Cally sat on a bench by the front door, eyes closed. Concerned, he made his way over to her and sat down.
“Sweetheart? Are you doing okay?” He took her hand as she opened her eyes, the corner of her mouth tilting upward. “Feeling overwhelmed? The ceremony is a lot to take in.”
“It certainly was, but I’m fine, with regards to that. It was a lovely ceremony, and you gave a great pep talk. I heard a lot of people talking about it afterward.”
“Really?”
“Well, sort of.” She giggled. “Mostly they were saying how much they liked your hat and comparing you to Mountie characters they’ve seen on TV and in movies, but still. They were talking about you!”
He rolled his eyes, feigning annoyance. He was used to that part of the job by now, and it didn’t bother him anymore. Really, so long as public perception of the RCMP was positive, he was doing his job right. “I’m so glad to have helped so many people create their new profile photos for social media.”
Cally playfully punched his arm, but her cheerful expression fell away as several caterers came out of the reception room carrying mostly empty trays of sandwiches and other finger foods. The scent of egg salad and deli meats wafted over to the bench where they were seated.
Aaron startled in alarm at the color draining from her face. “Cally! You don’t look well. Do you need to get to the washroom? Or a hospital? Was there something wrong with the food?”
She covered her mouth and shook her head, but sprang off the bench and hurried outside. He followed her, dread in the pit of his stomach.
“Sweetheart, what’s going on?”
She waved at him as if he didn’t need to be concerned, but he wasn’t buying it.
“Tell me how I can help,” he said. After such a joyful day, it pained him to see her in distress. “Here, I have a ginger chew in my pocket.” He retrieved it and held it out to her. To his great surprise, she took one look at it...and began to laugh. He wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or even more worried.
“No, no,” she said through gasping breaths, “it’s not what you’re thinking. I’m fine. Better than fine, in fact. I just...I couldn’t be around the smell of that food. It was making me nauseated.”
“Was it...” He lowered his voice and looked around, making sure none of the caterers were in earshot. “Off? Not good? I can send in a complaint—”
“Aaron, no. Stop. I’m sure it was delicious. The smell just wasn’t agreeing with me. I’m sure you’ve noticed this happening more than once in the past few weeks.”
He thought back, scouring his memory. The details were fuzzy, but he thought he recalled her running from the room when he’d made breakfast a few days ago. He’d assumed she’d needed to check her email or change her shirt, something like that.
“You’re telling me those times were related to this?” He was so confused. “What’s going on?”
Color slowly came back into her cheeks, but instead of her complexion returning to its usual hue, the rosiness deepened as if she was flushed.
“Well, I wasn’t sure until this morning. And then with the ceremony and everything, I wasn’t sure how to bring it up, and I didn’t know if I wanted to until after today, because...”
Her eyes suddenly filled with tears. He gripped her shoulders and pulled her into his arms, cradling her head to his chest. “Cally, I love you so much. You can tell me anything, anytime. After five years, you have to know that will never change. Whatever it is, we’ll get through it together. Just the two of us.”
She sniffled again, then drew back, staring at him with a seriousness he’d never seen on her face before. “But, Aaron...what if it’s not just the two of us?”
The world dropped away, the way it had only once before. His brain tried to process the words, to catch up to what his heart already understood the moment she glanced down at her middle, hands on her belly.
“Cally? Are we...? Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
She nodded and burst into tears—and so did he.
“We’re having a baby,” she whispered. “You’re going to be a father.”
He held her tightly, reveling in the moment, until a thought popped into his head—a thought filled with doubt and anxiety. He held her at arm’s length to search her eyes.
“Are you all right with this? I know your relationship with your mother hasn’t been ideal, and this means you’re about to step into the role...” He let the question linger, but she understood. She nodded and smiled, then held up the family Bible from her own mother.
“A few years ago, I wouldn’t have been ready. But I am now.”
A family reconciled, a relationship healed and an official beginning united under the same banner. Thank you, Lord.
With a greater joy than he’d ever known was even possible, Aaron kissed her—nervous and excited, ready for the days to come, together as a team.
* * *
If you enjoyed Christmas Under Fire, look for the other books in the Mountie Brotherhood series:
Wilderness Pursuit
Accidental Eyewitness
Keep reading for an excerpt from Valiant Defender by Shirlee McCoy.
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Dear Reader,
Thank you so much for joining Aaron and Cally during the holidays! No matter where you’re from or how you celebrate—or who you celebrate with!—I hope that it’s a season of peace and joy for you.
Like Cally, you might have a challenging family situation to manage. Or like Aaron, you may come from a loving, close-knit family that helps each other out in a pinch. Perhaps you’re experiencing a season of loss, like Cally, and I think it is especially important to acknowledge that Christmas can be a difficult time for those who are grieving. Wherever God has placed you this holiday season—and whomever He has placed you with—I hope you feel His presence and His grace in the busyness and in the quiet moments.
