Sheltered By The Soldier
Deadly secrets are surfacing...
Can he help her find the truth?
When Gabriella Kensington finds evidence that her husband may have been murdered, someone comes after her. The only person she and her infant daughter can trust is soldier Liam O’Callaghan, her late husband’s best friend. Taking refuge at his ranch, Gabby and Liam search for the truth—and resist their growing attraction. But can Liam ensure Gabby doesn’t become the killer’s next victim?
LISA HARRIS is a Christy Award winner and winner of the Best Inspirational Suspense Novel for 2011 from RT Book Reviews. She and her family are missionaries in southern Africa. When she’s not working, she loves hanging out with her family, cooking different ethnic dishes, photography and heading into the African bush on safari. For more information about her books and life in Africa, visit her website at lisaharriswrites.com.
Also by Lisa Harris
Final Deposit
Stolen Identity
Deadly Safari
Taken
Desperate Escape
Desert Secrets
Fatal Cover-Up
Deadly Exchange
No Place to Hide
Sheltered by the Soldier
Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk.
Sheltered by the Soldier
Lisa Harris
www.millsandboon.co.uk
ISBN: 978-1-474-09641-6
SHELTERED BY THE SOLDIER
© 2019 Lisa Harris
Published in Great Britain 2019
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.
By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.
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Version: 2020-03-02
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“I’m scared, Liam. I don’t know what’s going on, or what I’m supposed to do.”
“Don’t worry, Gabby,” Liam said over the phone. “We’ll make sure you and Mia are safe.”
Gabby glanced in the rearview mirror, thankful that Mia was finally sleeping. There was a black pickup behind her. Was that the same one she’d noticed earlier?
“Gabby? Are you...there?”
The call was breaking up.
Gabby gave the car all the gas she could and flew back up the hill. All she had to do was get to the nearby sleepy tourist town and she would be fine.
She glanced again in the rearview mirror. The black pickup was still there.
“Liam...”
“What’s...on...Gabby...”
The car behind her smashed into her bumper. Mia woke up and started crying. Gabby fought to keep the car on the road...
Dear Reader,
Thank you so much for reading Liam and Gabby’s story! Not only did I love writing this novel, I loved the setting where this brand-new series is going to take place. My husband’s family is from Colorado, so we’ve spent a lot of time in that beautiful state. The idea of a family run ranch nestled beneath such impressive views is a place I’d love to spend a long, cozy winter!
While you might never have to face some of the things Liam and Gabby did, I know there will be times in your life—maybe even right now—when things seem to spiral out of control and you find yourself desperately searching for strength and courage to face another day. My prayer for you today is that you will remember that you are not alone, and especially that you will seek to find your protection in Him.
Watch for more page-turning suspense from Timber Falls and the O’Callaghan brothers!
Lisa Harris
I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
—Psalms 121:1–3
To those longing for strength when hard times hit.
May you find your protection in Him.
Contents
Cover
Back Cover Text
About the Author
Booklist
Title Page
Copyright
Introduction
Dear Reader
Bible Verse
Dedication
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
EPILOGUE
Extract
About the Publisher
ONE
Gabriella Kensington balanced her eleven-month-old daughter Mia on her hip while fighting to get the key into the sticky lock of the back door of her townhouse. The next time she went out, she was going to have to buy a can of WD-40 and fix it. She considered setting the two plastic grocery bags hanging from her wrist down on the porch, but the three inches of snow that had blanketed the city last night from a late fall cold front had left the mostly uncovered surface both slippery and wet.
But she’d worry about that another day.
She wiggled the handle, heard the click, then finally opened the door. Heat from the house rushed out and filled her lungs with warmth.
Gabby stepped inside as an unexpected chill sliced through her. Setting the two plastic bags of groceries onto the counter, she glanced around the kitchen, managing to knock one of the bags over in the process. A grapefruit rolled off the counter and onto the floor, but she hardly noticed.
Instead, she stared into the living room that opened up from the kitchen. The entire room had been trashed. Papers had been dumped from her desk. Drawers pulled open and their contents dumped. Books and photos lay scattered across the hardwood floor. Mia started fussing. Gabby had no idea if whoever had done this was still somewhere in the house, but there was no time to find out.
