Love Inspired Suspense: January 2023 Box Set 2 of 2 by Maggie K. Black

Author:Maggie K. Black
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2022-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

Vera’s eyes shot open. What had woken her? It wasn’t the campfire stories. She shivered inside her sleeping bag. Ugh. She was no primitive camper. The only lesson she’d learned so far was not to camp in January.

But she had heard something.

There it was again. Rattling. Raccoons or maybe a bear sniffing around a vehicle or the food, but they’d hung it in a bear bag and followed all protocols. Well, if killers learned to adapt to get what they wanted, why not bears and critters?

She shucked off the sleeping bag and quietly pulled on her hiking boots without waking Katie. Another thing of youth she envied: deep, uninterrupted sleep. She grabbed her gun. Minus Katie’s archery equipment, Vera’s gun was probably their only other weapon out here.

Would a SIG-Sauer even take down a bear?

There it was again.

Using her chin to clamp the flashlight in place against her neck, Vera used her free hand to slowly unzip the tent. Once outside, the chilly wind sent a shiver down her spine. She zipped the tent up and used the flashlight to survey the campsite. A set of eyes, reflecting the light, peeked out like part of a spooky story.

“Lord,” she whispered, “please don’t let there be a bear. I have enough scars.”

Inching toward the vehicles, she heard her boots crunch the dry grass and brush underfoot. No movement or sound came from the tents. An owl hooted. As she neared the dumpsters, she shone the light, keeping several feet away, and spotted the bandits crawling over the cans in search of a late-night snack.

Raccoons.

Shoulders now relaxing, she sighed and shivered again. The sleeping bag wasn’t doing it for her. Before leaving Brooks’s house, he’d tossed in a wool blanket in spite of Katie’s protests they had all they needed. Perfect.

Katie could speak for herself. Vera tiptoed past the vehicles until she came to hers at the very end. She’d parked last strategically. Never knew when the case might call her away. She opened the back passenger’s-side door and reached for the blanket and the promise of extra warmth.

A heavy weight fell onto her back, shoving her against the seat and her face into the wool blanket, muffling her startled and frightened shriek, and releasing her gun onto the floorboard. Was it a bear?

Hands shoved her head deeper into the blanket.

No, it was a man.

She kicked backward, hoping to knock him out of the car; she rooted around with her hand, searching for her weapon. He must have realized her plan and yanked her from the car by her hair, throwing her to the dark, cold ground.

Without light, she was blind. Where had he come from? How had he known she was here? His gloved hands clinched tight around her neck and his weight kept her feet pinned. She clawed and scratched, hoping not to wake anyone else and put them in danger.

Fear and adrenaline raced through her veins and her lungs burned, desperate for air.

“Miss Vera?”

Katie!

“Are you out here?” A flashlight beam was nearing.

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