“The building couldn’t be more perfect,” I said, studying the faces of my brothers and sister on the computer screen. “And Arizona is central to the western states we’ve been getting the majority of our client requests from. I think it’s a perfect staging spot for those cases.”

“You shouldn’t have put a bid on the building without consulting us,” Brent said.

“I wanted to get in before someone else came out of the woodwork.”

“I think it’s a good idea,” Gentry said. “I just wonder how you plan to manage the place from Memphis.”

“I’ll probably stay until it’s up and running. And then we’ll hire a manager we can trust.”

Brent rolled his eyes. Remy leaned forward, her face filling the web cam. “You shouldn’t have to do it all on your own, Jack. We could send someone out there to set the place up.”

“I want to do it. I’ve done this once before. I know what needs to be done.”

“Then let one of us come help.”

“I’m good, Remy. I’ll let you know when I need help.”

She sat back, the look on her face clearly disapproving. Bo, her husband, touched her thigh and leaned close to whisper something in her ear that did nothing to change that expression.

“What do you think, Aidan? You’ve been quiet.”

Aidan leaned forward, resting his hands on his knees. “I think it’s a brilliant idea. You’re right, we do need a satellite office in that area. And you are the perfect person to set it up since you were the driving force behind setting up this main office. I don’t see any obstacles to this plan.”

Brent grunted.

“What?” I asked, irritated.

“You’re running away. How is that going to help anything?”

“I’m not running away. I’m expanding our business.”

“You’re hiding from Rae.”

I could see agreement on Remy’s face, but the others simply looked uncomfortable. Anger sliced through me. I glanced away, looking toward the windows that looked down on the bookstore, where Ruth was at that moment helping customers find and purchase the books on display. Three nights in a row we’d hung out in the storeroom, spending as much time talking as kissing. My belly ached at the memory of it. I’d never imagined conversation with a woman could be as exciting as the games we could play between the sheets. But with Ruth, everything was exhilarating.

“I’m not hiding from anyone. I’m going on with my life, just like everyone’s been telling me to do for the last six months.”

Brent and Remy exchanged glances.

“It’s his life,” Gentry announced. “Let him live it the way he wants.”

“Thank you.”

Brent sighed. “Okay. Keep us updated on what’s happening with the building.”

“Of course.”

I touched the button on my computer that ended the call. I ran my fingers through my hair, a sigh slipping from between my lips. It could be fantastic working with family, having someone who knows you inside and out backing you up. But it could also be a damn nuisance!

I was due out at Alli’s in fifteen minutes. I glanced at my phone, wishing the real estate agent would hurry up and call so I could either set this thing in motion or decide what my next move should be. Patience had never been a virtue I was much good at.

I snatched up my keys and headed to the door, my thoughts moving a hundred miles a minute. I was startled when I opened the door and found the young man with the same gold hair as Ruth staring at me.

“Mr. Stone?”

I stepped back slightly, wondering if I should be concerned that this man had sought me out at my hotel.

“Can I help you?”

“I’m Matthew Pearce. I’m Ruth’s brother.”

I nodded. “I guessed as much. Would you like to come in?”

He shook his head. “I only wish to take a moment of your time.”

“Alright.”

“I’d like to respectfully ask that you stay away from my sister. It’s come to my and my parents’ attention that you and Ruth went to dinner together the other night, despite the fact that she explained to you that she requires a chaperone whenever she goes on a date.”

“It wasn’t a date. It was just two acquaintances having dinner.”

“Whatever it was, you should not have been alone with her. We would appreciate it if you would respect our faith and not impose your will on the innocence of my sister.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “Are you coming to me as a brother or as a member of the Guardians?”

The young man seemed a little surprised by my words. He glanced at the band wrapped around his upper arm. “You know about the Guardians?”

“I do. You’ve been harassing a couple of my friends.”

The man’s jaw tightened. “We don’t harass. We encourage.”

“Yes, well, your encouragement has them pretty upset. I think it would be better for everyone if you’d back off. You back off my friends, and I’ll back off your sister.”

His eyes narrowed. “This is not a negotiation.”

I shrugged. “That’s my offer. Otherwise, you might ask your sister what it is she wants.”

“She’s an innocent. She doesn’t know what she wants.”

I licked my bottom lip, imagining the taste of her was still there. “I think you should talk to her before you make that assumption.”

