Safe House Under Fire

by Elisabeth Rees

  Lilly took the gun, her hand still trembling, and prepared herself for the terror that she was about to walk into.

  “Wait,” Goldie said, grabbing her sleeve as she went to stand. “Listen.”

  The back door was opening, the unmistakable creak of the hinge echoing from the kitchen. Goldie brought her fingers to her lips and motioned for Lilly to take up a defensive position behind her barricade.

  “This might be Henderson,” she whispered. “Wait here until he shows himself and then shoot. I can’t get a good aim with my leg like this, so you’ll have to take the lead.”

  Lilly’s insides were awash with sickness and dread. She had returned to the house in order to assist David and she was failing. She wanted to guard Goldie, but David might need her assistance just as badly. Where was he?

  Both Lilly and Goldie remained utterly silent while footsteps sounded in the hall. Doors were being opened before a spray of bullets exploded in the silence. Henderson was shooting up each and every room, hoping to drive her out. Lilly held her breath, felt her head grow dizzy and forced herself to breathe slowly and quietly. Henderson was almost at the door of Astrid’s room.

  The barrel of his gun came first, poking around the door frame, gray and metallic, pointed toward the wall. Goldie saw it too and grabbed Lilly, yanking her down just in time to avoid the spray of random bullets. They hit the carpet together, covering their heads as glass from the window rained down.

  Finally, when the noise ceased, Lilly raised her head, shaking off the glass. David was standing directly behind the broken window, pushing the remaining shards though the frame with the butt of his gun. Blood streaked his face, neck and shoulder, soaking the cotton of his white shirt.

  “He’s reloading,” David said, scrambling through the window to crawl to her side. “We don’t have much time.”

  “You’re hurt,” she said.

  “It’s nothing—just a little bullet.” He kissed her full on the lips. “Where’s Astrid?”

  “She’s safe.”

  “Good. The SWAT team is less than two minutes away. We have to hold off Henderson until then, but he has an Uzi so it won’t be easy.”

  Henderson perhaps heard these words because his next gun attack was the fiercest yet, probably spurred by the knowledge that he was less than two minutes away from facing a team of armed specialists who would be armed with the kind of weapons to counteract his machine gun.

  His bullets sprayed the entire room, while its three occupants lay flat on the floor behind the makeshift barricade that was crumbling and splitting under the barrage.

  “I see his feet,” Lilly said, catching a glimpse of his black boots through a gap beneath the bookcase. “He’s right by Astrid’s teddy bear shelf.” She recognized the flower doodle on the lower part of the wall, made by Astrid in permanent marker when she was eight years old. “We can get a good shot.”

  But no one could hear her above the noise of Henderson’s machine gun. David was belly down, gun poised and ready to take action as soon as a lull in the gunfire occurred.

  When that lull came, Lilly was the first on her feet, the first to take aim, the first to fire a shot. And her shot was bang on target, hitting Henderson in the back of the neck as he fled through the door while reloading. That one bullet was enough to send him falling to the floor, clutching his neck with his hand as the blood flowed through his fingers.

  Lilly remained in her defensive position, wide stance, gun outstretched, her heart thundering in her chest. The one thing she had learned about Gilbert Henderson was that you never assumed he was defeated.

  The room fell deathly silent as Henderson made a futile attempt to crawl into the hallway, but was apparently unable to use his legs. Lilly’s bullet seemed to have caused paralysis and she found herself strangely pitying him as his breathing grew ragged and his coloring turned waxy. She stepped over the barricade intending to see to his wounds, but David pulled her back, put his arm around her shoulders.

  “There’s nothing you can do for him now. He chose this end.”

  Soon Henderson’s ragged breathing became a rattle before fading out entirely, and for a few seconds, Lilly felt the breeze through the window and allowed the silence to wash over her. It was over. She was finally free of violence, and the tranquility that had been left in its wake was beautiful.

  David spoke into his radio, giving the news to the SWAT team that the suspect had been neutralized but medical assistance was required for injured law enforcement. Then he lifted a sheet from Astrid’s bed, laid it over the still figure of Henderson and moved his lips in silent prayer. As the sirens stopped outside her home, David drew her into his arms, holding her tight, inhaling deeply.

  “You are awesome,” he said. “The way you took Henderson down was incredible.”

  “I figured that if he got me first, then you’d take care of Astrid.” Lilly knew with certainty that David would go to the ends of the earth not only for her, but also for her daughter. “She can rely on you.”

  David had proven himself to be the man she’d wanted her whole life. Until now, Lilly had always assumed she’d once loved Rylan, but the depth of affection she felt for David made her realize that she’d never truly experienced love before. Not like this.

  He brought a hand to her face. “You can both rely on me. Always.”

  She smiled. “I think I love you.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “You think?”

  “Okay. I know I love you.” There was no need to be cautious anymore. “I really love you.”

  “Me too.”

  He weaved his fingers into her hair, wincing with the movement of his arm.

  “You’re in pain,” she said. “You need to get to the hospital. And so does Goldie. I see paramedics outside, so we should go to them.”

