Christmas Witness Protection

by Maggie K. Black

  “Then do it because I’m not ready to say goodbye to you yet.” Noah reached for her hands and this time she didn’t pull away. “Stay because I think you’re the most extraordinary person I’ve ever met. I think you’re dazzling, tenacious, driven and brave. My heart did backflips when I saw you walk down the aisle this morning, because I realized I never want to see myself standing at an altar beside anyone else as long as I live.” His fingers linked through hers. He pulled her closer until their lips were only a breath or two apart. “It scares me to say this, because I’ve never said it to anyone before, but I think I’m falling in love with you, Holly. I’m hoping with every beat of my foolish heart you feel the same way about me, too. Do you?”

  Okay, he’d done it. He’d been foolish and he’d been brave. Now all he could do was hope and pray she felt the same way.

  But she didn’t answer. For a long time she just stood there, toe to toe with him, heart to heart, her hands holding his and her eyes searching his as if looking for something so lost she’d almost given up hope of finding it.

  Then she stepped away.

  “No,” she said softly. “I’m sorry, Noah. I’m not ready to say that I do. I can’t stand here in somebody else’s wedding dress, with fake eyes and fake hair, pretending to be someone I’m not, and tell a man I only met six days ago that I love him.”

  She let go of his hands and pressed her fingers against her eyes as if to block the tears. His mouth opened, but his chest was so tight he couldn’t speak a word.

  “I don’t believe in love at first sight,” she said. “You know that about me. I never have and maybe I never will. To me love has to be a solid thing that grows slowly, based on far more than some fluttering in my chest—even if right now it feels my heart is beating so hard it hurts to breathe. You’ve barely met me, and you don’t really know me.”

  “Maybe not,” he said. “But this feels real. I feel something for you, Holly. Something I’ve never felt before. Do you really feel nothing for me?”

  “Noah, I feel everything for you.” She swallowed hard. “But I can’t risk my entire life on my feelings like this and neither should you. And because of that, I have to go now, before I say, do or promise something that will lead us down a path we’ll both one day end up regretting.”

  She leaned forward, kissed him goodbye, and for one long moment they clung to each other. Then slowly, Holly pulled away. “Goodbye, Noah, I’m going to miss you so much more than you’ll ever know.”

  Then the first woman who’d ever opened up Noah’s heart turned and walked away.

  FOURTEEN

  Red and green lights shone softly on the Reed family tree, casting a gentle glow over Drew and Lizzy as they lay on their stomachs on the living room floor, surrounded by the remnants of wrapping paper, and carefully assembled the train set Caleb had gotten Lizzy for Christmas. Noah sat in the overstuffed armchair by the fire and looked out at the snow gently buffeting the world outside.

  Carols flowed from the refurbished record player on the mantel and mostly succeeded in blocking out Anne’s and Caleb’s voices coming from the kitchen, where they were putting the finishing touches on Christmas dinner. Seemed like the two of them had been talking nonstop ever since Anne and the kids had returned to the house the afternoon before. Sometimes they’d sat quietly, talking in hushed voices and holding each other’s hands. Other times they’d argued so loudly that Noah, Drew and Lizzy had thrown their boots and coats on and gone sledding until the conversation had died down. But at least Caleb had stayed, and he and Anne were talking. And Noah thanked God for that.

  Whatever the story of Caleb and Anne’s love would end up being, it seemed this Christmas wasn’t the day they’d have all the answers. But Noah had agreed to let Caleb and the gym go, and trust that whatever he did with his share of the money, and whatever roads his foster brother went down, those were his choices to make. The three of them had come to a compromise. They’d sell the gym to the buyer Anne had found. Caleb’s share of the money would be split into four equal parts, providing Anne with a quarter for herself and a quarter in trust for each of Drew’s and Lizzy’s future education. Noah prayed that one day the rift between him and Caleb would be healed, and that God would continue to work in all their lives. But Holly had been right. It was time to stop trying to save Caleb.

  Noah had no idea how long it would take his own heart to heal from saying goodbye to Holly. They’d spoken again briefly and politely, surrounded by law enforcement officers, before she’d finally gotten into a waiting car and driven out of his life.

  Since then, thanks to General Bertie’s cooperation, Seth had confirmed that Elias Crane had been Snitch5751, by uncovered emails and even a money trail, proving Elias had hired the attackers who terrorized Holly into accepting witness protection, and then pulled strings to make sure he was assigned to her case. Seth had also uncovered proof that Elias had been working with the Imposters in exchange for a large cash payout to soften his imminent retirement and the promise that Holly would disappear. But there was no indication Elias knew what they were going to use the data they collected for, or that they would kill him to cover their tracks. Both Imposters had died from their wounds and their true identities had been revealed as a pair of fraternal twins from Squamish, British Columbia. And although he now knew who they were, Noah and his colleagues had agreed not to speak or even think their names and were pushing media outlets not to provide them with the notoriety they might’ve craved. People like that didn’t deserve infamy for their crimes. They deserved to be forgotten. Especially as RCMP officers were still working around the clock at Christmas to protect, reassure and rehouse all those whose lives and identities had been stolen.

