In a Killer’s Sights
Page 17
Thankfully, that hadn’t been as difficult as they’d feared. She loved Gwen and Maggie and wanted them to be happy. She was flying in the day before the wedding.
“It’s gonna be different having two women around the ranch,” Emmett said. “You think your daughter is gonna like it?”
Dean wiped at the perspiration that popped out on his head. “I don’t know. Gwen assures me that she will. Of course, it’s going to be different than city life.”
Ben waved his hand in dismissal. “She’s gonna love it here. What kid wouldn’t? Besides, with a mother like Gwen, she’ll adapt in no time.”
Emmett nodded. “Yeah. That Gwen is something else. I never will forget how she saved my life that day at Rattlesnake Creek. She fired that gun like she was a pro. And the funeral she planned for James was a real tribute to his life.” He stretched his legs out in front of him and sighed. “Yeah, I think it’s going to be great having two females around.”
“It will be if they ever get here,” Dean said as he glanced down at his watch. “Where could they be? It’s been over an hour since she called to say she was almost here.”
Ben and Emmett looked at each other and chuckled. “Relax,” Ben said. “You know the roads are always crowded with tourist traffic this time of day. They’ll get here soon.”
Dean turned an anxious glance in Ben’s direction. “What if Maggie doesn’t like me?”
Emmett laughed and wagged his head. “Don’t go looking for trouble before she even gets here. She’s gonna love you.”
Dean started to speak, but a car turned off the road at that moment and began the drive up the lane. Dean straightened to his full height, grabbed his cane and hobbled down the steps with Ben and Emmett following. Behind him Dean heard the front door open. He turned to see Shorty coming onto the porch. All three men looked as anxious as Dean felt. He took a deep breath as the car pulled to a stop in front of them.
Gwen jumped out on the driver’s side and ran around to where they stood. “This is quite a welcoming committee. It’s good to see all of you.” She gave Dean a swift kiss on the cheek and stared into his eyes. “Are you ready?”
He swallowed and nodded. “I haven’t slept in a week thinking about what this moment is going to be like.”
Smiling, she stepped back to the car and opened the back door. Dean tried to see the child buckled in the safety seat, but Gwen blocked his view. He heard the click of the restraints as she released them, and then a child’s voice drifted from the car. “Is my daddy here, Mommy?”
“Yes, darling. He’s waiting to meet you.”
Dean’s throat closed up, and his chest tightened so much he didn’t think he could breathe as Gwen stepped back and helped the most beautiful child he’d ever seen climb from the backseat. He almost gasped at the first sight of her.
Gwen had been right. Maggie’s hair was the same shade as hers, but their daughter’s eyes were identical to the ones that stared back at him from the mirror every morning. She wore a red dress with white polka dots, and her ponytail was tied with a red bow. When she smiled at him, dimples creased her cheeks as if they were extending a welcome just for him.
For a moment he felt as if his breath had been stolen from him, and then he moved toward her. He wanted to wrap his arms around her, but didn’t want to scare her. He held his hand out to her, and she looked up at her mother. Gwen nodded and gave her a little nudge in the back, and Maggie took a step toward him.
Ignoring the pain in his leg, he dropped to his knees and smiled at her. “Hello, Maggie. I’m so glad to meet you.”
She stared at him a minute, as if unsure what to do. Then she put her hand in his. His heart raced as he closed his big fingers around her small ones. “Are you really my daddy?” she asked, tilting her head to one side.
He cleared his throat and nodded. “I am. I’m sorry I haven’t gotten to meet you before.”
She smiled, and his heart skipped a beat. “Mommy said you had to be away from us because you had important work to do.”
He glanced up at Gwen, who was staring down at both of them, and she nodded. That was the explanation they had decided to tell Maggie now. His important work had been trying to reclaim his life from alcoholism, and he’d accomplished that. When Maggie was older, they would tell her the full truth, but for now they needed to start rebuilding their family.
“Yes, Maggie. I had important work to do, but that’s all over now. It’s time for you, your mommy and me to be a family.”
She sighed. “I’m glad, Daddy. I’ve missed you.”
Before he knew what was happening, she had thrown her arms around his neck and was hugging him with all her might. He turned his mouth to her cheek and kissed her. “I’ve missed you, too, darling, but I’m here now. Welcome to Little Pigeon Ranch.”
After a moment she pulled back and stared at him, an excited look on her face. “Mommy said you have puppies. Can I see them?”
“Of course you can. Sadie has been waiting to meet you and let you pick out the one that’s going to be your very own.”
Her eyes grew wide. “Really, Daddy? I’m going to get a puppy?”
