Sinful Pursuit (Book 4): Miss Fortune World: The Cappuccino Posse, #4

By J.K. Hage

Pepper and Jaxson take a road trip to visit her family in Wisconsin -- leaving Fortune, Gertie, and Ida Belle with free reign at the shooting range.

What could possibly go wrong?

Throw in a dead body, Director Morrow, Agent Harrison, a road trip from hell, a Russian spy, a CIA agent's unsanctioned mission, and Pepper's family reunion at a campground... Things start to go off-track -- fast!

Grab a cappuccino and settle in to enjoy the adventure!

• Language: English
• Publisher: J&R Fan Fiction
• Release date: Aug 17, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386351696

J.K. Hage

J.K. Hage believes the world is a better place when you take the time to enjoy humor, coffee, and plenty of chocolate. Bitten by the writing bug in elementary school, Julie spent much of the eighties filling notebooks with romantic ramblings and story ideas before joining the “real world” of college, marriage, children, and working to pay the bills. But she never lost the desire to tell stories. Many years later, thanks to an inspirational friend, she took the plunge and began writing fiction for a wider audience.   If you were to visit Julie at home, you would probably find her writing a new story or blogging on her laptop while sipping a tall mug of sweet and creamy iced coffee. In her spare time, she loves reading or binge-watching her favorite television series with an orange tabby cat on her lap and the world’s laziest Jack Russell terrier snuggled in next to her.

Book preview

Prologue

THE DARK WAS NO MATCH for her night-vision goggles and light-gathering rifle scope. She had given the target a running start, but it was no contest. One shot, and he was down.

She sighed. It was over much too soon to be satisfying. She supposed it was the curse of being a premier assassin... there was no longer excitement in the kill.

Disappointed, she turned away. It was time to go home and play with a different piece on the gameboard. She did hope Jaxson would appreciate the time and thought she had put into the pieces and the moves...

PEPPER MONROE LOOKED at the display on her phone before she answered. It was her younger sister Serenity. Ouch. Pepper realized they hadn’t spoken in almost a full week, which was unusual. Feeling guilty, she hit the TALK button.

Pepper? Are you there?

Yep, it’s me! What’s up, sis? Just be breezy, like everything is normal and you haven’t just spent the past week learning how to deal with Jaxson’s voodoo priestess mama.

Well, it’s about time you answered! I was about to catch a flight to come down and check on you! How come you haven’t answered your phone? Pepper knew she didn’t actually have to worry about a surprise visit from Serenity. The woman was married with five children age eight and younger. She wasn’t going anywhere without a heckuva lot of planning.

Oh, something went wrong with it and I had to take it in. Just got it back this morning.

Liar.

Yeah. Busted. I’ve just been really distracted.

Hopefully by that really hot guy from the YouTube videos. But, you know, when you don’t answer your phone or emails, I’m the one who has to take up the slack with the family and make excuses for you.

Just consider it payment for me letting you hang out with my friends and taking you to all the cool places when you were too young.

There was silence for a minute, then Serenity giggled. Yeah, you’re kinda right about that. I just have to tell you, the whole family liked it better when that fangirl was posting about you on YouTube all the time.

Of course they did. It didn’t seem to matter that Pepper was forty years old and lived almost a thousand miles away, her family liked to pretend she lived just around the corner—even though they were scattered across the upper midwest.

That was a fun time. Pepper rolled her eyes as she said it. So, how’s things?

Just packing up to leave for the reunion. Do you have an ETA yet? Are you driving or flying? I can’t believe we haven’t talked about this yet and gotten the details worked out!

Oh, crap. The annual McIntyre family reunion. Attendance at the four-day event was mandatory. If a family member didn’t show up, terrible things happened. Pepper’s mind was working at warp speed. She had completely forgotten about the reunion and wondered how she could come up with a valid excuse for skipping it this year.

She must have been thinking too long, or maybe she accidentally said something out loud, because Serenity’s voice came over the speaker loud and clear to break into her thoughts. "Pepper Monroe, don’t you even think about it! If I can be there with five children and two dogs (When had they gotten dogs?), you can manage to get your own single self there! I need you!"

What about John? Won’t he be there?

Serenity made an exasperated sound. "Yes, but he’s a man, and he doesn’t understand our family history quite like you and I do. Pepper, I’m not going to beg. But I’ll just say this: If you don’t show up by noon Thursday, instead of making excuses for you the entire time, I’m going to tell mom you’re deliberately skipping out. Deal with that!"

