by Liz Johnson
PROTECTING HIS FAMILY
Just in time for the holidays, navy SEAL Zach McCloud returns home from deployment—and discovers someone wants his family dead. When he married his cousin’s struggling widow, he vowed to help her and her seriously ill son, and now he’ll risk everything to protect them. Even if their arrangement is only temporary. Kristi’s certain an unhappy client from the law firm where she works is determined to hunt her down. But when a sniper bullet wildly misses its target, they begin to question whether it’s really her someone wants dead. Working together, can they figure out why they’ve been attacked…and keep little Cody from the nefarious forces dead set on making this Christmas their last?
“It’s okay,” Zach said. “It’s going to be okay.”
But his words didn’t make the hail of bullets stop.
And then he heard the sweet song of police sirens. And just like that, as quickly as they’d started, the shots ended.
He released Kristi just enough for her to look up at him, eyes wild and curls askew. She dropped her gaze to her son and cupped his cheeks in her palms. “Are you all right?”
Cody looked mildly shell-shocked but shrugged anyway. “I’m okay.”
She turned her arm, and Zach saw a red swath from her elbow to her shoulder. Grabbing her with less finesse and more fear, he said, “I thought you said you weren’t hit.”
Kristi followed his gaze to the smear of blood and frowned, looking puzzled. “It’s not me. I’m not…” Her eyes widened in alarm when she looked at his shoulder. “Oh, Zach.”
She scrambled to pull off her sweater and pressed it against his arm.
Pain seared through him like a flash of lightning. It was as if his entire arm was on fire, and he hadn’t even noticed. Only now could he feel the blood rolling down to his elbow.
But at least it was his and not hers.
By day Liz Johnson is a marketing manager at a Christian publisher. She makes time to write late at night and is a two-time ACFW Carol Award finalist. She lives in Nashville and enjoys exploring local music and theater, and she makes frequent trips to Arizona to dote on her nieces and nephews. She writes stories filled with heart, humor and happily-ever-afters and can be found online at www.lizjohnsonbooks.com.
Books by Liz Johnson
Love Inspired Suspense
Men of Valor
A Promise to Protect
SEAL Under Siege
Navy SEAL Noel
Navy SEAL Security
Hazardous Holiday
Witness Protection
Stolen Memories
The Kidnapping of Kenzie Thorn
Vanishing Act
Code of Justice
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HAZARDOUS
HOLIDAY
Liz Johnson
To everything there is a season,
and a time to every purpose under the heaven.
—Ecclesiastes 3:1
For the readers.
May you continue to find joy in stories
and hope in the greatest story of all.
Contents
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
EPILOGUE
DEAR READER
EXCERPT FROM MISTLETOE REUNION THREAT BY VIRGINIA VAUGHAN
PROLOGUE
“I guess we’d better get married, then.”
At Zach’s words, Kristi Tanner dropped her mug. It shattered and splashed coffee across her kitchen floor, dousing the nearby cabinets in the pale, creamy drink.
All six feet two inches of Zach McCloud stooped in silence to scoop up the porcelain shards, but she couldn’t move as his words rang in her ears, over and over.
We’d better get married, then.
Get married, then.
Married.
As proposals went, that was the very worst one she’d ever heard. Of course, she’d heard only two in person. But this was nothing like a sweet, romantic scene from the movies.
From his knees, Zach stared up at her. “I guess that was a bit of a surprise.”
She gave him a curt nod.
“Sorry about that.” He threw the broken mug away, then shifted into the traditional proposal pose. She sucked in a quick gasp. Was he going to do it right this time?
But she didn’t know what right looked like.
When Aaron had asked her to marry him, he’d pulled a ring out of the front pocket of his work jeans and slipped it on her finger before she’d even known what was happening. That had been fine with her, since she’d been in love with Aaron Tanner since he shared his pudding cup with her in the second grade.
But he was never going to share his dessert with her again.
Tears burned her eyes, and she tried to wipe them away. No matter how similar their hazel-green eyes and cleft chins—genetic traits the cousins shared—the man kneeling before her wasn’t Aaron.
“Why exactly do you think we should get married?”
Zach rubbed at his bald head, the superclose shave most likely masking the McCloud men’s tendency toward early hair loss. “Guess I sort of jumped ahead there.”
“You think?” She couldn’t help the snark that laced her words. It wasn’t pointed at him precisely. It wasn’t pointed anywhere actually.
Maybe a little at Aaron.
Definitely kind of at Aaron.
He’d promised they’d grow old together working the ranch they both loved.
Then he’d gone and walked in on a robbery in progress. He’d tried to protect the pregnant clerk behind the gas station counter. And he’d been shot three times in the chest.
How dare he leave her to raise their five-year-old son, Cody, all by herself?
