Christmas Undercover

by Hope White

  “Police, put your weapon down!” a voice shouted.

  Three shots rang out.

  She hoped they didn’t kill the attacker, because he could provide more evidence against LaRouche and Harrington if he rolled on them.

  She spotted movement behind Bree and Nate.

  Sara aimed Nate’s weapon...

  Scott darted up and over shrubbery and landed beside Bree. He held her in his arms. Sara eased her finger off the trigger.

  “Breathe,” Will said.

  She took a slow breath in.

  “I’ve got to get out of here!” David shouted.

  Out of the corner of her eye, Sara spotted David take off.

  “No!” Will went after him.

  “Will!” Sara shouted.

  A shot rang out.

  Sara sprung out of their hiding spot.

  All she could think was Will was shot!

  The shooter was heading her way. Totally focused on Will and David, both on the ground.

  She aimed her weapon. “Hey!”

  The guy turned.

  Gotta keep him alive.

  She fired, hitting him in the shoulder. He kept coming. She fired again, hitting him in the thigh.

  He went down and kept crawling toward David and Will.

  She sprinted to the shooter and stepped on his firing hand. Officer McBride and his team raced up to Sara.

  Oh, God, Will can’t die. You can’t let him die.

  “Doctor Spencer,” Sara said. “Will and David... I think one of them was shot...” She could hear herself stumbling, not making much sense.

  “What about Detective Walsh?” Officer McBride asked.

  “Over here!” Scott called out.

  “Spike, go help Nate.” Officer McBride stepped closer to Sara. She couldn’t take her eyes off the shooter, or her hand still aiming the gun at his back.

  “Agent Vaughn?”

  Sara glanced at Officer McBride.

  With a nod of respect, he said, “Well-placed shots.”

  She nodded her thanks. “Was he the only one?”

  “Yes, ma’am. We searched the immediate area. It’s clear. Do you recognize him?”

  “No,” Sara said.

  The shooter attempted to crawl away.

  “Yeah?” Officer McBride dropped and kneeled on his back. He pulled his arms behind his back to cuff him. “Where do you think you’re going?”

  Sara blinked, seeing the gun still at the end of her extended arm. She was okay. They got the shooter.

  But Will... Was he...? She lowered her arm and closed her eyes.

  “Sara?”

  She opened her eyes to Will’s tentative smile. They went into each other’s arms.

  “Was David Price shot?” Officer McBride asked.

  “No. He’s suffering from dehydration, a possible concussion and a broken arm,” Will said.

  “Well put, Doctor Rankin,” Dr. Spencer said as he examined David.

  “Command, this is Officer McBride,” he spoke into his radio. “We’ve located the injured parties, over.” He clicked off the radio. “Scott, how’s Nate?”

  “I’m fine,” Nate called back.

  “He needs a litter,” Scott countered.

  “What are you, my mother?” Nate said.

  “And he’s belligerent from the head injury,” Bree said.

  “This is Chief Washburn. Have the assailants been neutralized, over?”

  “Yes sir, just one, over,” Officer McBride answered.

  “Is Will Rankin okay, over?” the chief asked through the radio.

  Everyone looked at Will.

  “I’m fine,” Will said.

  “He’s fine, over,” Officer McBride said.

  “A SAR team is on the way to assist. Send Will Rankin down ASAP.”

  “What, why?” Will said.

  “Chief, is there a problem?” Officer McBride prompted.

  “His mother-in-law is missing.”

  FIFTEEN

  Will paled. “My girls,” he muttered, and headed down the trail.

  Sara glanced at Nate for permission to follow Will. After all, she’d shot a man with Nate’s gun, and perhaps he wanted her to stay at the scene.

  “Go,” Nate said.

  She took off after Will, but didn’t crowd him. She didn’t want him to feel smothered.

  More like, she didn’t want to see his face twisted with panic and emotional turmoil. She wasn’t sure she could handle that.

  Coward, she scolded herself. He’d spent the past few hours keeping everyone sane and calm, and she didn’t have the guts to do the same for him?

  If she offered comfort and he pushed her away, she’d ignore the rejection and keep on trying.

  “Will,” she said, close enough to touch him.

  He shook his head. “I can’t believe I’ve put her in danger.”

  “Hey, hey, let’s not assume anything here.” She finally touched his arm.

  He acted as if he didn’t even feel her. She let her hand fall to her side.

  “Even if it is related to the case, this is not your fault. You did not willingly put your family in danger. LaRouche and Harrington are the ones who deserve the blame.”

  She thought he might have nodded. She’d never seen him like this, so lost and closed off.

  “I’m not sure...” His voice trailed off. “I’m not sure how I could live without them.”

  She darted in front of him and placed her hand against his chest. “Don’t talk like that. There’s no reason to hurt the girls, even if they have them, which I highly doubt.”

  He stepped around her. “Didn’t know you had an optimistic streak, Agent Vaughn.”

  “Yeah, I’m full of surprises. Now stop going to those dark places and show me how to pray.”