This can’t be happening.
But the frightening text she’d received two days ago, demanding her to stop asking questions and threatening her and her daughter, only served to confirm her worst fears. Adrenaline pumping, she hushed her daughter who was struggling to get down. She couldn’t take any chances in case someone was still in the house. Not with Mia. Instead, she raced back to the car, fumbled with the straps on the car seat while Mia’s fussing grew louder.
“It’s okay, sweet baby. Nothing’s going to happen to you. Mama’s going to make sure of that.”
A lump swelled in her throat as she slid into the car. She wanted to pray, except she knew God didn’t always answer prayers. If someone was after her, she was on her own.
Hands shaking, she turned the key in the ignition. The car refused to start.
No...no...no...
“Not now. Please...not now.”
She glanced back at the house, terrified that at any moment someone was going to burst out of the back door and come after her. If someone had still been in the house, she had no doubt that they’d heard Mia crying. She turned the key again to start the engine. Her father had tried to convince her to replace her jeep with something more reliable, but it was going to take her another year to save up. Now she couldn’t help but wonder if she should have tried to make it work.
A third try and the engine caught.
Letting out a strong huff of relief, she pulled out of the driveway, her heart still racing. Calling 911 was the logical option, but something made her hesitate. The letters her husband had written her before his death while still deployed had left her shaken. And this happening so soon after she’d questioned his commanding officers made her wonder if she’d managed to ask the wrong person, triggering something she was at a loss of how to handle. Which meant if someone was after her, she had no idea how far their arm might reach. She stopped at a red light, then glanced at the leather bag with Will’s letters on the floorboard of the car. That had to be what they were after. She swallowed hard. No. She was sounding paranoid. But Will had been paranoid, too. So maybe her fear stemming from the last letter he’d written her wasn’t that far off after all.
I think they realize I’ve been looking into the paper trail. I need to go to someone with what I have, but I have to make sure the evidence is solid. Some of these contractors are the kind of people who wouldn’t hesitate at defrauding our government. The kind of people who wouldn’t blink at killing anyone who got in their way.
The light turned green and she headed north toward the freeway. She’d memorized the details of Will’s letters. They had mentioned contracted workers, so she’d assumed that going to someone in the military was safe. But clearly, she’d been mistaken. And now she couldn’t afford to trust the wrong person again. It wasn’t worth risking her daughter’s life. But either way, she needed a plan and the best option seemed to be to get as far away from here as she could.
But where? The digital clock on the dash said it was a quarter to three. She could call her parents, but what could they do? They were currently enjoying Florida’s balmy weather and couldn’t exactly help her. She had friends that would take her in, but there was no way she was going to put someone else’s life at risk. And until she figured out who was behind this, she’d never be safe. Will was dead, and she had Mia to protect.
Her mind shifted gears as she upped her speed and merged onto the freeway. There was one person who might be able to help her. She glanced at the phone laying in the console next to her. One person who might have the answers to whoever was behind this.
Liam O’Callaghan.
She tried to push the name out of her mind, and instead glanced at the line of cars behind her as each mile took her farther way from danger—and closer to the town of Timber Falls near where he lived. She hadn’t heard from Liam for several weeks. He and Will had been deployed together, then Liam had spent months in both inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation with injuries from the blast that killed her husband. Over the past year and a half, he’d called at least once a month to check on her and make sure she was doing okay and had even come to see her several times. But she hadn’t missed the hint of guilt in his voice each time. As if what had happened to Will was somehow his fault. And she was clearly a reminder.
She placed the call on the cheap smart phone she’d picked up yesterday before she had a chance to change her mind again. But instead of him answering, it switched to voice mail.
“Liam, this is Gabby.” She paused, wondering if she was doing the right thing. Wondering why she felt so hesitant in asking for his help. She tried to shake off the tension in her voice. “Listen... I need to talk to you. It’s important. Please. Call me back as soon as you can on this number.”
Gabby hung up the call, then glanced into the rearview mirror at the back seat where Mia sat in her car seat, playing with her stuffed giraffe. At least she’d stopped crying. When Gabby had found out she was pregnant, everything had seemed so perfect. She’d had the perfect marriage, perfect family, perfect life. Then in one life-altering moment, two uniformed officers had shown up at her front door and everything changed.
