Christmas Undercover

by Hope White

  “There’s more. David Price decided to tell the truth. He gave the feds evidence against LaRouche and Harrington.”

  “Wow, all this while I was asleep. Did Nate ever figure out how they got to Petrellis?”

  “LaRouche and Harrington tracked him down through employee records and bribed him to kidnap you.”

  “That poor guy. He was collateral damage.”

  “The ladies at Echo Mountain Church are planning a fund-raiser to support his wife’s care.”

  “That’s awfully nice. Think he’ll go to jail?”

  “Nate’s pushing for community service. But be assured, LaRouche and Harrington are going to jail for a very long time.”

  “It’s over.” She sighed. “Finally.”

  Silence stretched between them. The case may be over, but there was more to discuss.

  “Sara—”

  “Thanks for stopping by.” She pulled her hand from his.

  “That sounds like a dismissal.”

  “You should go.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Will, I’m in the hospital because I was given an overdose of a medication that could have killed me. This is what I do for a living. I pursue violent offenders. That kind of ugliness has no place in your life.”

  “You’re going back to the FBI? I thought you were suspended.”

  “After everything that’s happened, especially the lengths I went to to nail LaRouche and Harrington, I think Bonner will offer me my position back.”

  “Sara, there are other ways to fight for justice that don’t involve throwing yourself into the line of fire.”

  She interlaced her hands together, making it impossible for Will to hold them again. “You don’t really know me, Will. You know only a fragment of what I am—the fragile woman who needed to be rescued from the mountains. But I know you. I see the wonderful life you have with two precious girls, and a community that cares about you. You need a woman who will stay home and bake cookies and draw pictures with your daughters. That’s not me.”

  He took a chance. He had to. “How do you know if you’ve never tried?”

  Sara sighed and shook her head. “You should go home, be with your family.”

  “After you answer me one last question, and I need to know so I don’t keep messing things up.”

  “Okay.”

  “I wasn’t imagining it, was I?” he said, his voice hoarse. “This thing between us?”

  “Adrenaline. We were swimming in it most of the time we were together. It’s to be expected that you’d confuse it with something else.”

  “You never felt anything—” he hesitated “—when I did this?”

  Leaning forward, he pressed a gentle kiss on her lips. When he pulled back, her eyes watered with unshed tears.

  “Of course I felt something,” she said. “That’s why you need to leave.” She turned her back to him. “I wish you and the girls the very best.”

  Will started to reach out and stopped himself. He couldn’t force her to open her heart to the glorious possibilities of love, of making a life with Will and the girls. Yet she’d admitted to feeling something, which meant she loved him, right?

  Determined. Wasn’t that one of her finest qualities? In this case he sensed she was determined that Will find a better woman than Sara.

  There was no better woman than Sara, not for Will anyway. How could he convince her of that?

  He pressed a light kiss against her head. “I love you, Sara Vaughn. God bless.”

  SEVENTEEN

  Two days later, Sara was released from the hospital and moved into the Echo Mountain Resort at the request of Detective Walsh. Although the case against LaRouche and Harrington seemed solid, Nate wanted Sara to stay in town until they resolved some issues.

  The longer she stayed, the harder it would be to leave, especially because of the gifts Will and the girls dropped off at the front desk for her: chocolates, homemade cookies she assumed were snicker poodles and drawings. There were drawings of Will and the girls, drawings of the mountains and drawings of Will and Sara holding hands.

  She sighed. If only...

  And why not? Why couldn’t you be happy here with Will and the girls?

  She grabbed her phone and pressed the number for her boss at the FBI, but didn’t hit Send. He’d left her a few messages asking her to call him back and discuss her situation.

  A part of her had no interest in whatever he had to say, even if he offered an apology and her job back. After spending the week with the people of Echo Mountain, she saw what true loyalty looked like, loyalty and trust. For whatever reason, she’d never developed that kind of relationship with her peers or supervisors at work. They hadn’t even trusted her enough to share critical information about their investigation of David Price—which would have prevented this entire disaster.

  The lack of trust was partially her fault. Up to this point in life she rarely trusted anyone, yet if you didn’t trust, you couldn’t expect people to trust you in return.

  Then there was Will.

  She placed her phone on the table and gazed out the window.

  Who would have thought a man like Will would have helped her see the world differently, taught her to trust and work as a team? She could take that lesson back with her to the FBI, which would make her a better agent.

  For some reason, she couldn’t make the call.

  “What is wrong with you?” she muttered.

  A knock sounded at the door. She crossed the hotel room and welcomed Nate. “Hey, come on in.”

  Nate, arm in a sling, entered her room.

  “How’s the shoulder?” she asked.

  “Less irritating than yesterday.”

  “And the shooter?”

  “Alive, and talking once he heard LaRouche and Harrington had been arrested. He’d been on their payroll for years as an enforcer.”

  “A drug company needing an enforcer. That says it all.” She shook her head. “How’s the investigation going?”

