Christmas Under Fire by Michelle Karl

Author:Michelle Karl [Karl, Michelle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2018-08-08T22:38:35+00:00

* * *

Cally watched Aaron in her peripheral vision as she scrolled through the messages on her phone, reams of delayed texts and email notifications that she still hadn’t caught up on since cell service had returned the day prior. Her stomach squeezed with hope as she searched for some indication that Aaron had been right—that all her relatives wanted was for her to be safe and happy—but the squeezing shifted to a stabbing emptiness as she swiped to delete each and every one, until she came to a text from her uncle.

“Uh, Aaron?”

He glanced up from his paperwork, pen clamped between his lips. Cally almost smiled. He looked cute, vulnerable. He raised one eyebrow at her, and for a moment, her fear and anxiety melted away. And then his gaze flicked to her phone, and it all came rushing back.

“My uncle texted,” she said, turning the screen so Aaron could see. She’d hit the translate option so he could read it in English. “He’s boarding a plane soon to come up here. He spoke to my mother last night. She called him in a panic after speaking with me.”

Aaron took the pen out of his mouth. “He was already in Vancouver?”

“He is now. Until last night he was in Ottawa, for a conference. But he works for the Department of Natural Resources in Amar. He was about to fly home. There’s usually a plane change and a bit of a layover before going the rest of the way back. Nobody offers direct flights.”

Aaron sighed. “Can you tell him not to come? I don’t think it’s wise to bring someone else into this situation. Another family member might complicate things.”

Cally fired off a reply to her uncle and waited. “I agree. I was just going to call him and say Merry Christmas, not try to con him into joining me here. Of course my mother had to overreact and call him. She probably begged and guilted him into flying up to check on me in person. Why can’t she just...” Cally dropped her head to the tabletop, forehead pressed against her splayed fingers.

Her phone buzzed, and she nudged it toward Aaron without looking at it first.

“He’s boarding,” Aaron said a moment later. She didn’t miss the undercurrent of frustration in his voice, too.

Cally peered up at him, not at all surprised to see the tension increasing in his neck and jaw. “I’m sorry. This means someone is going to have to pick him up from the airport, too, doesn’t it?”

“Yes. And before you ask, no, you’re not going. I’ll send Leo. I’m not comfortable taking you on that journey. But there’s another problem we’ll have to deal with first.”

What now? She groaned and laid her head back down on the table. In the darkness behind her eyes, memories began to replay on a stuck loop.

The patrol car slamming into the ditch. The attacker in the grocery store coming closer as she ran out of places to hide. Feeling like a caged animal as she stared down the barrel of a gun through the car window.

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