“As I see it, you can’t stay in Montana,” he said, his voice low, laced with pain that was entirely too familiar.
Aaron hadn’t just been Zach’s cousin. He’d been his best friend, too.
He snagged a towel from the counter and mopped up the coffee streaks down the cabinets before wiping at the puddle on the floor. “Not with Cody’s condition.”
That was a placid euphemism for the sinister heart defect that had been slowly stealing her son’s life, breath by breath.
“He needs to be near the best doctors when he reaches the top of the transplant list. And you need support…and insurance.” The flecks of brown in his green eyes seemed to glow as he leaned forward. “You’re all alone out here.”
Like she needed the reminder. Their nearest neighbor was more than a dozen miles away. The nearest hospital was more than fifty miles. Aaron’s parents—Zach’s aunt and uncle—had moved into town when she and Aaron took over the ranch.
And the ranch hands spent their time mending fences and minding the herd. They weren’t around the house, if she ever needed them.
But why would she need them? She’d grown up on a ranch—albeit a much smaller spread. Still, she could stitch up a cut, round up a stray and fix a broken tractor.
If something happened to her, she’d get through.
But now that something had happened to Cody, well, she’d go crazy if she couldn’t get him to help fast enough.
On paper, Zach’s solution made sense. But in reality…could she really do this? Could she marry Zach McCloud?
*
Zach stared up into the deepest brown eyes he’d ever known and called himself every kind of fool for springing his plan on Kristi. In all the time he’d spent chewing on the idea—since he’d heard about Cody’s heart condition—he should have had time to come up with a better approach. But despite her shock, he still knew this was the right decision.
He’d even asked his pastor for advice. They’d spent two hours searching Scripture for direction.
Time and again they’d landed in the book of James and the command to care for the orphans and widows.
He could care for her and help her.
Marrying her was the best way he knew to do it.
And if he’d been in love with her since they were sixteen, well, he wouldn’t let that get in the way of being the friend she needed, the friend Aaron would expect him to be.
Focusing on Kristi, he narrowed his gaze and dropped his voice. “It makes sense.”
She blinked rapidly, a motion he knew well. She was fighting the tears that threatened to spill. He guessed they came pretty regularly nowadays.
But she didn’t say no. So he plowed forward.
“Look, I know it’s strange. But Aaron was practically my brother. I’d do anything for him. Which means I’d do anything for you and Cody.” Zach rubbed his head. “If we get married, you’ll be taken care of. You’ll have the navy’s best insurance. You’ll have a place to live in San Diego, close to some of the best pediatric transplant surgeons in the country.”
“But we haven’t spent any time together since high school.”
They’d all spent every summer together when they were kids, but Zach had joined the navy right out of high school and hadn’t been back to Montana in years. She probably remembered him as a shy, gangly tenth grader.
He wasn’t that kid anymore.
Just as he was formulating his case, she shook her head firmly. “I can’t. I’m not ready to be married to someone else. It’s only been a year.”
Fifteen months to be exact, but he wouldn’t argue the point. She wasn’t ready to share her life with another man. Maybe she never would be. But that wasn’t what he was offering.
“I have a three-bedroom town house. There’s more than enough room for you and Cody to each have your own. And…and my team is being deployed.”
“Deployed? Where?”
He shook his head. She might as well get used to it. He didn’t talk about where his SEAL team served. Ever.
But her frown said that wasn’t acceptable. “When?”
“In about four weeks. For a year.”
Her eyes narrowed, and she crossed her arms over her chest. “You’re suggesting I leave everything and everyone I know and move to San Diego. But you’re not going to be there.”
He stood, towering over her, but she didn’t step back.
“I know it’s not ideal, but I don’t have a better suggestion.” He rubbed the back of his neck as he hung his head. “I want to help. And all I’m asking in return is that you trust me.”
“And how long will I be in San Diego?”
“As long as you and Cody need it.” He shrugged. “You have a home there for as long as it takes.”
“What about after?”
He mouthed the word after and twisted the towel in his hands until the fibers strained. After Cody’s surgery? After she didn’t need him anymore? He had no answers, but still a strong conviction that this was what he was supposed to do.
“We’ll figure it out.”
“Momma?”
Her gaze swung to the kitchen entry, and Zach followed it a second behind. The little boy looked smaller than his five years, practically skin and bones, his face dominated by his dad’s big green eyes.
“What are you doing out of bed?” Reaching out a hand to him, she said, “Come here, little man.” He ran to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, tucking his face into her side as she sifted her fingers through his sandy-blond hair.
Before she could make introductions, he squatted in front of them. Eye level with the boy, Zach held out his hand. “You must be Cody. I’m Zach. I’ve heard a lot of great things about you. Your dad talked about you all the time.”
