“It’s also not likely that this fight is gonna happen in a court of law,” Ice muttered, casting Margaret a baleful look.
“Hey, Redneck, I offered to have this problem erased in a permanent way four years ago when the bastard hurt Harmony the first time,” Maggie retorted, narrowing her green eyes on Ice. “They,” she continued, jerking her head toward Zeke and Abel, “wanted to handle it a different way. In that vein, however, I will say that I’m more than happy to kick in a couple of million if we want to pursue that direction now,” she offered Harmony with an eager smile. “I’m sure I can find a hitman or commando somewhere with nothing but time on his hands. The Internet is a wonderful thing; you can find almost anything there. Hell, for that matter, you’ve got cousins that would do the job for a six pack and a smile.”
“This is very true.” Slade’s deep voice resounded in the room, his grey eyes moving to Harmony. “Just say the word.”
“No one is engaging the services of either a hitman or commando,” Honor decreed, tilting her face toward the ceiling and shaking her head.
Harmony smiled weakly as she felt Jake’s hand tighten against her shoulder. “As much as I appreciate the offer, Honor is right. Besides, there’s a lot more going on than just what he did to me, Mags. Things are complicated.”
“Aren’t they always,” Maggie muttered with a sigh.
Lifting his head, Abel glanced at Harmony, “Maggie is right about one thing. I wanted to make sure all of our legal ducks were in a row. They are,” he declared with a nod, holding up the sheath of papers. “Legally, you’re covered. We got the paternity relinquishment after the divorce agreement, but they’re both sound.”
“Good,” Harmony whispered shakily as Jake squeezed her neck.
Maggie leaned forward and leaned her elbows on the large table. “Okay. Now that’s out of the way, let’s get to the good stuff,” she said, reaching into her Hermes bag and pulling out a plain manila folder. “Since I was fairly certain nobody was going to let me hire a covert assassin, I did some digging and found some information that you might be able to use. That’s why I was so late getting out here.”
Abel arched an eyebrow. “Some digging?”
“Mmm,” Maggie hummed, pulling out a sheet of paper from the folder. Sliding it in front of Zeke, she continued. “That’s a list of Tanner Suarez’s most recent credit card purchases,” she explained, tapping a finger against the page. “As you can see by the most recent purchase an hour ago, he’s no longer in Paradise.”
Leaning over Zeke’s shoulder to look at the printout, Patience demanded, “How the hell did you get that, Mags?”
Shifting nervously, Maggie shook her head. “I’d really prefer not to say in the presence of law enforcement.”
Sighing, Zeke looked over his shoulder at the woman. “Damn it, Margaret, we’ve had words about this. Hacking is illegal even if it’s for a good cause! Do you want to go to jail?”
“What you see as hacking, I choose to call a creative form of investigation,” Margaret dismissed Zeke easily. “Besides, I got that information in the quarter of a time it would have taken you to get a warrant, and you know that I only use my superpowers for good, not evil.
“That doesn’t make it legal,” Zeke muttered before passing the paper over to Jake. “According to this, he’s in Knoxville.”
“He’s probably going back to meet with Fuentes,” Jake grunted, scanning the paper. “It’s easier for Diego to fly under the radar in a city like Knoxville.”
Rising from the table, Zeke nodded. “I’ll step in the kitchen and call it in. Maybe we’ll get lucky and Knoxville PD will be able to pick him up.”
Maggie snickered as the Sheriff passed her on the way out of the room. “You’re welcome, Zeke.”
“Don’t push it, Mags. Zeke’s walking a fine line right now,” Abel warned softly, shaking his head at his assistant. “You got anything else for us?”
“Not much. When I ran into Henry Watson this evening at the service station, I asked him if any heavy hitters had been nosing around the real estate in Paradise; he said no.”
Jake looked at Abel. “Who’s Henry Watson?”
“Local real estate mogul. He’s an asshole, but if you were looking to buy property, he’s the guy you’d see. You would have met him if Harmony hadn’t already known about your place being available. I thought maybe if Fuentes was moving into the area, he might try purchasing some land for himself and setting up shop,” Abel replied, scratching his chin. “I asked Mags to check into it.”
