Montana Dreams

by Jillian Hart

  Paul placed a hand on Andy’s arm, concern and compassion bright in his eyes. “We’ve got the memory card, remember? We’ll find her.”

  Andy prayed so.

  Forcing himself to function, Andy called in an alert with the model and make of the SUV as Paul drove them back to the station. When they arrived, Andy went directly to the lab tech. “Clyde, I need you to download whatever’s on here ASAP.”

  Irritation crossed Clyde’s expression as he stared at Andy through his thick glasses. “I’m busy.”

  Andy slammed his hand on Clyde’s desk. “Now.”

  Without further comment Clyde took the small memory card and inspected it. “Looks like a two gig for a PDA.”

  “Can you pull the images off it?” Agitation made his voice shaky.

  “Of course.” Clyde dug through a drawer and pulled out a larger square piece of plastic. Sticking the card into the square, he then inserted it into a slot on the laptop sitting on the desk.

  A few moments later, a video image streamed through the screen and focused on a brick warehouse.

  A soft female voice spoke with a slight accent. “Day four of following Charlie. We’re on the north side of Queens. Not far from the LIE and BQE. Can’t make out the address on the warehouse.”

  Graffiti marred the exterior of the building. Two huge metal rolling doors stood partially open.

  Paul barked out an order to a passing officer. “Get me a listing of the warehouses in North Queens near the LIE and BQE. Stat.”

  Forcing himself to breathe, Andy concentrated on the screen. A gathering of men congregated near one door as if waiting for something.

  “That’s Charlie Linder.” Andy pointed to the skinny man nervously smoking a cigarette at the back of the crowd.

  “Now we know his connection to Hyong. She must have been doing a story on him,” Paul commented.

  “But why Linder?” Andy asked. “He was just a street thug.”

  A black SUV pulled up, sending the gathered men into action. Andy’s heart raced.

  The vehicle looked exactly like the one that had whisked away Kristin.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The doors of the vehicle opened and more men exited. One man in particular caught Andy’s attention. He leaned closer to the computer to focus on the well-dressed man who stood out from the rest. There was no mistaking the former commander of the United Colombian Auto-Defense militia. His face graced every major law enforcement agency’s most wanted list for drug trafficking. “George Mendoza! I thought he’d fled back to Colombia?”

  The voice on the video continued speaking, “Oh, no. I can’t believe what I’m seeing. Mendoza himself. Oooh, hello Pulitzer for this one. Wait. What are they doing? Oh, no. Oh, no!”

  Andy wondered the same thing as the cargo doors to the SUV were flung open and a man, bound and gagged, was dragged out and dropped on the ground.

  A collective gasp filled the small lab room as Andy, Paul and Clyde recognized Assistant District Attorney Michael Schomus. The man had been missing for two weeks.

  Horror filled Andy as Mendoza approached Schomus with a gun. Mendoza bent down to say something in Schomus’ ear, then Mendoza straightened and fired two rounds into Schomus.

  The screen went dark. A shocked silence filled the lab. Nausea roiled in Andy’s gut. God rest his soul and help me to protect Kristin.

  Terror ignited a fiery trail in his chest. What if he was already too late? Mendoza thought nothing of murdering a public official. What would keep him from killing Kristin?

  “We’ve got to find that warehouse,” Andy said and headed into the heart of the station.

  “He may not have taken her there,” Paul said, his voice full of concern and caution.

  Trying to compartmentalize his emotions—but failing miserably—Andy rounded on Paul. “It’s all we have. Are you with me?”

  Paul drew himself up, looking hurt. “Of course.”

  Andy didn’t have time to smooth over Paul’s feelings. “We need to get tactical on this.”

  “Agreed.”

  Three minutes later they had an address matching the description of the warehouse and in record time they moved out of the station. But it wasn’t fast enough.

  A howl of pent up rage lay trapped in Andy’s lungs as he endured the insufferably long ride to North Queens.

  He could only pray they wouldn’t be too late.

  * * *

  “Where is it?”

  The angry bellow shuddered through Kristin. She shook her head trying to focus on the man yelling in her face. He’d been asking her for some video ever since she awoke. “I don’t know anything about a video.”

  She’d moved past fear and panic into numb horror after the initial shock of being kidnapped and tied to a chair in a dank, smelly room had passed. Sunlight tried to brighten the space but the dingy window wouldn’t allow much of the sun’s glow to invade the room.

  But at least she hadn’t been unconscious long enough for the sun to go down. Unless it had simply come back up again....

  The man standing before her had hit her twice already. She could feel the tightening of skin over her cheek from the swelling and she was pretty sure her lip was split, if the blood she tasted was any indication.

  “I said tell me where it is.” He raised his hand for a third blow.

