Christmas in Hiding

by Cate Nolan

  Callie didn’t wait to see what would happen. She took off, rushing past a stunned Ben and heading into the maze of basement rooms.

  A shot sounded behind her and a bullet slammed into the concrete wall by her head. She quickly ducked into another room and searched for someplace to hide.

  The room was empty, but it led into another beyond it. She’d become so disoriented, she wasn’t sure if she was running deeper into the school or heading toward the exterior. Footsteps behind her warned there was no choice but to keep moving. She dashed across the room and into the vast open space of the shelter room.

  Not a good choice.

  * * *

  Jackson froze when he heard the shot. Please, Lord. Protect my Callie. He held up a hand to stop the men behind him. Half of them he directed to round the perimeter of the school and go down the stairs by the boiler room. The sound of the shot was from deeper inside, so she apparently had moved. He was taking the rest of the men and heading in through the building.

  Once inside, they proceeded quickly from classroom to classroom, scanning each to make sure no one was hidden inside. Jackson kicked confetti as he walked, and he was reminded of Callie describing the parties with her students. Sadness swamped him, but he shoved it away. No time for emotion now.

  Another shot. It felt like it had come from directly beneath his feet. According to the head custodian, the entry to the basement should be up ahead on the right. Jackson opened the door and gestured for the men to wait before following. He edged his way down the stairs, step by step, taking care to make no noise and listening for any clue of Callie’s whereabouts.

  “Thought you’d get away, did you?”

  Jackson halted. That sounded like the man whose voice he’d heard over the phone.

  “It was worth a try.”

  Jackson thought his knees might buckle at the sound of Callie’s voice, and he realized just how deeply he’d feared he’d never hear her again. Energy surged though him and he crept closer. She was so near now.

  The sight that greeted him at the bottom of the stairs made his heart skip a beat. Callie stood against the far wall. A man with huge federal letters emblazoned on his back stood facing her, his gun leveled at her head.

  Her eyes widened as she saw Jackson step into the room. He placed a finger over his mouth to warn her to silence, but it was too late. The agent picked up on her reaction and swirled around to point his gun at Jackson. He fired off a shot, but the distance was too great and it hit the concrete to the right of Jackson’s head. He dodged the spray of concrete and rolled behind one of the supporting columns. He leveled his own weapon, but there was no straight shot that didn’t include the possibility of hitting Callie.

  The agent moved swiftly and grabbed Callie from behind. He wrapped his arms around her and held the gun to her head. “Drop your weapon.”

  Jackson could barely hear him over the sound of blood rushing in his head. He hadn’t come this far to lose her now. Dear Lord, if ever You have an ear for a sinner, hear me now. I don’t deserve Your help, but Callie does. I know I shouldn’t be bargaining, but please, please help her.

  Another shot rang out, and Jackson froze.

  One long terrible moment passed before the agent crumpled to the ground. Callie broke from his grasp and ran for Jackson. He jumped up and pulled her behind the column. He wanted nothing more than to wrap her in his arms forever, but because he had no idea where the shot had come from, he was taking no chances.

  He scanned the room, but there was no one in sight. Had one of the other officers come to his rescue?

  Shielding Callie with his body, he hurried to the stairs.

  “No need to run, Jackson.”

  For the second time that evening, Jackson went still as a statue. He turned, taking care to keep Callie behind him. Ben stood hunched over, gasping for breath, blood streaming from a cut on his head.

  “What happened to you?” Jackson asked.

  Ben ignored the question as he leaned over the agent to check for a pulse, then tossed his own weapon aside. “I’m still on your side. You have nothing to fear from me.”

  Callie slumped against his back. Jackson’s body wanted to do the same, but too many days of suspicion made him unable to surrender trust so easily. He kept his gun trained on his mentor. “Talk, Ben.”

  “Can you call EMS first? He shot at me when I tried to stop him. I think I need...” He slumped to the ground.

  “Was there anyone else down here?” Jackson whispered to Callie.

  “No.”

  “Okay.” He shouted up the stairs to the police officers to stay at attention but call for medical help. “You wait here,” he told Callie. “I’m going to check on Ben.”

  “Not on your life.”

  He rolled his eyes. That was Callie. Even in danger, she would argue with him.

  He wanted to believe that Ben was a good marshal. He wanted faith in his mentor restored, but Jackson was taking no chances with Callie’s life. “Stay back until I’m sure he’s not up to something.”

  Noise at the top of the stairs alerted him to the arrival of medical help, who must have been just outside in the parking lot. Calling to them to wait, he walked over to his friend, looked him straight in the eye and patted him down for other weapons. The resigned sadness in Ben’s eyes told him he understood. He grabbed for Jackson’s arm and whispered, “Sorry...I can explain.”

  Jackson stared at him, his tension easing as he saw past today to the man he had known for so many years. “It can wait.” He squeezed Ben’s hand and called out to EMS that they could come down now.

  Callie came up beside Jackson and slipped her hand into his as she bent to kiss Ben’s cheek. “You saved my life. Thank you.”

