no idea what this day would entail, so every minute of peace she could get, she’d take.
“Hey, Piper,” Franklin called on his way into the building.
“Hey.” Piper nodded her head.
Franklin was another Detective with the PD and worked a few desks down from her. He was a nice guy and had asked her out once, but he wasn’t really her type. Not that she had a type. For Piper it was more of a feeling. If she liked you, then she did. If she didn’t — well, she didn’t.
“Care to join me on the amazing elevator ride to hell?” Franklin quipped.
“Sounds about right,” Piper grinned. “I did not want to get out of bed this morning.”
“Long night?”
“Yeah, but not the fun kind of long,” Piper replied. “I got home late from a trip to Austin.”
“Oh, that’s right. You had the biker ball,” Franklin nodded. “I remember hearing you talk about it.”
“Yeah.”
“How was it?”
Piper turned towards Franklin with a disgusted look on her face and rolled her eyes. She wouldn’t give him the details but knew her look said everything it needed to when Franklin started to chuckle.
“That bad?”
“Worse.”
The ride in the elevator to the third floor was uneventful. Other than her and Franklin and a dispatcher, nobody else had entered. Stepping out, Piper was immediately greeted by the smell of sweat, donuts, and coffee. The room was already starting to fill up with other officers, each doing their own thing. As Piper entered, a couple of heads turned her direction. Being one of the only female detectives in the city, it wasn’t uncommon for the newbies to be surprised when she came to work.
Sitting at her desk, Piper turned on her computer and logged in. She needed to look over a few cases that were still open and see if anything had come through over the weekend. She also had a couple that she had to finish up, close, and send over to the District Attorney’s office.
“Kimber!” A voice boomed across the bullpen. And all heads turned in her direction. “My office. Now.”
Shit!
She knew it was coming, but really hoped she could at least get through her coffee beforehand. Apparently, that was not her luck though.
Standing from her desk, she walked towards the Chief’s office. “What the fuck are y’all looking at?” Piper asked. “Don’t you have some work to fuckin’ do?”
Piper’s irritation was rising fast, along with her temper. Sometimes she felt like she worked with a bunch of nosey ninnies.
“What’s up, Chief?” Piper asked, leaning against the door frame.
“Come in and close the door.”
Okay.
Piper did as she was asked and stood with her back against it. She knew this wasn’t going to take long and would probably end badly. Right now, she could punch Sapphire in the twat for getting her into this mess, for making her risk her job. But at the same time, Piper couldn’t blame her sister. She made the choice, not Sapphire. After all, Sapphire hadn’t done anything wrong.
“Do you mind telling me what the fuck happened in Austin? How the hell did you get mixed up in a murder investigation inv
olving your sister?”
“I wasn’t going to let my sister take the heat for something she didn’t do, Chief.”
“You should have stayed out of it.”
“Stayed out of it? She’s my sister and I knew she was innocent.”
“I don’t care,” Chief’s voice boomed again. “It was not your place.”
“It was my place,” Piper countered. “I wasn’t about to let Sapphire spend the night or however long in jail over a crime she didn’t commit.”
“It was not your job.”
“Yes, it was!” Piper’s temper was about to come unhinged. “If that was your sister, your daughter, your wife — would you have stood back and did nothing?”
“My sister, wife, and daughter aren’t stupid enough to get involved with a bunch of criminal bikers,” Chief replied.
“Fuck you,” Piper said before she could stop herself. “You sure as hell didn’t mind using those bikers, my mother in particular, when this office couldn’t get a job done. You didn’t mind when I used those ‘criminal biker’ connections to solve and close cases. But now, you want to talk shit about the same people who saved your ass and have kept you sitting pretty in this big, nice, comfy office? Yeah, Cooper, Fuck you!”
Piper turned towards the door and swung it open so hard that it smashed against the wall. She was done with this shit.
That arrogant, pompous, jackass!
“Kimber!” Chief hollered.
Piper just kept walking.
“Piper!” He yelled again.
She raised her right hand high and gave him a single finger salute.
“Penelope!” Chief tried again. This time he succeeded in stopping Piper in her tracks.
Slowly, she turned around, “Fuck you, Cooper,” she said, sending him her deadliest glare. “I’m fuckin’ out!”
Grabbing her computer and coffee mug, Piper made her way over to the elevator and jabbed the button. She had to get out of here before she did something she would regret, like shoot her boss.
As the elevator doors opened and Piper stepped inside, she heard Cooper slam his office door closed and felt immense satisfaction when she heard him bellow, “Shit!”
Yeah, asshole.
* * *
Entering her house, she set her computer on the table and went to the kitchen to make a fresh pot of coffee. If she couldn’t get work done at the station, she would just do it here. Several times on the way home, Cooper tried to call her, but each time she ignored it.
Considering he knew Piper better than almost anyone, he should have known how she would react to his comment. More importantly, he should have known that for her, family always came first. That was why their relationship had ended right after high school. Cooper wanted to go off and become some small-town sheriff somewhere, but Piper wanted to stay here. They had both gone to the same Police Academy, graduated at the same time, and then parted ways. Cooper moved off and Piper got a job with the Houston Police Department.
She worked her ass off and made Detective within four years. About two years ago, the original Chief that Piper started working for retired and imagine her surprise when Cooper walked in to take his place. It was awkward between the two for a bit, but soon that passed and they developed a smooth working relationship. Until today, that is. Today, Cooper crossed the line and he knew it.
Sitting down at her kitchen table, Piper opened her files on the cases she needed to close. Working was the only thing that would take her mind off the bullshit from this morning. About halfway through, she was interrupted.
Ding!
