Derek nodded to Mr. McClarnon, who went to stand next to his wife, who was already perched on the edge of a chair. Susan was out of sight. Then he stepped inside the safe and pushed the button on the wall to slide the panel shut. Hannah stepped up next to him and linked her arm through his. They stared through the mirror for a moment, watching her parents talk.
As much as he enjoyed the fact that Hannah had come to lean on him for strength and support, she hadn’t given any indication that she returned his affection. His feelings were stronger now than ever, but perhaps he needed to be prepared to walk away when it was all over no matter how much he disliked that notion. He withdrew his arm from hers and looked around the small space. The walls were covered with built-in cabinets, presumably filled with the McClarnon valuables. An air duct blew cool air from the ceiling. But that was it. No other door or even a space that could fit an adult.
“Well, there’s no escape here. No secret tunnel. No getting out except back through the looking glass.” He attempted a smile, but it felt like it never made it to his face.
“As my father mentioned, it wasn’t meant to hide people. But at least we have air.” Her facial muscles twitched, but a smile never reached her lips. “And now we just wait for the cavalry to arrive?”
“Yes, and it shouldn’t be long.” He glanced out at Mr. and Mrs. McClarnon, darkened by the mirror. “You have some pretty terrific parents.”
A contemplative look settled on Hannah’s beautiful face. “Yes, they are. But...”
“But what? It’s obvious how much they love you.”
“I know how blessed I am to have them in my life. I just wish they had told me from the beginning that I was adopted. But they had good reason not to. I understand that.”
“Humans are fallible, Hannah. No one is perfect. But the Lord is perfect, and He has adopted us as His sons and daughters.” He ran a hand through his hair, trying to calm his jitters. “It’s the ultimate adoption, taking us as His own. He doesn’t tell us everything, either, but we know that He does what is best for us.”
As she mulled that over, he touched his weapon in the holster, an almost subconscious gesture. He glanced back at her to see that a smile had erupted on her face. “You’re right.” She looked out the mirror at her mother and father. “If we get out of this alive—”
“No ifs. We are.” He watched Mr. and Mrs. McClarnon hold hands as he stood next to her outside the mirror. Mr. McClarnon had retrieved his handgun and held it in his free hand. The fire extinguisher sat on the floor behind the chair. It wouldn’t be long and this would all be over, and he would move on to another assignment.
“Hannah, I’m not sure what’s going to happen after this, but I want you to know how sorry I am for how things turned out in high school. I’m not a rebellious person, and I didn’t want to defy your father. But I could have at least said goodbye.” Just like he would have to say goodbye again. Soon.
Moisture glistened in her eyes. “I understand, Derek. I wish a lot of things could have been different, but here we are, and we need to make the best of it. Besides, I only have a year left of law school, and then I know my family has a lot of charities that could use some legal help. I’ll be busy. You’ll be on to another job, and you’ll be busy. We’ll be fine.”
Fine? No, they wouldn’t be fine. They would be living separate lives.
“Hannah, I don’t want to say goodbye again. I love you, just like I’ve always loved you. Do you think—?”
A loud thud from a distant part of the house interrupted him, and he removed his SIG from the holster.
Hannah stared at him with wide brown eyes. “Are they here?”
“Probably. Get behind me.”
“Is it the good guys or the bad guys?”
“We’ll find out in a minute.”
An instant later, a snarling Sean O’Shea with a couple of henchmen on his heels stormed into the bedroom. Their guns were pointed at Mr. McClarnon before he could even raise his.
Inside the safe, Derek raised his weapon and pointed it at O’Shea. He was prepared to shoot through the mirror if he had to, to save the McClarnons.
“Where are they? Show me. Now!” O’Shea’s voice came through the mirror in a loud, clear tone.
Hannah grasped Derek’s arm from behind and stifled her gasps in his shirt. The sound of her sobbing surrounded him. O’Shea stood still and looked around the room, his head cocked as if he was listening.
Derek froze. Hannah must have seen O’Shea from behind Derek, for a loud gasp erupted from her.
O’Shea’s gaze settled on the mirror. He pointed his weapon at it.
His chest constricting, Derek jumped to the side of the mirror, pulling Hannah along with him. He turned his face and chest toward the wall and, with one smooth sweep of his arm, turned Hannah to face the wall as well, covering her with his body.
O’Shea shot at the mirror, the bullet lodging in the rear wall and pieces of mirror spraying everywhere.
A thousand pinpricks of pain sprayed across his back, but he didn’t move. Hannah stood still, and he prayed she was protected from the bits of glass.
“Stay here.” He kept his voice low and stepped away from the wall.
Hannah shrunk against the wall as if she wished she could be absorbed into it.
