She smiled, and Hunter turned serious again.
“Can we take it one day at a time and see where it goes? Where we go?”
She nodded. “I’d love to do that. I’d love to see what God has planned for us.”
Something wet splashed on her hand.
His thumbs swiped her cheeks for her. “You’re crying.”
“I am?” Startled, she lifted a hand to her eyes and found them wet. Giving a shaky laugh, she said, “I think God finally managed to knock down all my walls.”
He pulled her to him in a hug. “No, you took them down to make room for him.”
“Yeah.” She sniffed. “I did.”
He leaned over to kiss her again.
Joy surged through her and another tear slipped out.
Epilogue
The senator stared at the latest letter.
GOING AFTER THEM WON’T STOP ME.
How did these letters keep appearing?
Jillian was close by. Watching him. Dropping the letters in his mailbox. No postmark. Not even his name sometimes. But he recognized the writing. Even so, he now opened all the mail whether it was addressed to him or not.
He picked up the phone and pressed a speed-dial number.
When the voice answered, the senator nearly growled his frustration and fear. “I got another one.”
A curse whispered through the line. “I have someone watching the mailbox. I don’t understand.”
“Then fire him because he’s sleeping on the job.”
“I’ll talk to him.”
“You don’t understand. We must find Jillian. Today.”
Silence. “I understand perfectly.” The low, controlled words sent a chill up the senator’s spine.
Softening his tone, he said, “Look. I admit it. I’m freaked. From what you said, Alexia doesn’t know anything about that night. Jillian hasn’t been in touch with her.”
“But she has been in touch with Serena Hopkins.” Another pause. “And now that we’ve failed rather badly in getting rid of Alexia, she and her detective boyfriend won’t give up so easily.”
“But you can monitor them. Right now, they know nothing.”
“So we go after the one that does.”
“Exactly. Serena’s the one we need.”
“I’m already working on it. She’s on a job in China cleaning up after the earthquake.” A sigh filtered through the line, then the voice hardened once again. “As long as she never makes it home, we should be safe.”
We. The senator liked that. Was comforted by the fact that someone was looking out for him. For his career. For his very life.
“And if she does?”
“We get rid of her.”
“Like we did Alexia?” He couldn’t help the snide question.
“Alexia can still die.”
The man on the other line refused to take the bait. Which was just as well. There wasn’t time to argue.
It was time to act.
Acknowledgments
Thank you to the incredible staff at Baker Publishing, especially Claudia Marsh, Barb Barnes, and Michele Misiak. You guys are amazing. And of course, a big thanks to my editor, Andrea Doering, who believed in the series and me.
Thanks to the cover art department. This is the best cover I’ve ever seen! You guys did a fantastic job.
Thanks to my family, Jack, Lauryn, and Will, for putting up with me when I’m in deadline mode. I appreciate you and love you more than words can express.
Thanks to those who read the story and gave me feedback, especially my police officer buddy, Jim Hall. I appreciate you.
Thank you, Dee Henderson, for being willing to put your name on my book. I love you, my friend!
Lynette Eason grew up in Greenville, South Carolina. She graduated from the University of South Carolina, Columbia, and then obtained her master’s in education at Converse College. Author of the Women of Justice series, Lynette is also a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and Romance Writers of America (RWA). In 1996, Lynette married “the boy next door,” and now she and her husband and two children make their home in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Visit Lynette at www.lynetteeason.com.
Books by Lynette Eason
* * *
Women of Justice
Too Close to Home
Don’t Look Back
A Killer Among Us
Deadly Reunions
When the Smoke Clears
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Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Endorsements
Dedication
Epigraph
Prologue
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Books by Lynette Eason
Back Ads
Back Cover
When the Smoke Clears (Deadly Reunions) Page 30