“But Oliver said he didn’t know anything about the virus or the lab. He was simply there to kill me to get revenge on you and saw stealing the virus and planting the paper as a way to throw the investigation of the bombing off—and make a lot of money as a bonus if he could sell the virus.”
“Not every agent knows every case other agents are working on,” Toby said, “so it doesn’t surprise me that Oliver was clueless.” He shrugged. “He wasn’t really doing his job anyway from what’s getting back to me. He’d been reprimanded several times over the last few months for various infractions.”
“He was too focused on plotting his revenge.”
“Exactly.”
She rubbed her eyes and shook her head. “I can’t believe Alan was capable of anything underhanded like that,” Robin said. “He always seemed so jovial and upbeat—even with his daughter’s leukemia diagnosis. He’s the last person I would suspect of being willing to betray his country. Because that’s what it amounts to.”
“I agree.”
“Oliver wasn’t in on the virus thing. He just happened to be there planning to kill me when he overheard the conversation between Alan and Hinkle. He decided at the last minute to take advantage of the opportunity and steal the virus—with the intention of selling it to the highest bidder.”
“He told you that?”
“Yes.”
He sighed and rubbed his eyes. “Robin, it was never my intent to hurt you like I did. Ben caught the case and asked for my help. I arranged to meet you and I’ll admit, it was my goal to gain your trust.”
“Which you did. Very easily.”
“Yes.” He cleared his throat. “Which let me know almost immediately that if something was going on at the lab, you weren’t involved in it.”
“Well, thank you for that.” She paused. “It was the dimples.”
He blinked. “What?”
“They come across as very trustworthy.”
“My dimples?”
“Well, not them specifically.” She gave a low laugh. “But they make you appear boyish and innocent. Trustworthy.”
“Oh.”
“That’s probably why you were so good at your covert operations.”
“Maybe, but that’s not important anymore. You’re important. I hope you understand that I really wanted to tell you when you asked me what we’d argued about. I was just so afraid if I told you—or if you remembered—you’d demand I leave you alone and I would be forced to go.”
“I probably would have,” she said. “I was pretty mad.”
“If that was pretty mad, I really don’t want to see you furious. And...” he breathed deep “...you were wrong.”
“About what?” She lifted a brow.
“About when you told Oliver that I don’t love you.”
Robin’s throat tightened and she blinked against the annoyingly insistent tears. She didn’t want to miss this moment because she couldn’t see through a blur of liquid. “What are you saying, Toby?”
“I’m saying that I do love you. I’ve loved you for a long time. I just couldn’t admit it because I didn’t want to tell you with all the lies between us—which I take full responsibility for. I just hope you can forgive me one day.”
Heart hammering in her throat, Robin reached out to pull him close. “Like I told you when I was in the car with Oliver and thought we were having our last conversation, I forgive you.”
She pressed her lips to his. To her relief, Toby didn’t hesitate. He gathered her closer and she let herself melt against him.
“What are you doing for Christmas?” he asked against her mouth.
“Um...what I usually do...nothing. Why?”
He reared back. “Nothing? Nothing? You can’t do nothing on Christmas!”
She dug a finger in her ear. “You’re shouting.”
“Because I’m appalled.”
“Well, I’m sorry. I’ve never had a ‘real’ family for Christmas. You know how it was in foster care. You might be in the room for Christmas, but you knew you didn’t belong.”
He tilted her chin. “I know. I remember those days before I reconnected with Zoe and Aaron and they welcomed me in, making me a part of their family without hesitation. But for you? Never again, okay?”
She nodded and was going to have try to see through the tears after all. “So.” She cleared her throat. “What are you doing for Christmas?”
“Spending it—and I hope every one thereafter—with you.”
“I love you, Toby,” she whispered.
“I love you, too, Robin.”
Excitement swirled within her. She wasn’t sure what she’d done to deserve this amazing man, but she sent up a prayer of thanks for the blessing God had dropped into her life. As he held her, then kissed her and as the snow fell around them, Robin knew she’d finally come home.
Christmas Day
Three weeks later
Robin stood in the midst of chaos and found herself loving every minute of it. This was the Christmas she’d dreamed of all her life. Her throat tightened, but she refused to cry. There was too much to take in to have to try to see it all through a blur of tears.
The entire Starke clan had gathered at Aaron and Zoe’s home. While large, the ranch-style house seemed like it might burst at the seams any moment now. Snow covered the ground and more kept falling. They were going to get snowed in and no one seemed to care one bit.
A squeal reached her seconds before her leg was taken hostage by a pint-size hurricane. “Hep me, Birdie.”
Birdie. Grace’s nickname for Robin. When they’d been introduced, she’d giggled. “Robins are birds. You a birdie!”
“Sophia loves birds,” Toby had explained. “Apparently, she’s passed down some knowledge to her little sister.”
Robin grabbed the child up in her arms just as Sophia barreled into the room with narrowed eyes.
“Grace, why is Sophia chasing you?”
