Running Target

by Elizabeth Goddard

  TWENTY

  A month after Quinn left her again, Bree had settled into her life without him like she’d done before. She would be okay. She would survive this.

  She made a pitcher of lemonade. The summer had been a hot one, but she looked forward to cooler temperatures soon.

  Today they would finally celebrate Stevie’s birthday. It seemed kind of strange. Surreal. They were now living in a rental until they were able to buy a new house or rebuild in place of the old home—the place where she’d grown up. Memories rushed at her. Some good and some not so good.

  She shoved those bad memories to a grave she’d dug in the back of her mind. It was never good to think about the past or what could have been.

  Jayce, Cindy and Taylor were in the backyard with Dad and Stevie.

  She set the pitcher on a tray along with glasses filled with ice, and the clinking sound took her mind right back to drinking lemonade with Quinn.

  No. She wasn’t going to do this today. The counselor the sheriff insisted she see was helping her to let go. She understood Quinn had to go back to Louisiana and assist in cleaning up the big mess Declan had caused. She just wished that Julia hadn’t been involved.

  Her betrayal had done damage to Bree’s ability to trust, though she’d been somewhat wary of Julia to begin with. And Quinn...well, she’d taken the risk to feel for him again.

  Risked and lost.

  Through the window she watched Jayce and Cindy play with Stevie and baby Taylor.

  Her eyes welled with tears. Her heart, too. She could never have that. Stevie would never have that as long as he only had his Aunt Bree.

  “Sweetheart, you coming?” Dad asked.

  When had he come inside?

  He squeezed her shoulder. “I know it’s hard, Bree.”

  She shrugged free and forced him to move when she grabbed the tray.

  “Here, let me take that.” He took the tray and set it on the counter.

  Oh no. Here it comes. A lecture. Just what she needed today.

  “I loved your mother dearly. You know that. When she died, I felt so helpless. But I would do it all over again even knowing that she would leave me far too early.”

  “What? Are you trying to compare what I’m feeling to that? You don’t even like Quinn.”

  “He saved you and Stevie. He brought you back to me. He’s not such a bad guy. Look, what I’m saying is that love is worth the risk. Don’t be angry at yourself because you love him. It’s time you let yourself love, Bree.” His grin was mischievous.

  “Oh no, Dad. You didn’t.”

  “I did. I invited someone to the party.”

  “I’m not in the mood for a blind date. Why do you do this to me?”

  “I think you’re going to like this guy. I have a good feeling about it.”

  He always had a good feeling about it.

  She wished she could like the guys he picked out for her, but it never worked out. She never could feel for anyone else what she felt with Quinn. She grabbed the tray that Dad had set on the counter and rushed out to the backyard, the doorbell ringing behind her.

  Must be her blind date.

  She groaned inside, but then put on a full smile for her friends and small family. It would have to be enough. Bree poured the lemonade and handed the glasses off to a thirsty crew.

  Dad’s voice filtered through the house. She cringed as she heard the French doors open. “Just this way. See, we’re renting until we can buy another house.”

  “It looks nice.”

  She froze. Oh no. Lifted her gaze. Locked with Quinn’s. It took her a full thirty seconds to get to her feet. He approached slowly, a tenuous grin on his face and a gift in his hand.

  Her father put a hand on Quinn’s shoulder. “Bree, I believe you know this young man I invited to the party.”

  “I hope this is okay,” Quinn said, his eyes searching.

  Bree must have been giving off a lot of mixed signals because Quinn actually looked uncertain.

  “Sure.” She cleared her throat. “Of course.” Hadn’t she been working on letting go? Dad, what are you doing to me?

  His gaze took in her dress and appreciation reflected in his eyes. She was suddenly aware of how silly she must look in this yellow flowered summer dress.

  “You look beautiful.” He smiled.

  Her heart rate kicked up.

  “You look well yourself. Your eyes healed up nicely. No more bruises or scratches.”

  Stevie ran up to him. “Quinn! Quinn! You came to my party like Grandpa said.”

  Even Stevie knew about this? Dad must have shown him pictures to remind him that Quinn and his dad used to be good friends, otherwise Stevie was much too young to have remembered Quinn. She glanced behind her at Jayce and Cindy, who had a knowing look on their faces. Apparently, everyone was in on the secret except her.

  Quinn handed off the gift.

  “Let’s open the presents now.” Stevie jumped up and down. “Is that okay, Aunt Bree?”

  “Okay, sure. We can have cake after the presents.”

  She was glad for the distraction but felt like everyone watched her and Quinn and not Stevie. At the table, he ripped through the presents, exclaiming joy about each gift, then putting it aside to start all over again.

  Quinn’s gift came last.

  A LEGO Star Wars set. Bree widened her eyes. “For a five-year-old?”

  Quinn shrugged.

  “You’d be surprised what he can put together, Bree,” Dad said.

