Reunion Mission (Rangers Under Fire)

by Virginia Vaughan

  FRAMED

  Lured into a dark classroom, high school teacher Claire Kendall stumbles over the body of a dead student—and into the clutches of the killer. Certain she’s about to die, Claire is shocked when DEA agent Matt Ross bursts in and rescues her. The former army ranger who broke her heart ten years ago is back in town to bust a drug trafficking ring operating at the school. With Claire being framed for the young informant’s murder, she has to put aside their past and trust her handsome ex to keep her safe. But someone is dead set on bringing their hometown reunion to a permanent end.

  Rangers Under Fire: Nothing’s more dangerous than falling in love.

  “You shouldn’t be alone until we find the person who killed your student and tried to abduct you,” Matt said.

  Claire shook her head. “I’ll be fine. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. No one is after me.”

  “We don’t know that, Claire. You could still be in danger.”

  She glanced up at him, curiosity pooling in her eyes. “Why? What did you find?”

  “Your student, Luke, didn’t send you that text asking you to come to the school. He couldn’t have. He was already dead by the time that text was sent. Whoever it was lured you here and was waiting for you, Claire.”

  He saw her mind racing. “Who would do that? Who would want to hurt me?”

  “That’s a good question, and one we need to figure out.” He’d meant it when he’d said he wasn’t leaving until he knew Claire was safe…and that was looking less and less likely. There was no way he was going to let her go home alone. She would be a sitting target. “I would feel better if you weren’t alone.”

  She gazed at him for a moment. Was she thinking of the past?

  Virginia Vaughan is a born and raised Mississippi girl. She is blessed to come from a large Southern family, and her fondest memories include listening to stories recounted around the dinner table. She was a lover of books from a young age, devouring tales of romance, danger and love. She soon started writing them herself. You can connect with Virginia through her website, virginiavaughanonline.com, or through the publisher.

  Books by Virginia Vaughan

  Love Inspired Suspense

  Rangers Under Fire

  Yuletide Abduction

  Reunion Mission

  No Safe Haven

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  REUNION

  MISSION

  Virginia Vaughan

  Yet, O Lord, You are our Father. We are the clay,

  You are the potter: we are all the work of Your hand.

  —Isaiah 64:8

  This book is dedicated to my mom, Sylvia.

  Your strength and perseverance throughout the years

  has been my inspiration. God truly blessed me

  when He made me your daughter.

  Contents

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  EPILOGUE

  DEAR READER

  EXCERPT FROM CODE OF SILENCE BY HEATHER WOODHAVEN

  ONE

  Claire Kendall unlocked the side door to Lakeshore High School and slipped inside. The hallway was dark and eerily quiet on a Sunday afternoon. The hall lights were controlled by a main switch in the storage room, but they took a while to power on and Claire didn’t want to bother with them. The overhead light in her classroom would be enough, especially if she opened the window blinds and let the sunlight stream in. She took out her cell phone and hit the flashlight function, noticing as she headed down the hall how it seemed to stretch farther than it did when the lights were on and kids were present.

  She reached her classroom and saw it, too, was dark. Strange. She was supposed to be meeting her student Luke Thompson here. The text message he’d sent her earlier had indicated he was already at the school waiting. Had he given up waiting for her and left?

  She reached up and flipped the light switch, but nothing happened. The room remained dark.

  As she moved to open the blinds to at least give them some light, her foot caught on something on the floor and she stumbled, catching herself on one of the student desks. She turned the phone light to the floor to see what she’d tripped on and spotted something between the rows of desks. As she moved the light closer, she saw the outline of a hand...then an arm...then a body sprawled on the floor.

  “Luke!” Claire knelt beside him, but he didn’t move at the sound of his name. Her knees touched something wet and sticky. Dread filled her at the realization of what had happened.

  She looked at her hand and saw blood. Luke’s blood.

  She stifled a scream. Panicking wouldn’t do any good now. She needed to remain calm. If there was a chance Luke was still alive, she had to get help. She hit the keypad on her phone and tried to dial 9-1-1, but her hands were shaking so badly that she had to reenter the number.

  Hang on, Luke!

  She had just pressed Send on her call for help when someone grabbed her. Claire screamed and the phone slipped through her fingers and hit the floor with a crack. Her assailant clamped a heavy hand over her mouth and pinned her arms.

  His breath was hot against her skin as he hissed into her ear. “You did this. You killed Luke with your meddling.”

  Terror gripped her at his words. Luke was dead. This man had killed him, and now he would kill her, too.

  She struggled to break his hold, flailing her legs against a desk. It toppled over, taking the one beside it down, too. The wood and metal clanked against the tiled floor. She tried again to scream for help, but his heavy hand over her mouth prevented the sound from escaping. And who would hear her anyway in an empty school?

  Oh, God, help me!

  She was going to die right here in her classroom alongside one of her students.