“Sorry. No luck,” Maggie said, shrugging her shoulders. “Henry said nobody has been biting at any of his properties. In the meantime, I have set the system to email me if Tanner makes another credit card purchase. Maybe we’ll find him that way. If I get anything, I’ll let you know immediately. Otherwise, just call if you need me for anything. I mean it, Harmony.”
Rising, Harmony walked around the table to hug Maggie tightly. “It means a lot to me that you put yourself on the line for me and my family, Mags,” she whispered in her friend’s ear. “Thank you. We’re all in your debt.”
Releasing Harmony, Maggie stepped back but didn’t release Harmony’s hand. Looking between Harmony and Honor, she shook her head. “No thanks are necessary. I told you ladies a long time ago that we broken women have to hobble along together as best as we can in this world. We’ll never get anywhere otherwise.”
“You did,” Honor acknowledged quietly with a nod of her head. “And it’s still as true today as it was then, Mags.”
Squeezing Harmony’s hand before releasing it, Maggie nodded. “You,” she said imperiously, directing her gaze toward Ice, “Will be receiving an invoice for my ruined outfit. I don’t care if I am rich. You broke it, you bought it, Mountain Man. As for the rest of you, I’ll see you all soon,” she whispered before disappearing out the door.
Watching as Margaret’s attractive backside sashayed out of the room, Ice turned his gaze to Orla who sat silently at one end of the long table. “What did she mean by that? The broken women comment?”
“I’d like to know that, too,” Jacob interjected, frowning at Orla as he watched Harmony sadly shake her head out of the corner of his eye.
Aunt Orla’s normally dancing eyes dimmed for a moment as they stared after Maggie. “Let’s just say that our Margaret has as many layers as an onion. And that, my boys,” she said softly, “is a long, troubling story to save for another day.”
“Yes, Aunt Orla is right. That’s for another day,” Honor agreed as Zeke came back into the room and paused beside her chair, “It’s time for us to discuss what happens next within our own family, and I’m a little afraid that my decisions aren’t going to be very popular.”
Chapter Thirty-nine
Fifteen minutes later, pandemonium reigned in the McKinnon family dining room as Honor sat silently at the head of the table sipping a lukewarm cup of awfully bitter tea while she shared a look with her elderly aunt at the other end of the table. Her favorite relative had warned her that her sisters’ reactions would be less than thrilled, and per the usual, she was right.
“No! No freaking way,” Patience denied, her hair swinging back and forth over her shoulders as she shook her head and glared indignantly at a smirking Abel. “I won’t do it. I refuse.”
“Jake can NOT live here, Honor. I’m not even sure that I can forgive him for the secrets he’s kept to himself… secrets that have now affected our entire family. How can you possibly expect me to share a house with him? We also have to think of Heaven and what this will say to her. Zeke can stay here and we’ll be just as safe,” Harmony offered, turning beseeching eyes toward the sheriff. “You’ll do that won’t you, Zeke?”
Jake shook his head as he looked across the table at Zeke. “I’m not leaving, Harmony,” he denied, his deep voice grim and serious. “I don’t give a damn where Zeke puts head to pillow, I’ll still be in this house with you.”
“And Ice can stay with me,” Patience a
dded, gesturing across the table toward Zeke’s brother as she watched Harmony shoot Jake an ugly look. “We’ll have a good time. I promise.” She winked at the smiling man.
“Ice is not staying with you,” Abel growled, glaring at the amused man across from him. “You’re staying with me at my place where I can keep you safe, just like Honor said.”
“The hell I am,” Patience snapped, swinging her head toward Abel. “I’d sooner sleep with a rattlesnake than share air with you.”
“Well, Ice is already spoken for, missy,” Aunt Orla announced, resting a proprietary hand on Ice’s arm. “Now, tell me son, are you a boxer or brief man? Doesn’t matter,” she went on with a smile, “I just like to be prepared.”
Patience’s eyes shot daggers at her elderly aunt as she asked scornfully, “You sure Uncle Jethro won’t have a problem with that?”
“Since he’s almost blind and all but totally deaf, I doubt he’ll notice at all,” Aunt Orla chortled.
“Oh, dear Lord,” Faith murmured to Cain, scooting her chair closer to her husband. “Thank God we’re married and nothing changes for us.”
“Amen,” Cain muttered, looking warily around the table.