  Jackson squeezed her hand, then let go and wrapped his arm tightly around her. His voice was hoarse as he echoed her words.

  They stepped back to let EMS get to work. Jackson kept his arm wrapped tightly around Callie. He didn’t know what to say so he just held her and offered prayers of thanks. Dear Lord, from the bottom of my heart, I thank You. I don’t know what the future brings, but thank You for today and for saving Callie.

  “Come on,” he told her. “Let’s go.”

  “No. Wait.”

  Jackson stopped and took a deep breath. Would this woman ever stop arguing?

  “I need to show you something.” She took his hand and led him deeper into the basement. All around them, police officers hustled, securing the site, but she walked on.

  She led him into a room that looked like a tornado had ripped through. Boxes were flung every which way. She stepped through the mess and reached to pull a model house from behind a pole.

  She walked back to him, holding it up triumphantly. “This may be what they wanted.”

  “A toy house?”

  Callie laughed and the sound was such sweet balm to his soul. “Apparently Rick hid something in here.” A frown furrowed her brow as she peered in the windows. “At least I think he did.”

  “Let’s take it upstairs and examine it where there’s some light.”

  “Wait, Jackson. What’s this?

  Callie had been examining the front door and found a board loose. She pried it up and pulled out a key wrapped in a piece of paper. She unfurled the paper to see a bunch of coffee stains and a series of numbers. “Great,” she muttered. “Another puzzle.”

  “No, that’s good. It’s a locker number and combination. We just have to figure out where it is.”

  “Wouldn’t they have checked everywhere he would have been likely to have something?”

  “Yup, that’s why we have to think.”

  Callie sighed. “I could really use a cup of coff—” Goose bumps rose on her arms and shivers ran in circles up her legs. “Jackson, that’s it. Let me see the paper.�
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  “What?”

  “There’s a place downtown that Rick and I used to meet for coffee all the time. Right next door is one of those mailbox places where you can rent a box or a storage locker. This napkin, half the logo is missing, but it’s from that coffee shop. Rick must have rented a locker there.”

  Jackson tipped her chin up so he could stare once more into her beautiful eyes. “See, you did know the answer all along.”

  Before she could respond, he leaned in and kissed her.

  * * *

  Callie paced the marshals’ office. Where was Jackson? Surely he’d come to say goodbye. He wouldn’t just abandon her without even wishing her well, would he?

  Honestly, she didn’t know. He’d acted so strangely in the past few days since they’d found the locker and discovered a treasure trove of money, recordings and papers Rick had collected. It was enough to put that gang away for a lifetime.

  Callie tried to be satisfied with the knowledge that she’d achieved her goal. Justice had been meted out. The bad guys were locked up, at least this set of them. There would always be more criminals for people like Jackson to deal with, more witnesses to protect, but at least she could enter her new life knowing she’d found justice for Rick.

  Another consolation was understanding Ben’s role. The DEA agent, Quint, had blackmailed Ben when he discovered some problems the marshal was having with his son. Ben had asked for Jackson to replace him guarding Callie as a way of buying time to keep her safe. Jackson hadn’t been happy to have been kept in the dark on that, but he’d get over it.

  “Callie, it’s time to go.” The new marshal was holding out an envelope. “Jackson asked me give you this. He said you’d understand when you read it.”

  Callie wasn’t sure she would be able to read through the tears filling her eyes, but she opened the envelope and pulled out the single card.

  “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

  Never lose hope, Callie. I love you.

  Jackson

  He wasn’t coming. She understood that. The quote from Jeremiah touched her heart, but she couldn’t focus past the fact that Jackson wasn’t coming to see her off. She touched a finger to her lips, remembering that last kiss. Apparently that had been goodbye. She swallowed hard. It wasn’t like she wasn’t used to things ending badly.

  “Tell him goodbye for me when you see him.”

  * * *

  Jackson stood at the window watching her go. He’d known he couldn’t talk to her without giving away his plan. If he were going to join her in witness protection, he would have to wrap up everything in his old life. That would take time. He couldn’t risk her arguing and trying to stay with him.

  He watched her step into the car and blew her a kiss. ‘Soon, Cal,” he whispered through the glass. “If everything goes according to plan. God be with you.”

  TWENTY

  “Thank you, Lord, for this glorious spring day.”

  Callie walked out onto her porch and breathed deeply of the cool Kentucky air. The view was breathtaking, endless acres of bluegrass swaying in the morning breeze. All that was missing was the horses. Maybe someday.

  And Jackson.

  Tears welled in her eyes, but she swiped them away. All these months later and thoughts of him still made emotion swell in her heart. Would she ever learn to be truly happy here?

  She could be—so very happy—if only Jackson were with her.

  He’d made this happen for her; she knew it. But what did it mean without him?

  She tried to push away the thoughts of him, focusing instead on all she had to be grateful for. She was alive. She had her dream home, if not the family to go with it. In time she would figure out a way to make something of her life.