I’m honored that during the bustle of the season, you’ve chosen to spend time between these pages. Aaron is the final Thrace brother to be married in the Mountie Brotherhood series, so if you missed Sam’s and Leo’s stories, be sure to check them out, too!
Blessings,
Michelle
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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Valiant Defender
by Shirlee McCoy
ONE
Canyon Air Force Base was silent. Houses shuttered, lights off. Streets quiet. Just the way it should be in the darkest hours of the morning. Captain Justin Blackwood didn’t let the quiet make him complacent. Seven months ago, an enemy had infiltrate
d the base. Boyd Sullivan, aka the Red Rose Killer—a man who’d murdered five people in his hometown before he’d been caught—had escaped from prison and continued his crime spree, murdering several more people and wreaking havoc on the base. He’d released two hundred highly trained military dogs from the base kennel and created a feeling of unease among the community. Sullivan wanted to destroy everyone and everything that he blamed for his failures.
Justin planned to stop him.
“What are your thoughts, Captain?” Captain Gretchen Hill asked as he sped through the quiet community. A temporary transfer from Minot Air Force Base, Gretchen had been in Texas for several months, observing the way Justin, himself a K-9 handler, commanded the Security Forces. When she returned to her post, she’d help set up a K-9 unit there.
“I don’t think we’re going to find him at the house,” he responded. “But when it comes to Boyd Sullivan, I believe in checking out every lead.”
“The witness reported lights? She didn’t actually see Boyd?”
“She didn’t see him, but the family that lived in the house left for a new post two days ago. Lots of moving trucks and activity. She’s worried Sullivan might have noticed and decided to squat in the empty property. Since she lives on the same court, she’s terrified.”
“Based on how easily Boyd has slipped through our fingers these past few months, I’d say he’s too smart to squat in base housing,” Gretchen said.
“I agree,” Justin responded. He’d been surprised at how much he enjoyed working with Gretchen. He’d expected her presence to feel like a burden, one more person to worry about and protect. But she had razor-sharp intellect and a calm, focused demeanor that had been an asset to the team. She didn’t shirk duties, didn’t complain about long hours, didn’t stand back and take notes while others did the job. She’d thrown herself into her temporary assignment wholeheartedly.
As much as Justin had dreaded her arrival, he was going to miss her when she was gone.
“Even if he decided to spend a few nights in an empty house, why turn on the lights? He knows this base. He knows that everyone on it is on high alert and searching for him.”
“If he’s there, he wants us to know it,” Justin responded. It was the only explanation that made sense. And it was the kind of game Sullivan liked to play—taunting his intended victims, letting them know that he was closing in. He left red roses and notes before he struck. I’m coming for you. He loved to kill, but terrorizing people was his drug of choice.
He needed to be stopped.
Tonight. Not in another month or two or three.
For the sake of the people on base and for Portia’s sake.
Just thinking about his sixteen-year-old daughter being targeted by Sullivan made Justin’s blood run cold. A year and a half ago, Portia had come to live with him unexpectedly and reluctantly, forced to give up her school and friends after her mother died in a car accident. The loss had hit her hard. A shy teenager who seemed to have trouble connecting with her peers, she’d turned to the internet for comfort and amused herself by blogging. Unfortunately, she’d chosen the wrong topic, and had been unmasked as the anonymous blogger on the Red Rose Killer.
She’d had no idea, of course, that Justin and Boyd had crossed paths long before Boyd’s escape from prison. She’d had no idea just how much danger she was putting herself in.
While Justin and his team had struggled to find Boyd and identify the anonymous blogger, Portia had been quietly listening to their conversations and gathering information that she’d posted online. Worse, she’d mocked Boyd—a man who was as arrogant as he was dangerous. That, along with being Justin’s daughter, had put her in the crosshairs of the killer. She’d received a threatening note from Boyd a week ago, and that terrified Justin.
If anything happened to Portia, Justin would never forgive himself.
Please, Lord, help me keep her safe.
The prayer flitted through his mind as he turned into a cul-de-sac and eyed the darkened windows of the houses there. This was the quiet residential area of the base. Single-family homes that housed the larger families of airmen and officers.
“It’s the brick two-story, right?” Gretchen asked, leaning forward as he approached the house.
“Yes.”
“And our witness was certain of what she saw?”
“Yes. She said the house was lit up like a beacon. Almost every room in it. She noticed when she brought her dog out for a walk. Her husband is deployed, and she didn’t want to check it out herself, so she called it in.”