  Maybe Caleb had been partly right that Noah had used helping him as an excuse for not stepping up to live his own life. And now, for the first time he could remember, his life lay ahead of him like an open road, with endless possibilities. And while he was excited to take them and see where they might lead, he couldn’t get past the feeling that something was missing.

  That the most important piece of the puzzle was absent.

  The sound of tires crunched on the snow outside. He glanced out. The vehicle was military. The young man behind the wheel was uniformed and sat straight. But it was the woman in the passenger seat who had him leaping from his seat, shoving his feet into boots, flinging the door wide and running outside without waiting to do up his coat.

  Holly wore military fatigues. Her hair had been cut short in a pixie cut that highlighted her cheekbones and the lines of her face. Her skin was free of makeup and the light that shone in her eyes was more beautiful than any sight he’d seen in his life.

  “Holly!” Noah ran to her, arms outstretched to welcome her as she rushed into them, and for a long moment he just held her there, lost in the feeling of her in his arms. “I’m so sorry for what I said yesterday, if I offended you or spoke out of turn...”

  “No, it’s okay.” She pulled back and looked in his face but kept her arms around his body. “We’re different people. We say and feel things in different ways. And the fact that you want to love me is the most incredible thing that’s ever happened to me.”

  What was she saying?

  She swallowed hard. “I’ve decided not to deploy back overseas and applied for a transfer for a position training new recruits outside Ottawa. I still feel served to call my country, but everything I’ve gone through in the past few days—getting to know Seth, Anne and Drew, thinking about the people whose lives the Imposters threatened, and what you’ve told me about growing up in a fostering home—has given me this desire to make a difference here, back home in Canada. There’s a lot of hurt and a lot of need here. The military will always be my family, one of them anyway, and I think I want to make a difference by helping other kids who need a family find belonging and purpose there, and to encourage the military to be more welcoming and inclusive to peo
ple who want to serve their country. Plus, like it or not, thanks to Bertie’s press conference I’m a bit of a celebrity now, at least for a few weeks until the news move on to something else. And I’m going to use that platform to stand up for what I believe in.”

  Something swelled in his heart. Did she have any idea how incredible she was? Not just in terms of outside, surface beauty, but in how passionately she cared and how deep her desire and drive was to serve others?

  “That sounds amazing,” he said. “I think you’ll be incredible at that, and anyone would be a fool not to listen to you.”

  Happy tears gleamed in her eyes.

  “Thank you,” she said. “Also, that means I’m relocating to Ottawa, which means we have time to grow together. I told you yesterday that I didn’t believe a week-long relationship was enough to promise forever on. But I was wrong if I implied I hadn’t seen enough to know how much I really want to.”

  Her hands slid up into his hair. His breath caught in his chest.

  “What are you saying, Holly?”

  “I’ve seen how you treat people and how you treat me,” she said. “I’ve seen how you admit when you’re wrong, stand up for what you believe in, deal with people who disagree with you and ask when you need help. I’ve seen how brave, loving, courageous, compassionate and strong you are. I know you well enough to know I want to get to know you better, slowly, deeply and forever. I’m in love for the first time in my life, and it’s with you, Noah. And while I want to take it slow, I’m really hoping that we’re going to be side by side, loving each other and having each other’s backs for the rest of our lives.”

  Joy filled his heart, spilling a smile across his face. “I think we will.”

  “Me, too.”

  “Happy Birthday, Holly. I love you so much.”

  “Merry Christmas, Noah. I love you, too.”

  And he wrapped his arms around her and kissed the woman he knew without a doubt that he was going to love forever.

  * * *

  If you enjoyed this story, look for these other titles by Maggie K. Black from Love Inspired Suspense:

  The Littlest Target

  Undercover Holiday Fiancé

  Rescuing His Secret Child

  Keep reading for an excerpt from Covert Christmas Twin by Heather Woodhaven.

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  Dear Reader,

  Welcome to the first book of my new Stolen Identities series. I hope you enjoy it! The best part of writing the True North Heroes and True North Protectors series was getting to know the characters better as I watched their lives crisscross each other’s stories. Now I’m excited to do it again in this new witness protection series, while bringing back both Liam Bearsmith and Seth Miles for more adventures.

  I wrote this book while recovering from a concussion. During the slow recovery, I realized my usual way of sitting down and writing a book wasn’t working, and so I had to come up with new strategies. I owe a huge debt of thanks to my editor, Emily Rodmell, and agent, Melissa Jeglinski, for their patience and help in getting my writing back on track.

