Chapter 14
Ian exitedthe Grits and Gravy café on Thursday morning feeling as thought he'd just run a gauntlet. He'd been a good sport about answering all the question thrown at him by his mama's girl gang at breakfast. The smile on her face and love in her eyes made him feel all the more guilty for lying about his reasons for being in town. A week already and he was no closer to finding the hit man than he'd been the day he got here. And his excuse of an impromptu visit with his mama was wearing thin. People would start to wonder soon.
His phone rang before he could wallow any deeper in his woes. He glanced at the caller ID and saw it was Matt MacKenzie. Good. They needed to get a move on with this case.
"Mr. MacKenzie. Good morning." He said.
"I gave some thought to a way to have you closer to me and the house." Matt said abruptly. "I need you to take care of this situation and then get on back to where ever you live these days. Montana, isn't it?"
So. Piper must've let it drop that she'd spent some time with him yesterday and Matt didn't like it. Well, he could lump it. He'd summoned Ian here to protect him. What did he think would happen? Or had he counted on his daughters hurt and anger as a shield against any renewed relationship?
Shifting into professional mode, Ian said, "What were you able to come up with? I agree that we need to solve this case. I think someone was hanging around out at the home place yesterday." He left out the part about Ham being the one to actually notice that detail. He'd found mashed down grass and a few footprints in some soft ground, but nothing he could use to identify who might've been lurking out there.
"There's an old barn about half a mile behind the house." Matt said. "I used to have a private plane that I kept there, but I sold it several years ago. All the tools are still there. Locked up inside. I thought if you wanted to bring your daddy's crop duster over and put it in that barn, you could work on it and be close enough to keep an eye on me and the house."
"That's an excellent idea, Mr. MacKenzie. May I also suggest that you send Piper out of town until this is resolved? She's in danger of getting hurt simply by proximity to you."
"Nothing would make me happier." Matt snapped. "But she'll never agree to go out of town. If I tell her why I want her to go, then she'll just dig her heels in deeper. If I can't give her a good reason to go, then she'll just ignore the suggestion."
There was nothing he could say to that. He knew Matt was right.
"I'll take you up on the offer of moving the crop duster to your barn. It'll help to have an excuse to be close. At least during the day and early evening." Ian paused, then went on. "You need to work from home until we get this resolved."
Matt spluttered. "I'm the mayor. I need to be at my office where my constituents can find me. Not cowering at my house. I'm not scared. I'm annoyed as hell and want this guy neutralized."
Ian took a deep breath and mentally ordered himself to be calm. "Mr. MacKenzie. I have no reason to be hanging around the square all day, so that creates a problem protecting you if you still want to keep this secret." He paused, then went in for the kill shot. "And, if this guy comes after you while you're at your office, some innocent bystander could get killed as collateral damage. You don't want that on your conscience do you?"
Silence. Ian decided his point was taken.
"So, I'll go out and look at your barn and figure out a way to get my plane out there today if possible. But definitely by tomorrow."
