Fugitive at Large

by Sandra Robbins

  Ryan shrugged. “I don’t know. At the time I thought Jessica might not feel the same way. And she still may not, for all I know.”

  Lucas’s eyebrows arched. “Not feel the same way? Anybody with half a brain can see that she’s head over heels in love with you. Are you blind?”

  Ryan nodded. “I guess I am. I thought I was doing her a favor by getting out of her life.”

  Lucas laughed. “You wouldn’t have thought so if you could have seen how she tried to keep me from seeing her cry all the way back to her apartment a little while ago.” He sobered and stared at Ryan. “So you really do love her?”

  “I do. I was on my way to talk to her and your family when I ran into you.”

  Lucas punched the button for the elevator and draped his arm over Ryan’s shoulders. “Then let’s go. She’s back at her apartment. When I left, the whole family was gathered around her fussing over her. She probably needs rescuing by now.”

  The elevator doors opened, and they stepped inside. As they descended to the first floor, Ryan turned to Lucas. “Thanks for coming. I really appreciate it.”

  “No problem. If we’re going to be brothers, you’d better get used to how I feel about my sister.” He spread his index and middle fingers and wiggled them in Ryan’s direction. “Just remember, I’ll be watching you.”

  Then he laughed and clapped Ryan on the back.

  Fifteen minutes later, they pulled to a stop at Jessica’s apartment. Ryan pulled up behind Lucas and walked with him to the back door. He followed Lucas through the kitchen and hesitated at the doorway into the living room.

  As Lucas entered, he heard Jessica’s voice. “Lucas, where did you go? You left without saying a word.”

  “I had an errand to run. And I’ve brought someone with me. So if all of you except Jessica would be so kind as to step into the bedroom with me, I’d appreciate it.”

  “Lucas, what are you talking about?” she asked, exasperation in her voice.

  Lucas stepped aside as Ryan entered the room. “Ryan needs to talk to Jessica,” Lucas said as he strode toward what Ryan assumed was one of the bedrooms.

  Ryan’s gaze flitted over the other members of Jessica’s family, noticing the surprised looks on their faces. After a moment, Adam took Claire by the hand and they hurried after Lucas. Jessica’s parents hesitated only a moment longer before they, too, left the room.

  Jessica rose from the sofa where she’d been sitting and stared at him, her eyes red from recent tears. He took a deep breath to rid himself of the tightness in his chest before he spoke. “I was on my way to see you when I ran into Lucas. He’d come to bring me back. He said you love me. Do you, Jessica?”

  Her lips trembled, and then she frowned. “Do you want me to?”

  He lunged forward until he stood in front of her. He reached up and gripped her shoulders. “More than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life. I’ve loved you ever since the first time I saw you at the precinct. At the time, I didn’t want to involve you in all my problems, so I made the mistake of cutting you out of my life. I haven’t had a peaceful day since. When I saw you at the convenience store, I nearly doubled over in shock. You were more beautiful than ever, and I wanted you more than I ever had.”

  “Then why didn’t you tell me? Especially tonight after all we’d been through. I thought you’d only wanted me to help you with a case.”

  He shook his head. “No. I was afraid. Afraid that you hadn’t forgiven me. Afraid your family wouldn’t accept me. And most of all, afraid that you’d reject me and I’d be alone again.”

  She reached up and stroked his jaw. “I won’t reject you. And neither will my family. I’ve been alone, too, Ryan, and I need you.”

  He pulled her so close that their breaths mingled as he moved his lips closer to hers. “I need you, too, Jessica. I love you.”

  “I love you, too,” she whispered.

  His lips crushed down on hers, and she strained upward to meet his kiss. After a moment, he released her mouth and trailed kisses down her cheek. “Marry me, Jessica. Please.”

  “Yes,” she whispered. “I will.”

  He moved her away from him enough so that he could stare down into her eyes. “Do you mind living at my house or would you rather we get another one?”

  Her eyes widened. “Of course I’ll be happy there. Who wouldn’t? It’s a beautiful house, and I love the garden.”

  He smiled. “Do you really?”

  “Of course I do.”

  He sighed. “I’m glad. Because I wasn’t sure if I had made it just the way you described it or not.”

  Surprise flashed across her face. “What are you saying?”

  “When Jamie and I moved in, the garden had been neglected, and I wanted to restore it. I remembered how you always talked about the backyard you wanted someday. As I began to work on it, I realized it was becoming exactly what you’d described, and I knew it was your garden. It was my way of keeping you in my life.”

  A tear trickled down the side of her cheek. “You made it for me? I can’t believe it. And it’s just what I always wanted.” She looped her arms around his neck and smiled. “Oh, Ryan, I love you so much.”

  He gathered her close. “I love you, too. And you can do anything to the garden you want. Change anything. I only have one request for something I’d like to add to it.”

  “Anything,” she said. “What is it?”

  “A swing set with a big slide for our children to play on.”

  Her arms tightened around him. “That sounds perfect. I can hardly wait.”