  I hope that whatever you’re going through, you are surrounded by people who support and love you. And that when needed, God will help you find those people and bring them into your life.

  Thank you again, as always, for sharing this journey with me.

  Maggie

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  Covert Christmas Twin

  by Heather Woodhaven

  ONE

  Kendra Parker reached the entrance to the lecture hall and listened to the voice reverberating through the door. She’d heard somewhere that a child would always recognize their mother’s voice, but what if she’d never heard it before? What if her birth mother had handed over Kendra and her twin to someone without a word? This professor’s voice rang strong, without much emotion, as she rattled off some historic study on behavior analysis. Kendra couldn’t detect anything in her voice alone.

  Her phone felt heavy in her pocket as she itched to text Audrey, the newfound twin she’d discovered in the midst of an FBI operation gone wrong. In fact, the mission had gone so wrong, Kendra had been shot and her partner, Special Agent Lee Benson, felt it necessary for Audrey to take Kendra’s place in the deep-cover assignment. It’d been six weeks since Kendra had seen her sister return to normal life, with the odd exception of Lee’s plans to marry Audrey soon.

  Kendra had used the last six weeks to track down leads in an effort to locate their mother, but now she hesitated. She left the phone untouched since it could turn out to be another dead end, and her twin was a lot more sensitive—despite being a genius PhD at Caltech—to disappointment. Instead, Kendra needed to treat this like any other FBI assignment and stifle her emotions to get the job done. No more stalling.

  She hauled open the door to find the classroom set up like a theater. Only a few students gave her half glances before they returned to their laptops, typing away notes as Professor Beverly Walsh lectured without missing a beat. Kendra lowered herself into a chair five rows down, in the first open aisle seat to her left, but unlike the students, she had no interest in lifting the retractable desktop. Her interest was solely in the professor with straight blond hair—first strike, as both Kendra and Audrey had curly brown hair. The professor’s face, though, was turned away as she wrote on the blackboard:

  Cluster of cues for deceit: hand touching, face touching, crossing arms, leaning away.

  Kendra’s neck heated with the instinctive knowledge that someone was studying her. She turned around as if to examine her armrest, but surveyed the students in the seats around her. No one seemed to be paying her any attention.

  “Together, as a cluster, these cues—” the professor tapped on the board with the chalk “—indicate deceit. Separately, they mean nothing, unless...” The professor turned. “Anyone?” Approximately in her fifties, the woman was short in stature—second strike—and shorter than Kendra, who stood a little over five foot seven. The brown pants, buttoned, burgundy cardigan and light blue scarf looked classy—third strike—and professional. Kendra didn’t recognize her own style on the professor at all.

  Professor Walsh pointed at a man in the front row. The student casually lowered his hand and leaned forward. “Single cues of deceit can be accurate if a previously collected baseline indicates such.” His voice resonated with a deep and soothing timbre.

  From Kendra’s diagonal viewpoint, he appeared to be in his early thirties and had thick dark hair, carefully styled, and a relaxed posture that didn’t match the crisp, blue-collared shirt peeking out from th
e black canvas jacket. She couldn’t shake the feeling that she should know who the man was, but she couldn’t quite place him. If he turned another fifteen degrees, she’d be able to get a better look at his face.

  The professor nodded as she stepped back and regarded the rest of the class. Her green eyes passed over Kendra, and both her posture and face stiffened, as if the professor had just smelled something distasteful. She settled into a neutral face a heartbeat later.

  Kendra’s stomach churned. She didn’t know how, and couldn’t claim to be a behavioral analyst, but every fiber of her being felt that Beverly Walsh had recognized her. If Kendra hadn’t been watching, she very well would’ve missed it. Her mouth turned dry. She’d found her mother.

  “That’s probably enough for today, so I’ll end class a bit early,” the professor said. “Consider it extra study time for your exam on Friday.” She grabbed the books and papers resting on the top of a podium and stuffed them into a leather messenger bag, then slipped out of a side door next to the blackboard.

  Students rushed toward the aisle, filling the stairway leading to the public exit at the top. Kendra dodged them, fighting the stream. To her left, the student who had prompted the professor’s smile stepped down from the first row.

  Kendra held back a gasp as their eyes met. She recognized the olive skin, the eyes that matched a stormy sky and the soft smile that suddenly disappeared. His name escaped her, but she knew him. There was no time for a reunion to figure out where, though. She darted across the classroom floor and out the door.

  A musty hallway lit by only three fluorescent lights assaulted her sinuses and provoked the start of a tension headache. At the far end, Beverly Walsh hustled toward the exit door. “Professor,” Kendra called. She couldn’t yell out “Mom” yet. That would be too weird.