Justice Mission

by Lynette Eason

  She sniffed and swiped a hand across her cheek. “You’re not going to lose me.”

  “But that’s my point. We don’t know what the future holds, and I don’t want to waste another minute of it fearing it, being afraid to trust again and take chances. I want to live boldly and face it with you. Together. Um...you and me. Us.”

  “Luke?”

  “Yes?”

  “Could you just say it, please?”

  “I love you, Sophie.”

  “Thank you.”

  He blinked. “Thank you? That’s it?”

  “And I love you, too. I think I have for a long time.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, I noticed you when you weren’t noticing me.”

  “But...you never said anything.”

  She scoffed. “Of course not. What was I going to do, walk up to you and ask you out and have you say, ‘Who are you again?’”

  “I wasn’t that bad!”

  She grinned. “Almost.” Then sobered. “And I was worried about my dad and brother.” She gave a short self-deprecating laugh. “Apparently, they don’t need me quite as much as I thought they did.”

  “They need you. Just maybe not in the ways you thought.”

  “I know. Dad made that pretty clear.” She paused. “Is it bad to be so happy while Jordan’s killer is still out there?”

  “What do you think?”

  A slow smile slipped across her lips. “I think he’d be thrilled for us.”

  “Absolutely. And super mad at us if we don’t cherish what we’ve got.”

  Sophie nodded, hard-pressed to get any more words past her tight throat. Jordan had lived each day with full gusto, determined to make the world a better place before he died. And he’d done that by investing in the lives of those he came into contact with.

  “I don’t want to be your coworker anymore,” Luke said, his voice husky with emotion.

  “You don’t?” she squeaked. “Well, why not?”

  “Because I want to be your husband. If that’s okay with you.”

  With a squeal, Sophie launched herself into Luke’s arms and planted a serious kiss on his surprised lips. He laughed when she came up for air. “Is that a yes?”

  “That’s a definite yes.”

  Cheers erupted from behind them and Luke spun, Sophie still in his arms. Sophie giggled at the sight that greeted her. Every last team member stood gawking and clapping.

  “Way to go, Luke!” Zach pumped a fist in the air and Luke grinned at him. “It’s about time you opened your eyes and saw the woman was crazy about you.”

  “He knew?”

  “Everybody in the office probably did,” she admitted.

  “Then I’d say it’s definitely about time,” he murmured.

  Bruno barked twice.

  Luke laughed. “I guess Bruno agrees.”

  “I agree with Bruno,” she said. “Now, kiss me again. I’ve been waiting a long time for you to do so without an apology attached at the end.”

  So, he did.

  * * *

  If you enjoyed Justice Mission, look for Zach and Violet’s story, Act of Valor, and the rest of the True Blue K-9 Unit series from Love Inspired Suspense.

  True Blue K-9 Unit: These police officers fight for justice with the help of their brave canine partners

  Justice Mission by Lynette Eason, April 2019

  Act of Valor by Dana Mentink, May 2019

  Blind Trust by Laura Scott, June 2019

  Deep Undercover by Lenora Worth, July 2019

  Seeking the Truth by Terri Reed, August 2019

  Trail of Danger by Valerie Hansen, September 2019

  Courage Under Fire by Sharon Dunn, October 2019

  Sworn to Protect by Shirlee McCoy, November 2019

  True Blue K-9 Unit Christmas by Laura Scott and Maggie K. Black, December 2019

  Keep reading for an excerpt from Rescuing His Secret Child by Maggie K. Black.

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  Dear Reader,

  Welcome to the exciting world of the NYPD! I’m so happy to have you along for the series. Yes, I know you all want to know who killed Chief Jordan Jameson and that will be revealed later in this continuity. In the meantime, I hope you’ll stay on the journey with us as each book takes you into the lives of the other heroes and heroines and their four-legged partners.

  As you may have noticed, Luke Hathaway judged Sophie Walters by her appearance. Because he’d had a bad experience in the past, he was determined to guard his heart against another one. Which may be understandable. However, once he got to know Sophie, he realized exactly what he’d been missing out on. Thank goodness he let Sophie past the barriers he’d thrown up. Actually, now that I think about it, I’m not so sure he let her past them. I think she pretty much tore them down! Well, either way, I love that they wound up together and I look forward to catching up with them as the series unfolds.

  Again, thank you for reading the books. We appreciate you very much!

  God bless,

  Lynette Eason

  We hope you enjoyed this Harlequin Love Inspired Suspense story.

  You enjoy a dash of danger. Love Inspired Suspense stories feature strong heroes and heroines whose faith is central in solving mysteries and saving lives.

  Enjoy six new stories from Love Inspired Suspense every month!

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  Rescuing His Secret Child

  by Maggie K. Black

  ONE

  Corporal Nick Henry dozed upright in an uncomfortable metal seat as the darkened train rumbled north through the rugged and inhospitable Ontario wilderness. A furtive hand brushed the sleeve of his green Canadian Army fatigues. A pickpocket was reaching for his service weapon! His eyes snapped open as he grabbed the offending hand by the wrist.