  * * * * *

  Keep reading for an excerpt from SMOKESCREEN by Jodie Bailey

  Dear Reader,

  I hope you enjoyed reading the story of Ryan and Jessica’s journey to reconciliation and a new commitment to each other. It is sad when a person lets misconceptions of another person’s actions destroy relationships. Friendship and the love it provides are great treasures. We need to guard such relationships with great care. I Corinthians 13 is often called the Love Chapter and it speaks of charity, or love, and how God expects us to show it to our friends, our family and those we come in contact with each day. Among other things, we are called upon to bear all things, believe all things, hope all things and endure all things in love. When we do that, God will provide us the strength to get through the challenges of life. It is my prayer that we all will come to know that kind of love in our lives.

  Sandra Robbins

  http://www.harlequin.com/harlequinexperience

  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

  Smokescreen

  by Jodie Bailey

  ONE

  “Drive faster.” Captain Ethan Kincaid slammed his palm on the dash of the crew-cab truck his partner piloted. At the rate they were going it would take two days to get to the Syracuse terminal. A glance at the clock said they had less than two minutes.

  Craig Mitchum cast him a hard look, though his blue eyes flashed with amusement slightly out of place considering the situation. “Can’t do it, bro. I scream up to an airport running a hundred and twenty, and security’s going to be all over us. You want to get tied up in some back office answering questions?”

  Ethan huffed but didn’t relax in the seat. Every seco
nd counted. That call from Sean had rattled him clear to his core. “Someone hacked my email. They know everything. Get Ashley off that plane before they find her.”

  Ashley Colson was in danger she couldn’t imagine and would never see coming. Even more so than on the day she’d nearly died in his arms. Ethan swallowed hard against the rising tide of nausea the image of her broken and bloody body brought forth. That would not happen again. Even if he needed to die to stop it.

  Ethan had warned Sean involving her was a bad idea. He should have pulled the plug on the whole thing from the start, but he’d been willing to take any risk to catch the guys who’d killed his first partner. And now Ashley might pay a steep price for it.

  Please, God. Get us there before it’s too late.

  “I’ll swing by the drop-off and let you out so you can sweep the concourse. I’ll head for the parking deck.” Mitchum tapped the photo of Ashley that was jammed into the instrument panel. “This late at night, there shouldn’t be a lot of people milling around. We’ll find her.”

  Ethan grunted, convinced he could run up the long drive faster than Mitchum was navigating. In the dark of a cool spring night, the lights of the Syracuse airport bounced off the clouds, the glow painting the surrounding area in an eerie overwash. It chilled Ethan to the core, too much like the opening shot of a horror movie where the hero’s worst nightmares came true.

  “Kincaid. You’re a ball of nerves, worse than a private in his first firefight. You’re too experienced to act like this. Do you need to...?” Mitchum exhaled loudly and eased up on the gas as they approached the low, glass-enclosed pedestrian bridges between the parking lot and the terminal.

  “Do I need to what?” Ethan whipped his head toward his new partner. Assigned to work with him just under a year ago, the younger man often spoke his mind without a lot of thought to the consequences of his words. It was something Ethan admired, that ability to call it as he saw it, but Ethan was not about to let the man question his ability to do the job. Not on this case.

  Mitchum cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably, readjusting his grip on the steering wheel. “Recuse yourself.” The words hung on the air, too cold for the heat leaking from the vents to thaw.

  Not on his life. There was no one else Ethan trusted to walk with Sean through this mission and no one else he trusted to protect Ashley.

  Not that he was known for doing a stellar job. It was his fault a domestic-violence call when they were stationed as military police together had gone south and left her fighting for her life.

  He shoved the memory to the side and glanced at the clock on the dash as Mitchum slowed the truck in the drop-off lane. Ashley’s flight had touched down nearly ten minutes earlier. Their window slipped lower.

  Sean’s intel said the mission had been compromised. Their enemies had found Ashley and would be waiting. For all Ethan knew, she was already dead in some out-of-the-way corner of the airport. The thought nearly crushed his lungs. Please, God. Don’t let me be too late. Again.

  * * *

  Ashley Colson’s smartphone chimed as she fired it up and hitched her carry-on higher onto her shoulder. In all of her thirty years she’d never been so happy to exit an aircraft. When her feet hit the carpet of the terminal, she relaxed muscles that had been tense since the plane left Chicago. Between the couple arguing in front of her the entire flight and the turbulence battering the passengers from takeoff to touchdown, she felt as though all of the oxygen had been sucked out of that jet.

  She entered the exit portal at the end of the concourse, waited for the second door to open and stepped into the main terminal. Now she was free, and she couldn’t get home fast enough.

  The cell phone vibrated repeatedly in her hand, so she stepped out of the trickle of traffic. No way had she missed so many calls in a couple of hours. As word of her knack for sniffing out vulnerabilities in computer networks spread, Colson Solutions grew busier, but demand hadn’t been that high.

  Hopefully, it wasn’t her biggest client. Sam Mina had called her in Chicago and asked her to come to Albany to integrate new machines into their existing network. She’d put him off until Monday. Hopefully he hadn’t violated their contract and hired someone else. Losing Mina would be a blow her company might not recover from.

