Shattered Haven

by Carol J. Post

  He looked down at her, his eyes filled with understanding. “I know you’ve been hurt. You’ve had your trust shattered. But I want to prove to you that you can trust me one hundred percent.”

  He shifted his position, his hands tightening during the brief moment when all his weight was on his right leg. “I can’t do this the official way and get down on one knee, or I’d never get back up. But my request is just as humble and heartfelt. Allison, will you marry me?”

  Before she could respond, he hurried to explain. “I don’t need an answer right now. I’m willing to wait as long as it takes.”

  He continued to stare down at her, his gaze warm, his eyes pleading. And the last of the barriers came tumbling down. Love surged through her, so powerful it left her dizzy. If he could trust her with his heart, she could trust him with hers.

  She pulled her hands free to wrap her arms around his neck. “Yes, I’d love to marry you.”

  Relief flashed across his features, then joy. Whatever came next, she couldn’t say. Because in that moment, he covered her mouth with his own. Everything he felt was poured into that kiss.

  And she responded with the same passion. What she shared with Blake was an unexpected and precious gift. For almost three years, she had hidden behind the walls of distrust, secure in the knowledge that no man and his secrets would ever again upend her life.

  But Blake had broken through those walls with his love and honesty. And she lost herself in his kiss, sure that any remaining secrets were little ones.

  * * * * *

  Keep reading for en excerpt from BURIED by Elizabeth Goddard.

  Dear Reader,

  I hope you’ve enjoyed your visit to Cedar Key. Several years ago, my husband and I were sailing in the Suwannee area and stopped at Cedar Cove Beach and Yacht Club to get gas, not knowing gas wasn’t sold there. Right away, a gentleman loaded my husband and our portable gas tank onto his golf cart and took him across the island. During that short stop, we fell in love with the quaint setting, “Old Florida” atmosphere and friendly people. So when I decided to write a series of books set in an island community, Cedar Key had to be the place. Storms have destroyed the docks behind Cedar Cove since we initially sailed in, but the Cedar Cove Beach and Yacht Club is a real place, as are the other business establishments in the book.

  I had fun writing Allison and Blake’s story and hope you could relate to them. They had both been wounded by events in their pasts. Allison found healing and strength through a relationship with God but was still guarded. Blake continually kicked himself for mistakes in his past and couldn’t accept Allison’s love for him until he learned to accept himself.

  I hope you’ll return to Cedar Key for books two and three in the series, where first Hunter and then Darci each find their happily-ever-after.

  God bless you.

  Carol

  Questions for Discussion

  Although Allison found love and acceptance from those in her Cedar Key church, Blake felt Christianity was simply a bunch of dos and don’ts. Have you ever been part of a church that seemed to focus more on following the rules than God’s grace? How can you reach someone who has experienced judgment rather than love from Christians?

  Before Blake’s injury, he had been extremely athletic. Afterward, he struggled with self-esteem issues and had a hard time believing that Allison could truly love him with his physical limitations. How can you help someone who is going through that kind of a life change? What words does God have regarding our worth to Him?

  After learning she had been deceived by her deceased husband, Allison believed everyone has secrets and was afraid to trust. Are you the type of person who naturally looks for the good in people you meet, or do you tend to be more suspicious? How do you interpret Matthew 10:16, “Be as wise as serpents but as harmless as doves”?

  Terrance tried all his life to gain the love and respect of his father but never succeeded. This led him to make some bad choices. Do you know any young people who are headed down that path? What can we do to influence for good the youth in our lives?

  Blake felt extreme guilt over his part in the death of a twelve-year-old boy. Although most people haven’t accidentally killed someone, many carry regret over past mistakes. What are some ways to find freedom? What does the Bible say about guilt and God’s forgiveness?

  Allison’s discovery of the paper in her newel post set up a chain of events that changed her life. Have you ever had one decision or event make a significant impact on your life? Was it in a good or bad way?

  Blake’s partner betrayed him in the worst possible way. Betrayal stings, especially when coming from someone close. Have you ever been betrayed by a family member or close friend? What are some ways to move past the hurt? Knowing that God requires us to forgive those who wrong us, how can we release the resentment and act in love toward that person?

  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 four new stories from Love Inspired Suspense every month!

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  ONE

  Mountain Cove, Alaska, North of Juneau

  Gasping for breath, Leah Marks ran for her life, working her way through the deep snow from last night’s winter storm, the semiautomatic in her pocket pressing into her side. What she wouldn’t give for a pair of snowshoes.

  How had Detective Snyder found her here?

  At least she’d seen him from a distance, giving her a few more precious seconds to make a run for it. She had to escape. She wouldn’t use her weapon against him unless she had no other choice. Shooting a police detective, even if he was a dirty cop and a killer, wouldn’t win her any points no matter which way you looked at it.