For an instant Cody’s lips trembled. “You knew my daddy?”
Zach’s eyes burned. “He was my very best friend and the best man I knew.”
A sniff from above drew Zach’s attention, and he looked up in time to see Kristi wiping her face.
“All right.”
Was that a yes to his proposal—botched though it may have been?
She seemed to read his question on his face and nodded slowly. “Bud, how would you like to live by the ocean?”
ONE
Thirteen months later
Kristi Tanner had been an idiot.
There was no other word for it.
What on earth had possessed her to marry a man she barely knew and to move into an unfamiliar neighborhood? She still didn’t feel safe here, even after more than a year. Though that sense of danger mostly stemmed from the brown sedan that had been parked across the street from her town house on and off for two weeks. It didn’t seem to belong to a single one of her neighbors.
She gave it another hard look as the vehicle pulled past for the hundredth time.
She couldn’t be the only one in the neighborhood who noticed the strange drive-bys or felt like someone was watching her unload groceries and pull weeds.
Maybe that was all part of life in a big city. Maybe she should have expected the weight of a hundred eyes on her. Only it hadn’t started until a few weeks ago. Right after the scene at her office.
She shook her head. She didn’t have time today to think about the odd shiver down her back or that silly car. Not when she was expected at the base.
When Zach had shipped out, a year had seemed so long. He’d been gone, and she and Cody had built their life in San Diego. Doctor’s appointments. A new job. Cody’s homeschooling. Birthdays and holidays. They’d made the most of them all, every day grieving their loss a little less.
But now Zach was coming back—coming home.
To her home.
“What time do they get in?”
Cody sagged in the backseat, but his smile couldn’t be denied. Despite his pale lips and sallow skin, his eyes danced with anticipation. And Kristi couldn’t deny him his joy at the prospect of seeing his longtime pen pal.
Not even if her insides were a knot of nerves.
“His flight was supposed to arrive at one.”
“Hurry.” He kicked at the back of her seat as his voice rose. “We’re going to be late.”
The light changed, and she zipped in front of a red sports car, headed toward the Coronado Bridge. “We’re not going to be late. And stop kicking my seat.”
“Yes, Momma.” The frantic beats at her back ended immediately. “But hurry?” he pleaded.
She took a corner a little faster than she’d anticipated, and her purse flew across the passenger seat, sending several worn envelopes flying to the floorboard. She’d carried Zach’s letters with her every day since they began arriving. One every month. All written in a bold, blocky hand.
They weren’t filled with flowery poetry or sweet words. They never hinted at affection or the pain of distance.
No one would dare to classify them as love letters.
Still, they offered a peek into the heart of the man she’d married. Funny stories of his team’s time abroad. Concern for Cody. Scriptures he’d been reading.
She’d pored over them all.
And never sent a single response.
It was so much easier to tag a note on to the end of Cody’s emails, letting Zach know they were well and his house was fine, than to put her real th
oughts on to paper. Her real doubts.
At first she’d wondered every day after their courthouse ceremony if she’d made the right decision. But as the weeks ticked by, life had settled into a new normal.
Until the call a few days ago.
Ashley Waterstone, the wife of the senior chief of Zach’s SEAL team, had called with news. The team was coming home.
“Momma?”
“Yes, Cody?”
“Where’s Zach going to stay?”
Her stomach clenched, her grip on the wheel turning her knuckles white. As promised, Zach’s three-bedroom home was big enough for all of them, but it would be strange to have another person in the space she’d come to see as hers and Cody’s.
“Because I was thinking he could stay in my room.”
Kristi couldn’t hold back a giggle.
“I have bunk beds, and he could have the top one.” Cody met her gaze in the rearview mirror and smiled broadly. “Do you think he’d want to?”
“Well, bud,” she said as tactfully as she could, “he’s been working hard for a long time. He might need lots of good sleep.”
Cody shook his head vigorously. “I bet he’ll want to. I’ll ask him. My Chevy night-light is really cool.”
“That it is. You ask him. But if he says no, then you say okay. Okay?”
“Okay.”
They turned left and then followed the road through the lush greenery beneath a cloudless blue sky. The sun shone off the legendary red spires of the Hotel del Coronado to their right. Another sunny-and-seventy day in Southern California, even in December.
Of all the familiar things she missed about Montana—her friends, Aaron’s family and the beauty of Big Sky Country—she never missed the winter weather.
As she pulled up to the gatehouse at the entrance to the base, Cody began chanting his excitement. When she rolled her window down, the guard looked into the backseat at the ruckus.
“Is someone’s dad coming home today?” the big man asked.
Kristi swallowed the lump in her throat. The same one that seemed to pop up at the oddest reminders of Aaron. “I’m Kristi T—McCloud. I’m here to pick up Zach.”