“Game!” Grace shook a small box she held in her right hand.
Sophia stomped over, mouth pursed, but laughter in her gaze. “She took Uncle Toby’s present.”
“Now, Grace, you better give that back to Toby,” Robin said with a smile. She looked over Sophia’s shoulder to see Toby watching them with a sappy look on his face. Her heart flipped like it always did when she found him looking at her with love in his eyes. So much love it was almost like he had a hard time containing it.
“What’s in the box?” Robin asked.
“Ring,” Grace said.
Robin blinked. Toby walked slowly toward her, wading through the sea of larger boxes and wrapping paper. Her vision narrowed. “A ring?”
Grace nodded and grinned wider. Even Sophia was practically dancing out of her shoes. Robin met Toby’s gaze. “What’s this all about?”
“I was going to wait until a little later to do this, but it seems my plans have been altered—which can happen when you have a super smart two-year-old who likes to pick your pockets hanging around.” He held his hand out to Grace. “May I please have the box, you little thief?”
“No.” She shook her head. “Mine.”
“Oh, Gracie...” Sophia singsonged from behind Toby. “Guess what I have?” Grace’s gaze latched onto the stuffed animal her sister held. “You want to hold him?”
“Down, Birdie,” Grace demanded.
“Please,” Toby reminded.
“Pwease,” Grace echoed.
Robin set the child on the floor while Toby snatched the box from her little hand. Grace didn’t seem to notice, her goal the little bunny in her sister’s hand.
“Sophia will watch her for a bit. You want to grab our coats and step outside with me?”
Robin bit her lip and her stomach turned flips. Knowing eyes followed them out the door, but no one stopped them or even attempted
to talk to them.
Toby led her out in to the falling snow and down to the dock where he pulled her close and nuzzled her neck. “I’ve loved spending these last three weeks with you. All of our time together has simply cemented what I’ve known for a while now.”
“What’s that?”
“You’re the one I want to spend the rest of my life with, Robin. Please tell me you feel the same.”
She smiled. “You know I do.”
He huffed a short laugh and his breath frosted in the air. “Well, yeah, I kind of figured, but hearing you say it is nice.” He kissed her once. Twice. Then lifted his head and locked his gaze on hers. “You’re an amazing woman, Robin Hardy. Will you marry me?”
The lump in her throat prevented any words from escaping. All she could do was sniff. And nod. Vigorously.
Toby laughed, kissed her again and opened the box. “It was my grandmother’s. Even being bounced from foster home to foster home, Zoe managed to keep it all these years. I never knew she had it until she brought it out the other night after dinner. You were upstairs rocking Grace, and Zoe said she thought it was time to give it to me.”
The single-carat diamond nestling within five white gold prongs winked up at her. “It’s beautiful,” Robin finally managed to whisper.
“Will you wear it?”
She nodded. “I’d be honored to.”
He slid it onto her finger. “We’ll get it sized if we need to.”
“It’s so lovely, Toby.” A sob escaped. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
“It’s happening all right. You know what else is happening?”
“What?”
Taking her by the hand, he led her back up to the house’s yard to a clear patch of snow. “Now fall backward.”
She grinned. “A snow angel?”
Still holding hands, they fell back together and moved their arms and legs in jumping-jack motions. Robin giggled the entire time. She simply couldn’t help it.
When they were finished, Toby helped her up so they wouldn’t mess up the angels.
She turned to see the design and it brought another lump to her throat. “Hand in hand,” she whispered.
“What’s that?” Toby asked.
“The snow angels. They’re holding hands.”
His fingers were still entwined with hers and he lifted her hand to his lips. “It’s symbolic. I want to hold your hand forever as we do life. Till death do us part.”
“I look forward to doing life with you,” Robin told him with a teary-eyed smile.
He slipped his arms around her and held her. Her head fit perfectly under his chin and he kissed the top of her head. “Merry Christmas, Robin.”
“Merry Christmas, Toby.”
* * *
If you enjoyed this story, look for the other books in the Wrangler’s Corner series by Lynette Eason:
The Lawman Returns
Rodeo Rescuer
Protecting Her Daughter
Classified Christmas Mission
Christmas Ranch Rescue
Vanished in the Night
Keep reading for an excerpt from Lone Star Christmas Witness by Margaret Daley.
Join Harlequin My Rewards today and earn a FREE ebook!
Click here to Join Harlequin My Rewards
http://www.harlequin.com/myrewards.html?mt=loyalty&cmpid=EBOOBPBPA201602010003
Dear Reader,
Thank you for once again journeying with me to Wrangler’s Corner. I loved Toby from the moment I met him in Protecting Her Daughter. I had no idea he would make such a big deal out of having his own story—and his own woman—but he did.
It was a pleasure to see him come to life and learn to love. Neither he nor Robin had an easy childhood, but they rose above it and became two people who appreciated having a happily-ever-after so much more because of it.
I hope that if you’re going through any struggles or difficulties, you allow it to make you stronger. Keep pressing on because soon you’ll find yourself on the other side of it.