  Nate noticed her neatly folded clothes in an open suitcase. “Why, you in a hurry to leave town?”

  “I guess.” She went back to the window. Bree and a young man were putting up Christmas lights along the split rail fence.

  Christmas, the holiday she never celebrated because she was alone, because she thought spending it with her little brother would only remind him of everything they’d lost.

  “It doesn’t work, ya know,” Nate said.

  She turned to him. “I’m sorry?”

  “Running.”

  “Not sure what you mean.”

  “I recognize that look in your eye. I used to see it when I looked in the mirror. So I ran, thinking it would go away.” He shrugged. “It didn’t.”

  “I’m not sure I know what—”

  “Will Rankin.”

  “What about him?”

  “You’ll regret it.”

  She tore her gaze from Nate’s and changed the subject. “You think the case is solid against LaRouche and Harrington?”

  “One hundred percent. I’ve gotta ask—what were you thinking swallowing that pill?”

  “I’d hoped to fake it, but well, you saw the video. LaRouche got hold of me.”

  “Why agree to take it in the first place?”

  “They threatened to hurt Will and the girls.”

  “Ah, right, go after the people you love as leverage.”

  Her gaze shot up to meet his.

  “I’m a detective, remember?” He winked. “I know Will fell fast and hard, but I wasn’t as sure about you—” he hesitated “—until just now. Wish you’d reconsider abandoning him. The guy’s been through a lot.”

  “It’s better this way.”

 
“Better for whom?” he challenged.

  Her phone rang and she eyed the caller ID. “My boss,” she said, to put an end to her conversation with Nate.

  “I’ll see what I can do about letting you leave town,” he said. He opened the door and turned. “Too bad, though. Chief Washburn is retiring and they’ve offered me his job. I could use a seasoned detective on my team.”

  “I’m sure you’ll have plenty of officers fighting for that spot.”

  “None with the experience of a federal agent.”

  Nate left and she went back to the window. Light snow dusted the grounds with the spirit of Christmas. Bree looked up and waved at Sara. Sara waved back and smiled. Then Sara glanced at Claire’s and Marissa’s drawings on the dining table. Another smile tugged at the corner of her lips. She wasn’t used to all this smiling.

  Sara fingered one of the drawings and noticed writing on the backside. She turned it over...

  And read a Bible quote written in Will’s hand: “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” Proverbs 13:12.

  Sara’s phone beeped, indicating another missed call. Her boss. Rather than call him back and make a rash decision that would affect the rest of her life, she decided to try something radical, for her anyway.

  She kneeled beside the bed, clasped her hands together and opened her heart to God’s love, praying for guidance, and maybe even...forgiveness.

  * * *

  Will hadn’t seen Sara in the past few days, but he knew she was staying at the resort. His friend, resort manager Aiden McBride, told Will that she rarely left her room.

  Will had to stop thinking about her and let nature take its course. Sara must come to peace in her own way, in her own time. When she did, Will hoped, he prayed, she’d find her way back to him.

  Tonight, as they waited for the town’s Christmas tree to light up, as it would every Saturday through Christmas, he ached for Sara to be here with him and the girls.

  “What time is it, Daddy?” Marissa said, smiling as she stared at the tree.

  “Almost time, sweetie pie,” he said.

  Claire squeezed his other hand. “Can we get cider after the tree lighting?”

  “Sounds like a great idea.”

  “And roasted checker nuts?” Marissa asked.

  “They’re called chestnuts, not checker nuts,” Claire said, rolling her eyes.

  “I like checker nuts.” Marissa pouted.

  “So do I,” his mother-in-law said, stepping up beside them.

  She smiled at Will, actually smiled.

  “Hi, Mary,” Will said, giving her a hug.

  “I like chocolate more than checker—I mean, chestnuts,” Claire said.

  “We’ll get you some of that, too, if you’d like,” Mary said.

  “Really? You said sugar makes us hyper,” Claire said.

  “A little sugar at Christmastime won’t hurt.” Mary smiled at her granddaughters.

  “She came, she came to the tree lighting!” Marissa took off into the crowd.

  “Wait, Marissa, hang on.” Will ran after her, while Mary hung back with Claire.

  Eyes on his daughter’s bright pink jacket, he didn’t even notice what had gotten her all excited until he was face-to-face with Sara.

  “Hi, Miss Sara! Merry Christmas!” Marissa said, hugging her. Sara kneeled and hugged Marissa back.

  Will was speechless, unsure what to think. She’d kept to herself, locked in her hotel room for the past five days, yet she was here, standing right in front of him.

  Sara stood. “Hi,” she said to Will.

  “Hello.”

  “Give her a hug, Daddy,” Marissa encouraged.

  Before he could reach for her, Sara wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned against his chest. He held her then, squeezed her tight so that he could remember this moment forever, because it could be just that, a moment.

  He breathed in her scent, a mix of vanilla and cinnamon, and realized he’d always think of Sara at the holidays.