“I’m serious, Honor,” Patience rallied, pounding her fist against the table. “If you’re set on Ice staying with Aunt Orla, Slade can just bunk at my apartment,” she offered, her blue eyes begging her youngest sister to reconsider her protective detail assignments.
“No, Slade could stay here and Jake can go the hell home,” Harmony interjected, shooting a nasty look toward an impassive Jacob.
“Not. Leaving,” Jake growled as the muscle in his jaw began to twitch and his eyes pinned Harmony to her chair.
Slade shook his head. “Sorry, ladies, but I’m not good to stay anywhere. I’ll be running back and forth between the construction site in Knoxville and here. I can spare Ice for this mess, but to do it, I’ll have to cover him. I’m gonna be more of an on-call participant if things get hairy. Besides, Ice’s skill set isn’t quite as rusty as mine. He’s only been out of service a couple of years. I’ve been out five.”
“Honor, this is not happening,” Patience vowed, jerking her head toward Abel. “I’ll kill him. I will and you know it.”
“Not if you’re bound and gagged in my basement,” Abel grunted, wincing as Patience’s elbow smoothly found his sternum.
Harmony held up a hand, determined to stop this nonsense. Taking a deep breath, she said, “I’ll just take Heaven and go somewhere for a few weeks, Honor. Then, none of this will be necessary.” This was her family. She was responsible for all of this happening. She could put a stop to it, and make sure her daughter was protected. Surely, she could find an out of the way place to hide out. The Appalachians were filled with nooks and crannies that had yet to be explored, weren’t they?
“The hell you will,” Jake all but barked as he stared furiously at Harmony. “You’ve lost your mind if you think I’ll let that happen.”
Swallowing another sip of her tea, Honor glanced at Ezekiel. His face was wiped clean of expression, but she knew he was close to losing his patience. The white-knuckled grip he had on his coffee cup gave him away. If she didn’t intercede soon, the mighty lion would wake and roar loud enough to bring down the roof...and wake up Heaven in the process. “Alright, enough,” she announced, her normally soft voice harsh and hard as she held up one hand for silence. “Let’s take your grievances one at a time. Patience?” she asked, turning her head toward unarguably the most stubborn sister of the bunch.
Patience straightened her back. “Honor, pairing me up with Abel is a mistake. I’d rather take my chances with Tanner and this Diego fella than be forced into the same place as him.”
“No, you wouldn’t, and you know it,” Honor denied quietly, staring at her sister. Something unspoken passed between the two women as their gazes collided. “Abel might be a pain in your tail, but the only substantial danger he poses is to your sanity. I’ll take you alive and crazier than a bessie bug rather than dead any day of the week. Though, if you think you truly can’t stand to be in his presence, I’ll offer you an alternative plan,” she offered slowly. “I’ll call that lovely man you were dating last month. You know, the new tattoo artist that moved his shop front in beside Violet Houston’s bridal shop. Hunter Quaid, I think his name was, wasn’t it? He was a rather large, imposing man. Former Army, I think he said. I’d be happy to call him.”
Patience’s eyes dilated. “Honor, you wouldn’t,” she whispered, shaking her head.
Honor nodded once. “Oh, but I would.”
“You dated Hunter?” Abel asked sharply, his eyes impaling Patience. “What in the hell were you doing with that thug?”
“Hey,” Cain chided, glaring at his brother, “I served with Hunter, Abel. He’s a decent guy, and he was a hell of a soldier. Patience could do a hell of a lot worse.”
“Patience has done worse. Much worse,” Aunt Orla snickered, crossing her arms over her ample bosom and leaning back in her chair as she winked at her niece. “Remember that carnie from last summer. The boy was pretty to look at, but he was about a brick shy of a load.”
“Okay, so my taste in men is wide and varied,” Patience said with a careless shrug, waving a hand in the air. “But that’s beside the point. Hunter is a no-go. He was a nice enough guy, but underneath all that muscle and ink beats the heart of a Grade-A male chauvinist. That man wasn’t looking for a good time; he was looking for a wife,” she declared with a shudder before making a face. “Worse, he wants babies.”
“The bastard,” Faith teased as she looked toward Patience. “Imagine the audacity of wanting a family with a woman.”
