by Mary Alford
Jax couldn’t believe he was hearing this from the man he’d once considered a friend. “You won’t get away with it,” he insisted, without sounding convincing.
“That’s where you’re wrong. There’s no one coming to your aid. Soon, I’ll take care of you two both, and I’ll emerge the hero in all of this.” Peter spared them both a final glance. “I’d suggest you make your peace with God, or whatever you believe in, because I’m expecting the word to come through at any time. And then, my friend, you’ll be dead.”
With those parting words, Peter and the rest of his men left them alone and the room returned to darkness.
Jax reached for Erin and drew her close. If their time was almost up, he wanted her to know everything. “I love you, Erin. I’ve been in love with you since the moment I met you, but after losing Blake, well, I knew it was real. I love you, and I want us to live. We can’t die here in this dingy hovel. We have to live and have a future . . . together.” He stopped for a breath and heard her sob.
“I want that too. I love you as well, Jax. More than anything, I love you, and I want to survive this. See your cabin in Montana.” She hesitated. “Grow old with you.”
Jax’s heart soared and he kissed her with all the love inside of him that had been waiting to take flight.
“There’s not much time. There’s no other way out of here except through the door, but we can’t give up hope. We have to do whatever we can to keep fighting.”
She nodded against his chest. “They took our weapons and phones. We’ll have to use the element of surprise. Can you walk?”
He couldn’t, but he wasn’t going to tell her that. “I think so. You stand at one side of the door and I’ll be on the other. If nothing else, we can take some of them out. We’ll go down fighting. We won’t give up.”
Erin rose to her feet and helped him to his. With a final kiss, Jax hopped over to the left side of the door with Erin’s help. Before she took her position, the outdoors erupted in gunfire.
She clutched his arms. “What’s happening?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know.” The gunfight continued for a long time, peppered with screams. It sounded like a war zone outside, and they were locked in a small cell unable to decide their own fate.
With his thoughts reeling, he heard a key slip into the door’s lock. Erin raced to the opposite side, flattening herself against the stone wall. The door opened slowly. It was now or never. Jax charged the first man inside, taking his opponent by surprise. They both hit the ground hard. Jax screamed in pain as he landed on his injured leg and quickly lost control of the battle.
Erin raced to his aid. Before she could land a punch, the man spoke, taking them both by surprise.
“Enough. I’m here to help you, not fight you.” Al Hasan!
Relief swept through him. It wasn’t Peter and his thugs after all. They were saved.
“What’s happening out there,” Jax managed when he was able to right himself.
“Well, it looks as if I saved your lives again.” Jax didn’t miss the humor in Al Hasan’s voice, but it was okay. It was more than okay, it was fantastic.
“It does at that, and, boy, are we grateful,” he said with a chuckle.
Al Hasan spotted Jax’s wounded leg. “You’re hurt. Your people are here. I’ll get one of them to assist you.” Your people are here? Jax had no idea what he was talking about.
“I’ll be fine. I want out of here.”
Al Hasan put his arm around Jax’s waist, and Erin did the same. Together, they helped him out into the bright sunlight.
Jax glanced around. Just outside was a small Christian church and a cemetery. The building where they’d been held prisoner had once been some type of storage for tools. Now, they stood on hallowed ground while chaos surrounded them. A battle had been fought there, yet he and Erin had survived. God had seen them through, and Jax would be forever thankful.
“There’s Coleman,” Erin said, surprised. Jax spotted the director coming their way.
“I’m happy to see you two alive,” Coleman said, shaking both their hands.
“Not as glad as we are to see you,” Jax said. “Where’s Peter?”
Coleman shook his head. “He didn’t make it. We captured a few of his men, Kabir included, but the others died. This is one bad thing,” Coleman murmured.
A medic came over to Jax to treat his wound. They’d bandage his leg now and remove the bullet stateside.
He sought out Erin, who stood by Coleman’s side. Her head was covered in blood and she held onto her side.
“She needs attention right way,” Jax told the medic once the guy had finished bandaging his leg.
“I’m okay,” she murmured.
“No, you’re not. Let him help you, Erin. I don’t want anything to happen to you,” Jax said, and she relented.
Once they were both looked after, Coleman returned, surveying the activity around them. “It’s going to take months to untangle the full extent of Peter’s treason.” Disgust tinged Coleman’s tone.
Jax shook his head. He couldn’t believe the man he’d considered a friend and trusted with his life—with his team members’ lives—was dirty all along.
“How’s your friend the ambassador?” Jax asked.
Coleman’s mouth tightened into a grim line. “He will be okay, but he was very lucky. His driver has been taken into custody. He’s part of this as well. I’ve asked Ambassador Nuristani to allow us access to him. Hopefully, we can glean some useful information from him. I’ll need you both on this. There’s more out there than what we’ve discovered so far. This is the tip of the iceberg.”