  Cringing with anticipation of the pain, she cried out, “Jesus save me.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  The man stayed his hand, his expression turning impossibly harder. His olive complexion seemed to blanch as he stared at her with coal-black eyes.

  “God will not save you. There is no God,” the man stated harshly. His hand descended for another stinging blow.

  Light exploded behind Kristin’s right eye. Her head lolled to the side as waves of pain washed over her. “You’re wrong,” she whispered.

  The man spit on the ground. He turned back to the two men standing near the door, he said, “You’ve searched her house and her store?”

  “Yes, sir. Nothing.”

  “Where could it be?” His frustration echoed off the concrete walls. “If the police get ahold of that video we’re done for. Are you sure Linder said this woman had it?”

  One of the thugs by the door shrugged his massive shoulders. “That’s what he said. Claimed the reporter told him she would give him the video when her neighbor got home.”

  “Maybe she meant another neighbor, you idiots,” the man screamed. “Go back to that apartment building and find me that video. Burn down the place if you have to.”

  The two thugs exchanged glances before silently leaving the room.

  Dismay ran a ragged course over Kristin, rousing her from the pain in her face. She struggled against her restraints, needing to somehow protect her neighbors, her community. The cords at her hands and feet held. Helplessness seeped the fight out of her.

  The only way to help the innocent people in her building was to tell the man about the key, so he wouldn’t go there and trash the building or hurt anyone else.

  “The police,” she said. “They have the key.”

  The man stalked closer. “What did you say?”

  “Sue left a key with me. The police have it.”

  Rage lit his black eyes like embers in a fire pit. He swore, a graphic litany half in English and half in Spanish, then turned on his shiny black Florsheims and exited out the door.

  Kristin breathed a sigh of relief. At least he wouldn’t be hitting her any time soon. But then a terrible thought entered her mind: they didn’t need her any longer. She was as good as dead now.

  She closed her eyes tight and prayed Andy would find her, even as despair tried to rob her of any hope. She had no idea where she was. How did she expect Andy to know where to
look? In despair, she slumped into the chair.

  A noise startled her. She blinked, though her right eye was swollen to a slit.

  The door opened again.

  Alarm brought her fully upright. She braced herself. This was it. They’d kill her now for sure.

  A man slipped inside, a gun in his hand.

  Andy.

  A cry of joy escaped her sore lips. She’d never thought she’d see him again. And would never have the opportunity to tell him how she felt about him. Love swelled in her chest and tears crested her lashes. “I can’t believe you’re here.”

  “Shhh.” He worked to undo the ties that bound her. “We’re not out of danger yet.”

  When she was finally released, she flung herself into his arms. “I prayed you’d come.”

  “I prayed I’d find you.” He gave her a tight squeeze. “God answered both of our prayers. Come on now, we’ve got to go.”

  He ushered her toward the door, but froze when the man and two new thugs entered the room, weapons drawn and aimed straight for them.

  Kristin cringed with dread and resignation.

  Now they would die.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Pushing Kristin behind him, Andy faced Mendoza and his men. The roar of rage for the abuse purpling Kristin’s lovely face almost drowned out the voice from his earpiece telling him to back up, to lure Mendoza farther into the room. The only chance of survival that he and Kristin had was to follow the tactical team’s orders through the earpiece jammed into his right ear.

  Andy stepped back, forcing Kristin to do the same. “You’re done, Mendoza. We have the video.”

  Mendoza moved forward. “And I have you.”

  “You killed Schomus in cold blood. You’ll get the death penalty for that,” Andy said, hoping to buy some time.

  “Andy?”

  Kristin’s frightened whisper tugged at his heart. He turned his head slightly so that only she’d hear him. “Trust me. Trust God.”

  Her big green eyes showed her fear, but she nodded.

  “Why’d you kill Schomus? What did he have on you?”

  Mendoza laughed. “What makes you so sure Schomus wasn’t working for me?”

  Andy had only known the Assistant DA in passing, but he’d seemed like a stand up kind of guy. “He wouldn’t stoop so low.”

  Andy pressed Kristin back toward the center of the room to where the SWAT sniper’s rifle would have a clean shot of Mendoza and his men.

  “You’re so short-sighted.” Mendoza shook his head with disgust. “You all think just because someone works for the law that they must adhere to the law.”

  “Schomus wasn’t crooked.” Andy hoped.

  “How do you think I’ve stayed in business for so long?”

  Sick at the thought that the ADA had been dirty, Andy asked, “How’d Linder discover that he was being watched?”

  Mendoza stepped closer. “Linder. What a nut job. I swear, sometimes good help is hard to find.”

  Andy continued, slowly luring Mendoza toward the center of the room. “You didn’t answer my question.”

  “That reporter wasn’t careful. One of my men saw her trailing Linder, shooting video of him.”

  “But how did you discover she’d videotaped you killing Schomus?”

