Plain Target

by Dana R. Lynn

  “Hi,” he signed at her. Man, his poor Jess had taken a beating. As long as she was alive. She had a broken rib. And a number of cuts and bruises. The doctors were all amazed at how few injuries she had sustained from her plunge. He wasn’t though. He was learning that God was bigger than their circumstances.

  “Hey.”

  How exactly did he ask her if she meant what she said?

  Then it hit him. He couldn’t just sit back and expect her to say it again. He had to give, too. His throat constricted. Rejection was not a good feeling, and he still had the fear that his affections would be rejected. But he owed it to her to at least try.

  “I’m so sorry for not telling you everything. You mean everything to me. I will always choose you over everyone from now on.” He swallowed, holding her wide eyes captive with his own. Then he raised his hand in a single sign. His thumb, index finger and little finger extended while his middle finger and ring finger folded over across his palm. “I love you.”

  He braced himself for rejection. Or the infamous “let’s be friends” speech.

  Her eyes brightened with tears. But they didn’t overflow. Her lips trembled as she smiled at him, showing that dimple that absolutely slayed him. Then, almost shyly, she raised her hand and returned the gesture. “I love you, too.”

  Leaning forward, he kissed her gently, taking his time. After all, they had all the time in the world now.

  EPILOGUE

  Seth held hands with Jess as they meandered through the small crowd of family and friends who had come to celebrate with them. Jess laughed at something his sister said to her, and he smiled in response to the joyful sound.

  He couldn’t remember half of what the guests had said. His mind was completely occupied by watching the lovely woman glowing at his side. His bride. Pride swelled in his chest. As of three hours ago, she was now his wife.

  How on earth had he gotten so blessed?

  He said a quick prayer of thanksgiving and marveled. So much had changed in the past six months. He was in love, had returned to church and was even making some progress in healing the breach between himself and his father. Not that the last one was easy. Joe Travis wasn’t an easy man to have as a father. But knowing he had a Heavenly Father helped him to deal with the one he was given here on Earth.

  “It was a beautiful wedding, Seth,” a soft feminine voice said to his right.

  He turned. He hadn’t heard Willa and Ted approach.

  “Thanks.” He shook hands with his uncle, and allowed his aunt to kiss the air by his cheek. Then he smiled again when Ted grabbed Jess in a warm hug and smacked a fatherly kiss on her cheek. Willa smiled stiffly. She was trying, Seth admitted, but it might take a bit more time before the women felt easy in each other’s presence.

  “Thanks, Uncle Ted, for letting us have the reception here at your house.”

  “No problem. What else could I do for my favorite nephew?”

  Yeah, yeah. Only nephew. But that didn’t matter.

  Satisfied, he glanced around. Maggie and Dan were there with their kids, Rory and Siobhan. No one looking at Dan with the kids would know that he was their adopted father. And the twins adored him. Maggie glowed as she stood next to her husband. Neither she nor Dan could stop smiling. Their smiles were contagious. Seth felt his own lips stretching into a grin. He knew why they were so happy. Maggie had confided to him that they were expecting a baby in seven months. The thought of being an uncle again filled him with joy.

  As he watched, Siobhan left Dan’s side and ran across the yard. Guests parted, smiling as the toddler rushed to where her grandfather was sitting with some out of town relatives and scampered up into his lap. Joe smiled at her, his eyes creasing as he gave her a hug. Then he slyly handed her a cookie from his plate. Had Maggie seen?

  He switched to look at Maggie. Yep. She rolled her eyes, and laughed.

  Unbelievably, Joe Travis was becoming a doting grandfather.

  His gaze moved to the couple standing next to Dan and Maggie. Seth’s former fiancée, Melanie, was there with her husband, Jace, and their infant daughter, Ellie. She was named after Jace’s sister who had died tragically as a teenager. Even Irene, Jace’s widowed sister, was there with her two boys.

  “Chief Paul!” Matthew, the younger of her boys called, grinning, as he spotted LaMar Pond’s chief of police, Paul Kennedy, coming their way. Both boys eagerly moved forward to hug their dad’s longtime friend. Irene hung back, but she watched her boys, a sad smile on her lips.

  Paul rustled the hair of AJ, her oldest son, and chucked Matthew under the chin before he moved past them to go stand with Dan. Soon, Jace wandered over and the three were deep in conversation. Football was probably the topic, judging by the intensity of the discussion. That and the commiserating eye rolls of their wives.

  Rebecca sidled up to Jess, looking very pretty in her blue maid-of-honor dress. His eyes narrowed at the excitement and nervousness that filled his wife’s face.

  “Are they here?” she signed to Rebecca.