  Stevie took his army trucks and played with them on the sidewalk, enamored with his gifts and this special day set aside for him, as every child should be at their birthday celebration. Joy filled Bree at the sight.

  Cindy left to change Taylor’s diaper. Jayce helped Dad grill forty pounds of burgers.

  Quinn just sat there and stared at her. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. Your dad insisted.”

  “It’s okay. It’s good to see you. But why are you really here?” She couldn’t let him play games with her heart anymore.

  “Well, you see, I called up your dad to talk, and then he insisted that I should come.”

  “I don’t understand. You called Dad? That was a huge risk in itself.”

  “I’ll tell you just like I told him. I’m here in Coldwater Bay for good this time. You see, Bree, I was always afraid of being alone. Afraid of losing the one I loved. But that’s no way to live.”

  His hand shook as he drank his water.

  What in the world? Quinn nervous? He stuck his hand in his pocket as if reaching for something.

  “Here. I brought you a present, too.”

  He handed over a small wrapped box.

  Her heart pounded. She couldn’t control the rapid rise and fall of her chest.

  “Go ahead and open it.”

  She wasn’t sure she wanted to. “Quinn...without knowing what it is... I... Are you sure? I don’t want you to leave again. I don’t know if I can go through that one more time.”

  “I’m staying as long as you want me.”

  She tore off the deep red metallic paper and with trembling fingers, opened up the black velvet box. “A ring.”

  “An engagement ring. I called and asked your father for your hand—I figured he was old-fashioned that way, and...”

  “You wanted him to like you.”

  He shrugged and smiled. So cute. So adorable. So...everything she had ever wanted. He’d made a huge assumption that she would agree to marry him. Showing up here like this, handing off this box. Calling her father. Proposing in front of her friends.

  Quinn released a nervous chuckle. Bree wouldn’t torture him anymore.

  “I can’t believe I’m getting married.” I’m going to marry the man I could never forget.

  “Is that a y
es?”

  She nodded and jumped into his arms.

  He laughed and swirled her around. Then when he stopped, he gazed into her eyes. “I won’t walk away, Bree. Not again. I can’t lose you again. I’m going to protect you and cherish you for the rest of my life.”

  “I believe you.”

  Quinn wasn’t going anywhere this time. She understood why he was afraid to commit before, but he’d worked through those issues. She trusted that. And like Dad said, Quinn was worth the risk. Now she understood Dad’s strange behavior and his little speech in the kitchen.

  When Quinn released her, he slid the ring onto her finger. A round of applause from the small group sounded so far away to her ears. She let Quinn kiss her, but not too long in front of the kids or Dad. When he ended the kiss, Bree glanced around. Oh, my...

  The crowd had grown to include Quinn’s sisters? Their husbands? She looked to Dad, who had a big grin on his face. No wonder he’d insisted on forty pounds of hamburger meat!

  The expectation that this would be a celebration put pressure on her. It was a good thing she was nothing but happy with her decision.

  “Are you okay?” Quinn asked, holding her hand, smiling into her face—a man truly in love. She could see that so easily now.

  “But...what about your job?” she asked. Life could so easily tear them apart. She knew that from experience.

  “I don’t have one. I wanted to make sure you wanted me to stay.”

  Oh. Wow. Okay. He was serious about all of this. “There’s an opening in the sheriff’s department. They could use a good man like you.”

  Stevie ran to her and she picked him up. Quinn hugged him, too. Dad smiled, looking on, another part of their little but growing family. She was with all the people she loved now, and Quinn’s family had joined them as well. Quinn didn’t appear surprised to see them there, which warmed her heart even more.

  And she was with the man she had never stopped loving.

  * * *

  If you enjoyed this story, be sure to read the previous books in Elizabeth Goddard’s Coldwater Bay Intrigue miniseries:

  Thread of Revenge

  Stormy Haven

  Distress Signal

  Keep reading for an excerpt from Sheltered by the Soldier by Lisa Harris.

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  Dear Reader,

  I’m so glad you had the opportunity to read Running Target. I hope you enjoyed the story. The characters each had to make some hard choices that I hope you’ll be able to relate to, though maybe you haven’t been chased by drug runners with machine guns, or maybe you haven’t had to choose between your job and keeping someone you love safe. Still, the choices we face every day don’t seem all that much easier.

  I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t know how to trust in the Lord. I pray if you don’t already trust in Him, that you’ll learn to do just that, and soon.

  If you’d like to find out more about my books, you can visit my website at www.elizabethgoddard.com.

  Many blessings!

  Elizabeth Goddard

  We hope you enjoyed this Harlequin Love Inspired Suspense story.

  You enjoy a dash of danger. Love Inspired Suspense stories feature strong heroes and heroines whose faith is central in solving mysteries and saving lives.

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  Sheltered by the Soldier

  by Lisa Harris

  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 he
r 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.