Her phone rang, pulling her back into the present. She pushed the call-answer button on the steering wheel. “Liam?”
“Gabby...are you okay?”
“Not really.” She didn’t want to tell him what was going on—that would only make the situation more real—but neither could she put the life of her daughter at risk. “I need help, and I didn’t know who else to call.”
She glanced back into the rearview mirror. Mia had thrown down the giraffe and was fussing again, but Gabby couldn’t stop the car. Couldn’t take any risks that might jeopardize her baby’s life more than she already had.
“What happened?” he asked.
She swallowed hard, trying to dismiss the feeling she was being followed. “I got home this afternoon and discovered someone had ransacked my place.”
“Wait a minute... Have you called 911?”
“I was scared and panicked. Afraid someone might still be in the house.”
“I understand, but you need to call the authorities.”
She hesitated. “I can’t.”
“Why not?”
The last thing she wanted to do was get Liam involved, but what other option did she have?
“Gabby...what’s going on?”
“There’s something I need to talk to you about. There have been other threats—”
“Threats? Is that why you have a new number?”
“I was afraid someone might have been tracking my phone, but I’d rather discuss everything in person.”
“Where are you now?” he asked.
She glanced at the clock. “I’m about twenty minutes from Timber Falls. If you could meet me in town—”
“Of course. Or you could come out to the ranch.”
“I don’t want to get your family involved.”
“Will was my best friend. I promised him if anything ever happened to him, I’d make sure you and Mia were okay. I owe him my life. My family understands that.”
She looked around, her chest still heaving. Sirens wailed from a wreck on the other side of the highway.
“Is there a chance anyone is following you?” he asked.
“I don’t think so, but I can’t be sure. Traffic’s pretty heavy, and it’s starting to snow.”
“I’m out at the ranch, but I’ll head to town now. It will take me at least thirty minutes, but you can wait for me at the sheriff’s office on the edge of town. It’s well lit. You can’t miss it.”
“Okay.”
“Do you remember meeting my brother Griffin?”
“Yes.”
She’d met his entire family at Will’s funeral, and while most of that day was a blur, she remembered being impressed with the four brothers and their parents, whose ancestors had first settled in this area three generations ago.
“I’ll call him. Griffin’s a deputy and on duty today. I’ll give him a heads-up.”
She drew in a long, slow breath, trying to gather her nerves. “I’m scared, Liam. I don’t know what’s going on, or what I’m supposed to do.”
“Don’t worry. We’re going to find a way to make sure you and Mia are safe until we figure out what’s going on.”
She glanced in the rearview mirror, thankful that Mia was finally sleeping. Poor baby was missing her nap and was exhausted. Her gaze shifted slightly as something else caught her attention. There was a black pickup behind her, following too close. Had she seen the same vehicle earlier?
Her fingers gripped the steering wheel. Five seconds later, the road straightened and headed down another narrow mountainous stretch. She pressed harder on the accelerator as she sucked in a deep breath and tried to talk herself down. No one had followed her out of her neighborhood. This was nothing more than her imagination playing tricks on her.
She gave the car all the gas she could and flew back up the hill. A stab of pain shot through her head, and she realized she’d been clenching her jaw. The stress from the last few days had managed to consume her. She kept her eyes on the road, her hand steady on the wheel as she passed a sign to Timber Falls. All she had to do was get to the sleepy tourist town and she would be fine.
“Gabby? Are you...there?”
The call was breaking up.
She glanced again in the rearview mirror. The black pickup was still there. “Liam...”
“What’s...on... Gabby...”
The car behind her smashed into her bumper. She fought to keep the car on the road as she pushed on the pedal. Mia woke up and started crying.
For the first time in months, Gabby prayed God would intervene.
* * *
Liam pressed on the gas pedal, pushing the speed limit down the narrow two-lane road that led from the O’Callaghan Ranch toward Timber Falls, the nearest town from his family’s ten-thousand-plus acre ranch. He called Gabby back.
Nothing.
