Twin Targets

by Marta Perry

  SIXTEEN

  He had to move, now. Rush Como, take a chance that Stan wouldn’t fire, that Como wouldn’t put a bullet in Jade before he could reach her…

  “Wait a minute.” Stan turned to Como, the weapon sagging in his hand. “Nobody said anything about killing people in my place. I’m not gonna get involved in killing a fed.”

  “Don’t be such a fool. You knew why we were here.”

  Como sounded contemptuous. “Don’t try to salve your conscience now, when we all know you don’t have one.”

  Stan took a step back, shaking his head. The gun pointed at the floor. “I’m not gonna get involved in killing a fed,” he repeated.

  “Shut up.” Como’s smile tightened against his teeth until his face looked like a death mask. “You’ll do as you’re told, you idiot.” For an instant, his gaze moved to Stan. Long enough. Micah charged toward the man, brushing past Jade, praying she had enough sense to run for the door, buy another moment of life. Como’s gun went off. Hot pain pierced his shoulder. He kept going, charging into the man, knocking his arm up so that the shots went wildly toward the ceiling.

  “Jade, run!”

  He thought he shouted the words, but he couldn’t be sure. All he could do was cling to Como’s arm, knowing that the instant he let go he’d be a dead man. Knowing that the strength was draining out of him, he couldn’t hold on much longer, he had to, had to, Jade’s life, his life…

  Movement next to him. A resounding crash. And Como slumped to the floor like a sack of grain.

  “Jade…” He managed to say her name. Jade, the remains of a lamp still clutched in her hands, holding his life there. His legs wouldn’t hold him up. He crumpled, feeling Como’s limp body beneath him as he fell. He had to hang on. He blinked, trying to focus his eyes. Couldn’t black out and leave Jade to deal with this on her own.

  “Cuffs,” he muttered. “In my pocket. Cuff him.” He tried to raise his head, but it was too heavy. “Where’s Stan?”

  “He ran out.” Jade’s arms went around him. “You’re bleeding. Micah…” Her voice broke on his name, and he knew she was crying.

  “Hang on.” He forced strength he didn’t feel into his voice. “I’m okay. Cuff him. Get the weapons.” It would be too easy to shut his eyes, to lapse into the darkness that pulled at him. “Do it.”

  “Yes. Right.” She moved, letting go.

  He slumped back, rolling off Como, watching as she handcuffed him. She seemed reluctant to touch him, but she did it.

  Gingerly, she searched him for weapons, pulling a second gun out of the holster on Como’s leg. She collected Micah’s gun, too, that Stan had dropped in his eagerness to get out. She moved them safely out of Como’s reach. Then she came to him, dropping onto her knees and putting her arms around him.

  “Got to find a phone,” he muttered. “Call for help…”

  “I will. I’ll call.” She drew his head against her shoulder, her arms cradling him. Her hair caressed his face, and her tears wet his skin.

  “I love you.” It was the faintest whisper, so faint maybe he was imagining it.

  For the moment they were safe. Thank You, God. He slid into blackness.

  “Listen, I’ve got to get out of here. I’m fine. Now give me my clothes.”

  The nurse who’d been taking his blood pressure looked unimpressed. “You’ll leave the hospital when the doctor says, and not a moment before.”

  “He giving you trouble, nurse?” Jackson stood in the doorway, looking remarkably fresh given the fact that he probably hadn’t slept in forty-eight hours.

  “Nothing I can’t handle,” she said. She checked his IV, twitched at the sheet and marched out of the room.

  “What’s going on?” Micah demanded. He had only the haziest memory of what happened after he passed out. “Where’s Jade? Is she all right? What about Como?

  And Stan?”

  Jackson let the door swing shut behind him and advanced on the bed. “You lay back and quit straining that shoulder, and I’ll answer all your questions. If not, that nurse will come back and kick me out.”

  “Jade,” he said, and there was pleading in his voice. He’d undoubtedly have to endure one of Jackson’s biting lectures on his behavior, but first he had to know she was all right.

  “She’s fine.” Jackson’s granite jaw actually relaxed a little. “She’s quite a tiger, you know that?”

  He knew. That strange pang in his heart at the mention of her name had to be love.

  “When we got to the lodge, the cavalry riding to the rescue after your call, we found Como trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey and you with your head on a pillow, your shoulder bandaged, all tucked up in blankets.”

  He managed a smile at the implied criticism. “Should have been the other way around.”

  “Not to hear Ms. Summers tell it. She says you took a bullet to save her.”

  “Taking the bullet was my job. Did she tell you she hit Como over the head with a lamp when I was on the verge of passing out? Otherwise, you’d be planning a funeral today.”

  “So you saved each other.” Jackson’s face tightened at the mention of a funeral, but he didn’t show any other emotion. “Nothing wrong with that.”

  Micah spoke the question that was haunting him.

  “Where is she?”

  If the powers that be made Jade disappear into Witness Protection, leaving behind all she loved, then he’d still have failed her.

  “She’s here, in Billings. Fact is, she’s right here in the hospital, waiting for me to talk to you first.”