Derek locked eyes with Mr. McClarnon and tipped his head ever so slightly toward the fire extinguisher. Then he swung his gaze toward the middle of the room, looking at the floor in front of O’Shea and his guys. It wouldn’t matter if Mr. McClarnon understood the signal if Derek couldn’t get the bad guys’ attention. They wouldn’t hesitate to shoot him if they saw what Derek wanted him to do.
“We’re here.” He stepped into the opening where the mirror had been. “And we have the doll.”
“Perfect.” O’Shea took a step forward. “But first, hand over your weapon.”
Derek shuffled to the side to give O’Shea the illusion that he was coming forward, and raised his SIG as if he was going to hand it over. But he cut his eyes at Mr. McClarnon and tipped his head toward O’Shea.
With all three intruders focused on Derek’s supposed surrender, Mr. McClarnon turned and grabbed the fire extinguisher from behind the chair. “Here!” he yelled as he lobbed it toward O’Shea. It landed at their feet.
With one smooth motion, Derek raised his SIG and fired one shot at the fire extinguisher. Mr. McClarnon turned his back to it to protect his wife in the chair. With his free arm, Derek reached behind to push Hannah farther into the safe. As soon as he saw his bullet had met its mark, he spun around to protect his face.
The fire extinguisher exploded, the force pushing O’Shea and his thugs against the wall. A stream of white powder shot toward them and spread through the room. It enveloped O’Shea and his men as they dropped their weapons to grab their eyes, choking and coughing in pain and surprise.
A few moments later, the cloud began to dissipate. Derek held the hem of his shirt to his face and pulled Hannah’s up to her face. With O’Shea coughing violently, Derek rushed out to retrieve their weapons. As the chemicals penetrated the shirt and he began to cough, the room filled with FBI agents in Kevlar vests.
“It’s over.” He turned back to Hannah and pulled her forward to see O’Shea and his thugs in handcuffs, lying on the carpet.
He grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the safe. “Let’s go!” he called to the McClarnons. They rushed through the hallways and out to the veranda. Derek gulped the clean air, filling his lungs with fresh oxygen.
Mrs. McClarnon rushed to the outdoor sofa and sat down, with Mr. McClarnon right by her side.
“Is everyone all right? We’re out of danger, so breathe deeply and clear your lungs. The agents inside will handle everything, and a medic will check us out soon.”
Hannah stood shakily next to him, seemingly
reluctant to reach out to him. Mr. McClarnon stood and shook Derek’s hand. “Thank you, son.” Then without breaking eye contact with Derek, he nodded toward Hannah.
Derek raised his eyebrows. He thought he knew what Mr. McClarnon meant, but he also knew it was more than he had dared to hope for. Could it be?
Then, Hannah’s father said three simple words that changed his life forever. “I was wrong.” And then two more. “Ask her.”
Derek turned to Hannah. A smile stretched across her beautiful face even as tears coursed down her cheeks. As he had been wanting to do since their reunion, he gathered her in his arms. The gentleness of her arms around him erased all thought of the pain from his arm. “We got interrupted in there. In the safe room. So let me say it again.” He ran a finger down her chin and thumbed away a tear. “I love you, Hannah. I always have. I always will.”
Hannah glanced at her father then back at him. Uncertainty flitted across her face, but it was quickly replaced with understanding, relief. Joy. “I love you, too, Derek.”
He stared down into her eyes, which shone with love for him. His mind reeled at what was happening, at this most incredible conclusion to their secret high-school romance and then ten years of separation. “Marry me?” As his lips brushed against hers, love exploded in his chest.
One last word from Hannah made his life complete. “Yes.”
He was hers, and she was his. He could barely absorb it all, but now he had the rest of his life to live a dream come true.
“I’m here,” he murmured in her hair, “now and forever.”
EPILOGUE
Three months later, warm afternoon sun slanted across the McClarnons’ spacious backyard and seeped into the edges of the large tent. Hannah fluffed the long, ruffled skirt of her wedding gown. Delicate pink rose buds adorned every table, and a similar pink rose was pinned to Derek’s lapel, a striking contrast to the dark black of his tuxedo.
In another week, their lives would be thrown into chaos, as Hannah returned to law school for her final year and Derek traveled to Quantico for a week of catch-up and meetings. Hannah straightened her husband’s boutonniere and rose to her tiptoes for a kiss. But for now, she would savor the moment.
“May I have your attention, please?” The murmurs of the large crowd dissipated at the wedding planner’s announcement. “At this time, Mr. and Mrs. Chambers will cut the cake.”
Hannah had to admit that she had never been a girl who dreamed of her wedding. But this was the stuff of fairy tales. Ruffles and lace and roses and a handsome man in a tuxedo who loved her and was willing to give his life for her.
A man who, at this moment, was holding a piece of cake up to her, ready to stuff it in her mouth.