He tried to ignore the list of uncertainties simmering beneath the surface. He needed to stop worrying. Phone service around the ranch and the road leading into Timber Falls had always left holes of no reception in spite of recent upgrades over the past couple years. It didn’t mean something had happened. This had been his life the past few months. Waiting for the ball to drop, dumping another tragedy on him. His mother kept reminding him that he wasn’t living. And yet, he knew he hadn’t really been living for a long time.
Not since Will had died and Liam had been life-flighted to Germany, almost losing his own life alongside his best friend.
He tried to shake off the memories and instead focus on the road. The last thing he needed to do was run into a deer on the long stretch of winding road toward town. Gabby was fine. One of them had just gone through a no-service patch. He’d meet up with her, see what she needed, then go on with his own life.
Because if he were honest with himself, seeing Gabby was the last thing he wanted to do. Months of therapy had finally gotten him to the place he needed to be physically, but emotionally the scars were yet to completely heal. And seeing Gabby again... He knew it was only going to be a reminder of what happened that night to his best friend. But he couldn’t let emotion rule his thoughts. He owed Will his life on more than one occasion and if that meant ensuring Gabby and her baby were safe, then he planned on doing anything in his power to keep them that way.
Memories from the night of Will’s death refused to leave him alone, bringing back the all-too-familiar panic. They’d been ambushed that starless night only a few miles from the base while out on a routine patrol in Afghanistan. But there was nothing routine about what had happened that night. By the time he got to Will, his friend was already dead.
Mercifully, his memories of that night were few and far between. The following minutes and hours had dragged by as comrades fought to get him to safety. Over a year later, there were still moments when he wished he’d died instead of his friend. Will had a wife and daughter. He should have lived. And yet, for some reason God had taken Will and let Liam live. The guilt of that loss had yet to let go of him completely. But if he could help Will’s widow, it seemed the least he could do to make amends.
He tried to call her again, but for a third time, the call wouldn’t go through. This time he called a different number.
“Griffin?”
“Hey,” his older brother said. “I was just planning on calling you. Are we still on for tomorrow night—”
“Yeah, but listen. I’ve got a problem, and I’m going to need your help. Do you remember Gabby Kensington?”
“Of course. Will’s wife.”
“Yes. She’s on her way into town now to see me. I’m not sure exactly what’s going on, but apparently her house was burglarized. She’s scared, and our call got disconnected.”
“You know how sketchy phone service is in the passes leading up here. I’m sure she’s fine.”
“I know, but I’m still worried. I’m on my way into town now, but you’re closer than I am.”
“What kind of vehicle is she driving?”
“She owns a yellow jeep.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll head south out of town right now and see if I can find her. Keep me updated on your location and we’ll meet up. In the meantime, try to keep calling her, but send me her number so I can try as well.”
Twenty minutes later, Timber Falls began to show above the horizon. He’d grown up in this town. Graduated from the local high school. And for the past few weeks, it had been the place where he could work on the family ranch alongside his older brother, Caden, while he continued to heal. He wanted to go back to active duty, but the doctors still hadn’t approved him. Which left his future in the military hanging in the balance.
Liam’s phone rang, jerking him from his thoughts. “Griffin?”
“I found her.”
“Where is she?”
“First of all, she and her daughter are both fine,” Griffin said, answering Liam’s next question before he had a chance to ask it. “We’re heading back into town now.”
“What’s going on?”
“You did the right thing to call me, because there are a couple things you need to know before you see her.”
Liam felt a shot of adrenaline rush through him. “What do you mean?”
“I haven’t had time to take an official statement yet, but someone rammed into her from behind while she was on her way here.” Griffin hesitated. “From the way she described it, this wasn’t an accident.”
“But she’s okay?”
“She’s fine. Just meet me at the sheriff’s office.”
Five minutes later, Liam parked in front of the square brick building on the edge of town, then hurried inside.
“Liam...” Angie Baker, the department’s secretary, looked up from her computer as he stepped into the lobby. “I just got off the phone with Deputy O’Callaghan. He’s almost here.”
“Thank you.”
He started pacing the white tiled floor while Angie went back to her computer. The clock on the wall ticked by the seconds. But he couldn’t find a way to shove aside the guilt. If anything happened to Gabby, he’d never forgive himself.