Manhunt

by Lisa Phillips

“Well, why ever not?”

  Hailey shook her head. “Maybe because I haven’t seen him since I came to?”

  “That wouldn’t have stopped me. When I realized it wasn’t food poisoning and that I loved your mother, I didn’t let anything stop me. Not my carburetor, or her dad and his shotgun. I left my car at home and rode my bike across town to the ranch and got down on one knee in front of the stables.”

  Hailey couldn’t believe it. “You never told me that! You guys were sweethearts?”

  His grizzled face nodded. “Never met anyone like her, and never have since.”

  “Did she say yes?”

  “Yeah, but only when she stopped laughing. Then I kissed her and she didn’t mind that I was all sweaty. She told me she loved me. It was like finally everything clicked into place and I knew where I was supposed to be. Who I was supposed to be.”

  “Charles and I were sweethearts, once. Why did you hate it so much when I got pregnant?”

  Her dad’s face darkened. “That girl of yours is sweet as anything, but Charles was never the man for you.”

  “You knew that?”

  His lips twitched. “Fathers always know.”

  Hailey gave him a small smile. She wasn’t even going to comment on that one. “My life got so messed up, but Kerry makes it right in so many ways. More than I ever believed she would. But can I really expect a guy to want an instant family? We come with our fair share of drama, and maybe he can’t handle that. What if he doesn’t want to try?”

  Hailey’s dad touched her cheeks with his rough hands and kissed her forehead. “If he doesn’t, then he’s a big idiot.”

  Hailey laughed.

  “Seriously, he doesn’t deserve you if he doesn’t want both you and Kerry.”

  “Thanks, Dad.” She still wasn’t convinced she was actually going to tell Eric how she felt. It would mess up too much of their lives if he didn’t feel the same way she did. Sure, he’d given her mouth-to-mouth. And he had seemed like he really didn’t want to lose her.

  But that didn’t mean he thought of her as anything more than a friend and partner.

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  Eric waited with Aaron so that Kerry could talk to Hailey before he did. Really, he didn’t know what he was going to say when he saw her. After the weekend they’d had, he was liable to gush all over her out of sheer relief that she wasn’t dead, which was probably the last thing Hailey needed.

  Later, when Eric could control his emotions, he would sit down with her and they could find their feet as partners. Things wouldn’t go back to the way they’d been three days ago. They had a new equilibrium because of what they’d been through, and things would be better now. They would be stronger and closer partners, and Eric was fine with it. Why did he need to risk messing that up?

  He didn’t need it to be more. That was a selfish desire he couldn’t put on Hailey. She didn’t need to bear the burden of his shortcomings just because he was now so much more aware of what was missing in his life.

  Aaron nudged Eric’s arm. Eric looked over and realized his brother had been watching him watch Kerry and Hailey. “Really?”

  Eric frowned. “What?” Aaron always thought he knew everything about everything when he didn’t. “Why did you come here, anyway?”

  Aaron’s eyebrows rose. “Maybe because you were stuck on a roof and needed rescuing? I know it burns you to even consider that you might still need me to help you, and I’m sorry you feel that way. I guess I thought I was being a good brother every time I looked out for you. Maybe I did it wrong—”

  Eric cut in. “That isn’t it.” He sighed. “I wanted to stand up for myself. I didn’t want…”

  “What?”

  “To need you.”

  Aaron’s face softened, his expression dangerously too close to pity for Eric’s liking. “It’s not bad to need someone, Eric. That’s what family is supposed to be.” He paused. “I had to learn it, too. To let go of my need to be self-sufficient and trust God, but also to give some of that trust to Mackenzie. Not because my wife had earned it, but because I wanted to share it with her.”

  Right. Like it was that easy to just give up what he’d fought to hold on to for years. Eric shook his head. Hailey didn’t need that from him. She had her life, her dad and her daughter. That was a full plate without him adding to it.

  But God? That was a whole other question.

  In the heat of the moment, when Hailey hadn’t been breathing and Farrell was attacking him, Eric had asked God for help. Aaron looked to God for everything. Could Eric do the same, or would that mean he’d lose part of himself in the process?

  “One last thing and then I’ll get out of your hair…forever if you need it.” Aaron squeezed his shoulder. “When you give your trust away to God, and to someone who will treasure it, that doesn’t mean you lose something. Believe me when I tell you, you gain more than you could ever imagine. But you have to take that step of faith.

  “I know you want your life to be more than it is right now, because I felt the same way. I was scared to jump off the ledge and trust that Mackenzie could believe in me the way I believe in her.”

  Eric gave his brother a look. “I thought the idea was to quit trying to save me.”

  “You know me.” Aaron grinned. “I can’t help it.” Then his smile dropped and he said, “Seriously, though, God gave you to me as a brother, and I don’t ever want to take that for granted.”

  Eric worked his jaw back and forth and finally managed to say, “I love you, you know.”

  Aaron squeezed the tendons between Eric’s neck and shoulder. “I know.” He grinned and motioned to where Hailey was sitting, holding Kerry. “Now go make sure she knows it.”