Again, I hope you enjoyed the story. Feel free to let me know at Facebook.com/lynette.eason or visit my website at lynetteeason.com to sign up for my newsletter and stay in touch.
God bless,
Lynette
We hope you enjoyed this Harlequin Love Inspired Suspense story.
You enjoy a dash of danger. Love Inspired Suspense stories feature strong heroes and heroines whose faith is central in solving mysteries and saving lives.
Enjoy six new stories from Love Inspired Suspense every month!
Connect with us on Harlequin.com for info on our new releases, access to exclusive offers, free online reads and much more!
Harlequin.com/newsletters
Facebook.com/HarlequinBooks
Twitter.com/HarlequinBooks
HarlequinBlog.com
Join Harlequin My Rewards and reward the book lover in you!
Earn points for every Harlequin print and ebook you buy, wherever and whenever you shop.
Turn your points into FREE BOOKS of your choice
OR
EXCLUSIVE GIFTS from your favorite authors or series.
Click here to join for FREE
Or visit us online to register at
www.HarlequinMyRewards.com
Harlequin My Rewards is a free program (no fees) without any commitments or obligations.
Lone Star Christmas Witness
by Margaret Daley
ONE
Texas Ranger Taylor Blackburn strode toward the clinic, ducking under the crime scene tape. A northwest wind blew, a chill in the winter air. Dread threatened to slow his pace, but he couldn’t allow that. Forty-five minutes ago, a woman reported a shooting—a madman had entered this building right before it opened and shot the six employees on the staff. Five were dead, one critically injured.
When Taylor entered the Premier Medical Clinic, the smell of copper and gunpowder accosted him. Sadly, he’d smelled those aromas too many times in his sixteen years in law enforcement. His gaze swept the reception area, pausing for a few seconds on the downed pine tree with its multicolored tiny lights twinkling among the green foliage and the many ornaments lying on the floor. Tangled in the midst of the tree lay the first victim, a middle-aged woman dressed in her nurse’s scrubs—the vision making a mockery of what Christmas stood for.
Lieutenant Nash Cartwright with the San Antonio Police Department approached Taylor, who had been called in because it was a mass shooting. “It’s good to see you.”
Taylor shook his hand, glad that Nash was the SAPD’s lead on this case. He’d worked with the lieutenant several times. “I wish under different circumstances.”
“Me, too. We don’t know much yet. An unidentified man moved methodically through the building taking out the cameras as he went and killing anyone in his path. From what little we saw on the surveillance footage before it went black, the gun had a silencer on it.”
“There wasn’t anything that could identify the suspect?”
“He knew where the cameras were and made sure we didn’t see his face even during the brief time he was caught on tape. All we know is he’s approximately six feet tall with a slender build. His clothing was all black, with a hoodie to hide his face. Nothing else.”
“Was the door unlocked?” Taylor glanced at the security system pad near the front door.
“Don’t know. The alarm was off when we arrived.”
Taylor had briefly noticed a rear parking lot, most likely where the employees parked, which probably meant there was another entrance there. “Even with a silencer, you can hear the muffled shots. But no one escaped the building out the back door?”
“Right. It was blocked by a big trash bin. One male doctor was killed trying to leave.”
Taylor
glanced down the hallway and saw another body by the exit, the door opened partially but a large garbage bin against the wall on the outside. “So, the killer came in and left by the front entrance. Any surveillance cameras outside in the parking lots in the back or front?”
“Yes, but taken down beforehand. I just sent some officers out to canvass the other businesses on the street, but with this clinic set back from the road and not surrounded by close neighbors, we might not get anything. And there are no traffic cams on this side street that could show us cars turning into the clinic. We’ll look later at other traffic cams in the general area during the time frame and try to identify the license numbers.”
“Who reported this shooting?”
“The first patient of the day, at eight. An older woman—Gladys Mills. She’s outside in a car with a female officer. She was shaken up and could only tell us she didn’t see anyone leaving the building or hanging around.”
Its location had made this place an easier target, Taylor knew. But he wondered whether this attack was random or targeted. “Any drugs taken?”
Nash frowned. “No. The drugs were locked up, and there are no signs the locks were tampered with, so we can rule that angle out.”
Taylor moved down the hall to the man by the rear door, dressed in a white coat. He stooped and examined the body, facedown, with an entry bullet hole in his back. “The only doctor here?”
“No, Dr. Noah Porter runs the clinic with one other doctor—a female, Dr. Kathleen Markham.”
“Is she one of the dead victims?”
“Yes. She was still in her office.” Nash gestured to a shorter corridor off the main one. “At the end.”
The door was open, but from this view Taylor couldn’t see the victim. “Are all the employees here today? Most clinics, even small ones, have more than six employees.”
“No. There are two not here if the information we’ve dug up is right. One is a male nurse, Colin Brewer, and the other is Sierra Walker, who manages the clinic. I have two officers tracking down the missing employees.”
Holiday Amnesia Page 19