Love Inspired Suspense: September 2022 Box Set 2 of 2 by Laura Scott

Author:Laura Scott
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2022-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

After six hours on the road, Brianna slid Gideon a sidelong glance, reading the worry in his eyes. They hadn’t encountered any tangos since fleeing the cabin, so she didn’t think it was that that caused his anxiety.

Thinking she could relieve at least one of the worries he carried, she told him about the filament she’d found on Ruthie’s backpack.

“So that’s how they did it,” he said. Weariness filled his voice.

“I’m afraid so.”

“What did you do with it?”

“Left it there.”

“I wondered how Jameson’s people kept finding us, especially after I turned the minivan inside out when we were at the gas station.”

“Ruthie had her backpack with her when we went to the restroom.” If only they’d known. “No sense crying over what can’t be helped.”

To her surprise, Gideon smiled. “I’ve missed that about you.”

“What?”

“Your practicality.”

“I’ve had to be practical.”

His smile died as abruptly as it had appeared. “We can’t keep Ruthie with us any longer.” His voice was quiet, but the words reverberated through her with heart-shattering intensity.

Brianna had been waiting for this, and even though she’d thought the same thing, she wanted to rail against it. “But where can I take her? It’s not like I can just call up a friend to take care of her.” She winced at her bitter tone. “We don’t have any friends, especially ones who are willing to take in a child who could be a target.”

“I know some people. The Zunigas. Friends at S and J. They’ll take care of her and guard her with their lives if it became necessary.”

“Why? Why would they do that for someone they don’t even know?”

“That’s the kind of people they are.”

Preparing Ruthie to leave was the hardest thing Brianna had ever done. They’d never been separated. Never. Not even overnight, though Ruthie had once begged to have a sleepover at her friend Lily’s.

“I don’t want to do this,” Brianna said. “I don’t want to leave you. But I need to keep you safe.” Did her daughter know that it was tearing the heart from her?

“From the bad men?” Ruthie asked.

“From the bad men.”

Her daughter understood more than she should. Too much more. What five-year-old should know that she and her mother were on the run from killers?

Brianna searched for something more to say, something reassuring, something profound. But the only words she could find were “I love you.”

“I love you back.”

The drive to the Zunigas’ ranch on the outskirts of the town of Shadow Point was quiet. So very quiet. Without having to employ multiple SDRs and being chased by Jameson’s goons, it was a much shorter drive than that to the cabin.

Brianna wanted to fill it with chatter, but she couldn’t find any words that didn’t sound clichéd or foolishly cheerful. Ruthie sat in her car seat, her expression solemn. Each time Brianna turned to look at her daughter, her heart hiccupped in her chest, a tiny little blip that sounded as mournful as she felt.

Shannon and Rafe Zuniga may have been the most beautiful couple Brianna had ever seen.

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