  He snapped his attention to her. “What?”

  “You heard me. So do I need to fold my hands together or do anything special? Look up to heaven or what?”

  “You don’t have to do this,” he said.

  “I want to.”

  His frown eased a bit. “We could recite the Lord’s Prayer, I suppose.”

  As they made their way back to the resort, they repeated the Lord’s Prayer, the words feeling unusually natural as they rolled off her tongue. Color had come back to Will’s cheeks, and he had stopped clenching his jaw every few minutes.

  For the first time in her life, Sara felt a connection to God as she helped Will avoid the pitfalls of fear and focus on the guiding light of hope.

  * * *

  Mary’s heart raced, pounding against her chest like a jackhammer. Where was she? She slowly blinked her eyes open. White surrounded her. Was she dead?

  I’m coming, Megan, I’m coming.

  No, Mary couldn’t die. Who would take care of the girls? Will was always off on his dangerous adventures, putting his own needs first, before the girls’. And while Edward was a fun grandpa, he wasn’t a disciplinarian. Without Mary’s influence in their lives, the girls would grow up wild and lost.

  She fingered a trail of warm blood trickling down her forehead. No, she wasn’t dead. Yet.

  She pushed at the billowy white material—the airbag that had saved her life. That was right, she had gone out to get construction paper for Marissa’s art project, a project that her father should have helped her finish. But he was too busy saving some strange woman’s life—a woman who brought trouble to Echo Mountain. Because of Sara, Mary and Ed were taking the girls out of town tomorrow for a few days.

  On the way home from getting construction paper, Mary’s tires had lost their grip on the slick road, and she had skidded over an embankment.

  She look
ed left, then right. Surrounded by greenery, trees and bushes, she started to panic.

  Then heavy white snow started to fall.

  She unbuckled herself and looked over her shoulder. She’d landed at the bottom of a ravine.

  In a few hours the car would be covered with snow and no one would even know she was down here. She pushed on the door. It wouldn’t budge. She reached across the seat to the other side.

  Shoved open the door.

  It would only open so far. Not far enough to get her body out. Even if she did, how would she climb up to the street level without help?

  Her phone—she had to call for help. Then she remembered leaving it behind because she didn’t think she’d be gone that long.

  “Somebody help! Help me!” she wailed.

  She slammed her blood-smudged palm against the horn three times. Waited. Punched three more times.

  She couldn’t die this way, withering away, probably starving to death.

  Alone.

  Mama, I love you, but you’re going to die a lonely old woman if you don’t start softening your edges with the girls, Megan had lectured.

  Mary couldn’t help herself. She worried about everything and everyone, especially the girls, since their father seemed to let them do whatever they wanted. That was no way to raise a family.

  Yet they adored him. Mary saw it in their eyes every time Claire and Marissa saw their dad after being apart for even a few hours.

  Suddenly Mary wondered if all this anger she felt toward Will was really coming from somewhere other than worry. No, she was dizzy from the accident, that was all.

  Be honest with yourself, Mary.

  She finally admitted that her resentment and anger were born of fear, fear that the girls would forget their mother, Mary’s pride and joy. Mary feared Will would bring another woman into their lives, they’d forget about their mom and Grandma would be cast aside like a used paper towel.

  “No!” she shouted, gasping for breath as fear smothered her.

  She slammed her palms on the horn again, desperate to stay alive, to see her granddaughters, to hold them, to show them she did, in fact, have softer edges.

  “I can’t die!” she cried, slamming her hands on the horn.

  Something thudded against the passenger door. She shrieked.

  Will shot her a smile and a casual wave. “Looks as if you took a wrong turn, Nanny.”

  “Oh, Will!” she sobbed with relief.

  Another man came up beside Will, about Will’s age with a full beard and jet-black hair. Mary didn’t recognize him.

  “Is she okay?” the bearded fellow asked.

  “She’ll be better when we get this door open.”

  They managed to get the door open. Will reached in and touched her shoulder.

  Which only made her cry more.

  “Hey, it’s okay, Mary,” Will said in a gentle voice.

  She couldn’t stop crying. With relief, with gratitude and maybe even with shame.

  Will, of all people, had found her. He’d saved her. She’d been so nasty to him since Megan’s death, so judgmental.

  “We’ve located her,” Will said into a radio. “She seems okay, a little banged up.” He hesitated. “Mary, where are you hurt?”

  “Everywhere.” She sighed.

  “Can you be a little more specific?”

  “My head’s bleeding and my chest aches. That’s about it.”

  “That’s plenty.” Will clicked on his radio. “We need a litter and two more guys.” He nodded at Mary. “You’re going to be fine.”

  “I can’t believe you found me.”

  “Of course I found you. My girls would be lost without their Nanny. Griff here has got more medical training than me, so we’re going to switch spots, okay?”

  She squeezed his hand, not wanting to let go. “Could you... Would you be able to... Never mind.” She didn’t have the gall to ask him to stay close considering the way she’d treated him.

