by Jodie Bailey
She’d better count her blessings that Trey wasn’t doing the questioning. His adrenaline and anger still ran high. He’d raced with Kito toward the sound of a gunshot, terrified of what he’d find. When he’d come upon that small clearing and seen Olivia’s hands around Macey’s neck, he’d never known such rage.
But Kito had only seen his long-lost mistress. He’d pulled free from Trey’s grasp and rushed at the woman, knocking her sideways.
Trey had used that advantage and managed to get her on the ground and cuffed just as the rest of his team ran up, alerted by the same shot he’d followed.
They hauled Olivia out while he ran to Macey, terrified he was too late. Her neck was so red. Her face was so lifeless... But she’d come around as he’d carried her to the house, the commander calling in help as they made their way back. Medics from nearby Camp McGee were already waiting and had rushed Macey, who’d been trying to talk, away from him and inside, barring him entry.
He wanted to know, needed to know, that she was okay. And they wouldn’t let him in. Like he was the failure. Like he’d let this happen. Like he was no better than his old—
No. Trey lifted his shoulders and pulled his hands from the rail. He wasn’t his old self. Like he’d told Macey, he was a new person. Those men were doing their job and there was no room for him to start doubting what he knew to be true about his life in Christ. He was a man who was competent and capable and could be trusted. A man who—
Behind him, the door opened, and he whirled around. The taller of the two medics who had whisked Macey inside stepped out and Trey was in front of her before she could shut the door. “How is she?”
Behind him, Captain Harrison chuckled.
Trey didn’t care. He could laugh all he wanted. Macey was what mattered, not what anyone else thought of him.
The female medic gave Trey an understanding smile. “Fortunately for her, Olivia Whittaker didn’t learn her self-defense very well. She choked off Macey Price’s carotid instead of crushing her windpipe. Painful and causing a loss of consciousness but probably not doing permanent damage.” She looked over Trey’s shoulder at the commander. “She’s refusing transport. I’d advise getting her to a hospital for some scans to be certain, but she seems to be fine. She’ll bruise, and it will look horrible, but I’m cautiously optimistic there’s no permanent damage.”
Trey didn’t wait to hear more. He pushed into the house, where the male medic was packing a case at the kitchen table. “Where is she?”
The man aimed a finger at the living room.
Macey was propped up on the couch. She smiled weakly when she saw Trey. “Where’d you disappear to?”
“They barred the door. Wouldn’t let me in. I fought with all I had, but there were more of them than there was of me.”
“I know you better than that.” Her smile widened. “They ordered you to stay outside, so you did.”
Yeah, she knew him, all right. Better than anyone else in the world ever had. He stepped around the recliner and walked over to the couch, dropping to his knees on the hardwood beside Kito, who lay protectively on the floor by Macey. “How do you feel?”
“Like someone tried to kill me.” She lifted her hand and laid it on the back of his neck. “But better now that you’re here.”
“You took her down, huh?”
“I fought hard. Almost won, too. Turns out I’m a good teacher and she used my knowledge against me.” She glanced past him. “So Kito saved the day.”
“Of course he did. He’s a good dog like that.”
At the sound of his name, Kito raised his head and shoved his nose against Trey’s knee. Pet me.
Macey smiled. “Sometimes, I think he likes you better than he likes me.”
“Never. Nobody could ever love anyone more than they love you.” He purposely threw the word out there, testing the waters, wondering if she could read his mind the way he’d read hers before.
Dropping her hand to the side of the couch, Macey scratched Kito’s head close to where Trey’s hand rested. She arched an eyebrow. “This is true love. You think this happens every day?”
Trey rolled his eyes and laughed. That movie again. The one that had actually saved their lives. He’d love it—and her—for the rest of his days. And if he was going to make the leap, he might as well go all the way. “You’ll probably play the theme song for that movie in the prelude of our wedding, won’t you?”
Without a breath of hesitation, Macey leaned forward until her nose practically brushed his. “Definitely.”
This time, she kissed him. And when she did, every doubt, every fear and every question of whether or not he was worthy of her love vanished. This was his gift and his future...and he would thank God for it every day for the rest of his life.
EPILOGUE
It was entirely too hot outside. And entirely too muggy.
Trey grabbed the sides of his pickup truck’s bed, planted his feet and leaned back to stretch the tight muscles in his shoulders. He’d mowed Macey’s grass early to avoid the heat, but he’d still finished up dusty and gross. The scent of fresh-cut grass hung in the air. Usually, he loved the summer smell, but today it only reminded him of misery.
Whoever had scheduled moving day for the inferno heat of July needed a serious talking-to. Getting out of the North Carolina Sandhills in the heat of summer couldn’t happen fast enough. He was ready for his beloved mountains.
And the start of his new life.
A door slammed shut and Trey pulled himself straight.
