She paused before them and marched in place, then checked her fitness watch before declaring, “The historical society decided to revive the Redbird Gazette with an online-only version. I hope you’ll consider becoming a contributing writer.”
“Thank you for thinking of me but—”
“Excellent. You were our first choice. You’re also the only famous writer we have in town.”
“I wouldn’t say famous—”
“Gotta go.” Mrs. Lineham checked her fitness watch. “My heartrate is dropping.”
Liam chuckled. “I think you should start an advice column. I can see the tagline now.” He splayed his hands. “‘Emma Knows Your Secrets.’”
“No, thank you.” She shuddered. “I’m done with secrets for a very, very long time. The next book I write is going to be something light. Maybe I’ll even write a children’s book. Speaking of children—”
Liam’s radio crackled to life and Rose’s voice sounded. “Unit 120. We’ve got a report of a steer blocking county road twelve between mile marker thirty and mile marker thirty-one.”
“Ten-four,” Liam replied. He dropped a kiss on Emma’s nose. “Duty calls. Don’t forget we’re having dinner at the Eagle’s Club tonight.”
“I won’t forget.”
Sighing, she turned toward the sign once more. This was the price of being the wife of a law enforcement officer. There was always a small-town crisis interrupting them. And she wouldn’t change a thing.
Liam’s state-issue SUV was parked on the street outside the house, and he circled around the driver’s side. “What were you saying about writing children’s books?”
Emma turned. Steer or no steer, she didn’t think she could keep the news to herself much longer. “The test was positive this morning.”
Liam’s head dropped out of sight as he bent to open the door. “What test?”
“Pregnancy test.”
A car rounded the corner and honked. Liam was rooted to the spot. A dazed expression on his face.
“Oh dear.” Emma rushed toward him and guided him toward the curb. “Are you all right?”
He stumbled slightly, then sat down hard on the curb, a lopsided grin on his face.
“Are you sure?” he asked, his voice hoarse.
“Not completely. It’s early days. I haven’t been to the doctor. Anything can happen.”
He tugged on her hand, guiding her to sit beside him. “Are you happy?”
“Ridiculously so. You?”
“Same.” He paused, the haunted look returning to his eyes. “I was afraid to pray for this, but I did.”
Emma frowned. “Why were you afraid?”
“Because He’s never answered my prayers before. I thought... I worried... I didn’t want to hope.”
Liam’s past had left more than one stumbling block to their future, and she recognized the source of his doubt and insecurity. Jenny’s death had left a scar on his soul.
“God always answers.” She framed his face between her hands, and her heart turned over at the love she saw there. “But sometimes our prayers aren’t in line with His will for our lives. That’s why we have to trust in a bigger plan. Everything that’s happened to us, both the good and the bad, has led us to this point.”
“I love you.”
He pulled her close and kissed her fiercely, and she recognized that he was trying to pour his heart and soul into the gesture. He was trying to tell her how much she meant to him.
“I love you, too,” she whispered, then pressed her hands against his shoulder. “Now go. There’s a steer blocking the road. Duty calls. We’ll talk about this more tonight and for the next nine months.”
He stood and helped her to her feet, then glanced at the sign swaying gently in the breeze. “You know, when you first suggested that slogan, I was skeptical. But I stand by those words. More than that, I take pride in them.”
A flush of pure joy swept through her, and she pressed a hand against her stomach. Before she’d only hoped he was starting to trust in their future, but now she knew for certain.
“Liam McCallister for Sheriff,” she read the words out loud. “A Name You Can Trust.”
* * *
If you liked this story from Sherri Shackelford, check out her previous Love Inspired Suspense book:
No Safe Place
Available now from Love Inspired Suspense!
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Keep reading for an excerpt from Alaskan Christmas Cold Case by Sarah Varland.
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Dear Reader,
When I first started writing, a mentor encouraged me to tape a picture of a “reader” to my computer to remind me of the most important part of the story—you. The reader is the most essential contribution to any book. Writers only provide the framework; your imagination does the rest. Now when I sit in front of my computer, I know I’m writing for Terrill, Valri, Debra E. and Trixi. I’m writing for Marnita, Bobby, Vernell and Cathy... I’m writing for you. I hope you enjoyed Liam and Emma’s journey!
I love connecting with readers and would enjoy hearing your thoughts on this story. If you’re interested in learning more about this book or others that I have written, I have more information on my website: sherrishackelford.com. I can also be reached at email: [email protected], or at PO Box 116, Elkhorn, NE 68022.
My sincerest gratitude for being the reason I’m able to do what I love each day!