  “She was squeamish. It didn’t take much to get her to talk,” he said, his eyes narrowing. “Enough of this chit-chat. You’re wasting my time.”

  “You’ll never get away with killing us.”

  Mendoza smirked. “Right. And if that was true this place would be crawling with cops. No, I think not. But I might let you live if you get me that video.”

  The voice in Andy’s ears urged him back a few feet further. “You let us go first. Then I’ll hand over the video.”

  Mendoza’s eyebrows rose. “You wouldn’t be stupid enough to bring it here. Take the girl.” He motioned for his men to take them.

  The two men stepped past their boss toward Andy and Kristin.

  Through the earpiece, Andy heard what he’d been waiting for: target sighted.

  Lifting his hand as if in surrender, he closed a fist to signal he was ready. In one swift motion, he grabbed Kristin and pushed her to the ground, throwing himself over her as a shield while the world exploded around them.

  Chapter Twenty

  Kristin screamed until her lungs hurt. The sound of gunfire filled her head and terror ripped away any hope of survival. Terrified that Andy had been shot, she twisted on the ground, trying to get out from under him in a vain attempt to protect him. But his hard, heavy body pinned her flat.

  “Stay still,” he ordered into her ear.

  The welcome sound of his voice made a sob catch in her throat. Then he pushed off her, pulling her to her feet. Men wearing flack vests and carrying big weapons swarmed the room, surrounding the men on the floor. Mendoza and his two men lay on the ground, injured. Blood stained their clothing and seeped onto the cement floor. Mendoza cursed loudly while his comrades moaned and pleaded for help.

  A mixture of relief and shock made her knees weak and the world a bit fuzzy.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Andy said.

  Feeling safe with Andy’s arm around her, guiding her, she allowed him to hustle her away from the chaos.

  Once outside she breathed deeply, taking the fresh air into her lungs and chasing away the horror of the past few hours. As adrenaline left her body, she began to shake as if she’d been stuck in a deep freeze, even though the late summer air was hot and humid.

  Andy’s arms came around her, pulling her close to his chest. She melted into the comfort of his arms. The hard vest beneath his suit coat jolted her back to reality. She pushed away.

  “What were you thinking?” she demanded as residual fear rose. “You could have been killed.”

  He stared at her a moment with an incredulous gleam in his midnight eyes, before a slow grin spread across his face. “You were the one in danger.”

  “But you shouldn’t have come in there alone. You put your life at unnecessary risk,” she stated hotly, thinking of how terribly wrong his stunt could have gone. The very thought made her want to throw up.

  Reaching out to tuck some loose hair behind her ear, he said, “Honey, risk is part of the job. There’s risk in just walking across a New York City street.” He brushed her lips with his index finger. “But today I wasn’t doing my job. I was protecting the woman I love.”

  Stunned speechless, she could only stare at him.

  He cupped her face in his hands. “I’m never letting you go, Kristin Conrad. I will protect you until the day I die because I know that God will be watching over us.”

  Humility and gratefulness spread over her like warm butter. The horror of being kidnapped had been worth the price to bring some healing to Andy’s wounded soul.

  Not to mention her own. After the terror of the last couple of days, she realized she could never make her life totally safe and predictable. She had to trust that God would watch over them and together they’d have the security and peace that only came from above.

  With a sigh of pure bliss, she surrendered to the joy cascading through her veins. Rising on tiptoe, she moved in closer to whisper, “I can’t imagine my life without you.”

  And then she kissed him, showing him all the love in her heart.

  * * * * *

  Keep reading for an excerpt of The Promise of Home by Kathryn Springer!

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  Chapter One

  “Please follow the highlighted route—”

  Jenna Gardner tapped the tiny screen on the GPS and silenced the voice of her invisible navigator once and for all. Not only because the high-tech gadget seemed to be as confused as she was by the tangled skein of roads winding around Mirror Lake, but because Jenna was tempted to take its advice.

  She wanted to follow the highlighted route right back to her condo in the Twin Cities.

  “You passed it, Aunt Jenna!”

  A panicked cry reminded her that going home wasn’t an option. Not for awhile, anyway.

  Jenna glanced in the rearview mirror. Once again, she experienced a jolt at the sight of the two children in the backseat.

  Silver blond hair. Delicate features. Wide blue eyes.

  Jenna had met Logan and Tori for the first time only three days ago. The children were practically strangers.

  Strangers who were the mirror image of her younger sister, Shelly, as a child.

  For a split second, Tori met Jenna’s gaze. Then she buried her face in the tattered scrap of pink flannel that doubled as a blanket.

  Jenna pressed her lips together to prevent a sigh from escaping.

  One step forward, two steps back, she reminded herself. The five-year-old girl was adjusting to the idea of having an aunt the same way Jenna was getting used to the idea of having a niece and nephew.