Kelly pulled herself to a sitting position. It was over. Really over.
Until Tasha pulled a phone from her pocket and flipped it open. She held it out toward Tyler, free hand pointing at the leather bag that lay abandoned on the floor next to Kelly. “Major, I’d stop if I were you.” Her voice was way too calm for someone whose end game was at hand. “There’s one more bomb, and Kelly is sitting right beside it. It’s enough to blow all three of us into the next world.” She rose and took a step toward Tyler, blood dripping from her chin. “All I have to do is press Send. You let me walk out of here and I’ll hand it to you as I pass. But you try to stop me and we’re all done.
Tyler glanced from Tasha to Kelly to the bag, then back to Tasha, his jaw tightening as he did.
Kelly shifted sideways, keeping her eyes on Tasha, whose focus never left Tyler. With the last of her strength, she said a quick prayer and swept her leg sideways, catching Tasha across the back of the knee.
Tasha cried out as she pitched forward, phone flying toward the living room.
Tyler was all motion as soon as Kelly moved. He dived into Tasha, pinning her hands behind her and wrestling her to the floor.
Kelly bolted for the phone and snapped it shut, then set it gingerly on the counter and stepped away. She slumped to the back of the couch and gripped her shoulder, eyes finding Tyler’s across the room as he kept a struggling Tasha pinned. “Now it’s over?”
He nodded as tires screeched to a halt in the parking lot. “Now it’s over.”
* * *
“Well, that should take care of it.” The young nurse anchored one last piece of gauze over Kelly’s freshly stitched bicep and slipped the chair back to admire her handiwork. “It’s going to hurt like you can’t imagine when the meds wear off.”
Kelly tilted her arm and looked at the bandage. “That’s what ibuprofen’s for.” The words came out in a squawk, throbbing through her bruised neck. Thankfully, scans had shown no deeper damage, though Kelly knew she’d come close.
“It’s gonna take more than that.” The nurse stood and smoothed the front of her scrubs over the bulge of a very pregnant stomach. She pressed a stack of gauze pads into Kelly’s waiting hand. “Change it whenever it starts to feel uncomfortable. Doc’s put in a prescription for some heavy-duty painkillers if you want to get any sleep tonight.” She smiled down at Kelly. “Merry Christmas.”
Kelly pulled her shirt on over her tank top and awkwardly buttoned it with one hand, the dull ache in her bicep proving the nurse was telling the truth about the pain. She wasn’t one for meds, but the pain in her throat coupled with the throbbing in her arm said she wouldn’t be able to tough it out.
She’d wrestled the last button into place when the nurse stuck her head back in the small curtained room. “There’s a hunk of a soldier out here asking to see you. It okay if I let him in? He’s been waiting...impatiently.”
Kelly felt a smile tilt her lips. “Yes.”
It only took a second for Tyler to step in and pull the curtains shut behind him. He stood there uncertainly, hands behind his back, clearly waiting for her to make the next move.
“Come on in,” Kelly whispered.
“What did the doc say?” He matched her whisper, stepping closer until he stood over her.
“I’m one blessed young lady.”
“I’ll say.” Tyler brushed a straggling lock of hair out of her eye and let his index finger trail down to her neck, leaving a warm trail of goose bumps in its wake. “Tasha Pope didn’t do you any favors.” The way he said the name was hard, and a look crossed his face that said more than his words could. “I was almost too late.”
“Right place, right time.” Her voice was a harsh whisper as Tyler stepped back and eyed her.
“What was that?”
“Right place...”
“...right time.” A smile teased the corners of his mouth. “That’s what I thought you said.” He pulled up the stool the nurse had vacated and plopped himself down, putting himself at eye level. “We need to talk.”
Kelly swallowed, trying not to wince. “I can’t...” She cleared her throat, ignoring the knot that felt more like tears than pain. “I can’t sing tonight.”
Tyler scanned her face, confusion knitting his eyebrows together. “That’s not what—”
Kelly reached out and let her fingers trail down his face, from his forehead to his chin.
Tyler hesitated, then turned his face so his cheek rested against her palm.
“I think God’s trying to tell me something.” Kelly managed the words before Tyler reached up and caught her hand, planting a kiss in her palm, then clasping their hands together.
“What’s that?” His attention never left her.
“Don’t try to be everything to everybody.” She tightened her fingers around his. “Enjoy every gift He’s given me.”
“Including the one that’s always in the right place at the right time?” Tyler’s voice was husky as he kissed the end of her middle finger, sending a jolt clear through to her toes.
At her nod, he lowered their hands, settling them against his chest, then planted a light kiss on her forehead, her cheek, then a gentle one against her lips, a promise that had only just begun.
EPILOGUE
One year later
The hum of voices drifted in from the small fellowship hall off the chapel, punctuated by the giggles and thudding feet of small children. There was a decided lower key in the harmony this Christmas Eve, with most of the men home from rotations in Afghanistan. Somewhere in that din, her father was probably chatting with Tyler about what shorter deployments would mean to the men and women of the 101st. It was his favorite topic of conversation lately. That, and retirement.