Sherri Shackelford
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Alaskan Christmas Cold Case
by Sarah Varland
ONE
Someone had been watching her. All morning, maybe even for the last few days. Goose bumps would run down Erynn Cooper’s arms at the oddest time. In the grocery store, while she was walking from her truck in the parking lot to the trooper building in the mornings...
And she was afraid she knew who. He—or she—had been responsible for five deaths already, six counting her father’s.
She’d always known he would come for her.
Erynn closed the door behind her, debated locking it, but knew that wasn’t why she was in town. She was not running; she was simply trying to live her life, fill her dad’s shoes in any way she could by bringing criminals to justice, helping people feel safe. And keep her ears out for any leads on the cold case that had led to her dad’s death.
Most days she felt like she could barely fill half of one of Mack Cooper’s shoes. Why had he been the one to die so young?
And what wou
ld her life have been like if he hadn’t? She wouldn’t have become a trooper, Erynn didn’t think, but what would she have been?
She’d never had the chance to consider it, not really.
She sat at her desk, shoved aside the little Christmas tree her partner had apparently added while she’d been home sleeping, and poured herself a cup of coffee. She had already told him she wasn’t big on Christmas decorations. Apparently he didn’t care. Every day this week it had been something new. First twinkling lights, then snowman stickers on the windows. Now the tree. Erynn shook her head and took a sip of coffee, startling as her phone chimed the arrival of a text message.
Noah.
You weren’t at the diner last night. Everything okay?
Almost every Saturday night the two of them, along with some friends, played board games at the diner while drinking bad coffee and talking about their weeks. She hadn’t wanted to go last night since yesterday had been odd and she’d felt out of place all day, like something was wrong.
It hadn’t been until this morning that she’d pinpointed the feeling: she was prey and someone was hunting her, or at the very least watching her. But she hadn’t wanted to face Noah when she hadn’t felt her best. Despite her efforts, the man knew her too well. And she didn’t want him getting any closer to her, prying into her life any more.
It would only make things more dangerous for both of them. Her life. His career.
She took a deep breath then a sip of coffee. She had a job to do, and she needed to focus and do it.
Hours passed uneventfully. Erynn glanced at her watch. Less than an hour until she was done for the day. Then what? Go home and hide in her apartment again? Or see if she could find who was watching her? She had her training on her side, wouldn’t be caught off guard.
Then again, her dad had probably thought the same. Pain stabbed her heart and she shook her head. If only this feeling would shake off so easily.
The door creaked open.
In stepped her past in the form of Janie Davis. Erynn felt her jaw tense and a headache start at the corners of her temples. She blinked, but Janie was still standing there. Back from the dead, or so it appeared. And, with her appearance, the heaviness that had crowded Erynn’s high school years, like clouds hanging low over the ocean on a stormy day, also returned.
She’d known Janie from their time in foster care years ago. Erynn couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move. Seeing her past find her here, in her office, at work, would have shaken her enough...but Janie Davis had died three years ago, her body having been found near Moose Haven, on a glacier. Erynn had been one of the officers who had worked the case, along with Noah Dawson and the rest of the Moose Haven Police Department. Except clearly she hadn’t died. Because here she was in the Moose Haven Trooper Station.
Would she ever escape her past?
“What are you doing here?” Erynn shook her head, stood and moved to the windows, pulled the blinds and then looked back at her unexpected visitor. “Never mind. Don’t answer yet. I need another set of ears here.” She hated to do it; it went against every ounce of energy she’d spent this week, keeping him at a distance. But Noah’s was the best law enforcement mind for miles around, besides hers. And his team was good, too. She trusted them and she needed help, preferably from another agency, because if she was right about why Janie was there...this was about to blow up in their faces and they’d all need to work together.
She slid her cell phone from her pocket, deciding texting was the fastest way to get Noah’s attention.
S.O.S. I need you at the Trooper station.
He took only seconds to text back.
You’re safe?
Erynn glanced up at the blonde, whose gaze hadn’t left her.
Not sure.
He should be there within minutes. The two law enforcement offices were separated by two blocks and Erynn was all too aware that when it came to Noah and her... Well, it was complicated. Not something she had space in her life for. But she knew he wouldn’t let anything happen to her if he could help it.
“I can’t believe you aren’t happy to see me.” Janie’s voice was much the same as it had been when they were kids living in the same group home, but more grown-up now, a little husky.
“You’ve been missing. We thought you were dead. Found a body and it matched your description...”
“I’m not dead. And I wasn’t missing. I was hiding. There’s a difference.”
Someone knocked on the door.