He smiled. “Of course you are. All girls who live on a ranch need a dog, and a horse, as well. I’m going to teach you to ride, and your mommy and I are going to take you on trail rides all over these mountains.”
Maggie’s face grew animated, and she squealed in delight as she turned to her mother. “Mommy, did you hear? I’m going to have a puppy and a horse.”
Gwen smiled and wiped the corner of her eye. “I heard. That sounds wonderful.”
Behind him Dean heard a sniffle, but he didn’t turn around to see how his friends were dealing with the scene that had just played out. It was enough that they were here with him today to witness this reunion. His only regret was that his grandfather wasn’t, but the love he had given Dean still lived in the house James had built for his wife so many years ago. He’d be happy to know that his prayers had been answered—to have the next generation of the Harwell family living on the ranch he’d loved so much.
Gwen dropped on her knees and leaned toward him. Dean kept one arm around Maggie and wrapped the other around Gwen, then pulled them both against him. He closed his eyes for a moment, said a silent prayer of thanks and asked God to bless their family.
“I love you both,” he whispered. “Welcome home.”
* * * * *
If you loved this story, don’t miss these
other great reads by Sandra Robbins:
FUGITIVE TRACKDOWN
FUGITIVE AT LARGE
YULETIDE FUGITIVE THREAT
Keep reading for an excerpt from BLINDSIDED by Katy Lee
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Dear Reader,
Ever since I wrote Final Warning, my first book for Love Inspired Suspense, I have had emails from readers wanting to know when I was going to write the story of Dean and Gwen, secondary characters in that book. I have honored that request by writing In a Killer’s Sights. It is a story set against the majestic Smoky Mountains and tells of a deep love marred by problems of alcoholism and hidden secrets. When all seems hopeless, Dean and Gwen find the solution to their problems lies in turning to God and putting their trust in Him. Only God can make our lives, which are stained with sin, be washed clean and become as white as snow.
If you are burdened by problems and unsure what to do, I pray you will put your trust in God to deliver you to a new life. He can return you to peace and joy.
Sandra Robbins
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Blindsided
by Katy Lee
ONE
Veronica Spencer’s fuchsia patent leather boots, useless in the New Hampshire soggy spring, stalled on the backlot pavement of her racetrack. The sound of mechanical whirring and the clang of metal tools came from behind the closed bay doors of a dark, unused garage at Spencer Speedway. This was her garage, she silently staked her claim. She had a plan for it, and it didn’t include a squatter.
The damp, cold, night wind matched her bitter mood and fluttered her signature rose pink silk scarf, also not an accessory for functionality—but in the case of her scarves, glamour wasn’t their purpose either. Mutilated scar tissue from a car fire at three years of age covered her neck and right arm. It was the arm she’d used to reach for her mother, who’d sat in the front passenger seat before the flames killed her. Roni’s burns reminded her of the memory daily. The scarves?
They helped her forget.
They also had a way of putting people at ease when they saw her coming. Gave them something pretty to look at instead.
Roni had no intentions of putting her intruder at ease.
She smiled the first smile since she left her uncle grumbling at his dining room table earlier that night.
Perhaps taking the scarf off to show this trespasser what ugly looked like would make him second-guess squatting on her track again for...what? Just what was he doing here this late at night when the track remained closed for the season? The sounds told her he was building a car. He probably planned to race it in the Icebreaker, the first spring race, next week.
Not a chance, buddy. Not on my track. And not anyone else’s after the sponsors heard what Roni Spencer had to say about him. He wouldn’t be the first man who underestimated her influence in the racing world.
The last one would never race again.
Her determined steps picked up, but at the door, deep, guttural voices filtered out and tripped her up again.
Someone gave an order like a drill sergeant breaking in new recruits, or more like threatening their lives. Her hand paused on the doorknob, and her gaze shot to the window a few feet to her left.
The square glass panes were covered with black paper. From afar it appeared dark and unused. Up close it all appeared...criminal. As much as she wanted to meet her trespasser face-to-face, perhaps barging in might not be the way to go. Her choice of weapon was her cutting tongue. Something told her she might not like theirs.
Always known for her uncanny ability to escape trouble, on and off the track, Roni grabbed her cell phone from the back pocket of her white jeans and backed away. Sometimes Reverse saved lives.
Her black Porsche Carrera beckoned at thirty feet where she’d parked it, and now with each retreating step she wished she’d pulled up closer. But that might have alerted the intruders to her presence if she had.