  His heart seemed to swell. “You’re not going to move her?”

  “There doesn’t seem much need.” Jackson sat down gingerly on the edge of the bed. “Como’s being a good soldier and not talking, but we caught up with Stan, and he’s babbling like a brook. He confirmed what we already suspected—that Vincent Martino is out to find Eloise and kill her as some kind of twisted tribute to his dying father.”

  Jackson didn’t betray much emotion, ever. But Micah knew him well enough to detect the feelings that roiled in him when he talked about the threat to Eloise. Or maybe his newfound feelings for Jade had made him more sensitive to others.

  “You care about her,” Micah said quietly. Jackson’s jaw clenched. He wasn’t going to respond. Well, not surprising. They didn’t have that kind of relationship.

  “I care about her,” Jackson said slowly. “I let her down once. I won’t do that again.”

  “I’m sorry.” Micah reached out.

  His brother took his hand. Clasped it tightly. Then let it drop as he turned away.

  For a moment there was silence. Then Jackson cleared his throat.

  “That reminds me. Now that we know just what we’re up against, I’m putting together a task force to work the whole case. People I know I can trust.”

  Micah’s mind winced away from the thought of the traitor among the people he knew. “That’s good.”

  “Fact is, I need one more person.” Jackson lifted an eyebrow at him. “What about it?”

  Micah could only stare at him. “You mean me?”

  “Who else? Your chief approves, but it’s going to be hush-hush otherwise. We don’t want to alert the leak before we’re ready to pounce on him. So, what do you say?”

  “You bet.” He couldn’t stop the grin that spread over his face.

  “Good. There’s plenty to do. We’ll pull in every favor owed us, tag every snitch. Fact is, I got a tip from a Chicago cop, a guy named Clay West. He used to be a friend of Eloise. He says there’s a nosy Montana reporter who’s trying to tie the deaths out here to Witness Protection. We’ll have to see how she got on to something that shouldn’t be known outside the department.”

  “I know some people at the paper…” Micah lost his train of thought when the door swung open. It was Jade. Jade hesitated, her hand bracing the swinging door to the patient room. Jackson and Micah turned in unison to look at her.

  How alike they were�
�both men of intense integrity, with a certain steel in them that had been tried and found strong. Did they even realize what they shared?

  “I can come back if you aren’t finished,” she said it tentatively, not wanting to break in on official business. Maybe even not quite ready to talk to Micah just yet.

  “No, come in.” Jackson waved her into the room, stepping back from the bed to make room for her. “I was just telling Micah that you should be in the clear now.”

  “That’s good to hear.” It was all she’d been hoping for, but now her mind and heart were completely filled with Micah. With what she had to say to him.

  “Martino knows you’re not the one he’s looking for,”

  Jackson said. “And we’ve let it be known that Como is being charged for the assault on a federal officer. Word has it that Martino is so annoyed with Como for fouling up that he’s cut him loose.”

  “Any chance Como will flip on him, in that case?”

  Micah had on his cop’s face, watchful and intent.

  “So far he’s being the good soldier, but we’ll keep the pressure on.” Jackson patted Micah’s good arm and then walked quickly to the door. “I’ll be in touch. Meantime…”

  A smile touched his face. “You two take care of each other.”

  The door swung shut behind him. The still room seemed to hold its breath.

  She had to say the things she’d been planning when she’d walked in the room. They’d both been in an emotional pressure cooker for days. She couldn’t let that push Micah into thinking he had feelings for her that weren’t real. She couldn’t…

  His fingers closed over her hand then, robbing her of rational thought. He pulled her down to sit on the bed next to him.

  “What’s going on?” His voice was gentle. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine.” She looked down at their hands because she couldn’t look at his face. But that was almost worse, because his strong, tanned fingers intertwined with hers, making her feel a part of him.

  She took a breath, trying to get it past the lump in her throat. She had to do this.

  “I…I just wanted to say… Well, last night, things were a little crazy.”

  That was putting it mildly. She’d been terrified that Micah would bleed to death in her arms, unable to think, just able to hold him and pray frantically. Suddenly the door had burst open, and FBI agents had stormed in, terrifying her all over again with their weapons. They’d taken over, hauling Como, still unconscious or faking it, away from her. They’d pulled her away from Micah, firing questions at her.

  But then Jackson had come. His face, when he looked at his brother…

  Before she knew it, she and Micah were in a helicopter, bound for the hospital in Billings.

  “I don’t remember much of it,” he said. “Just my brother, snapping orders at everyone. And then being in a chopper, with you holding my hand.”

  She felt a flush mount in her cheeks. “Yes, well…”

  “Of course I also seem to remember that you saved my life.”

  That made it worse. She couldn’t let him imagine feelings for her because he thought he owed her for knocking out Como.

  “I…I might have said something that I—”

  Her words were cut off by Micah’s hand, warm across her lips.

  “Don’t. Don’t even try to deny what you said. You said you loved me.”

  “Yes,” she whispered, not looking at him.

  “That’s a good thing, because I feel the same way.”