  Approaching Dead Falls Canyon, she left the tree line and took the biggest steps she could, her hips aching with the effort. She couldn’t outrun him this way, but she reassured herself with the fact that he struggled with the same obstacles.

  The deep snow would hide the hazards, and Leah counted on that. As she made her way, a snowcapped Mount McCann loomed in her peripheral vision. She’d spent enough time on the ski patrol in the Cascades during her college days to recognize the avalanche risk was high.

  As she entered the danger zone, a glance over her shoulder told her Snyder was gaining on her. As strong as she was, she couldn’t keep up this pace, and as if to confirm the thought, she stumbled headlong into the powder. Leah grappled and fought her way out, gulping panic with each breath.

  With her fall, she’d have to turn and face him much sooner than she’d hoped. Leaving town and hiding in an off-grid cabin in Alaska hadn’t bought her enough time. Hadn’t bought her safety.

  “Leah!” he called, his voice much too close.

  Heart hammering, she turned to stand her ground. Stared into his stone-cold eyes. Breathing hard, he flashed a knife as he approached; smirking because he’d finally cornered her.

  Dressed to kill, he was in black from head to toe—a dead giveaway against the white-carpeted mountains.

  So that’s what death looked like.

  Funny that she’d worn white camouflage hoping to remain hidden, for all the good that had done.

  Cold dread twisted up her spine. She thrust her hand into her pocket to reach for her weapon.

  It was gone.

  No! She must have lost it when she’d fallen. Snyder now stood between her and the snow
she’d crushed with her tumble. Between her and her gun.

  “Give me what I want, Leah.” His dark eyes flashed from the opening in his ski mask.

  “Why? So you can kill me like you killed Tim?” She had no idea what Snyder wanted from her, what he thought she had, but she’d witnessed him commit murder. No way would he let her live.

  A thunderous snap resounded above them.

  A crack appeared in the white stuff beneath Leah Marks’s boots.

  The ground shifted.

  Before she could react, before she could think, the avalanche swept her away—swept Snyder away, too—along with everything she’d been taught about how to survive. Carried away by a daunting, crushing force, heavy and swift to kill, she was helpless to stop the power that gripped her with icy fingers.

  Roared in her ears.

  Terror seized her as the megaton of white powder ushered her along to a frozen grave, an untimely death, as though she was nothing more than a twig. One brutal way to die had been exchanged for another.

  And then...

  Her body slowed before easing to a stop. The snow settled and held her inside.

  Frozen silence encased her, shrouded her in muted gray light.

  Think. What did she do now? Something. There was something she must do and she must be quick. To act before the snow compressed around her.

  Fear temporarily gave way to determination as survival tactics filled her thoughts. She took in a breath to expand her chest, give her breathing room. With her left hand near her face, she scooped snow away from her mouth and nose before it hardened completely. These things she did while thrusting her arm toward the surface in what she thought was the right direction. If only she could breach the packed snow and force her hand through. Before she could complete that one last task, increasing her chance of survival, it was all over. There was no more give to the snow—it had locked into place.

  Buried alive. She couldn’t move.

  Icy grayness weighed on her.

  She wouldn’t dig her way out of this one. She hadn’t planned for things to turn out this way. Panic the likes of which she’d never known choked her, compelling her to gasp for air.

  That would kill her faster. She had to conserve her oxygen.

  Inhale...exhale...

  Minutes. She had minutes, if that, thanks to the small air pocket she’d created. She’d been given another chance to live, one small chance in a million. Or maybe she would die, but at least Snyder wouldn’t be the one to kill her.

  Calming her breaths, she prayed someone would find her in time.

  But if that prayer was answered by the wrong someone...

  She was dead anyway.

  * * *

  From the helicopter, Cade Warren stared at the northeast face of Mount McCann, struggling to remember the innocence and joy of a carefree childhood spent in the mountain’s shadow. But the images from two days ago still haunted him.

  Snowboarders out seeking a thrill. Kids who believed they were invincible. By the time they’d called him to assess the avalanche danger for a search and rescue team, the victims were already dead.

  Beside Cade, his friend and coworker Isaiah Callahan flew the helicopter deep into the hidden mountain crags.

  Cade scraped a hand over his rough jaw. They did more searching than rescuing.

  He pushed the thought away, reminding himself that that wasn’t what they were there for this time. Today they were supposed to forecast the mountain, assess the avalanche threat in their roles as avalanche specialists.

  “I don’t get it,” Cade said. “Why don’t people read the forecasts?”

  “They read them.” Isaiah directed the helicopter to the right, angling a little too sharply for comfort. “They think it won’t happen to them.”

  People didn’t want to pay attention, which was why Cade’s father had always struggled to get enough funding for the Mountain Cove Avalanche Center he’d founded. With his death, his father’s frustration had now become Cade’s.