  “You know what’s a natural pain relief,” he said with a smile. “Kissing someone you love.”

  “Well, that’s no good for me,” said Goldie from her position on the floor. “I guess I’ll just have to stick with the medical drugs.”

  “I’m very fortunate to have access to the best pain relief in the world,” David said, leaning forward to touch noses with Lilly. “No drug could ever make me this happy.”

  Lilly closed her eyes and allowed the stress of the last few days to be released from her body as she kissed the man who had shown her what it meant to be in a good and loving partnership. In David’s arms, she had finally found her other half.

  EPILOGUE

  David opened the door to Lilly’s home with a spring in his step. It was Saturday night and he had booked a table at a fancy restaurant in Oakmont for a special date with Lilly. This evening he had planned to ask her a very important question.

  “Hey, Astrid,” he said, seeing her sprawled on the rug in the living room, head in her sketchbook, drawing cartoon characters. “I brought Chloe with me.”

  Astrid raised her head, broke into a huge smile and jumped up from the floor.

  “Hi, Chloe,” she said, enveloping his daughter in a hug. “I didn’t know you were coming over.”

  Chloe held up a batch of photographs in one hand and a large album in the other. “I finally got around to developing a bunch of photographs from your sixteenth birthday party,” she said. “I thought we could make an album of the best ones.” She handed the album to Astrid and rifled through the photos to find a specific one. “This is my favorite.” She was holding an image of her and Paul alongside Astrid and Noah, each of them beaming at the camera. “It was such a fun party. I loved it.”

  “It was the best party ever,” Astrid said. “But I’ve never made an actual photo album before. Do people still do that?”

  David laughed. “Yes, Astrid, people still do that. I think an album would be a great keepsake. It captures the night when the Olsens and McQueens all got to know each other.” He ruffled her hair. �
�And we’ve never looked back, huh?”

  She smiled. “Not for a second. Thank you for organizing it, David. You did a great job and the music was surprisingly cool.”

  “That was because Dad asked me to make a playlist,” Chloe said. “And I knew we’d like the same things.”

  David had pulled out all the stops to make Astrid’s party the best it could be, especially as she and her mom had been forced to leave their home while it underwent repairs. He had rented a local community hall and almost given himself a heart attack blowing up hundreds of balloons with Lilly. But it had been worth it, and Astrid had thanked him a thousand times.

  “Where’s your mom?” he asked. “Our reservation is at seven.”

  Astrid gave him the side-eye. “Mom has been getting ready for two hours. What’s so special about this date anyway?”

  David wondered whether Lilly had an inkling of what he was planning. He was hopeless at hiding his feelings where she was concerned.

  “I have not spent two hours getting ready,” Lilly said, breezing into the room wearing a black dress and nude heels. “It’s only been an hour and a half.” She kissed Chloe on the cheek. “Thanks for coming to keep Astrid company, Chloe. She talks about you constantly. And she adores the church you both go to in Penn Hills.”

  Chloe linked arms with Astrid. “That’s good because it just wouldn’t be the same without her.”

  “You look amazing,” David said, drawing Lilly into an embrace and breathing her vanilla scent. “I’ve been so nervous.”

  “Nervous?” Astrid said. “It’s just a date, right? No need to be nervous.”

  David reached into his pocket and fingered the small black box nestled there. It contained a diamond engagement ring chosen with help from his eldest daughter, Sarah.

  “It’s none of your business why David is nervous, Astrid,” Lilly said, wrapping a shawl around her shoulders. “Don’t pry.”

  “Of course it’s my business, Mom,” Astrid said. “If David is going to propose tonight, then you’ll end up being Lilly McQueen soon and I’ll be the only Olsen in the family.”

  David hadn’t considered this. Astrid was right. It wouldn’t be fair to leave her on the periphery of the family.

  “Well, your mom could choose to keep her surname if we end up getting married one day,” he said. “And then you wouldn’t be the only Olsen.”

  “Why can’t I be a McQueen like you guys?” she asked. “I can change my name too, right?”

  David found a sudden rush of emotions overwhelming him. He had never imagined that Astrid would actively choose to take his surname, to fully embrace his family as if it had always been her own.

  “Would you really like that, Astrid?” Lilly asked. “You’d be happy to change your name?”

  “Sure I would.” She smiled at Chloe. “And then we’d be like real sisters.”

  “Awesome,” Chloe said. “We can borrow each other’s clothes.”

  “You do that already,” David said with a laugh. He gave Astrid a playful punch on the chin. “Thanks for the support. I’m honored.” He held up his hands, palms forward. “Although I haven’t proposed yet, so this is all hypothetical.”

  Lilly pushed him to the door. “Enough talking. We’ll be late for our reservation.”

  He opened the door to the summer’s evening, seeing the blooming flowers in the yard and the manicured lawn, marveling at how beautiful Lilly’s house looked now compared to the devastation wreaked by Henderson. David had pitched in to help every spare moment, rebuilding her home to make it even better than before.

  Lilly took his hand while they walked down the path and he beeped his car to unlock it.

  “You can just ask me now if you like,” she suddenly blurted out. “I’m too excited to wait.”