  She shook her head, freeing her lips. “You don’t have to say that. I don’t want to push you into something you’re not ready for.”

  He gave her a rueful grin. “Funny. That’s just what I was thinking about you. That I had to go slow, give you time, let you get to know me under normal circumstances.”

  “That’s right.” She seized on his words. “That’s what we should do.”

  “But I don’t want to.” He cupped her cheek in his hand, and his warmth and tenderness seemed to flood through her.

  “We…we should take it slow. I mean, logically speaking, we’ve only known each other for a couple of weeks.”

  His thumb brushed across her lips, hushing her. “Let’s set logic aside for the moment. You can learn a lot about someone in a couple of weeks like these. You can learn something about yourself, too.”

  Her gaze met his, and she felt herself drowning in their chocolate depths. “What did you learn about yourself?” She wasn’t quite brave enough to ask what he’d learned about her.

  “You know, I’ve always tried to play down my instincts. Figured that I’d be a better officer if I didn’t rely on feelings, just facts.” His thumb caressed her lips again.

  “But my instincts were right on target where you were concerned. And I think they saved our lives last night. So I’m not going to worry so much about that keeping me from being the officer I was meant to be.”

  She closed her hand around his wrist, and his pulse throbbed against her hand, seeming to give her strength.

  “I’m glad. Glad you’re sure now of who you are. And so thankful you’ve been there with me. If not for you, I might not have found my way back to God.”

  His breath caught, and his eyes filled with tears. Then he shook his head. “Don’t give me the credit. God was never going to let you go, Jade. The lousy parents you had don’t matter in the long run. You’re His child.”

  “I know.” She blinked back tears.

  “And if you’re about to say something else about waiting, you can save your breath.” His hand slid up under her hair, cradling her head. “I’m not going to argue with God’s timing.”

  All her doubts lifted away like mist from the mountains. Micah was right. Through all the dark times, through all the terror, God had been with her, holding her hand. He’d brought her through the darkness into the light and given her someone to love. She couldn’t deny that. And then she couldn’t think at all, because Micah drew her down to capture her lips with his in a kiss so strong and sweet that it sealed everything they were to each other. Forever.

  * * * * *

  Dear Reader,

  I’m so glad you decided to pick up the first book in our exciting new continuity series from Love Inspired Suspense. It’s been such a pleasure to work with five such talented authors on creating these continuing stories. I hope you’ll check back every month through June to pick up another installment.

  The love story of Jade and Micah touched my heart as I wrote, and I hope you’ll find that it touches yours. I love writing about the relationship between two people who find that they complement each other perfectly, in the way God has planned for them.

  I hope you’ll let me know how you felt about this story, and I’d love to send you a signed bookmark or my brochure of Pennsylvania Dutch recipes. You can write to me at Steeple Hill Books, 233 Broadway, Suite 1001, New York, NY 10279, e-mail me at:

  marta@martaperry.com, or visit me on the Web at: www.martaperry.com.

  Blessings,

  QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

  1. Can you understand the difficulty Jade experienced in starting a new life in Montana? Have you ever struggled to deal with a major life change like this? If so, how did God and other people help you with it?

  2. Jade’s grief at the loss of her sister is complicated by the threat to her and by her own sense of guilt. Did you empathize with her?

  3. Jade had drifted away from God at a time when she felt God didn’t hear her. Has this every happened to you? How did you deal with it?

  4. Micah struggles with the conflict he sees between his duties as a lawman and his natural empathy for Jade. Did you understand his struggle between duty and love?

  5. The depth of her grief over her sister’s death eventually brings Jade back to God. Have you ever experienced something that suddenly made you aware of your need for God?

  6. The scripture verse for this story was the first one I memorized as a child, and it never fails to give
me strength, particularly the hymn setting for the Psalm that I mention in the story. Do you have a verse that gives you strength in this way?

  7. Micah feels he has to choose between his instincts and following the rules in order to protect Jade. Did you understand his actions? Do you think he was right?

  8. Jade is touched by the unselfish actions of a perfect stranger when Ms. Carson rescues them in the storm. Have you ever experienced that? Do you feel that God sent someone to you, or that God sent you to be “a raven” to someone else?

  9. Because of the chaos of her early life, Jade needed order and permanence surrounding her. Did that make her more vulnerable to the stresses of finding life out of her control? How do you think she coped with that?

  10. Did you sympathize with the life Jade wanted to create for herself when she moved to Montana? How do our surroundings give us a sense of peace?

  11. Micah compared himself to his older brother and his father and felt he was lacking. Is there anyone in your life you look up to in that way? Is it possible to look up to someone without making yourself feel less worthy in comparison?

  12. Which character in the story did you feel exemplified Christ-like behavior? Why?

  13. What did it take to bring Jade to the point that she could trust enough to love?

  14. Did you end the book feeling eager to read the next installment in the series?

  STEEPLE HILL BOOKS

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-4690-8

  TWIN TARGETS

  Copyright © 2010 by Harlequin Books S.A. All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Steeple Hill Books, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279 U.S.A. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Steeple Hill Books.