  The death tolls this week had been brutal, making Cade even more determined to do his job. He turned his attention back to the mountain. In the distance he could see the glaciers spilling from the Juneau Icefield.

  Strange that in spite of all his expertise, his father had died in an avalanche, trying to rescue someone. Cade was still trying to make sense of it all.

  The one thing he knew was that his father had a reputation with the town of Mountain Cove as a real hero—a reputation that Cade strived to earn for himself. But he doubted he’d ever come close to being the hero his father had been.

  “So far we have what—two hundred potential snow slides?” Isaiah asked.

  Before he could answer, Cade’s pager went off. He pulled it from its clip and looked at the screen.

  This is a callout for SAR on an avalanche in Dead Falls Canyon...two victims. Meet at Crank Point. Respond on Code One frequency... Case No. 5547.

  Cade stiffened. Not another one. He glanced at Isaiah. “Dead Falls Canyon. We can get there in time.”

  His pulse ratcheted up.

  Maybe today he could make a difference.

  Isaiah grinned his agreement and steered the helicopter east. First responders rarely made it in time to dig someone out of an avalanche. Cade and Isaiah were already in the air, near the avalanche.

  They could serve as the immediate action team.

  While Isaiah flew them over the harsh winter terrain of the backcountry, Cade communicated their plans, even as he wondered how and why someone would be in the remote area, especially after last night’s storm.

  The call had come in three minutes ago. Cade set his stopwatch to track the critical first fifteen minutes. They only had twelve left, if the witness had made the call immediately. Cade went over a list in his head, glad they always carried equipment in the helicopter for such an occasion. Probe. Shovel. And they each wore a transceiver at all times, in case the unthinkable happened and the helicopter crashed. There was also bivouac gear in the event they were stranded on the mountain.

  Maybe today would be the day he could save a life instead of recover a body.

  Eight minutes.

  Cade tensed, praying that the area would be stable, that he would know where to search. Even if they arrived in time, there were safety issues to consider. They’d need to examine the crown and path for debris, look for ski poles, gloves, goggles—anything that might tell them where to look.

  Right around the ridge, Dead Falls Canyon came into view—a deep chasm, rugged and lethal, in the heart of avalanche country. Cade tensed at the ominous sight. Breath forced from his chest as though he were the victim crushed in the slide.

  Isaiah sucked in air. “A big one.”

  “No kidding.” Cade looked at the crown where the avalanche began, then down over the resulting debris field. “Six, seven hundred feet wide. Eight hundred long.”

  “Could be ten, twelve feet deep in some places, Cade. What do you want to do?”

  “Get me down there.”

  “You sure it’s safe?”

  Is it ever? But whoever was buried, if they were still alive, would die if he didn’t do something now. He hadn’t been there to save his father that day and he’d never forgiven himself.

  “I’ll take my chances.” Five minutes left on the stopwatch.

  He swallowed. It could take him longer than that to find the victim much less dig them out.

  “Someone’s waving at us down there,” Isaiah said.

  “The witness,” Cade mumbled under his breath when he spotted someone layered in winter wear. He wasn’t digging, but maybe he could give a few more details about where the victims were last seen on the slope.

  “There’s no place to land here,” Isaiah pointed out, hovering the helicopter over t
he snow. “I’ll need to toe in, touch one ski down while you grab your gear. I’ll find somewhere to land, if possible, and hike over to help you.”

  Cade stared at his friend—a man he’d grown close to over the past three years. “Don’t set her down. Don’t even think about joining me until you assess the avalanche danger.”

  Isaiah didn’t have a degree in glaciology like Cade. Didn’t have the years of training under a mentor like Cade’s father that Cade had.

  Of the two of them, Cade was far better prepared—and it still might not be enough. At thirty-three, he didn’t have near the experience or training he needed. He’d lost his father much too soon.

  “Understood?” Cade stared him down.

  “Aye, aye, captain.” Isaiah saluted him.

  Three minutes.

  Isaiah touched the helicopter down long enough for Cade to grab the trauma kit, gear up with his equipment and step out. The landing zone was tight, and Cade kneeled next to the helicopter, the whop-whop-whop of the rotor blades drowning out all other sounds. He gave Isaiah the thumbs-up and watched the helicopter lift off and away.

  The witness headed in Cade’s direction and, in turn, he hurried toward the man, hoping to get the needed information. In the meantime he turned his beacon from transmit to receive and prayed for a signal.

  Cade wanted to know what the witness was doing out here in the first place when the avalanche danger was considerable, but there was no time. Two lives were in the balance.

  His ski mask hiding everything but his eyes, the man pointed to a place between the trees a few yards away. Not good. “Over there. I think I saw them—a man and a woman—go down, but it’s hard to tell where they ended up.”

  Knowing the range of his beacon, Cade nodded and hurried to where the man pointed, moving down the center of the debris field, listening, looking for that life-saving signal. And then he locked on to that precious sound.