“It could have been a cleaning crew. That is a nice-size house, and there are plenty of air force personnel with big families who’d love to have it. I doubt it’s going to stay empty long,” Gretchen suggested as Justin pulled into the driveway of the two-story brick home. Currently there were no lights in any of the windows. The front door was closed, as were all the visible windows. Someone may have been there, but the place looked empty now.
“That thought crossed my mind, but I want to check it out, anyway.” He turned off the engine, and his K-9, Quinn, shifted impatiently in his travel crate. The Belgian Malinois loved his work, and he was anxious to get out and do it. Trained in suspect apprehension, he had a great nose and a strong prey-and-play drive that made him easy to train and a pleasure to work with. When they’d first been partnered together, Quinn had reminded Justin of Scout—a German shepherd he’d found as a puppy and fostered until he was old enough to enter the K-9 training program. At the time, Justin already had a K-9 partner. Scout had been partnered with another officer and earned a reputation for being a superstar on the team, but he’d remained one of Justin’s favorite dogs.
Now he was missing, along with two more of the four superstar German shepherds that had been released from the kennels by Sullivan.
“Ready, boy?” Justin asked his K-9 as he climbed out of the SUV.
Quinn shifted again, whining softly.
“What’s the plan?” Gretchen asked, following him to the back of the SUV.
“Quinn and I will do a perimeter search. He’ll know if someone is here.”
“You and Quinn? And I’m supposed to wait here and twiddle my thumbs?”
“You are going to keep your eye on the front door. I don’t want anyone escaping out the front while Quinn and I are around back.”
“Come on, Captain. You know that’s not going to happen.”
“When it comes to Boyd Sullivan, I know we need to expect the unexpected.” He opened Quinn’s crate and hooked the dog to his leash.
“When it comes to Sullivan, you’d be happy if you could keep everyone away from him. Admit it. You want me to stay here so I don’t get anywhere close to the guy we’re after.”
She was right, but he wasn’t going to argue the validity of his feelings. The fact was, he was Boyd’s target, and he didn’t want Gretchen to be collateral damage. “Stay here, Captain.”
He headed around the side of the house, Quinn heeling beside him. The dog was nearly prancing with excitement, his nose in the air, his tail high.
And Gretchen, of course, was following, her boots thudding softly on the grassy side yard.
“I told you to stay with the vehicle,” he said, not glancing in her direction. His focus was ahead—the dark backyard and shadowy corners.
“Unfortunately for you, we’re of equal rank and equal authority. This is your base, so usually I do things your way, but going into a situation like this without backup is dangerous. So, this time, I’m doing things my way,” she said, and he couldn’t argue. If Boyd weren’t a factor, he wouldn’t have told her to stay at the SUV.
They were both well-trained military police officers.
They’d both reached the rank of captain.
She was as capable as Justin.
He was still worried.
Quinn turned a tight
circle at the corner of the house, his ears twitching, his scruff raised.
He’d caught a scent. Justin released him from the leash.
“Find,” he commanded, and Quinn barked once, excited. Eager. He bounded toward the back door of the house, head high, obviously detecting a scent.
Please, God, let it be Boyd, Justin prayed silently.
He wanted this over. He wanted Boyd behind bars, his victims finally receiving the justice they deserved, their families finally receiving closure.
Portia safe.
Quinn snuffled an old mat that had been left near the back door, turned a quick circle and bounded away. He worked silently, nose to the ground, trotting along an invisible trail. Left. Right. Toward the back of the house and then away.
No bark of alert. No sprint back to indicate that someone was nearby. They’d been doing this together for years, and Justin knew his dog well enough to know that the Malinois sensed no danger.
His skin crawled, anyway.
He had a feeling about this. One he couldn’t shake. Boyd might not be there now, but Justin’s gut said he had been.
“What do you think?” Gretchen asked quietly.
“Whoever was here is gone,” Justin responded, watching as Quinn ran back to the door. He nudged it with his nose, and it swung open, creaking on old hinges.
Quinn didn’t enter. He just glanced back over his shoulder to see if Justin was following.
“Front!” Justin called, and Quinn sprinted back, stopping short directly in front of him and sitting there, tongue lolling, a happy smile on his face.
“Why would Boyd enter an empty house and then leave?” Gretchen asked, her gaze focused on the open door. “He’s been keeping pretty well hidden. He obviously has safe places to go to ground.”
“I was wondering the same thing,” Justin admitted, walking to the door and shining his flashlight on the opening. He was looking for signs of a booby trap, evidence that Boyd had left something dangerous behind. He wasn’t the kind of criminal who did things without careful planning and thought. He was smart, meticulous and, thus far, one step ahead of Justin and the base police.
Christmas Under Fire Page 18