  *

  Hailey held Kerry. Her daughter was in her arms, but in front of her like a shield, and Hailey realized she’d been doing that for years. She’d kept herself at arm’s length from everyone and everything that might demand something of her.

  Could she really be more than a mother and a marshal? Could she be a wife, too?

  Eric skirted between beds and people, making his way to where she and Kerry were sitting.

  He looked exhausted, like he needed three days’ worth of sleep to get back to normal. But when he stood next to the bed, he smiled. “Feel better?”

  Hailey squeezed Kerry. “I do now.”

  Kerry shifted on her lap, glancing between Hailey and Eric. “Are you guys boyfriend and girlfriend now?”

  Hailey froze. She didn’t dare look at Eric in case he thought it was a horrible idea.

  He settled on the edge of the bed. “How would you feel about that, Kerry?”

  Kerry held herself completely still. “If you got married, would you be my stepdad?”

  Hailey looked up. Eric’s face was frozen like he hadn’t even thought of that. He cleared his throat. “It’s up to your mom, but if it’s okay with you…I’d like that.”

  Hailey squeezed Kerry and motioned to where her friends were waiting. “Why don’t you go talk to Janessa and Valerie, okay? I need to talk to Eric for a minute.”

  Kerry hopped off the bed.

  Hailey waited until she was out of earshot and then turned to Eric. “You didn’t have to say that. You’re too nice, but you can’t tell a child that you’ll be their parent if you don’t mean it. It isn’t fair to Kerry for you to make that promise. You have to tell her. You have to take it back—”

  Eric covered her mouth with his hand. “What if I did mean it?” Hailey shifted on the bed. His hand dropped and he took her hands in his. “Hailey?”

  She looked up and saw all the love and fear and nerves she felt, there in his eyes. Then his lips curled up into a grin. “So what do you say? Are we boyfriend and girlfriend now?”

  She wanted to laugh, but instead she cleared her throat. “If we do this, there’s no taking it back. It will change everything.”

  “For the better, I hope.”

  “What if we wreck it?”

 
; He squeezed her hands. “How about this? What do you say we go out to dinner or a movie or something, with Kerry? We can do it again by ourselves. Will you give me a chance to prove to you how good this can be?”

  “Aren’t you scared?”

  “Honestly?” He scratched the side of his head, a move that made him look years younger. “Yes, I am. But I’m trying to trust God. I don’t think He would have brought me here and given me you if He hadn’t planned something better than I already had. Maybe I had to lose my job with WITSEC so that I could be with you.”

  “Because I needed you.”

  His eyebrows lifted. “Do you, really?”

  “Don’t tell anyone.” Hailey smiled. “I think dating sounds like a great idea.”

  “To start with.”

  “What?”

  He shrugged. “I’ve never seen the point in dating if it’s not leading to…more.”

  Hailey blinked. He wanted to marry her? She loved him, but wasn’t it too soon to be having that conversation?

  “So we’ll call it courting.”

  Hailey leaned closer and whispered, “I don’t know how to do that.” What if she messed it up?

  “The only thing you need to worry about is not worrying.”

  Hailey smiled. “Uh…okay.”

  “I’ll take care of the rest.” He smiled. “Trust me?”

  Hailey nodded. She could definitely do that.

  God, help me keep faith with this man.

  Eric had more than shown his character since she’d known him. He wasn’t like any of the other marshals, and she loved that about him. He was both strong and gentle. Tough, and yet caring toward Kerry. Trusting him would probably turn out to be the easiest thing she’d ever done.

  Hailey didn’t want to do anything to mess this up, so she would just have to trust God to lead her. That would be something new for her, too. But given the peace she felt wash over her now, knowing her heart was finally where it should be and not fiercely guarded, she figured it was a good thing.

  For the first time, she was who she was supposed to be.

  Eric traced his thumb across her cheekbone. Hailey put her hand on the back of his neck and pulled his lips to hers. Before they touched, she said, “I’m in love with you.”

  She felt his lips smile against hers, and he said, “That’s good, because I’m in love with you, too.”

  EPILOGUE

  Eighteen Months Later

  Eric strapped on his vest and checked his weapon.

  Parker strode into the room where the team was preparing for the takedown of yet another escapee. “Ready to go?”

  They filed out, their minds likely on the operation. Eric’s would be, too, once he climbed in the SUV and they pulled away. But that would be in a minute.

  He stopped by the desk next to his and squeezed Hailey’s socked foot, stacked on the other atop the mass of papers and files she claimed were organized. Her shoes were likely discarded somewhere under the table. Who was going to fish them out for her if he was on an operation?

  He crouched and retrieved her shoes so she’d be able to reach them later. “What time are you heading out?”

  She looked up from her tablet and glanced at the clock. “About a half an hour.” Her lips curled easily into the smile she gave him every morning at breakfast. His ring was on her finger, and he wore the gold band she’d slid on his that day at sunset eight months ago in her dad’s backyard. “Sorry I’m going to miss movie night.”

  “Don’t sweat it. That just means Kerry and I can watch a rom com and you won’t be huffing and sighing and pretending you’re really fine with it when we know you’re not.” She grinned.