On the front porch, Macey stopped and surveyed the front yard with Kito at her side. A blue bucket full of cleaning supplies dangled loosely from her fingers, and she reached down and scratched the dog’s head with her free hand. Her hair was pulled back from her face, and she wore cutoff jean shorts and one of Trey’s old PT shirts, streaked with house dust and grime. Macey looked exactly like a woman who’d been cleaning an empty house in the worst part of a North Carolina summer.
And she’d never been more beautiful.
Trey gave her a moment to reflect, then knocked his knuckles against the hot metal of the truck. If they didn’t get moving, he’d stand here all day and watch her. It had become his favorite pastime. “You about ready to roll? I’m ready for some AC and the biggest sweet tea they can pass me through a drive-through window. Maybe even two of them.”
She turned his way with a grin. “You’re speaking my language. Let me give Kito one more run in the backyard before we head out.” With a final pat to the dog’s head, she practically jumped down the stairs, wiping a rogue hair from her eyes. The diamond on her left hand caught the midday July sun and sparkled like runway lights.
The beacon that called him home. Yeah, he was definitely ready to get moving on their new life. The time between the securing of Macey’s freedom in the fall and this day in the summer had been long. Even longer since he’d dropped to one knee on Valentine’s Day and asked her to wear that ring. He’d created a cliché right down to the twinkly lights he’d twined around the railing on her deck, and she’d loved every second of it, especially since her name had officially been cleared and her nightmare had officially been declared over just the day before.
Once in custody, Olivia had poured out everything, and her testimony had been more than enough to locate the Frye brothers and to shut down Sapphire Skull for good. With the destruction of their terroristic plans, Macey was finally free to live her life in safety.
With Trey.
He followed her to the back gate, where they both stood and stared at the yard he’d mowed that morning. The new owners would take possession of the house the next day. “You locked up?”
“Yep.”
“You sad to leave it?” Trey braced his hands on the rough wood fence. It had been the one worry that had nagged him ever since she’d accepted his proposal. Being away from her while he wo
rked at Camp McGee often swamped him with doubts. He’d had more than one marathon prayer session with Jesus, working out his trust issues and his fears.
Macey wasn’t going to betray him, he had no doubt. But she was leaving everything for him: her home, her job, her entire life... It seemed as though she was doing all of the sacrificing.
“I’m not sad at all. I’m definitely not going to miss a house where everywhere I turn, all I see is Olivia’s betrayal and the place where armed men busted in my door. Or where I shot a man inside my own home.” Shuddering, Macey rested her head against his shoulder. “Besides, since you left in January, what reason do I have to stay?”
“Your job?”
“Found a better one.” Macey had taken on a new position at the clinic on Camp McGee, heading up their physical therapy department. She’d be perfect with the soldiers recovering there.
“Your family?” He couldn’t help pushing. Maybe there was a part of him that still needed to hear her say he was the love of her life. He smiled and kissed her on top of the head. Yeah, he’d never get tired of hearing that.
“God will work that out.” As she was. Although she was working to reconnect with her mother, the going was rough and a matter of constant prayer. She tilted her head and kissed his jaw. “Besides, we’re building one together. But what about you? You’re giving up the bachelor life and you’re also giving up undercover work. You good with that?”
When Kito took off after a bird, Trey put his arm around Macey’s shoulders. He was more than good with that. His stint working Macey’s case had convinced him that he wasn’t cut out for pretending to be someone and something he wasn’t. After a few long talks with his chain of command and a whole lot of prayer, Trey had decided to take on a new assignment, coordinating and supporting the undercover operatives who were out in the field. “I’m perfectly good with that.” He squeezed her shoulder. “Keeps me home more with you.”
Macey shifted beneath his arm, turned and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’m perfectly good with that, too.”
Trey slipped his arms around her waist and clasped his hands at her lower back, then lowered his head to kiss her.
She met him halfway.
The same way she would in two days, when they were presented for the first time as husband and wife at an open-air chapel in the mountains near Camp McGee.
And when Trey stood before everyone and proved that God had not only restored his past... He’d given Trey a greater future than he ever could have imagined.
* * *
If you enjoyed this story, look for these other books by Jodie Bailey:
Mistaken Twin
Hidden Twin
Fatal Identity
Keep reading for an excerpt from Hostage Pursuit by Jenna Night.
Dear Reader,
The foundation of Trey and Macey’s story is rooted in Isaiah 41:10. While I was writing their story, my family’s life was thrown totally off-kilter by two unexpected twists...and that was before COVID-19 came along to make everything even more difficult. It has been a season of tears and fears and stresses. It has also been a season of miracles that I will never be able to explain. Through it all—the very good days and the horribly rough days—we have seen evidence of God’s presence. I wish I had the time to sit down and tell you all of the ways God has definitely not left us nor forsaken us.
We’ve all been hurt. Some of us, like Trey, have had our lives stung by betrayal. Others, like Macey, have felt the devastation of abandonment. Those things leave scars that last, even after the pain has dulled. It’s so easy to project the traits of fallible humans onto God. It’s so easy to believe the lie that He would walk away.