“Would have been nice if you’d clarified that with law enforcement.” Erynn moved to the door, slid one of the blind slats wider with her fingers to confirm it was Noah, then let him in. They had butted heads more times than she could count in the years she’d been working Moose Haven and he’d been the police chief. But she had his back, knew he had hers.
Today they needed to work together more than they ever had.
Because if the weighty sense of foreboding that sat on Erynn’s shoulders right now had any bearing on reality...they were all in trouble.
And she and Janie were in danger.
“Is this...?” Noah trailed off, glancing at Janie then at Erynn. She knew he’d seen the missing person’s posters and the photos they’d passed around during the search. He also knew about the eventual discovery of the remains they’d assumed were hers in a crevasse in Harding Icefield, the ice field that connected Moose Haven’s Raven Glacier to Seward’s more well-known Exit Glacier.
But he hadn’t known Janie in person the way Erynn had. And, maybe worse, he hadn’t known about Erynn’s relationship to her, either. She hadn’t known how to admit that the case had edged toward personal for her, had danced toward the line of her possibly having to not be on the case.
Because it hadn’t seemed necessary.
Because they’d needed her.
Because she’d cared too much about it to let it out of her hands.
* * *
In all the years he’d known Erynn, Noah had never seen her like this. She was the one in control of situations, sure of herself and bossy to a fault. The woman in front of him right now? He didn’t know what could have made her so upset.
However, the fact that someone they’d both thought was dead was standing in the trooper station? It wasn’t a good sign. Scratch that—it had been Noah who had thought they should stop looking at the case, and the rest of the Moose Haven Police Department and the troopers had agreed with him. The case had gone cold; everything had pointed to the possibility it could have been an accident. Erynn’s assertions that they should look more closely at the situation had been ignored.
He was wishing he’d listened to her now.
“This is Janie Davis.” Erynn’s voice was steady but not as steely as usual. Noah waited, not wanting to step into what was technically her case at the moment since Janie had come to her. But Erynn just stood there. Staring. Her face had paled and he watched as she swallowed hard.
There would be time for her to argue with him about this later, but for now he was going to handle things.
“Janie, I’m Noah Dawson, the Moose Haven Police Chief. Can we sit down? We have some questions for you, as you might have assumed, and I’m hoping your presence here means you intend to answer them.”
She shook her head. “I want to talk to Erynn.”
Erynn. Why did she use her first name? Most people would have said “Trooper Cooper.”
Noah looked at his friend. At the woman who had been tying his insides in knots for years—both professionally and personally, whether she knew it or not.
“Since Chief Dawson and I work together on cases often, he needs to be here, too.” Erynn spoke up. “Let’s go into my office.” She looked at Noah, met his eyes, but he couldn’t tell what, if anything, she was trying to convey.
He followed her down the short hallway, into her office, mentally pulling up
everything he’d known about the case. They had initially referred to the woman in the glacier crevasse outside Seward as “The Ice Maiden” before linking that case to the disappearance of a woman in Anchorage named Janie Davis. She had matched the description—even though they’d never been able to recover the body. It had been deemed too dangerous, something that was not rare in the Alaskan backcountry.
Maybe he should have pushed for that, told Erynn’s superiors who had flown out that leaving a body left questions unanswered and was unacceptable. People went missing in Alaska, died in accidents all the time. With no solid evidence that the Ice Maiden had been murdered, they’d been forced—or so Noah had felt, anyway—to draw the conclusion that the death had been accidental.
He was questioning that now.
Realistically, Noah wasn’t sure what he could have done, pushing to keep a case open that the troopers had thought was closed. The working relationship between the Moose Haven Police Department and the state troopers could have been compromised.
Noah had regrets but didn’t know if he’d change anything, even if he could go back. They’d done the best they could.
Except he wished he had some power to take away the haunted look in Erynn’s eyes. Who was this woman to her? She’d known her before. He was almost sure of that now.
But how did Janie fit?
“We could arrest you for obstruction of justice, are you aware of that?” Erynn took the lead and did it well. She had been shaken earlier but she’d recovered. Noah should have known she would have. She’d taken a seat behind her desk and sat there now, leaned back, arms crossed. He felt his own shoulders relax. She could handle this.
“Wouldn’t just be me being arrested.” Janie met Erynn’s eyes.
Noah didn’t like what he saw there.
Erynn said nothing.
Noah tried to meet her eyes. Decided to step in, maybe rile up Janie enough so Erynn could get hold of herself again.
“What are you implying, Miss Davis?”
“I think you both know.”
Killer Amnesia: Faith In The Face 0f Crime Page 20