Wilder Than the Rest: MacLarens of Fire Mountain (2 page)

“I won’t tell you again, Mr. Tatum. Stand and raise your hands.” Mollie swiped errant strands of hair from her face with her free hand. She took a quick glance at Pierce. “So he’ll give up without a fight, huh?” She chuckled. “You’re a mess.”

“Yeah, well, I may have underestimated him,” Pierce answered as he tried to stop the flow of blood from his nose. He could already feel the start of a black eye and bruising on his chest. “Jesus, you sure can hit, Otis.”

“You lied to me.” The disillusionment wasn’t lost on either Mollie or Pierce.

“Not at all. You got your chance to leave town. That’s all I agreed to.” Pierce grabbed the water flask from his horse and took a long swallow then held it out to Otis, who brushed him off with a wave of his hand.

“Besides, what authority does a saloon girl—”

“Barmaid,” Mollie corrected with a sweet smile.

Otis looked at her. “Fine. What authority do a barmaid and rancher have to make an arrest?” He sneered, his tone full of sarcasm.

Mollie and Pierce pulled out their badges and held them in his direction. Otis’s eyes bulged as he read the inscriptions—United States Secret Service.

Chapter One

San Francisco, California

Noah Dodd, the head of the western United States Treasury Department’s Secret Service Agency, sat in the upscale restaurant in downtown San Francisco sipping scotch while waiting for his guest to arrive, a well-respected and quite wealthy businessman with interests in industries ranging from steel mills to cattle to lumberyards. He had contacts across the country. They were the reason for tonight’s meeting.

Noah looked up to see Louis Dunnigan walking toward him. “Hello, Mr. Dunnigan.” He extended his hand. “Thank you for taking the time to meet with me.”

“Please, Noah, I would appreciate it if you’d call me Louis, and I’m more than happy to get together.” He took the offered hand before signaling the server for a drink, then took a seat across from Noah. “How’d you know I was in San Francisco?”

 “You know the agency hired Pierce MacLaren, right?” Noah asked.

“Yes, I’ve heard Pierce had started working with you.”

“He mentioned you were out here for a few weeks to purchase some property. I thought it might be a good time for us to talk.”

Noah paused while the server placed a drink in front of Louis, then continued when the man retreated.

“I recruited him to work with us on a counterfeiting ring in Fire Mountain. Set him up with a partner. Not long after, he was able to determine the creative talent behind the plates being used to print the forged notes. The man is now in custody.”

“Fast work. So what’s the issue?”

“No issues other than he’s headstrong, arrogant, controlling, and a general pain.” Noah chuckled. “That’s a direct quote, by the way.”

“From whom?”

“His partner.”

“Another man found those traits a problem?”

“His
female
partner,” Noah clarified.

Louis chuckled. “Well, I can see why that might be a slight issue.”

“To be honest, I can’t afford to lose either one. The woman, Mollie Jamison, is good. Quick learner and not afraid to get in the middle of things. Plus, the criminals we pursue rarely think of a woman as an agent. It’s easy for her to work undercover.” Noah studied his drink and took a swallow. “Pierce has the skills, background, and experience that Mollie lacks.”

“It appears that Miss Jamison can learn a lot from Pierce.”

“You’re right, she can. If only she would. The same traits she used to describe Pierce, he could fling at her. I guess it’s all a matter of perspective. It will work out, with some rough spots along the way.” Noah thought for a moment. “The issue I have is that they need a place to work from while they’re here on their next assignment. I understand you’re acquiring a building. The existing Treasury office here is small, and I can’t afford to have confidential investigative work overheard by others.”

Louis was beginning to see where this was going. “The deals aren’t finalized, but yes, I will have offices that would work.”

“The agency can’t pay going rate, you understand.”

“I’m sure we can work something out. When will you need it?”

“Within the month.”

Louis thought a moment. “That will work. I must go back to Denver for a couple of weeks. I’ll return to San Francisco by the time your agents arrive.”

“Good. I’ll let Pierce and Mollie know.”

Noah got to the main reason for this meeting. He looked up at Louis. “They’ll have a cover, which you’ll need to be aware of.”

“What is it?”

“The plan is for them to be a married couple, new to the city. Pierce will be working for Dunnigan Enterprises.”

Louis suppressed a grin. “No issue at all setting him up with something that will provide a good cover. My other employees won’t suspect a thing.” He sat forward. “How did they take the news about the fake marriage?”

“I haven’t told them yet.”

Louis downed the last of his drink and stood. “You are a brave man, Noah. Be sure to have an escape route available when you tell them. You just might need it.”

******

Fire Mountain, Arizona

Connor worked alongside his brother, Pierce, as they fixed fence lines and watched for strays. The physical work was hard, yet rewarding. Different from the work either had done in their past lives.

“Sounds like you’ve made up your mind to stay in Fire Mountain.” Pierce’s idle comment held more meaning than he wanted his brother to know.

“Appears so,” Connor replied as he pulled a wire taut before securing it.

“The purchase of the other two saloons final yet?”

“Both will be by the end of this week, at least according to Jerrod.”

Jerrod Minton had been the MacLaren attorney for years, handling all the ranch business as well as any other legal matters needed.

“That mean you won’t be working the ranch?” Pierce asked.

“Nope. I’ll manage the three saloons, but still do whatever else I can on the ranch. I don’t understand much about the horse breeding program, so I’ll work with the other men in the cattle operations. Learn from them.”

The brothers fell silent, concentrating on the work in front of them.

“All right, let’s move on.” Connor stretched his arms above his head before mounting his horse, Crusader, to continue following the fence line. They rode at a slow, easy pace, watching for anything out of the ordinary as well as damaged wires.