But I promise you, He doesn’t. And like I’ve said in reader letters before, when we look back, we can see exactly where He was and that He was there all along. In people... In places... In the little “coincidences” that pop up. In a moment of peace amid a storm. I beg you to look for Him. I promise you will find Him.
If you’d like, drop by www.jodiebailey.com and say hello. I’d love to hear from you. I’d especially love to hear about those times God has shown you His presence. Those stories are my very favorite.
Jodie Bailey
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Hostage Pursuit
by Jenna Night
ONE
“They’ve got my mom. They say they’ll kill her if I call the police.”
Bounty hunter Daisy Lopez felt her breath catch in her throat as she stopped dead in her tracks and read the threatening text on her phone. Her heart hammered so furiously in her chest that it seemed as if her lungs wouldn’t work. And her stomach suddenly felt like a twisted block of ice. She tore her gaze away from the words and held out her phone with the screen facing her boss and fellow bounty hunter, Alvis Carter, so that he could see the message.
“This is no idle threat,” she added, the tension in her tightened throat making the words come out as a distraught whisper. “They really will kill her.”
Alvis sighed and nodded. “You’re right.” Sunlight filtered through the pines surrounding the dirt parking lot where they were standing and shone down on the gray stubble covering his upper lip and chin. Alvis was still mentally a sharp tracker, but he’d reached a point in life where the physical side of the job took a toll on him pretty quickly. That meant he counted on Daisy to do most of the running and climbing when they were chasing bad guys, which was fine with her. “What do you want to do?” he asked.
That was a good question.
At the moment they were on the trail of a pair of mob-connected professional hit men trying to escape the long arm of the law out of Miami by hiding in Jameson, Montana. Daisy had started the hunt for the bail jumpers five days ago, showing photos of Beau Daltrey and Ivan Bunker to people at hotels, gas stations and restaurants, and to Realtors who specialized in short-term rental properties. Alvis had finished up another case he’d been working and had joined in Daisy’s chase this morning. They’d just left a realty office where an employee had looked at photos and confirmed that she’d seen Daltrey and Bunker when the text announcing the abduction of Shannon Lopez arrived on Daisy’s phone. Clearly, the Miami mob assassins had figured out that Daisy was hot on their trail.
She and Alvis resumed walking toward her SUV when her phone chimed again with a text message from the same unknown number.
She tapped on the message and was once more stopped in her tracks when she saw the horrifying video image that opened on the screen. It was her mother, with her hands and feet bound with duct tape and a strip of cloth tied across her mouth. Her eyes were huge and filled with terror.
A voice off camera started to speak and Daisy quickly increased the volume. “Stop looking for us,” a man said. “When we get far enough away, we’ll set your mother free. Until then, back off. If you call the cops, she dies.”
Daisy’s entire body was shaking by the time the short message ended. She played it three more times, with Alvis coming around behind her to peer over her shoulder and watch it with her. It took several seconds after the last viewing before she could take a step. Her body was numb and it felt like her feet were encased in concrete. She barely made it to her SUV, where she dropped into the driver’s seat as a cold wave of terror slammed through her.
“This is bad,” Alvis said, his voice husky with emotion. “I know they said not to do it, but maybe getting law enforcement involved is the best call.”
Daisy met his gaze and she saw the sorrow and defeat in his eyes. He was probably thinking the same thing she was. That the two hit men would likely kill Shannon no matter what Daisy did. They had nothing to lose. They were already facing murder charges
back in Miami and they were obviously desperate to stay out of prison.
But this was Daisy’s mom. She couldn’t give up on her. There had to be something she could do. She watched the video again, this time forcing herself to shove her emotions aside and focus on what she could see. Because in the middle of her heartbreak and horror while viewing the video the previous times, her brain had registered the sight of something familiar.
“Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” she asked Alvis, tilting her phone slightly to give him a better view.
“Yeah,” he said slowly. “That looks like the Jameson Recreation Hall on the east side of Lake Dillon.”
The video focused mainly on Shannon lying tied up in the back of the SUV with the hatch open. But several yards away was a section of a wooden structure that looked familiar. Daisy couldn’t see the whole thing, but it appeared to be a segment of the L-shaped building with dining facilities and an area where paddleboards and other pieces of sports equipment were rented out in the warmer summer months. Now that it was early October and already dropping to near-freezing temperatures at night, the building would be closed up for the season.
Daisy started the engine of her SUV. “They might not still be there, but let’s go have a look. I don’t want to call the police yet. The last thing we need is an officer in a patrol car up there looking around. That could spook Daltrey and Bunker, and if they have to make a quick escape, they might decide that dragging my mom along with them is too much trouble.” She swallowed thickly. “They might decide they don’t want to leave a witness behind who could help the cops find them. They might shoot her.”
Daisy gripped the steering wheel so tightly that her knuckles were white as she drove to the recreation hall as fast as she could, hoping and praying that the fugitives from Miami didn’t realize how easily identifiable the building was to someone who’d lived in Jameson all her life.