  Flicking her eyes toward him, Rebecca nodded slightly.

  “Who?” Seth asked.

  “You’ll see,” Jess said in a sing-song voice. His eyes narrowed. His woman was planning something. His wife, he corrected, grinning. His wife.

  He was sure of it when she motioned him to stay there and rushed out behind Rebecca. What was going on? Dan and Jace joined him, eyebrows raised. He shrugged to say he had no idea.

  His surprise increased as Rebecca returned and nodded to Miles. The officer left the place where he had been talking to Jackson and moved to the side of the temporary stage. Directly in front of the table where Ernie and a group of Jess’s deaf and hard-of-hearing friends sat. Rebecca sat down with them, her eyes on Miles. It was clear he had been asked to interpret something.

  A minute later, Jess reappeared and hurried to the DJ’s stage. After a brief whispered conversation, the man grinned and handed her the microphone with a small bow.

  What?

  “Ladies and gentlemen...may I please have your attention?” Jess’s voice carried across the yard, and the guests slowly quieted, turning to watch the stage. “I have a special surprise for Seth. I am so grateful that God has blessed me with such a wonderful husband. And I know that there is one thing that Seth has wanted for several years now.”

  Puzzled, he tilted his eyes. What did he want? Besides her, of course. And now that he had her, his life was perfect. Except...his eyes widened, heart pounding. He had a sudden idea, a crazy idea, of who her surprise guest was.

  “With the help of my father-in-law, I was able to hire a private detective. It has taken almost six months, but I am pleased to say he was successful. I would now like to introduce Seth to his little sister, Carrie Jones, and her guardian and half sister, Audrey.”

  His blood roared in his ears as Seth moved in a trance toward the stage. He barely even looked at the lovely woman with strawberry blond hair who entered the room. His attention was focused on the teenager beside her. Carrie. His half sister. Her blue eyes were wide and scared.

  “She looks just like Sylvie,” a tearful voice said at his side. Maggie. She had wanted to meet their half sister, too. Looking at Carrie, he agreed. She did resemble their murdered sister.

  He reached the girl, and silently folded her in a hug. Maggie joined in, and the siblings stood for a few minutes just embracing. When they parted, he realized there were tears on all three of their faces. And on the faces of many of the guests as well.

  There was a moment of awkwardness as Joe approached the group. Conversation stilled as he paused several feet away from his youngest child.

  “Carrie,” he started, then stopped to clear his throat. “Carrie, I know I have no right to expect you to be happy to meet me, but I’m your father.”

  The young girl stared
at her wayward father. A minute ticked by. Then a slow smiled curled her lips. “I asked Mama about you many times, but she would never tell me much.”

  It was a start.

  Jess arrived and planted herself at Seth’s side. Sweeping her up in his embrace, he whirled her around, hearing her breathless laughter in his ear. He set her down, but took her sweet face in his hands and captured her lips with his. They were both breathless by the time he released her. The crowd around them applauded.

  “I am so in love with you, Jessica Travis,” he signed to her. “No one on earth knows me like you.”

  Jess, his sweet Jess, stretched up on her toes to kiss his lips softly. “I adore you, Seth. And I can’t wait to show you each and every day just how much you mean to me.”

  Hugging her close to him, he shut his eyes, blocking out everything except the warm woman in his arms. Her scent teased his nostrils, soothing his soul.

  He had come home.

  * * * * *

  If you loved this book, don’t miss these other action-packed Dana R. Lynn stories:

  PRESUMED GUILTY

  INTERRUPTED LULLABY

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  Dear Reader,

  I hope you enjoyed Seth and Jess’s story. While this is the third story set in LaMar Pond, it is the first book of a new miniseries which is connected by the local Amish community. I was glad to finally give Seth his own happy-ever-after. And a chance to play the hero. After seeing how much he adored his new sister and her kids, I had to find a special woman just for him. Enter Jess. Jess has been through so much in her life. She is by herself, but has confidence that she is not alone... God is always with her. Her faith has kept her going during all the trials thrown her way. It was such a joy to watch her grow closer to Seth, and in the process, help him regain the faith he had lost.

  I was also glad to bring my experience of working with the Deaf and hard of hearing into the story. I had always toyed with the idea of having a Deaf character, and after having been challenged by someone close to me, I decided to take a risk. I have just barely scraped the surface of the richness of Deaf culture here, and I hope to be able to go deeper in the future.

  Thank you for journeying with me. I love to hear from readers. Visit me online at www.danarlynn.com, or email me at WriterDanaLynn@gmail.com. I am also on Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads.

  Blessings,

  Dana R. Lynn

  We hope you enjoyed this Harlequin Love Inspired Suspense story.