  A small voice gasped. Nick turned. The hand belonged to a boy, probably no older than four or five, with wide green eyes and a messy mop of the kind of dark red hair that a woman Nick had once loved had told him to call “auburn.” The boy wriggled. Nick let go. A dozen questions shot rapid-fire through the soldier’s brain before he finally chose one. “Were you trying to take my gun?”

  The boy scrunched up his nose as if Nick had asked him something difficult. Nick shifted his weapon away and gave the child a second to come up with an answer as he glanced at his phone. It was quarter after eleven and they’d already entered the cell tower dead zone. Spring winds shrieked outside. Rain buffeted fierce and wild against the windowpanes. Around them, scattered passengers stretched out and slept the best they could in the half-empty economy car.

  Where had this kid come from? Nick hadn’t seen any children when he’d boarded. He imagined most families with kids that young wouldn’t take an overnight train north but would pick a more reasonable time when they cou
ld look out at the towering and jagged rocks, thick trees and dazzling lakes that still filled the parts of northern Ontario untouched by roads and buildings. Not to mention when the dining car was still open. “Where are your parents?”

  The boy dodged the question with an ease that reminded Nick of his younger self by returning his question with one of his own. “Are you really a soldier? A real one?”

  A real one? Nick felt a smile curl at his lips. It was an interesting question. One that Nick had asked himself more times then he’d liked to admit as an impetuous teenager in his early days of boot camp when he’d been trying to stop sabotaging himself, get over his own worse impulses and step up to be the kind of man he’d wanted to be. But it was definitely not an answer to the boy’s question. Then again, at least the kid was talking.

  “Yup, I am one hundred percent a real soldier,” Nick continued, seeing as the boy seemed to be waiting for more of an answer. He stood as his eyes scanned for anyone missing a child. “I’m Corporal Nick Henry, of the Canadian Armed Forces, stationed out of Petawawa in northern Ontario. I’m currently heading even farther north to teach firearms safety, self-defense and wilderness survival to a new group of Canadian Ranger reservist recruits.”

  He glanced at the kid and realized he’d just given him the pat answer he’d give anyone who asked. Nick twisted his lips and tried to think of how to say it again in words a child would understand. “I’ve been a soldier for six years, almost. My title is corporal. That means I’m in command of other soldiers, but also that I’m kind of new at it. I train people in Canada to survive disasters and protect each other. You can call me Nick.” He stretched out his hand. “What should I call you?”

  “Zander.” Earnest eyes looked up at him. “With a Z. My mommy calls me her little soldier. ’Cause my grandpa and great-grandpa used to be in the army, and I remind her of them.”

  Pride tinged the boy’s voice and it tugged at something inside Nick.

  “Nice to meet you, Zander.” They shook hands. “Now, how about we go find your family?”

  Zander shook his tousled curls and Nick was almost jealous for when he’d been able to let his hair grow that long and shaggy. “I need to borrow your gun.”

  Nick chuckled, “Why do you need my gun?”

  “I need to protect my mommy.” Zander’s voice dropped to a whisper.

  The smile faded instantly from Nick’s face and he could tell it had taken the color with it. “Why?”

  The boy’s chin rose defiantly. “I saw bad men. They have guns.”

  Bad men with guns. The words echoed in Nick’s head, merging with prayers for wisdom. A year before he’d been born, Nick’s sister had been killed by a “bad man” when she was a child. But his three older brothers still remembered, each in their own way, the day she’d died fighting off her would-be abductor. He’d grown up in a deeply loving family that had swirled with a grief he hadn’t understood and then had acted out in foolish and immature ways he was still ashamed of. He swallowed hard and forced the memory into the recesses of his mind, where things he didn’t want to think about went to fade.

  He searched the child’s face for even a flicker of insincerity and found none. It was possible, if not probable, that either the boy’s imagination was playing tricks on him or that he’d been asleep and had a nightmare. “Where are the bad men? Are they on the train?”

  Zander craned his neck to look up at him. The slight quiver to his chin told Nick that as far as the boy was concerned the danger was real. A wave of empathy pushed Nick’s legs to bend until he was crouching at the boy’s eye level. The youngest of four brothers, all now over six feet, he remembered all too well what it was like to feel small. Now, here, someone little was looking up to him for help. He prayed he wouldn’t let him down.

  “They’re in the dining car,” Zander said. “It’s in between the part of the train with the big fancy cabins with bed seats and here. That’s where Mommy was supposed to be.”

  That meant the boy had walked through two mostly empty economy cars looking for help. Also, Nick had been sure the dining car was closed.

  “How many men?” Nick asked. The boy shrugged. Either he didn’t know or couldn’t remember. “Did they see you?”

  “No, I was hiding under the tables playing and waiting for Mommy.” He mimed clutching an invisible weapon to his side. “They were hiding the guns under the table like this.”