  He feigned innocence. “I have no idea what you mean.”

  “You’re going to propose tonight.” She hopped from foot to foot like a child on Christmas. “But I don’t think I can wait, so just ask me now.”

  He held open the passenger door. “I like to do things correctly,” he said, thinking of the cake and sparklers that the waiter had been instructed to bring out on his signal. “I’m an old-fashioned guy.”

  She laughed. “Boy, you really are a stickler, aren’t you?”

  He raised an eyebrow. “I’ve been called worse.”

  They smiled, both remembering the difficult times of just a few months ago, when David had been a lot more rigid and unyielding than he was today. Lilly’s support meant that he was much better equipped to deal with Astrid and her roller coaster of emotions these days. Astrid remained challenging at times, pushing her boundaries, causing his hackles to rise. But their family commitment to speak to each other only in love had reaped huge rewards and Astrid was growing in maturity and character with each passing day.

  Lilly kissed him on the nose. “I promise to only ever call you strong and handsome and smart from now on.”

  He slid an arm around her waist. “And I promise to only ever call you perfect.”

  “Nobody’s perfect,” she said. “Not even me.”

  He planted his lips on hers for a good long while. “But you’re perfect for me.”

  * * *

  If you enjoyed this thrilling story from Elisabeth Rees, watch for Goldie’s book later this year.

  Find more great reads at www.LoveInspired.com

  Keep reading for an excerpt from Mountain Hostage by Hope White.

  Dear Reader,

  Thank you for joining David and Lilly on their romantic journey. I hope you enjoyed reading their story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Parenting teens is a subject close to my heart, as I have one teenager of my own, and one in training. It’s often hard to know how to manage teenagers’ ups and downs, coupled with their constant demands. It is the perfect subject matter for a strong conflict between two people.

  David and Lilly are both stubborn when it comes to accepting criticism of their parenting. Yet none of us is perfect. There is no faultless way to raise a child, no model parent and no foolproof way to avoid the pitfalls. It took Lilly and David a little while to work this out, but once they began adhering to the principle of speaking the truth in love, they let go of the idea of perfection and focused instead on simply enjoying the ride.

  God only ever speaks to us in love, even when He is reprimanding us, and if we try to do the same with our own children, we cannot go far wrong.

  Please join me for Goldie’s story in my next book. I would love to welcome you as a reader again.

  Blessings,

  Elisabeth

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  Mountain Hostage

  by Hope White

  ONE

  Zoe Pratt lost her footing on the icy trail and gasped. Stabbing her hiking stick into the snow for balance, she peered over the steep drop below into the vast, white blur of nothingness. A shudder ran down her spine.

  Maybe a winter hike hadn’t been the best idea.

  “Shannon, slow down!” Zoe called, recentering herself to keep up with her friend.

  “I can’t,” Shannon said. “Wait till you see the view from Prairie’s Peak!”

  “Do we have to risk our lives getting there?”

  “You know I’d never let anything happen to you.”

  Zoe adjusted her red scarf to cover her mouth and nose. It was cold in the Cascade Mountains, and Zoe wasn’t an experienced hiker. She’d come to the charming town of Mt. Stevens, Washington, to hang out with Shannon, her childhood best friend. Zoe thought they’d spend time relaxing, catching up on their lives, maybe even laughing a little. She eyed the steep drop to her
right. Nothing to laugh about there. One wrong step and—

  “Pick it up, pokey!” Shannon teased.

  Zoe glanced at the gray sky. Light snow began to fall. “You sure it’s safe out here?”

  “What, you’re not afraid of a grizzly, are ya?”

  “A grizzly as in a bear?”

  “They’re probably more afraid of you than you are of them.” Shannon continued her enthusiastic pace and Zoe struggled to keep up.

  Shannon had always been the one to challenge Zoe out of her funk when things seemed desperate. Well, things weren’t exactly desperate, but Zoe did need a break, both from her challenging job as a social worker for adolescents and teens, and from her dismal personal life. She still couldn’t believe how badly she’d misjudged things with her ex-boyfriend, Tim.

  Shove it aside, Zoe. This was supposed to be a rejuvenating getaway, not a depressing one.

  Zoe inhaled the fresh mountain air and let it clear her lungs, her thoughts. She felt grounded and at peace in the mountains. She could see why Shannon loved it so much and why she thought it the perfect place to bring Zoe.

  She caught up to her friend, who hesitated at a small outlook, gazing out across the Cascade mountain range.

  Shannon eyed Zoe’s jacket. “You warm enough?”

  “Sure, I’m okay.”

  “Yeah, you should’ve worn my spare, matching jacket.”

  “And look like a pumpkin?” Zoe eyed Shannon up and down.

  Shannon smiled, then redirected her attention to the horizon.

  Zoe noticed a tower in the distance. “What’s that?”

  “Portage Fire Lookout. It’s ridiculously easy to get to from the Frontage trailhead. You can really see the vastness of God’s beauty from that spot.” She glanced at Zoe. “It helps to get perspective on things.”

  Zoe smiled. “This is exactly what I needed to get my mind off my love life.”