  Eric smiled back. “I’ve gotta go.”

  Even if he’d rather spend the evening with his wife and daughter, that was the job. A job he’d come to love in the drama of the flood that happened the year before. Since then he’d fallen not only for his girls, but also for the town and the rush of fugitive apprehension.

  *

  Hailey slid her legs to the floor so her husband could help her to her feet. She’d finally quit wearing shirts that disguised her condition. She’d probably have tried to keep it private until the baby came, except for the fact they’d had to tell Jonah. Their job wasn’t one where you could continue active duty when you were pregnant.

  Months ago she would have been mad the team was heading out on an operation without her. But that was then. Now she had higher priorities. The first of many—she hoped—children that were hers and Eric’s was growing inside her. Still, he’d thoroughly convinced her that Kerry was the daughter of his heart.

  As much as Hailey loathed being stuck behind a desk, she was as excited for the baby to come as he was. The fact that he brought her double-chocolate cupcakes didn’t hurt either. Then there was Kerry, who had held in the secret like a champion until they gave her the go-ahead to tell people. Now their daughter told every single person she met that she was going to have a baby sister or brother. She’d even started suggesting names.

  Hailey pulled Eric close for a lingering kiss. He was going to be late, but she knew he didn’t really care. The hall erupted into whoops and whistles. One day the rest of the team would get used to the married couple in the office, but apparently that wasn’t going to be today. Half of them were married now, too, though that didn’t seem to be a valid point to them.

  Hailey leaned back and smiled up at her husband. “Take care.”

  Eric kissed her one more time. “Always.”

  *

  Keep reading for an excerpt from TO SAVE HER CHILD by Margaret Daley.

  Dear Reader,

  Thank you for joining me on this adventure. Phew, I’m glad it turned out okay! I’m sure you are, too. There were some close calls for Hailey and Eric, but God brought them through the tough times. Doesn’t He, though?

  I’m grateful every day for the fact I’ve never gone through anything truly trying. My heart goes out to those who struggle constantly with the hard things in life. They are in my prayers. But God is faithful, and I love that He never changes. His love is constant, no matter how far from Him we wander.

  To find out more about my books, you can go to www.authorlisaphillips.com or you can always email me at lisaphillipsbks@gmail.com. If you’re not online, you can write to me c/o Love Inspired Books, 233 Broadway, Suite 1001, New York, NY 10279.

  I would love to hear from you.

  God bless you richly,

  Lisa Phillips

  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.

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  ONE

  Ella Jackson looked longingly at the black leather couch against the far wall in her office. If only she could close her eyes for an hour—even half an hour—she would be ready to tackle the rest of the data entry for the upcoming Northern Frontier Search and Rescue training weekend.

  She trudged to her desk, staring at the stack of papers she needed to work her way through before picking up her eight-year-old son from day camp, then heading home. She should have been finished by now, but in the middle of the night a search and rescue call had gone out for an elderly gentleman. She had manned the command center for his search, which had ended with the man being found, but her exhaustion from lack of sleep was finally catching up with her.

  When she saw her son, Robbie, he would no doubt have a ton of questions about the emergency that had sent him to her neighbor�
�s. This wasn’t the first time she’d disturbed her son’s sleep in the middle of the night because of a search and rescue, and Robbie was a trooper. Once he’d come with her to the command center when she couldn’t find a babysitter. He’d begged to go with her ever since then, but it was impossible to watch over him and fulfill her duties. She’d promised him when he was older, he could.

  The sight of the training folder on the desktop screen taunted her to get to work. David Stone, who ran the organization, would return soon and need the list, since the instructional exercises would take place in two days. So much to get done before Saturday. As she sat in her desk chair, she rubbed her blurry eyes, then clicked on the folder. The schedule and list popped up, the cursor blinking hypnotically. When her head started dropping forward, she jerked it up. Not even two pots of coffee were helping her to stay alert.

  The door into the hangar opened, and her boss entered. He’d conducted the aerial search for Mr. Otterman, who had finally been found wandering in the middle of a shallow stream two miles from his nursing home.

  Her gaze connected with David’s. “Mr. Otterman checked out fine, according to your wife, and he’s safely back at Aurora Nursing Home.”

  “Thankfully Josiah and Alex got to him before he made it to the river the stream fed into.” He looked as tired as she felt. “Josiah is right behind me. Send him into my office when he comes in.”

  For a few seconds, Ella was sidetracked by the mention of Josiah. There was something about the man that intrigued her. His short black hair, the bluest eyes she’d ever seen and a slender, athletic build set her heart racing. Although he was handsome, she’d learned to be leery of men with those kinds of looks. No, it was his presence at a search and rescue that drew her to him. Commanding, captivating—and a loner. She knew one when she met one because she was much more comfortable alone, especially after her marriage to an abusive man. For a second, thoughts of her ex-husband threatened to take hold. She wouldn’t go there. He’d done enough to her in the past. She wouldn’t allow him—even in memories—into her present life.

  “Ella, are you all right?”

  David pulled her away from her thoughts. “I’m okay. Bree wanted me to tell you to go home and get some sleep since you never went to bed last night.”