“Hold up.” Pierced reined Bandit to a stop and dismounted. “I think he picked up a rock.”

Connor slid off his horse, grabbed his canteen, and took a deep swallow before handing it to Pierce. “You’ve made up your mind on continuing with Noah?” He didn’t mention Mollie, a sore subject with Pierce.

“Might, if he finds me a new partner. Mollie’s too damn stubborn, won’t listen to anyone,” Pierce said as he worked the stone out of Bandit’s hoof.

“The way I hear it, she saved you from one terrific beating by Tatum.”

Pierce glared at him. “I could’ve handled him. Just needed to catch my breath.”

“That’s your story?” Connor suppressed a smile, already knowing that Mollie had kept his brother from getting the tar beaten out of him. He and his cousins were grateful to her for interceding.

Pierce swung up on his horse. “Look, the woman’s headstrong and overconfident. I get the headstrong part, but her overconfidence will get someone killed.”

Connor followed a few paces behind. “Seems like confidence is needed for the types of jobs Noah gives you. You’re not dealing with easy work or reputable people.”

Pierce looked at his brother and shook his head.

“Look, I’m not defending her.” Connor reached behind him to pull some jerky from his saddlebag, giving Crusader a soft kick to come alongside Pierce. “Just saying you might give it another try, see what happens.”

“You trying to get rid of me?”

“Hell no. I just know the size of the bank draft you just got. Decent pay for a couple weeks of work.”

Pierce knew Connor was right. Nothing he’d ever done had paid as well, except his previous work for Louis Dunnigan. The money would give him options if he stayed with the agency long enough. He liked choices.

Then he thought of how Mollie frustrated him more than any woman he’d ever known, and in a shorter period of time. He removed his hat to run a hand through his short, dark brown hair.

“Good pay, Connor, but no. It just won’t work. Never again.” He set the hat back on his head and turned Bandit down the hill toward home.

******

“You cannot be serious, Noah. I will not work with that man again. Ever.” Mollie fumed, running a hand through her already windblown hair. “It will never work out.” She paced the small office her boss had set up in the territorial capital of Fire Mountain.

“Why don’t you wait until you’ve heard the proposition? I’ve passed it by my superiors and they like the plan. There are some stipulations, however—those requirements are a benefit to you and your partner.”

“What stipulations?”

“Let’s wait until Pierce gets here, so I can explain them to both of you at the same time.”

Mollie turned at the sound of a knock on the door.

“Come in,” Noah responded.

Pierce opened the door to see Mollie standing a few feet away. His first impulse was to close it and walk away. Noah saw his hesitation.

“Take a seat, Pierce.” He turned toward Mollie. “You too.”

Each lowered themselves into the two chairs facing Noah and edged away from each other. Not much, but just enough that their boss noticed.

He leveled his eyes on them. “The agency has ordered a new assignment, and they’ve approved both of you to be on the team.”

“Team?” Mollie asked.

“I’ll get to that in a minute. First, the preliminaries. This assignment is not being handled through normal agency channels.”

“Why not?” Mollie interjected. The response was a stern look from Noah. “Sorry. I’ll wait to ask my questions when you’re done.”

Pierce looked at the floor to hide his amusement. She just didn’t know when to keep her mouth shut.

“Good idea, Miss Jamison. Now, as I was saying, this will be run differently and include some others we’ve recruited for this specific job only. This team is being established to handle federal crimes the Justice Department doesn’t have the manpower to enforce. The two of you, plus the others on the team, will be considered independents as far as department guidelines. As such, I’m not bound by the normal requirements. That means the pay is higher. Considerably so.”

Noah paused, wrote down a figure on a piece of paper, and slid it across his desk.

Mollie and Pierce stared at the number, stunned by the sum.

“Are you certain this figure is accurate? You didn’t put an extra zero in there by mistake?” Mollie breathed out.

“No mistake. The number has already been approved, per person. Half now, half when the job is done.” He pulled the paper back and placed it in the top drawer of his desk. “Before I am authorized to go any further, I need both of your commitments to take this assignment.”

“Without details?” Mollie didn’t understand how she could agree to something like this without any knowledge of the job.

“Take it or leave it. Makes no difference to me. Although, I believe the two of you are critical to the success of this particular assignment.” He leaned back in his chair and regarded the two agents before him. “This may be a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

The number Noah provided rolled around in Pierce’s mind, an incredible amount that would take years to make as a standard agent. This job could set him up for quite some time, allow choices he’d never had before. The one issue holding him back from shaking hands on the deal with Noah was the woman who sat beside him. He’d have to work with her one more time.

Mollie appeared to be as conflicted as Pierce. At twenty-two, she had nothing stopping her from taking this assignment, earning the money Noah offered, and moving back east to flash her success in front of the man who’d told her she’d never amount to anything. She could still see her father’s face hovering over her, and hear his liquor-laced voice telling her that she was worthless. This was a perfect opportunity to push it back at him, show him how wrong he’d been. Except for one thing—the assignment included Pierce MacLaren.

“There’s nothing you can tell us about the job unless we agree up front?” she asked once more.

“That’s the proposition. If you don’t want it, for whatever the reason, no problem, I won’t think less of either one of you. You’ll both be eligible for regular assignments through the agency.” He pushed up from his chair. “I need some coffee. Have a decision when I return.”

The sound of the door closing echoed in the small office. Pierce stood and walked to the window, looking out on the crowded street below. The territorial legislature was in session, bringing more people to town than normal. His oldest cousin, Niall, was a council member of the legislature and, according to his wife, Kate, known to come home in a foul mood most nights that the legislature convened.