An email notification chimed in the bottom corner of the screen. It was from Cooper with a subject that read: I’m sorry.
She debated for several minutes whether to open it or not. A part of her wanted to leave it, give him another big Fuck You. But at the same time, Cooper was not the ‘I’m sorry’ type. With a sigh, Piper clicked the notification box.
Piper,
I am really sorry about this morning. I was out of line. I know you and your family aren’t criminals and I honestly appreciate everything y’all have done — not only for me personally, but for the city.
I am going through a lot of shit right now and I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.
Again, I’m sorry.
- Coop
Piper read the email again. She truly didn’t know what to say. Reading it for the third time, Piper sighed as all the heat left her sails.
“Asshole,” she sighed in frustration. How in the hell could she stay mad at him if he wrote her emails like this?
Easily.
Closing the email, she went back to looking over files. One by one, she closed out several cases and electronically sent everything over to the DA’s office. Two murder cases, a suicide, and a few others that were all high priority were done first; then other petty cases followed.
When she first started working for HPD, Piper would get the shittiest cases, the dumbest crap that humanity had to offer. She had to fight tooth and nail to get where she was and earn the respect she had. And if she was perfectly honest with herself, she still had a long way to go. There were still some of the old-timers on the force that believed she should be in a kitchen somewhere baking cookies or some shit. It was those people who gave her the motivation to wake up and kick ass — every single day. The motivation to get cases and close them. To bring justice to those that deserved it. Those assholes were her driving force.
As she hit send on another closed case, her stomach let out a loud growl. It was already past lunch and she hadn’t eaten since the slice of toast that morning. Making her way to the kitchen, she pulled things from the fridge to make a quick sandwich and grabbed some chips from the cabinet.
How ironic!
A laugh bubbled from Piper. There she was, just thinking about all the old fuckers that thought she should be at home in the kitchen making shit, and here she was — at home, in the kitchen, making shit. Shaking her head, she grabbed her lunch and headed back to her makeshift work station for the day.
Just as she sat down, her phone rang. Looking at the caller ID, it was Cooper. Rolling her eyes, she silenced the ringer and went back to work. She was not dealing with his shit for a second time today, no matter how many apologies he sent.
Piper continued to work cases throughout the day. Making phone calls, answering emails, and even searching the internet for anything making the details of a cold case she was working on. At one point, her sister Sable called, and Piper took a much-needed break to stretch her back.
“I don’t even know what I’m doing anymore, Pip,” Sable said in a voice so small that it broke Piper’s heart.
Nobody knew, but Sable had hit rock bottom. Her sister had finally fallen in love with a guy who in turn, broke her. Piper hated the guy. To be fair, she had once loved him dearly for bringing so much happiness into Sable’s life; but now, hearing the heartbreak in Sable’s voice, all Piper wanted to do was hunt him down and kill him, slowly. Seeing the downward spiral that her once hardcore, tough as steel sister was on — Piper hated him.
“Sable, you need to cut him off,” Piper pleaded. “You need to stop answering his messages and taking his calls. Cut. Him. Off.”
“I can’t…” Sable cried. “What if he decides he’s ready to come back home?”
“Then you tell him to fuck off!” Piper could seriously kill him, really, she could. “Look at what he’s done to you! Where the fuck is my sister? The strong, independent woman who didn’t take any shit?” Like kill him with her bare hands.
“I don’t even know anymore,” Sable admitted. “I feel so damn broken.”
“You aren’t broken,” Piper lied. “You’re just…” What could she say…
“Broken?” Sable finished.
With a heavy sigh, Piper sat there for a minute not knowing what to say. She had no idea how to help her sister. Sable had alienated herself from everyone, but Piper. She pushed everyone away, said and did some sketchy shit to Sapphire
, got kicked out of the clubhouse, and now Piper didn’t know how to help her fix any of it.
“I’m just going to let you go,” Sable mumbled. “I have some things I need to do.”
Piper didn’t want to hang up. Her worry for Sable was a living, breathing thing. She wanted so badly to reach through the phone and pull Sable into her arms. To hug her sister and tell her everything would be alright — and it would be, if Sable would just let Ramon go…
“I love you, Pip.” Piper could hear the catch in Sable’s voice. She was about to cry.
“I love you, too.”
Sable disconnected the call and Piper could only sit there staring at the phone. Her sister was in a dark place. Darker than Piper had ever thought possible. She needed to talk to the others. Maybe they could help because right now, Piper was scared. But she didn’t want to break Sable’s trust in her. Right now, trust was a huge thing for her sister. It was all that was holding Sable together – her trust in Piper to be her soundboard.
What if she…
No! Shaking her head, she cleared it of the thought. Sable would never do that.
Would she?
Piper had to believe that no matter how far Sable slid into the black hole, that she would never do anything to hurt herself. That she would reach out to her. She HAD to believe that. Because anything else, just wasn’t possible.
With a heavy sigh, Piper went back to working on her case load. Occasionally, she checked her phone to see if there was anything from Sable. Her worry was heavy today. That phone call had thrown her off a bit. It made it hard to concentrate. Piper found herself checking and rechecking cases for the remainder of the evening. Sometimes, so lost in thought that she forgot what she was even doing. She really needed to get her head on straight. People’s lives depended on her. With a groan of frustration, she closed out of her files, and put her head in her hands.
Standing from the table, Piper walked over to the window and looked out across the park. It had already started to get dark. She was so wrapped up in closing cases and thinking about her sister, that she literally had lost track of time. It was that moment that her stomach chose to remind her that she hadn’t eaten anything since lunch. And for a girl like Piper, that was not a good thing.
Piper: Iron Angels MC, Book Two Page 1