This wasn’t the first time the track had seen illegal activity. A few months back the main office had been ransacked, computers stolen, windows smashed. She loved her little town of Norcastle, but she knew it had fallen on hard times before; many were still struggling. It was only realistic that crime would follow. She wasn’t naive. She was an intelligent businesswoman—despite what her uncle implied and what her ex-fiancé denied.
She’d approached her uncle Clay again tonight about opening a racing school at the track. And again, he’d scoffed. “No man will ever want to learn how to race from a girl. Especially one so...pink,” he’d said. “Didn’t you learn your lesson with Jared? Your own fiancé didn’t want his peers knowing you were the brains behind his driving. Why would anyone else?”
Veronica punched in 911 with a vengeance. She’d handle this without calling Uncle Clay. She’d show him she could manage the run of the place without anyone else. He was free to leave his CEO position anytime. With her brother Wade retiring from the army and finally moving back to New Hampshire with his new wife, Lacey, Uncle Clay’s days of being in charge since the car crash twenty-eight years ago that took her parents and baby brother, Luke, away from her were coming to an end.
Her thumb moved to the call button. Her decision to do this alone meant so much more to her than making a phone call. It meant independence.
But just as her thumb pressed the button, the phone disappeared from her hand. Just like that. One moment she held it in her grasp, the next it flew out into the night. Before she could fathom the occurrence, a yank on her scarf jerked her head back in a sharp, quick, painful snap. Roni’s throat closed to life-giving air. She felt a body behind her, but the identity of her assailant took a backseat. In her struggle, her red hair whipped across her face like a red flag of warning that had come too late.
“You’re in the wrong place at the wrong time, chica. Too bad for you.” The harsh voice of the drill sergeant spoke close to her ear as his hand twisted the scarf tighter.
Gurgles escaped Roni’s mouth, her long nails breaking as she clawed at her neck. Useless, her mind blared. But it also didn’t give her any other ideas in its fog-laden, asphyxiating state. Her vision blurred even as she felt her eyes bulge with each painful twist of her scarf, tighter and tighter. Her only thought was when would the pain finally end? How long must she endure the torture? It was the same question she’d asked herself since she was three, when the agony of her burns consumed her, and then, when the sting of being marred for life set in. When would the pain end? The answer was always the same.
Never.
Was that the answer for her tonight?
Roni grappled with the material of her scarf. Her scars beneath would never go away. But Jared’s success on the track under her tutelage these past couple of years had given her an idea. A hope.
The Roni Spencer School of Racing.
Roni had something to offer. She knew it now, and it was why she’d come to the garage tonight. There would be no more putting it off.
And she would not allow her dream to fall by the wayside along with her dumped body!
Roni bent her knees to drop her weight in a faux fall. Judging by the way her scarf pulled down, her choke holder stood shorter than her nearly six feet in heels. She used her tall frame against him. He would have to lift her or risk falling forward himself. As his knees bent, she brought a foot up and kicked back at him, heel first. In the dark, she could only hope she hit her mark.
His hold loosened and both of them fell to the ground, apart. Stunned, she continued to claw at her neck as air rushed back in. Her lungs heaved and spots brightened in her eyes, but she pushed her body to face her attacker before another attempt could be made. He got to his knees and spit. His hands shot out of the darkness for her.
He reached for her again, and Roni kicked out. Her body flew back...right into an unmovable wall.
Her hand reached behind her. No, she realized, not a wall.
The legs of a second intruder blocked her. The solid mass of a strong-armed, muscled man in a black tank and unbuttoned white shirt towered over her. So much taller than the other guy...and so much bigger. She scooted to her right and crab-walked back, outnumbered and outwitted without her voice.
“What do you think you’re doing?” the guy standing over her barked.
“Me?” Roni squeaked, her throat strained. Her hand fumbled on empty pavement in a last-ditch effort to find her phone. “You’re on...my...property.”
“I wasn’t talking to you,” he replied, his voice low and disgusted.
In the light of the moon, she watched her assailant step up to the tall, hulking man. She craned her neck to see them face off with each other.
“What does it look like I’m doing? Tying up loose ends, because you were sleeping on the job. Now get inside so I can finish it.”
The tall man didn’t make a move. Just crossed his arms at his chest. “You can’t kill her. She’s Veronica Spencer, the owner. Do you have any idea of the media frenzy you would cause? She’s high profile. Her family wouldn’t stop until they got you and every person who knows you.”
“Well, she sure ain’t walking out of this place. Now get inside.”
Hanging around to see who won the battle wasn’t Roni’s style. She made a run for the moonlit outline of her Carrera, Spanish for race and career, but the loss of her career would be the least of her worries if she didn’t get her feet in gear.