  * * *

  Trixie. In his school.

  DEA agent Matt Ross jiggled the handle on the southwest door by the cafeteria, and it opened just as Luke had assured him it would. He examined the lock and saw it didn’t latch properly, preventing the locking mechanism from catching. He wondered how long it had been that way and how many Lakeshore High students had taken advantage of such a lack of security for skipping classes.

  Luke had already assured him others knew about it. In fact, Lakeshore High had become a popular drug drop because of the failing security measures in the years since Matt had graduated.

  He couldn’t believe Trixie was in his old school. When he’d seen the report about a new and popular drug in his hometown of Lakeshore, Tennessee, he’d asked for the assignment to track down the suppliers. And Luke had been a wealth of information about the operation. The kid knew more than he should and was eager to share it with the DEA. The one thing he hadn’t yet given Matt were names. Names of his supplier and the major players in the drug market in town. Matt hoped today he would finally get that information from Luke. The kid was scared. That was to be expected. Trixie might be a new drug, but it was already gaining popularity in the major cities and money was rolling in. Luke could find his very life in danger if anyone discovered he
’d been talking with the DEA. Luke had chosen the school as a safe place to meet, sharing with Matt the information about the easy access through the southwest entrance.

  Suddenly, a scream lit up the air.

  Matt reached for his weapon, his entire body suddenly on alert. The school was supposed to be empty except for him and Luke, but that sounded like a woman’s scream. He moved through the dark hallways, following the sounds of a struggle.

  Everything went quiet...too quiet too suddenly. He peered cautiously into the classroom where he was sure the sounds had come from. A faint light on the floor revealed overturned desks. A struggle had definitely occurred here.

  His gut clenched. Was he too late?

  He moved slowly toward the light on the floor, now realizing it came from a dropped cell phone. Luke’s? He spotted a shadow on the edge of the light and took a step closer, catching the outline of a body sprawled between the desks.

  Luke.

  He reached down and felt the boy’s skin. It was cold. Luke was dead.

  He raised his gun and scanned the room, his eyes already adjusting to the darkness. He’d trudged through darker environments during his time with the army rangers, but what he wouldn’t give right now for a pair of night vision goggles. Someone was there in the darkness, though. He sensed their presence. Was the killer still on campus? Still in this room?

  He pulled out his phone, clicked on the flashlight function and scanned the room again. He heard faint, muffled sounds coming from one corner of the room and he moved in that direction, his gun drawn and ready and his intuition on fire. The killer was still here.

  “Let’s just end this right now.” Matt spoke through the darkness to the assailant, hoping for some sort of movement or change in breathing to pinpoint exactly where he was hiding.

  He heard it again, that muffled grunt. It seemed to come from right in front of him. Suddenly, a figure in the darkness moved and someone was barreling toward him. He jumped back, then realized it was a woman being shoved at him. He reached out his arms and caught her, but the force of the assailant’s push knocked him backward and he hit the floor. The lady fell on top of him, landing on his chest. He noted she was petite and light, and he caught the scent of berry shampoo as her long hair fluttered near his face. His cell phone clattered to the floor and the assailant ran out the door. Matt still had his gun in his hand, but he didn’t dare fire into darkness.

  The light from his phone illuminated Luke’s face only inches away from them. The lady in his arms screamed and scrambled away, frightened.

  “Are you okay?” Matt asked her. He reached for her arm and felt her quivering with fear. “Are you hurt?”

  “I—I’m fine, but Luke...”

  “I know.” He leaped to his feet. “Stay here.” He rushed out of the classroom and down the hall, his gun trained and ready, but when he saw the southwest door he’d closed standing open, he knew whoever had been here had fled.

  He returned to the classroom and pulled open the window blinds, filling the room with sunlight.

  He turned, surprised by the woman on the floor beside the body. He instantly recognized her petite frame, flowing dark hair and wide blue eyes as they stared up at him.

  Claire Kendall. His former fiancée.

  The love of his life.

  The woman whose life he’d almost ended ten years ago.

  * * *

  In all the years she’d imagined bumping into Matt Ross again, Claire had never once imagined it would be over the body of one of her students. She stared up at him. He looked so different and yet so much like the Matt she remembered. He’d always been tall, but he seemed to have added a few inches since high school. The long arms and legs that had once been gangly were now solid and muscular and his chest and shoulders broad, a man instead of the boy she’d known ten years ago. His blond hair was cut shorter than she’d ever seen it, but she supposed it was longer now than it had been during his time in the army. His face was fuller, but his hazel eyes were still intense and his features sharp and handsome.

  He knelt beside her. “Claire, what are you doing here? How do you know Luke Thompson?”

  She was shocked that he knew Luke. “I’m a teacher at this school. This is my classroom. Luke is one of my students. How do you know him?” She recognized that troubled look on Matt’s face and grew worried. “How do you know Luke?” she asked him again.