Pepper stared at the phone as it went silent. Serenity certainly knew how to play dirty. It looked like she was going home to Wisconsin for a few days. Jaxson’s mother Olivia had absolutely nothing on Debbie McIntyre.

Chapter 1

SINFUL, LOUISIANA

Tuesday Morning

Pepper walked up to the front door of Francine’s Café, ready to start her day and help the residents of Sinful start theirs with the required daily amounts of caffeine, carbohydrates, and pork products. She unlocked the door and walked in, singing a few stanzas of AC/DC’s Highway to Hell before she caught herself and wondered if that was a sign of bad luck for her upcoming trip.

Pepper was doing morning prep when Francine arrived. The coffeemaker was dripping while bacon and sausages fried and biscuits baked in the oven. It smelled like heaven, and Pepper couldn’t wait to nibble on a hot buttered biscuit while she sipped a tall mug of sweet and creamy coffee. Francine put on her apron and greeted Pepper with a cheery good morning.

Pepper smiled back and said, You seem very happy today.

We got good news from the doctor yesterday. He’s going to send a physical therapist out to the house every day to work with Luke, which is such a relief. Luke’s been getting so restless, but he doesn’t trust himself on his feet yet. The doctor said if he works hard, within a couple of weeks he should be able to get around without help. Oh, Pepper, you don’t know how much I’ve prayed for that news! Francine had happy tears in her eyes, and Pepper poured her a celebratory glass of sweet iced tea. Francine’s husband Luke had nearly been killed a few weeks earlier when he discovered illegal activities being perpetrated by some upper-level officers of his employer, CapShore Oil. To hear he would soon be walking on his own was very welcome news.

Luke’s accident was what prompted Pepper’s complete change of life. She had just finished her fifteenth year as a middle school teacher in Battle Creek, Michigan when she got the panicked call for help from her cousin Francine. Pepper took it as a flashing neon sign that she should start over, and not a boring day had gone by since she arrived in the tiny town of Sinful, Louisiana.

But now it was time to break the news to Francine that she would have to leave for several days. "Francine, I’m so happy to hear Luke is doing better! You know, I hate to even bring this up, but Serenity called last night to remind me about the annual McIntyre family reunion. I don’t know if you remember my mother, but let’s just say her rule about mandatory attendance at family functions is never to be broken."

The mention of Pepper’s mother had Francine’s eyes widening. I do remember Debbie from when you used to visit back when you were a teenager. As I recall, the last time she visited was right before she and your dad split up.

Then you know what I mean.

Francine smiled. Yep.

Before she could say anything else, the bell on the front door jingled and two of Pepper’s favorite people entered. Ida Belle and Gertie could easily be mistaken for little old ladies, but anyone who had known them more than two minutes could explain just how incorrect that assumption was.

Gertie was seventy-two years old, five foot two inches tall, and possibly weighed all of 110 pounds while holding the giant purse she carried everywhere.

Ida Belle was about the same age as Gertie and a few inches taller. She was also the leader of the Sinful Ladies Society, and everyone in town knew she was the real power behind anything that was accomplished within the city limits.

Of course, neither woman was above taking advantage of their senior citizen status when it meant they could be accompanied to their seats by the likes of Jaxson LeBlanc. Pepper’s heart skipped when she caught sight of him assisting the women through the door of the café. At six foot three and in his late thirties, Jaxson was amazingly gorgeous. His short, wavy black hair and day-old beard looked like it had been styled for a romance novel cover. His deep green eyes sparkled and Pepper’s heart skipped a few more beats. Good God almighty, that man was delicious—definitely the hottest man south of the Mason-Dixon line!

Jaxson settled the women at a table and winked at Pepper as he took a seat at the counter.

I don’t know how those two would function without you to assist them, Pepper remarked as she poured him a cup of coffee.

Oh, I imagine just as spectacularly as they have for the past twenty years while I was away from Sinful, he replied with a smile, revealing the one slightly crooked tooth that made him human instead of unnaturally perfect.

While Pepper took Jaxson’s order and the older ladies deliberated over important decisions such as wheat or homemade toast, the door jingled again. Francine greeted the two people with a wave and a smile before turning to exchange raised-eyebrow glances with Gertie and Ida Belle. Pepper could almost hear the gossip line burning up already.

Fortune Morrow and Carter LeBlanc weren’t holding hands or doing anything obvious that would announce they were a couple, but they had come into the café at the same time, and they did sit at the same table. Pepper accidentally allowed a small sound of surprise to escape, which caused Jaxson to turn so he could see what was happening.

He took in Fortune’s tall, lean