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  SPECIAL AGENT by Valerie Hansen

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  Guardian

  by Terri Reed

  PROLOGUE

  The daylight broke over the horizon of the Los Angeles industrial district and muted morning light slashed through the high windows of the large two-floor warehouse. FBI agent Leo Gallagher pressed his back to the wall inside the cavernous structure’s south entrance. The air was cool, but heavy with a mix of anticipation and vigilance.

  His heart rate increased, not much, but enough that he took a calming breath. He tightened his hold on the leash of his canine partner, a chocolate Labrador named True.

  The open floor plan of the bottom level was filled with containers and pallets that provided too many hiding places. That could be a problem. Shadows lurked above and in the recesses of the corners. No one said this job was easy. Far from it, and sweat beaded on his forehead behind his helmet.

  Almost time? Leo glanced at fellow FBI agent Jake Morrow and his canine, a Belgian Malinois named Buddy.

  Behind his tactical face guard, Jake nodded and signaled for Leo and True to proceed into the murky depths of the purported hideout of the notorious Dupree syndicate, the criminal organization that the elite FBI Tactical K-9 Unit had been working around the clock to bring down for months.

  But every time the team got close, the crime boss, Reginald Dupree, and his uncle and second in command, Angus, managed to escape.

  Not going to happen again. The first time could have been coincidence, but after the second and third instances, he knew something else was going on. That was why Leo’s boss had been tight-lipped about this raid. No one outside the tight circle of the team knew of today’s operation in case there was a leak somewhere in the Bureau.

  The Tactical K-9 Unit was a special, classified branch of the FBI that had settled in a nondescript building in downtown Billings, Montana. The secret nature of the team’s cases needed anonymity to function. They worked across the country, under the radar, to solve tough crimes and deliver swift justice.

  The thought of someone they knew and trusted double-crossing them burned, and Leo hoped that wasn’t the case, but lives were at stake, either way. He took a silent step. True stayed at his side.

  Eerie silence scraped along Leo’s nerves. The anonymous tip they’d received, sending the team to this location, had guaranteed them that Reginald and Angus would be here. Plums ripe for the taking.

  Across the expanse of open space, Leo saw fellow team member Harper Prentiss, along with Star, her German shepherd, and their boss, special agent in charge Max West and his canine, a boxer by the name of Opal, slip through another door and climb a staircase to the second floor.

  A strange itch at the back of Leo’s neck had him tensing. He’d been in this situation many times before, but this didn’t feel right.

  Glancing upward at the second-story balcony that rimmed the edges of the warehouse, he narrowed his gaze on the office doors. That itch worsened. Were Reginald and Angus Dupree up there? Waiting? Planning an ambush? If so, his team members would be in trouble.

  Needing to provide his boss and fellow agent cover, Leo gestured to Jake. Morrow gave him the thumbs-up sign. In tandem they carefully moved farther into the warehouse, not wanting to draw attention to their presence.

  True�
��s ears perked up. The scruff of his neck rose. A deep growl emitted from his throat.

  Breath stalling, Leo paused as he scanned the perimeter for whatever threat his partner sensed.

  Then total pandemonium broke out.

  Four men with automatic weapons appeared from around the sides of the two containers. A barrage of gunfire erupted. The deafening noise bounced off the walls.

  Leo’s heart revved into overdrive. Adrenaline surged. His pulse pounded in his ears as he dropped to one knee to return fire.

  “Down!” Leo shouted to True. The dog dropped to his belly.

  “Take cover!” Jake yelled.

  Leo grabbed True’s collar and tugged him behind a large container.

  Something metal hit the concrete floor and a hissing filled the air, followed by a cloudy haze. Leo gritted his teeth and fought past the stinging in his eyes and nose from the pepper-infused smoke sneaking beneath the face shield on his helmet.

  The sound of a dog’s yelp jolted through Leo. His heart slammed against his ribs. True! He quickly checked the dog’s taut body for injury. None.

  It had to be Buddy. Leo searched the gloom for Jake and his dog. He couldn’t see either one. Had they retreated? Was Buddy hurt? Jake?

  Leo flattened himself on the ground next to True, then tapped the canine on the flank. Together, they scuttled backward toward the door, keeping their heads down and out of the line of fire. A squad of Los Angeles police officers, dressed in tactical gear, filed past them.

  With the arrival of backup, relief flooded through Leo.

  Outside, he found Buddy lying on the ground, blood oozing from a wound in his hindquarters. Leo’s stomach dropped. He knelt beside the dog, tore off his glove and used it as a compress against Buddy’s injury. The dog whimpered.

  “Where’s Jake?” Leo rasped, wishing the dog could speak.