  She released Will’s hand and he backed out. His partner climbed into the car. “Hi, Mary, I’m Griffin Keane. I’m going to examine your head wound to see how serious it is, okay?”

  “Sure.” As he reached out to remove hair from the wound, she closed her eyes.

  A moment later, she felt Will’s hand settle on her shoulder from behind. He’d climbed into the backseat.

  She reached up and placed her hand over his. “I get it now,” she said. “This is what you do with your time off, rescue little old ladies.”

  “Little, big, old, young, we don’t discriminate,” Will said. “We make sure we’re ready to go when and where we’re needed.”

  “On call for others,” Griffin muttered as he placed a bandage on Mary’s forehead.

  As understanding opened her heart to compassion, Mary felt more alive than she ever had. She looked over her shoulder at Will. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Aw, don’t worry about it. Ed never liked this car anyway.”

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  He winked. “I know.”

  * * *

  Two hours later, Will waited at the hospital for news about Mary. He had truly felt God’s presence when he’d rescued her from the car. It was the first time he’d felt a connection to Mary: a positive, healthy connection.

  As they had waited for the second team to assist, Mary had confessed her fears about Will and the girls forgetting Megan. He’d assured her that would never happen because he and Mary would remind the girls what a wonderful mother Megan had been.

  Will closed his eyes and sighed. Through all the danger and threat of violence over the past few days, he’d come to accept that Megan hadn’t pushed Will away because she hadn’t had confidence in him as a husband to take care of her. Rather, she had feared for him as a father, a challenging position for even the strongest person. Megan had wanted Will to practice being a single parent while she was still around to advise.

  So much sacrifice. So much love.

  “How about some tea?”

  He opened his eyes to Sara, the determined federal agent he’d somehow fallen in love with.

  “Sure,” he said, and she handed him the paper cup. He clenched his jaw against the awareness that sparked between them every time they touched.

  She sat down next to him. “What aren’t you telling me?”

  “Excuse me?” He snapped his attention to her.

  “That jaw-clench thing usually means trouble.”

  “No, Mary’s good, pretty minor injuries considering. When I first saw the car at the bottom of that ravine...” His voice trailed off.

  Sara touched his arm. “But she’s okay.”

  “She is, and I think narrowly escaping death has changed her a bit.”

  “It usually does.” Sara studied her teacup. “Not always for the better.”

  He guessed she was referring to her father’s death.

  “Daddy! Daddy!” Claire and Marissa sprinted across the hospital lobby. He put the teacup on the table beside him and opened his arms. They launched themselves at him and he held them close.

  “How are my girls?”

  “Hey, Will. Thank-you doesn’t seem like enough,” his father-in-law said.

  “I should be thanking you for taking care of my rascals.”

  Marissa leaned back. “Daddy, I’m not a rascal. Did you really rescue Nanny from a car wreck?”

  “I did.”

  “Does she have a broken nose?” Marissa asked.

  “No, what makes you ask that?” Will realized Claire’s face was still buried against his shoulder.

  “Because Olivia’s mother got in a car wreck and her nose was broken, and she wore this big white bandage here.” She pressed little-girl fingers on her n
ose.

  “Well, Nanny’s nose is fine. She’s got some scratches and bruises. She’ll be A-OK.”

  “Hi, Miss Sara.” Marissa went in for a hug and Sara hugged back.

  Will turned his attention to Claire. “Baby doll?”

  She tipped her head and whispered into his ear. “I know about the guy in the mountains trying to shoot you. I didn’t tell Marissa. She’d have nightmares.”

  His heart sank. He didn’t want either of his daughters knowing about the danger. “I’m okay, sweetie,” he whispered back. “Miss Sara protected us.”

  “Mr. Varney,” a nurse called from the ER doorway. “Your wife can see you now.”

  “I’m going, I’m going!” Marissa rushed to her grandfather’s side.

  “What about you, Claire bear?” Ed asked.

  “I need to stay with Daddy,” her muffled voice said against his neck.

  Ed took Marissa into the examining area.

  “I should give you some privacy,” Sara said.

  “No, wait.” Will reached out and grabbed her hand. “Don’t leave.”

  Sara nodded and clung to Will’s hand.

  Claire sniffled against his neck. She was crying.

  Compassion colored Sara’s blue eyes as she studied his little girl. She’d make such a great mother some day, a fierce protector. He suspected she would brush off such a suggestion.

  She slipped her hand from his and reached out to stroke the back of Claire’s head. “Your daddy was so brave. He was never frightened, and he made us all feel safe.”

  Claire turned her head to look at Sara. “He did?”

  “I did?” Will said.

  “Yep, and you know how?”

  Claire shook her head that she didn’t.

  “He sang.”

  “He’s a good singer.”

  When Sara looked at Will, his heart warmed in his chest.

  “He’s good at many things,” Sara said softly.

  He sensed someone approach from the left. “Will, where is he? Where’s Nate?”

  Cassie McBride towered over him.

  “He’s being patched up in the ER,” Will said.

  “I’m fine, thank you very much,” Bree said, walking up to them.