  Nick glanced up at the red emergency button, knowing that all it would take was a swift slap to get a siren to sound and the train’s conductor to rush in. The engineers might even initiate an emergency stop. If the boy was wrong, it would cause a whole lot of chaos. But if the boy was right... He closed his eyes. Lord, what do I do?

  Then a small hand clutched his and squeezed. “Please, Soldier Nick, we’ve got to help my mommy.”

  “Don’t worry, we’ll find her.” Nick squeezed back. Then he straightened and pulled his rucksack over his shoulder. They started through the train. “What about your father?”

  “He’s a good-for-nothing hothead who’s probably in prison,” Zander said almost cheerfully and Nick suspected he’d overheard the words more than once but wasn’t sure what they meant. “I was supposed to stay in the fancy seats with my uncle and his friend. But my uncle fell asleep and his friend went for a walk and I was bored, so I went to find Mommy.”

  “And you didn’t see any conductors or train attendants?”

  Another head shake. Not that train conductors were armed, even though one of the roles they served was as security.

  They reached the end of the economy-class car and Nick slid the door open. Stepping into the shaking, rattling space between the two train cars, they crossed over the joint that held one car to the next. Then they walked through the next two economy cars. Nick scanned his fellow passengers as they went, hoping to spot a fellow service member or a cop like his brothers Trent and Jacob, or a paramedic like his brother Max—anyone he could count on in a crisis. He came up short, with the exception of an elderly gentleman he suspected had once served, and a sleeping brute with the build that suggested he might’ve worked as a bodyguard.

  He didn’t spot any guards or train staff, either. That worried him.

  They reached the end of the economy cars and entered the no-man’s-land between it and the dining car.

  “The bad men are in there.” Zander pointed at the door. “Mommy s’posed to be there, too, but she wasn’t. Can I have your gun now? Mommy won’t let me shoot a gun yet. But I’ve seen her shoot flying disks right out of the sky. She punches, too.” His tiny fists mimed punching a bag. “She’s really good at it.”

  Go, Zander’s mom! Nick could guess where the kid got his gumption. If it turned out the boy was right, and there was danger on the train, maybe Zander’s mother wouldn’t be the worst person to be in it with.

  “No, but you can borrow my bulletproof vest and helmet, if you like. But you have to promise to stay exactly where I tell you to stay and not move.”

  The boy nodded. Nick took his bulletproof vest and helmet out of his rucksack and carefully helped Zander into them.

  “Thank you,” Zander whispered. “Now I really do look like a little soldier.”

  “You’re welcome.” He’d done it mostly to soothe the boy’s fears. And yet, as he looked into Zander’s serious face. Nick felt some unfamiliar emotion tighten in his own throat, like a longing for something he’d never had.

  Nick glanced through the small, thick glass window into the dining car. So much for it being closed. A tall, thin man in a suit, who looked to be in his late forties, sat reading a newspaper by the far door. In the opposite corner, a young couple in hoodies sat staring at the table. In the middle of the car, three tattooed and bearded men in heavy plaid jackets drummed their fingers on the table with the telltale twitches of people missing a nicotine fix.

  Yeah, those last thr
ee practically had “bad men” written across their faces. If his Vice detective brother Trent had been there, he’d have probably pegged their gang affiliation at a hundred paces. Not that it meant they were armed or up to no good at this very moment.

  The door opened at the far end of the dining car. A woman walked through, her head bowed, pushing a narrow refreshment cart. Her hair was auburn and tied back in a braid, a few loose waves falling around her downturned face. Her crisp blue train attendant’s uniform, with its sharp blazer and knee-length skirt, only seemed to accentuate her lithe, strong form.

  “That’s my mommy!” Zander said.

  Well, then, Zander’s mom was a knockout as well as, apparently, a force to be reckoned with. Although the kid could’ve explained earlier that his mother worked for the train company. He’d get Zander to stay behind, with his helmet and vest to play with, signal her and get her into the next car. Then he’d explain the situation and, if there really was a problem, they could alert the conductor.

  She looked up.

  He stepped back involuntarily, as huge dark eyes fringed with long, beautiful lashes scanned the window where he stood. And suddenly a hundred conflicting memories struck him at once, overwhelming his senses like a flurry of fists hitting his core.

  He remembered meeting those same dark eyes across grade school, junior high and high school classrooms.

  He remembered running through the trees between his farm and the farm next door, way too late at night, in the hope that the same face would appear at the window.

  He remembered what it had been like to finally let his guard down at nineteen, to tell her how his sister Faith’s murder had left him with a self-destructive pain that sometimes made him want to blow up everything good in his life and push away the people he cared the most about.

  He’d told her she was beautiful and the best person he’d ever met. He’d pulled her into his arms. Then he’d failed to stand up like a man and face her disappointment when Tommy, her hotheaded older brother, had found them, yanked them apart and told Erica she deserved far better than an irresponsible loser who got into stupid fights, barely scraped through high school and had no future ahead of him.