Jax glanced at Erin. She smiled and pointed up at the sun. He took her hand and pulled her close.
“If it’s all the same to you, Coleman, I think we’re done with this world. It almost cost us both our lives. We lost too many friends to Peter’s greed. But we survived, and Erin and I want to make the most of the second chance we’ve been given. We want to live in the light from here on out. No more darkness.”
Epilogue
One month later, outside Billings, Montana
“Well, what do you think?” Jax asked as he carried her over the threshold of the cabin, their new home, then set her on her feet.
Erin glanced around, her eyes shining. “It’s beautiful. Oh, Jax, it’s beautiful.” And it was. The drive up to the cabin was like something out of a postcard. Breathtaking mountain views, covered in snow. The scent of pine and spruce trees tantalized her senses. She was in love, and she hadn’t even seen the cabin . . . until now.
“I love it.” She turned to him and threw her arms around him. “And I love you too.”
They’d gotten married the second they could arrange the ceremony at the small church where Jax attended. The service was simple. Only a few close friends in attendance. They’d left for Montana soon after. It was hard to believe the deadly world they’d survived in for so long was finally finished for them. Even though she knew it to be true, Erin still found herself looking over her shoulder, expecting something from the past to reach out and snatch away her happiness. Somewhere near Montana she finally managed to relax, thanks to the man seated by her side who held her hand most of the way.
Now, as she stared at her new home, the future had never looked brighter. The sun was shining on them, but there was still one thing left to do. She had to do it for Blake.
“I know the perfect place,” Jax said, as if reading her thoughts. “There’s this spot not too far from here. In the springtime, there are flowers everywhere. I think Blake would like it there.”
She smiled. God had blessed them with a second chance at life. When she thought about how close to death they’d both come, Erin knew they owed their lives to God’s mercy and sovereignty. He’d sent a suspected terrorist as an angel of light to rescue them more than a few times. Only God could come up with a plan like that.
Then there was Jax. She’d be grateful every day for their life together. Sh
e loved him with all her heart. There’d be no more shadows for them. They’d survived to enjoy the sunlight and whatever adventure God brought their way. With Jax’s help, she would do everything in her power to be grateful each day of what was left of her life and to love the man at her side with all her heart. Because they’d finally found their sunlight, and she wasn’t about to go back to the darkness ever again.
THE COST OF REDEMPTION SERIES
Book 1 – Hallowed Ground
Book 2 – Sacred Cause – Coming April 2020
Book 3 – Consecrated Sacrifice – Coming Fall 2020
Book 4 – Silent Night – Coming Christmas 2020
Be the first to know when Mary Alford’s next book is available! Follow her at BookBub to get an alert whenever she has a new release, preorder, or discount!
Also by Mary Alford
Summer of Suspense – A USA Today Bestselling Anthology that includes Storm Warnings, the prequel to Mary’s Courage Under Fire Series
Distant Thunder (The Prequel to Storm Warning) – October 2019
Strike Force – Book one of Courage Under Fire Series – Coming December 2019
And Coming in 2020
Zero Visibility – February 2020
Thin Ice – March 2020
Chinook Winds – May 2020
The Chill of an Early Fall – Book One of Amish Country Secrets – Coming November 2019
Winter’s First Frost – January 2020
From Love Inspired Suspense
Amish Country Kidnapping – Coming January 2020
Amish Country Murder – Coming March 2020
Grave Peril
Standoff At Midnight Mountain – A Scorpion Team Series
Framed For Murder – A Scorpion Team Series
Deadly Memories – A Scorpion Team Series
Rocky Mountain Pursuit – A Scorpion Team Series
Forgotten Past
From Forget Me Not Romances
An Autumn Chill
Christmas at Cedar Creek
Amish Christmas Wishes
Past Sins
Eye of The Storm
Layers of The Truth
Nowhere to Run – Love On The Run Series
In Plain Sight – Covert Justice Series
Saving Agent Tanner – Covert Justice Series
Every Beat – Covert Justice Series
For a full list of Mary Alford’s books, visit www.MaryAlford.net.
About Mary Alford
USA Today Best-Selling Author Mary Alford loves giving her readers the unexpected. Combining unforgettable characters with unpredictable plots that result in novels the reader will not want to put down.
Her titles have appeared on the USA Today BestSellers list, the Publisher’s Weekly bestsellers list, and have finaled in the Daphne du Maurier award of excellence in mystery, the Beverly, the Maggie, and the Selah Awards.
in addition to being a writer, Mary is an avid reader. She loves to cook, can’t face the day without coffee, and her three granddaughters are the apple of her eye. She and her husband live in the heart of Texas in the middle of seventy acres, with two cats and one dog.
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