Kelly smiled. Like that would ever happen. Shoving her hands deeper into her coat pockets, she settled back and watched candlelight play on the wall behind the altar. She’d sent the chaplains into the fellowship hall, promising them she’d extinguish the candles after the Christmas Eve service, but the hush of the room and the dim light of the candles kept her in her seat. It was a powerful moment, just her and God on this night of all nights. Gratitude overwhelmed her, but all she could think to say was thank You, over and over again. Thank You. For her father’s safe return home. Thank You. For the fact she was alive to see another Christmas Eve. Thank You. For Tyler’s steady, loving presence in her life. None of it was deserved, she knew, and yet all was a gift by the grace of God.
Like Christmas itself.
She was about to slip out of her seat to blow out the candles and go revel with everyone else, when someone slipped in beside her.
Tyler picked up her hand and laced his fingers with hers. “I was wondering where you’d disappeared to.”
“Nowhere. I was about to come and find you.”
Slipping his fingers from hers, Tyler stretched his arm across the back of the pew and drew her closer. “It’s so...holy in here.” His voice was low, letting her know he felt the same wonder that had gripped her. It wasn’t the first time over the course of the past year that his thoughts had synced with hers.
“Perfect word.”
“So, I’m thinking I should give you your Christmas present now, if you’re okay with that.”
Kelly angled away from him so she could see his face. “You don’t want to wait until tomorrow? I don’t even have yours with me.”
“Nah. I’m thinking now is the perfect time.” With his free hand, he reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and slipped out a folded paper, then handed it to her. “Part one.”
The jumble of words and letters was instantly recognizable. Orders. He was leaving Fort Campbell for another post. Kelly felt her Christmas spirit ebb as she scanned the paper in the dim light for his next duty station. Ranger School. Fort Benning, Georgia. With a
report date in May. “How is this a present?”
“I said that was part one.” Tyler withdrew his arm and turned sideways in the pew so he could look at her. “With me needing that second knee surgery after all that happened last Christmas, the army and I both felt like I could use a longer recovery period. I’ll be at Ranger School teaching other soldiers, and there won’t be any deployments for three years.” He leaned away to withdraw something from another pocket. “I figure that’s long enough to get a good start on this.” Reaching for her hand, he wrapped her fingers around a small black box.
This time, Kelly was sure her heart stopped beating altogether. “Is this...?”
“A diamond-encrusted invitation to Fort Benning, and to anywhere the army sends me after that?” He popped the box open in her hand, and the solitaire inside caught the candlelight. “I do believe it is.” Slipping the ring from its place, he held it out to her. “What do you say? Do you think you want to marry an old soldier and join the ride wherever it takes us?”
Kelly bit back a grin and swallowed tears at the same time. “More than anything.”
The words were barely out of her mouth before Tyler had both arms around her, holding her as though he was afraid she’d vanish if he loosened his grip.
She leaned into him and let go the way God had taught her over the past year, surrendering to the fact that life was out of her control, but fully, completely, in control of the God who loved her and of the man who would always be there...no matter what.
* * * * *
Keep reading for an excerpt from COVERT CHRISTMAS by Hope White.
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ONE
They were close, dangerously close.
Scott Becket sprinted up the trail, hoping to disappear in the brush ahead. He wasn’t sure how long he could keep up this pace considering the abuse he’d sustained at the hands of his captors. He was lucky to have gotten away, although without his backpack he wouldn’t survive long out here in the Cascade Mountains.
Scott needed the perfect spot where he could camouflage himself until they passed, if they passed, because he knew they were nothing if not determined to find Scott and kill him. After they finished what they’d started earlier—“persuading” him to admit where he’d hidden the proof of criminal activity that could destroy them all.
As long as he had sole possession of the documentation, Scott would breathe another day or two, long enough to gather the last bit of evidence he needed to end this thing.
Eyeing the trail ahead, he hoped he wouldn’t run into innocent civilians out for an afternoon hike. Scott didn’t want to put others in jeopardy and wasn’t sure how far his pursuers would go to secure the information and eliminate Scott, the only person cynical enough to question their plan.
He winced at the pain of bruised ribs as he gasped to fill his lungs with air. Scott berated himself for not catching on sooner. What a fool. Just like he’d been a fool to think he could get water samples to the EPA without being caught. But then he hadn’t been thinking clearly for a while now.
They’d distracted him with the illusion of love and happiness. Christa had been so good, too, an expert at making him feel safe and loved. He should have known better. Sweet, perfect women like Christa did not fall in love with damaged goods like Scott Becket.
They’d also distracted Scott with threats against his boss and veiled threats against Scott’s sister. He hoped Emily took his message seriously and got out of town. If anything happened to his baby sister—
Crack! He ducked at the sound of a gunshot echoing through the woods. Now they were shooting at him? They wouldn’t find zip if they killed him first and asked questions later.