He blushed furiously. “Stay away from her!” he demanded, his tone strong and deep despite the fear that suddenly filled his eyes. “We don’t want your kind here, and we definitely don’t want you near our family.”

I just nodded. “The funny thing about that is that this is a free country, and I’m allowed to go where I please within its borders. And your sister has free will, a gift I believe was granted to her by the God you believe in.”

That might have been the wrong thing to say. The young man’s eyes snapped with anger as he took a step toward me. “You have no idea what kind of trouble you will bring down on your head if you go near her again. Or the trouble you’ll bring her if the other Guardians find out about your relationship.”

“Bring it on, brother.”

The young man just shook his head and spun on his heel, marching away. I watched him go, more amused than anything else.

 

 

“I won’t keep playing this game,” Harry muttered.

He arrived earlier at Alli’s than usual. There was a cut on his cheek that spoke to some sort of violence. I watched him pace like a caged animal, waiting for him to tell his story rather than asking.

“They broke the damn window again! In the middle of the afternoon, bold as all hell. I called the cops, and they practically laughed in my face. Fucking assholes!”

“I’m sorry, Harry.”

“I won’t be run out of this town. I was born here, my parents paid taxes here until the day they died. I’m not going to let a group of religious freaks push me out of my own home!”

“Of course not.”

“We have to do more than just wait for them to come to us.”

“I actually had a conversation with one of them this morning.”

Harry’s eyebrows rose. “Did you, now?”

“He threatened to escalate things.”

“Great. Is that what you were hoping for?”

“It shows that they’re a little desperate.”

“How is that supposed to help us?”

I shrugged. “It suggests that they might give up if we don’t give in.”

Harry shook his head, pacing again. “I won’t just sit around and let them walk all over me like this! I hate what they’re doing! This is goddamned America! I have a right to run my business the way I want, and Alli has a right to do what she wants to do. They can’t come and tell us we can’t, just because their church doesn’t like it or they have friends who want to run a similar business.”

“I know.”

“I won’t sit still and do nothing. I was a damn DEA agent! I wiped scum like them off the earth for a living!”

“I know, Harry. But I really don’t think responding to them with violence will help.”

“And what will? Waiting for them to grow tired like a bunch of petulant children?”

“Isn’t that essentially what they are?”

Harry shook his head. “I never would have put you down as naïve, Jack.”

He walked off, storming back to the office where Alli was balancing the books. Tommy, Alli’s youngest daughter, was watching me from behind a shelf of anal beads, her eyes moving over my face as she opened her mouth again and again like a fish out of water, trying to say something that wasn’t quite coming out.

“What?”

“Do you really think they’ll just back off?”

“I think they’ll find a bigger target. An easier target.”

“I don’t. These people are tenacious.”

“Are they now?” Such a big word for such a young girl. “How do you know that?”

“I go to school with a bunch of kids from the church. Some of them, they have fathers in the Guardians, and they talk about them when they think I’m not listening.”

“What do they say?”

“That we’re heathens, and the only way to protect the church is to get us out of town. They think we’re trying to destroy the souls of the saved.”

“They’re just hiding behind their church to make what they’re doing right.”

“And what’s that?”

“Bigotry.” I looked over at her. “They’re trying to rid the town of people they don’t like, people who are different from them. That’s bigotry.”

“But they were persecuted.”

“Yeah, they were. A hundred years ago when their church was first formed. And, sure, maybe they run into the occasional ignorant person who finds their different way of looking at the world strange. But that doesn’t give them license to impinge on my or Harry’s or your mother’s constitutional rights to free speech, to the freedom to choose to follow or not follow a specific religion, to participate in commerce.”

Tommy nodded. “But when they have the sheriff in their back pocket, it makes it hard to tell them that.”

“I know. But we’ll find a way to convince them.”

She didn’t seem any more convinced than Harry had been. Maybe I wasn’t, either. But I couldn’t allow Harry to go running off, willy-nilly, and making things worse. As long as we were the clear victims, we had a strong case against these fools. A good cop would see that. I’d already asked around about the people in the sheriff’s office. People spoke highly of the sheriff himself, but those were people who went to church with him. Others talked about a couple of deputies, a couple of rancher’s boys, who were known to be fair. I would eventually approach one of them and see if I couldn’t get them to press charges once we had enough evidence on video to prove what the Guardians were doing.

We had to go about this smart, otherwise the Guardians would have a leg up on us, and we’d never dig our way out.