  “Claire, Claire, look!” Marissa motioned to her sister.

  Will released Sara, who greeted his eldest daughter. “Hi, Claire, it’s so good to see you.”

  “You, too, Miss Sara,” Claire said.

  “Merry Christmas, Sara,” Mary said. “Girls, how about we find Papa at the hot-cocoa table.”

  “Cocoa! Cocoa! Cocoa!” Marissa clapped, jumping up and down.

  “Calm down.” Claire rolled her eyes again.

  The girls grabbed on to their grandmother’s hands and waded through the crowd.

  “Wow, your mother-in-law actually wished me a Merry Christmas,” Sara said.

  “I guess she was impressed that you were willing to die to protect me and the girls.”

  She looked at him in question.

  “Nate told us why you took the drug in the first place.”

  “Wow, word really gets around.”

  He shrugged. “Small town.”

  A moment of uncomfortable silence passed between them, then he asked the question he dreaded hearing the answer to. “When do you go back?”

  “To work?”

  He nodded.

  “I’m not going back.”

  Could this mean...?

  “Why not?” he asked.

  “I’m leaving the FBI.”

  Hope swelled in his chest. “What about catching the bad guys?”

  “I can do that from anywhere.” She hesitated. “Like here, maybe?”

  “You mean...?”

  She shrugged. “Echo Mountain, if that’s okay with you.”

  “Really?” he said in disbelief.

  “Unless you think it’s a bad idea.”

  “No, it’s a great idea. What changed your mind?”

  She slipped her hand into his. “A very wise man told me I could fight for justice in ways other than throwing myself into the line of fire.”

  “Sounds like a brilliant man,” he teased.

  “I guess that’s why I fell in love with him, huh?” She offered a tender smile.

  “Aw, honey, I am blessed beyond words,” he said, and kissed her, right there, in front of the entire community of Echo Mountain.

  Applause broke out around them, and they both smiled, breaking the kiss. Friends patted him on the back, offering congratulations and warm wishes.

  All he could see was Sara, the woman he loved.

  The Christmas tree suddenly lit up, bathing the crowd in an array of color. The group burst into song—“Joy to the World.”

  Will and Sara shared a knowing smile.

  “They’re playing your song,” she teased.

  “No, sweetheart, it’s our song.”

  * * * * *

  Keep reading for an excerpt from SUBMERGED by Elizabeth Goddard.

  Dear Reader,

  Trust is a complicated belief that can cause a myriad of emotions. Sometimes, when we’ve been betrayed, we find it hard to trust and love, afraid to risk being hurt again.

  Single father Will Rankin lost his young wife to cancer a few years ago, and now aches for a connection, a connection to a woman who will also be a nurturing force in his young daughters’ lives. What he does not expect is to be drawn to a woman he rescues, an FBI agent determined never to trust or love again. Her only goal: justice, even at great personal cost.

  Sara Vaughn experienced tragedy at a very young age, and has closed herself off to the very idea of love. Yet Will is a compassionate and determined man, who sees the possibilities for Sara to ease out of the darkness and into the light.

  Through their journey we learn that no matter how deep a person’s emotional wounds, through compassion and love we can find our wa
y back to grace. And yes, we can even learn to trust and love again. There’s no better time to be reminded of this lesson than at Christmas.

  Peace,

  Hope White

  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.

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  Submerged

  by Elizabeth Goddard

  ONE

  Kessler Island, Southeast Alaska

  September

  Dread crept up Cobie MacBride’s spine. She’d never wanted to do this again. But here she was, facing her past in an attempt to gain a future. Facing a cave again, when she never wanted to see the inside of another one after the caving accident that had taken her brother Brad’s life. She was here today for an entirely different reason, and yet it was all connected.

  She’d expected a yawning opening, but instead she stared at the slim crawlway into the cave, low and vertical. A muddy chute into the underworld. A trickle of water ran down the towering rock face; velvety moss covered the ground and entrance. Surrounded by the lush greenery of ferns, the cave—a product of this karst-laden land—had remained hidden on Kessler Island, one of thousands of islands, most uninhabited, in southeast Alaska’s Tongass National Forest.

  Her archaeologist father had found it and written about it in his journal. That was the only reason she was here. He had been missing for six months now and presumed dead. They’d been estranged for years, until last Christmas when he’d called and claimed he wanted to make up for the past and would be in touch soon.

  She never heard from him again.

  Peering at the cave now—a place where he’d recently been and walked, that one last connection to him—Cobie knew she wouldn’t go inside alone. Bad enough she’d arrived on the island via floatplane ahead of Laura and Jen, two spelunking buddies she’d lost touch with over the years who had been eager enough to go on this venture with her. After she’d dumped her pack containing extra clothes, food and other supplies at the public-use cabin, she’d figured she could scout out one of the two cave entrances detailed in her father’s journal. He’d made sure that someone delivered the journal into her hands, leaving her with more questions than answers. All she wanted to do was go inside and see the last thing her father had written about.