  Seven texts and four voice mails. Skipping the texts, Ashley pressed the unfamiliar number in her voice-mail queue.

  “Ash, it’s me.” Sean’s voice was low and hurried, setting her apprehension level even higher than the couple arguing on the plane. Something was wrong. “Call this number. Now.” There was a hiss and a click as the call dropped. Three more similar messages amped the adrenaline in her system. Then, “I need you to go to my post-office box. Get the package from my mailbox. Work our program. And watch your back. I’m sorry, Ash. I’ll explain as soon as—” A muffled shout. “I’ve sent—” The call cut out.

  Nausea hit her hard, almost doubling her over. Sean. Her ex-fiancé and lifelong best friend.

  Something was very wrong. In all of his deployments, he’d said there was no need for a cell phone in a war zone. One of his greatest fears was that something would happen to him, leaving his contact information vulnerable for anyone to see.

  Knees weakening, she punched the screen to see her texts. Seven from Sean, all telling her to call until the last one. I’m sorry.

  What had he done?

  A force from behind propelled her forward, sent her phone flying and caused her bag to slide to her elbow with a jolt. She nearly pitched onto her face but strong hands wrapped around her upper arms. “Are you all right, miss?”

  Watch your back. Sean’s warning rained in her head as she spun and came face-to-face with a tall, dark man in a sleek, gray business suit.

  Concern wrinkled the corners of his dark eyes. “You seem ill. Are you okay, Ms. Colson?”

  How did he know her name? Ashley scanned his face, muscles tightening in her neck as she found nothing familiar. Her past bred caution and this guy unfurled every red flag possible. Her mouth opened then closed tight, refusing to ask the question.

  A cold smile crinkled the edges of his lips. “Ah, see? I am more than just a helpful fellow in an airport.” He leaned closer, voice lowering. “And here is something else I know about you. Your worst nightmare is any gun, but particularly one aimed in your direction.” Slipping his fingers to her wrist, he pulled her hand to his rib cage, letting her fingers brush holstered cold steel, his eyes glittering above that frozen smile.

  The weapon burned her fingertips, shooting fire into her soul. She wanted to scream, to run, to do anything, but her muscles froze, the memory from years ago and a deafening roar drowning out the rest of the world.

  The man smiled wider, taking dark pleasure in her panic. “Your fear is my best friend.” Slipping her bag from her elbow, he shrugged it onto his shoulder and wrapped an arm tightly around her waist, pressing the gun to her side, the metal digging into her rib cage. The way he held his free hand, on the strap of her bag, he could reach the trigger with very little motion. “Now, we will walk out of here together, quietly.”

  Some accent tinged the edges of the polished words, but Ashley couldn’t quite place it through the roar in her ears.

  “And when we get where we are going, you will tell me all about your friend Sean Turner and his mission overseas. If you feel you do not need to talk, well...” He chuckled. “That is when the fun will begin.”

  A sob glued itself to the scream stuck in her throat. She was in trouble. Sean was in trouble. And this man had everything to do with it.

  Ashley’s feet dragged as the man urged her forward. The world was under water, images hazy around the edges, sounds muffled as her pulse rang in her ears. How could no one see what was happening? The late-traveling crowd trickled thin, security guards easing their scrutiny as more planes arrived than departed. No one
even glanced their way.

  Fear, a familiar nemesis, imprisoned her in an unbreakable paralysis. She was going to be kidnapped in plain sight. Tortured if this man got her out of sight.

  There was nothing she could do, not with the weight of a gun pressing tight against her side. The man didn’t even have to lay a finger on it as long as she knew it was there. A whimper broke through the solid wall in her throat.

  “I can put a bullet in you right on top of that scar that is already there and be out of here before your body reaches the ground. It might be I have to go to my hotel and wash the blood out of my suit. It would not be the first time.” He pulled her closer. “I would not get my pay, but I would make it out of here a free man, which is the most important thing.”

  “Who are you?” Ashley hated how thin her voice sounded, how she wanted to scream, but, always, that cold lump dug into her side. He could pull the trigger faster than she could ever hope to run.

  “Does it matter?”

  The exit doors loomed in front of her and, on the other side of the main drive, the parking garage. Despair ate at her. This was her one last chance to scream.

  As she pulled in a deep breath, the man stiffened, muscles coiled. “I will kill you and anyone who tries to help you.”

  Ashley deflated as they stepped through the exterior doors and the cool humidity of a New York spring night enveloped them, the soft air mocking her plight. She couldn’t win at the moment, but she would not give up. In the parking deck, she could hide behind a car, buy a few seconds and flag down a passing driver...though it was almost certain this man would kill anyone who stopped.

  As they stepped into the dim light of the quiet parking deck, a red pickup screeched to a halt at the sidewalk in front of them and a man jumped out, blocking their path. “Thanks for dropping me off,” he called to someone inside. “Let me get my stuff out of the back and I’ll catch you on the return trip.”