He glanced over his shoulder to see how close they were—
His boot hit a tree root sticking up from the trail and he slammed chest-first against the ground, air ripping from his lungs.
It couldn’t end like this, with Scott dead in the mountains, the notes and emails he’d collected never making it to the proper authorities.
Junior would continue his plan, and eventually ascend to an even more powerful position as a governor or senator. Scott knew if the guy made it into office people would die from his greed.
Scott scrambled to his feet, his hiking boots getting a solid grip on the soft earth. He wouldn’t give up the fight until he was, in fact, dead.
With renewed focus he took off, eyeing a switchback up ahead.
“Stop!” a man shouted.
Sure, stop running and die. Not a chance.
Another crack echoed across the mountain range. He hoped someone heard the gunshot and called 9-1-1.
Scott should have called the cops before now, maybe even called his former partner at the Chicago P.D. Right, and have Joe lecture Scott about his screwup with the Domingo kid and subsequent resignation?
Scott didn’t have much pull left with law enforcement, which is why being named head of security for Global Resources International had been such a confidence builder.
Or had that been the plan all along, employ a scapegoat like Scott Becket as a fail-safe, someone to take the heat if it all went south?
He hadn’t seen it coming.
Approaching another switchback, Scott reached for a tree to steady himself as he made the turn. His momentum put him dangerously close to the edge of the trail overlooking a steep drop. If he could just make it around the corner and out of sight—
Crack!
Pain seared across his upper arm.
He instinctively grabbed it and stumbled, slipping over the edge and skidding down the lush terrain.
Whack! He came to a sudden stop and gasped for breath. His head throbbed, his arm burned and his ribs ached. He blinked, struggling to focus but his vision wouldn’t clear. All he could see was a blur of green above him; all he could hear was the sound of angry voices.
Closer, louder.
A high-pitched ringing cut through the echo of voices.
And darkness consumed him.
* * *
Breanna McBride dangled her feet from her position twenty feet up in a tree and gazed at the vast mountain range. The air smelled fresh and invigorating, and the Douglas fir and Western Hemlock scattered across the countryside reminded her that Christmas was only weeks away.
She heard what sounded like a gunshot and wondered if it was a blank fired off to signal the end of the training exercise for the Echo Mountain Search and Rescue K9 unit.
Some might accuse Bree of being overly enthusiastic for hiding out up here; others might call her crazy. But Grace Longfellow, the SAR group leader, asked Bree to plan an exceptional challenge for today’s candidates and handlers, so she found this camouflaged spot high off the ground in Woods Pass.
It could happen, Bree mused. A hiker could fall from a trail up above and land in a tree, maybe. Bree figured they should be ready for anything. Today was the final test, the graduation for three more dogs hoping to join the SAR K9 team.
She waited. Turned up the volume on her radio so she wouldn’t miss the announcement. The exercise wouldn’t have ended until the dogs found Bree, right?
A second shot echoed across the mountains and she ripped her radio off her belt. “This is Bree. Has the training exercise ended, over?�
��
“We’re still looking for you and one other victim, over,” Grace answered.
“But I heard—” Sudden movement caught her eye. A body tumbled onto the trail below, landing maybe twenty feet from her tree. “I think we have a real victim, over.”
“He’s gotta be down there!” a man’s voice called from the distance.
Bree raised her lightweight binoculars and spotted two men heading down the trail.
One of them was carrying a gun.
Her heart raced as her mind clicked off possible reasons why a man would be carrying a handgun in the national park. Hunting was illegal here, and the last time someone was shot in the park it was a private investigator shot by a criminal involved in a theft ring.
Bree’s eyes darted from the two armed men to the unconscious one on the trail. She was torn between staying concealed and safe or helping him. Maybe if someone would have helped her when she was with her ex-boyfriend Thomas....
“Don’t be foolish,” she whispered. How could she possibly defend herself and an injured man against two men with guns?
“Grace, I’ve got a situation here,” she said into the radio. “We may need the police. There are two assailants, one is carrying a handgun, and a third man who is wounded, over.”
“Location?”
Bree gave her the coordinates. “I’m turning down the radio so they don’t hear you.”
“Stay hidden,” Grace ordered.
“Copy that.”
Bree took a slow, deep breath to calm her frantic heartbeat. She hadn’t felt this kind of adrenaline rush, this kind of fear since...
“Thomas,” she hushed.
No, she’d left that behind when she’d fled Seattle, returned to Echo Mountain and rebooted her life. She thought she’d erased the fear and trepidation from her mind. From her soul.
The wounded man groaned and managed to stand up.
And that’s when she saw the blood seeping between his fingers as he gripped his upper arm.
Holiday Defenders : Mission: Christmas Rescuespecial Ops Christmashomefront Holiday Hero (9781460341254) Page 22