  He helped her to her feet. “There’s blood on your clothes.”

  She glanced down and saw dark stains smeared on her jeans and blouse. Her hands were also covered in blood. Luke’s blood. “It’s not mine.”

  “You’re shaking.” He took off his jacket and slipped it across her shoulders. “Let’s get you out of here.”

  She went willingly with him, thankful for the support and for the jacket. She was trembling, although not from the cold. Shivers of fear and worry lit through her. She could still feel the clammy touch of that man’s hand against her face and smell the rancid smell of his hot breath as he whispered to her. You did this. You killed Luke with your meddling.

  What had he meant by that? All she’d done was try to help Luke. He’d wanted out of the drug business and she’d encouraged him. Had he heeded her advice and told his dealers that he didn’t want to peddle their drugs anymore? Had they killed him because of it?

  She stumbled as Matt led her toward the office. Her hip was stiff and sore after her ordeal, and she wished it didn’t bother her so much. Other people might not even notice the residual slight limp, but Matt would notice. Matt was not just any other person. Thankfully, he said nothing as he led her to the office and Claire fell onto the couch, not certain her legs would carry her any farther. Matt walked out, then returned a moment later with a bottle of water. Her hands shook as she tried to lift it to her lips. Finally, he poured some into a paper cup and gave it to her.

  The cool liquid felt soothing over her raw throat. She’d hardly been able to scream but still her throat was raw as if she had. She’d struggled against the force of that man’s hand against her face, struggled for air to breathe. She didn’t think he’d been trying to smother her, but his hand had essentially cut off her air supply.

  Matt pulled up a chair and straddled it, his hazel eyes probing hers. “I need you to tell me exactly what happened.”

  “Shouldn’t we call the police? I dialed 9-1-1 before that man grabbed me, but I don’t know if the call went through.”

  “I am the police.”

  He pulled out his badge and she saw he now worked for the Drug Enforcement Administration. She knew he’d left the army, but she hadn’t heard about this new position. Now his presence at the school made more sense. Luke was involved in drugs. Had Matt been here to arrest him?

  “Tell me everything you remember. Why were you here at the school on a Sunday?”

  Her hands shook as she outlined her morning, trying to remember every detail. “I received a text message from Luke an hour ago asking me to meet him at the school, so I came. The lights were out and even my classroom overhead light didn’t work, but I had the flashlight on my phone. I found him lying on the floor. Before I could call for help, someone grabbed me.”

  “Did you see the man who grabbed you?”

  “No. It was dark and he was behind me.”

  “Did you recognize his voice? Was there anything about him that was familiar?”

  She shook her head. “It all happened so fast. He kept his hand over my mouth so I couldn’t scream. I struggled, but I couldn’t break free. When he heard you coming, he dragged me to the corner. The next thing I knew, he had shoved me toward you and we were on the floor.”

  “Did you let Luke into the building?”

  “No. But everyone knows the door by the cafeteria doesn’t latch well. He probably got in that way.”

  “Why did Luke
ask to meet you today?”

  His message hadn’t said, but she’d hoped for some good news from him. “His message only said he had something important he needed to tell me.”

  “Were you aware he was selling drugs?”

  “Yes. Luke came to me a few weeks ago and told me he’d been selling drugs, but that he wanted out. He gave his life to the Lord and didn’t want to do it anymore, but he was afraid to tell his supplier. He said he was trying to find a safe way out of the business. When I saw his text, I thought he was going to tell me he’d finally done it.”

  “Did he ever tell you the name of his supplier or let something slip that could lead us to him?”

  “No, he thought if I knew it would put me in danger.” It seemed that had happened anyway. “I need to call his parents and tell them what happened.”

  “We’ll have someone take care of that.”

  She looked at him. “He was a good kid. He was trying to get his life together.”

  She heard the sound of sirens growing closer. Matt stood and peeked out the window. “I guess the police did receive your call.”

  A moment later, the doors opened and the school was flooded with uniformed police officers.

  She spotted her friend Preston, a detective with the Lakeshore Police Department, directing several of the officers to secure the school. When he spotted her through the window separating the office from the foyer, his face paled and he rushed to her.

  “Claire! We received an emergency call from this location. What are you doing here?” He grabbed her and pulled her into a hug.

  “Preston, it’s Luke Thompson. He’s dead.”

  “The kid you’ve been ministering to? What happened?”

  “He sent me a text message asking me to meet him, but when I arrived, he was on the floor and someone else was in the room. He grabbed me. If Matt hadn’t arrived when he did...” She turned to look at him, suddenly realizing she owed her life to Matt. She also realized she hadn’t introduced the two men. “Matt, this is my friend Detective Preston Ware. He’s with the Lakeshore PD. Preston, this is Matt Ross. He’s with the DEA.”