  At least she prayed she would. When things were really bad, she prayed through song. At least out here, away from everything, she could once more sing to her heart’s content.

  She stepped off the porch and wandered across the back lawn. Early-morning sunlight streamed through the trees and shone down on her. She started singing—softly at first—the song that always filled her heart with peace, “How Great Thou Art.”

  As she sang, she couldn’t help but think of Jackson and how she had fallen in love with him in the midst of difficulty and against all wisdom. She’d believed he had feelings for her, too, but their lives were on different tracks and they weren’t meant to be.

  How great Thou art. But knowing it and being able to accept it were two totally different things. Through all her life, all the trials and tribulations of the past year, her faith hadn’t wavered, but now, as she sat here alone, her heart was breaking and loneliness threatened to undermine every belief she had. Her voice faltered.

  “I know I’m being tested, Lord. And I’m failing.” She was clinging to her faith by her fingernails. “Please, Lord, help me. I know You have a plan for me. Please help me to trust in it. Help me to truly believe that it is Your will, not mine, that matters.”

  She tried singing again, loudly this time, and before long, she was pouring her entire heart and soul into it. The words purified her soul and helped to clear her mind. With the very act of singing, she poured every ounce of her longing and doubt and belief into the words.

  Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she held her face up to the sky, belting the final verse out to the heavens.

  * * *

  Jackson stood at the edge of Callie’s yard and watched her sing.

  He’d parked the trailer at the end of the drive and led his present along on foot because he wanted to surprise her. He’d tethered the horse to the front porch and had been walking up the steps to knock when he’d heard a back door slam. Instinct kicked in, and he dropped his bags and ran around the side, reaching for a gun he no longer carried.

  The sight of Callie alone on her back porch had been so achingly sad, he’d hesitated to interfere. Then she’d walked across the lawn and begun to sing, and he’d been transfixed.

  Her song was soft and sad at first, but as she continued, her voice rose with growing passion until it was soaring across the silent morning. When she finished, Jackson almost expected to hear a roar of applause. It was what she deserved. There was total silence instead, as if every ounce of energy had been sucked from the morning by her song. She stood with head bowed.

  Slowly, as if sensing something, she turned and saw him.

  “Jackson?”

  He couldn’t hear her voice, but he saw her whisper his name. And then she was running toward him, flying across the lawn and leaping into his arms.

  The force of her embrace nearly knocked him to his knees, but Jackson swung her up and around, holding her close to his heart. It was a very long time before he drew back enough to see her face.

  She lifted her hand to trace along his jaw. “You’re really here.”

  His smile came from the very depths of his being. “I am.”

  “How—”

  “Shh.”

  He lowered his lips to hers and finally kissed her with all the love in his heart. Love, faith, gratitude, everything in him poured through that kiss as he made up for the long lonely months without her. When he finally lifted his head, they were both gasping for breath.

  “What are you doing here? Nothing happened, did it?” She stepped back to look him over.

  He laughed. “Nope. Everything’s right with the world.”

  “Really?” Her brow furrowed.

  “I brought you a friend. Come meet him.” He led Callie over to meet her new horse. “Turns out there was some reward money for helping catch the drug dealers. You have plenty of cash left over to make a new start, but I thought you might like to have a friend along.”

 
She tore her gaze away from her horse to look at him. “You did this, all of this, didn’t you? I knew it was more than WITSEC could provide.”

  He shrugged. “My parents left me a lot of money. I never knew what to do with it. And then I did. I hope it makes you happy.”

  Her smile faded. She buried her face in the horse’s mane. “Can I name him after you—to remind myself?” Her voice was so sad he thought his heart might break.

  He waited a beat. “You could, but it might be a bit confusing to know which of us you’re calling.”

  Her head jerked up, startling the horse. She ran a hand over his flank, soothing him as she glared at Jackson. “What exactly are you saying?”

  He got down on one knee. “Callie Martin, will you marry me?”

  She just stared and for a moment he was afraid he’d made a huge mistake.

  “But—” Tears pooled in her eyes. “You’d be giving up so much.”

  “Oh, sweet girl, I’d be giving up everything if I let you walk out of my life.”

  Callie stood in shock. “You really mean it? You’re not teasing me or trying to get back at me for something I did?”

  He laughed. “You really have a low opinion of me.”

  “Oh, no, that’s not what—”

  He silenced her with a kiss. “Did that feel like I was teasing?”

  She could barely breathe so she shook her head.

  He took her hands and linked his fingers through hers. “Callie, when I came home from the war, I joined the Marshals because I had nothing left I cared about. I didn’t worry about the danger because I had no reason to live. I figured I might as well do some good with my life.”

  He lifted her hands and kissed her fingers, one at a time. “You gave me a reason to live. You gave me a life to want. You gave me love and hope at a time when I didn’t really expect either.”

  He closed his eyes and took a long breath. When he opened them again, he stared deep into hers, opening a window into his heart. “Without you, I’m just another marshal. With you, I can be everything.