Politeness reigned, and Derek held it still so she could take a nibble. As the sweet goodness melted in her mouth, she prayed that her marriage would be the same. A sweetness and goodness with Derek until death parted them.
Derek put down the plate and pulled her aside as servers began passing out the wedding cake to the guests. She leaned in close and savored the scent of his spicy aftershave, which mingled with the aroma of the flowers. “I love you,” he murmured in her ear.
“Did you ever think we’d make it to this day?” Many times, in the years they had been apart, Hannah had cried into her pillow. She had been willing to live single and alone, but in that part of her spirit she didn’t like to examine, she knew she didn’t want to.
“After that meeting with your father when we were in high school, I never thought I’d see you again. I guess we can thank the FBI for all of this.”
“Yes, and thank them for a promising future...for us both.” A bridesmaid spotted her and smiled. Hannah smiled back, a stretch in her cheeks that was beginning to feel natural.
Derek ran a finger along her chin. “It was generous of them to transfer me to Indianapolis so soon after completing the academy.”
“And a job for me upon graduation? I can’t wait.”
“They might move us again. There’s no guarantee we’ll stay here.”
“I don’t care where we go, as long as we’re together.”
She sipped her sparkling grape juice and surveyed the crowd, Derek’s arm around her waist in a natural fit. Her birth mother, Susan, was chatting with her parents, and a smile popped out every now and then in the conversation. Her heart warmed at the idea of Mother and Father embracing her birth mother. Hannah, too, was getting to know her. Their relationship would never be the same as the one Hannah had with her adoptive mother, but it was growing and she was grateful.
“Have you had any news on Sean O’Shea?” The shock at her discovery that her birth father was a Mafia hit man who had wanted her dead still lingered. She could never call him her father. But forgiveness was slowly radiating through her heart.
“Nothing more. He’s still in prison, awaiting trial. The prosecutor says he has a strong case, and it seems your birth mother will get justice. He won’t be able to hurt any more families. Are you sure you want to think about that now?”
“It’s just a question. I was thinking that I ought to visit him. Maybe get involved in prison ministry.”
“Get to know him a little?”
“He’ll never be a father to me, but yes.”
“Speaking of fathers, your father seems to have accepted me.”
Hannah gestured around her, encompassing the wedding reception tent, the guests and Derek in his tuxedo. “You think?” She smiled at him.
He smiled back, his dimples beckoning her in for another kiss. “Seriously. He’s become the father I’ve missed since I was thirteen.”
“I think his faith is growing as well. Mother told me they’ve had some strife from the country-club set. But Father is handling it well. He increasingly doesn’t care what others think as long as he’s in God’s will.”
The tinkling of tiny bells interrupted them, and Derek grinned at her in that charming way of his that always made her melt.
As their lips touched, a connection flitting between their spirits, Hannah looked forward to a joyous future with her soul mate by her side.
* * * * *
If you enjoyed DEADLY DISCLOSURE, look for UNDER DURESS by Meghan Carver.
Keep reading for an excerpt from BODYGUARD by Shirlee McCoy.
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Dear Reader,
What a thrill it is to present this second novel to you! The idea for this story came to me the day I noticed the discrepancy in dates on my own birth certificate. Unlike Hannah, I’ve always known I was adopted. Also unlike Hannah, my birth father was not in a Mafia family, but it was an interesting scenario to plot! With the danger following Hannah as a result of her adoption, I knew she would need someone familiar by her side. Derek from Under Duress seemed the perfect choice.
The ultimate theme of the story, though, for both Hannah and Derek, is adoption into the family of God. Hannah is shocked to learn that she was adopted, and she questions her entire life. But Derek, having struggled with his faith in his own circumstances and come out victorious, is there to remind her that all believers are adopted...into the family of God. Romans 8:15 tells us that we can approach our Heavenly Father without fear but with love and confidence. What a blessed assurance!
I would be honored to hear from you. You can visit my website at www.meghancarver.com, where you can sign up for my author newsletter, or email me at [email protected]. If you’re on Facebook, I’d like to be your friend at Facebook.com/meghancarver. If you wish to write on good old-fashioned stationery, you can send it to me c/o Love Inspired Books, 195 Broadway, 24th Floor, New York, NY 10007.
Many bless
ings to you,
Meghan Carver
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Bodyguard
by Shirlee McCoy
ONE
If the Everglades didn’t kill her, her uncle would.
Either way, Esme Dupree was going to die.
The thought of that—of all the things she’d leave behind, all the dreams she’d never fulfill—had kept her moving through the Florida wetland for three days, but she was tiring. Even the most determined person in the world couldn’t keep running forever. And she’d been running for what seemed like nearly that long. First, she’d fled witness protection, crisscrossing states to try to stay a step ahead of her uncle’s henchmen. She’d finally found her way to Florida, to the thick vegetation and quiet waterways that her parents had loved.
Deadly Disclosure Page 17