“Hey, I’m not faulting him for what he wants. To each his own and all that crap. I’m just sayin’ that the woman he’s looking for is definitely not me. This body,” Patience said, gesturing at her boobs and flat stomach, “is never spitting out any babies. I don’t do diapers. Or bottles. Or burps. Or any of the thousand other gross things a mother is expected to deal with on a daily basis. Nuh uh,” she denied adamantly. “No way.”
Honor resisted the urge to drop her head to the table. “Then I’m sure you’ll be grateful that Abel has a perfectly decent spare bedroom available for you. Next,” she invited before Patience could reply, her eyes moving to Harmony. Lifting one finger, she continued, “And before you say anything at all, you should know that I’ll side with Jake on the idea of you taking Heaven and leaving. This is your home. We’re your family. This is where you and Heaven both belong. Neither one of you will be leaving for any reason.”
Harmony shook her head, knowing that her sister was right, but guilt still swelled in her chest. “This is all happening because of me,”
“That isn’t true,” Honor replied gently as the room went still around them.
“I married him, Honor. I brought that man into our family. I’m the reason he even had a reason to come back here. This is on me.”
“No. This is on him,” Honor countered sternly, meeting her sister’s eyes. “The only person responsible for the sins Tanner Suarez has committed is Tanner Suarez. I know you and Jake are having some….difficulties,” she noted, her eyes drifting over to Jacob Stone. “And I can understand your hesitance having him here. The fact remains however that he is a trained officer of the law and he had reasons for what he kept from us. Don’t get me wrong,” she huffed, narrowing her eyes on Jake, “I think they were stupid, asinine reasons, but reasons, nonetheless. That said, I was with Harmony this morning when we uncovered your rather impressive arsenal.”
Jake met Honor’s eyes, and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Honor….”
“Frankly, the basis for my decision where Jake is concerned is quite simple. His gun is bigger than Zeke’s gun, Harmony.”
Bending his head to stare incredulously down at Honor’s head, Ezekiel shook his head. “Tell me you didn’t just say that,” he hissed, his handsome face mildly appalled.
Lifting a hand, Pa
tience patted the sheriff on the shoulder. “Don’t feel bad, Zeke. It would be hard for any man to beat nine inches worth of steel.”
“What?” Honor asked blankly, her blue eyes widening as she realized Patience’s meaning. “Wait! That isn’t what I meant!” she moaned, burying her face in her hands as the entire family erupted into laughter, the seriousness of the moment broken for that bare second.
Lifting her head, she sighed as the people she considered family slowly quieted. “What I should have said is that Zeke has a job to do in town as sheriff. He can’t be two places at once. His firearm could be employed elsewhere at any time, but Jake’s schedule would allow you and Heaven to remain protected at all times. Whether I like it or not, you and my niece face the most danger here, Harmony, and Jacob has a vested interest in your continued safety. I know you and Patience are unhappy with the arrangements I’ve made, but hopefully, this will be a temporary situation. Tanner and this Fuentes man can’t hide forever. They want something we’ve got. Sooner or later, they’ll come looking for one of us. Since that isn’t a situation I’d like any of us to face alone, I’d prefer that when they do arrive they be met by men who possess big guns and know how to use them effectively.”
“I guess you have a good point,” Harmony admitted reluctantly, acquiescing to her youngest sister as most of them usually did. “I just wish there was another way. I don’t like the idea of any of you being a target because of decisions I made. It isn’t fair to any of you,” she said, looking at each of her sisters.
“We’re McKinnons, honey,” Aunt Orla’s wise voice counseled, her faded blue eyes on Harmony’s face. We either stand united or we fall down together. That’s the way it is, was, and always will be.”
Harmony swallowed hard as she looked from face to face around the weathered dining room table. When she reached Honor’s face, her heart broke a little at the bone-deep old pain she saw reflected in her baby sister’s eyes. Of all of those present in the dining room, Harmony understood what this plan could cost Honor. Over the years, the other woman had found her way to a new normal, but this newest challenge could hurl Honor back into the depths of a dark, agonizing time in her life. Tanner’s reappearance wasn’t only dangerous to Harmony and Heaven, but Honor, too. “Are you sure about this?” she asked softly.
Hard as Stone (Passion in Paradise: The Men of the McKinnnon Sisters) Page 34
