Lone Defender (Love Inspired Suspense)
Read Lone Defender (Love Inspired Suspense) Online
Authors: Shirlee McCoy
“You’re not going to get rid of me, not going to talk me into walking away.”
“I told Kane that if you were alive, I’d find you and get you home safely. That’s exactly what I intend to do.”
“I don’t need a protector, Jonas.” She smiled, trying to lighten the mood, but his eyes flashed and a muscle in his jaw clenched.
“There’s something you need to understand. I always finish what I start.” He turned on his heel, walked to the door and opened it, disappearing inside before she could respond.
That was probably for the best.
There was nothing she could add to the conversation that would change anything. Jonas had his mission. She had hers. For now, they converged. Soon enough, they’d both fulfill their goals. When they did, they’d part ways and go on with their lives.
That was the way it was supposed to be.
That was the way she should want it to be.
She just wasn’t sure she did.
Books by Shirlee McCoy
Love Inspired Suspense
Die Before Nightfall
Even in the Darkness
When Silence Falls
Little Girl Lost
Valley of Shadows
Stranger in the Shadows
Missing Persons
Lakeview Protector
*
The Guardian’s Mission
*
The Protector’s Promise
Cold Case Murder
*
The Defender’s Duty
**
Running for Cover
Deadly Vows
**
Running Scared
**
Running Blind
Out of Time
**
Lone Defender
Steeple Hill Trade
Still Waters
SHIRLEE M
C
COY
has always loved making up stories. As a child, she daydreamed elaborate tales in which she was the heroine—gutsy, strong and invincible. Though she soon grew out of her superhero fantasies, her love for storytelling never diminished. She knew early that she wanted to write inspirational fiction, and she began writing her first novel when she was a teenager. Still, it wasn’t until her third son was born that she truly began pursuing her dream of being published. Three years later she sold her first book. Now a busy mother of five, Shirlee is a homeschool mom by day and an inspirational author by night. She and her husband and children live in Washington and share their house with a dog, two cats and a bird. You can visit her website at www.shirleemccoy.com, or email her at [email protected].
L
ONE
D
EFENDER
Shirlee McCoy
For you, LORD, have delivered me from death,
my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling,
that I may walk before the LORD
in the land of the living.
—
Psalms
116:8–9
To my niece, the real Skylar Grady,
you make me so proud to be your aunt!
Contents
ONE
D
ying shouldn’t be so difficult.
At least, in Skylar Grady’s estimation it shouldn’t be.
The way she saw it, if it were her time to die, she should be allowed to go quickly. No fuss. No muss. No wandering through the wilderness for days.
Her time to die?
No way did she plan for it to be that.
Then again, she hadn’t planned to get lost in the Sonoran Desert, but there she was.
Lost.
She frowned, forcing herself to keep walking toward the shadowy mesa. A couple more miles and she’d be there. God willing, civilization would be on the other side. It better be, because six days with no food and minimal water had taken its toll. Much as she wanted to deny it, truth was truth. If she didn’t find her way out soon, she wouldn’t find her way out at all.
And that would be a shame. Not just because Skylar would be dead but because it also meant that the guy who’d drugged her, driven her out into the desert and left her to die would get away with it.
That definitely
wasn’t
how Skylar planned for things to play out.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t sure she had much of a choice in the matter.
Desert wilderness stretched out as far as the eye could see. No roads. No buildings. Nothing but an endless landscape of cacti and low-lying desert scrub, with the mesa in the distance. It’s all she’d seen since she’d left her jeep, everything she had lived, breathed and felt for six days. She wanted out with a desperation that left her hollow and empty inside.
If there wasn’t something or someone on the other side of the mesa…
She pulled her thoughts up short. Going there wouldn’t help things. She had to keep walking, keep moving and, above all, keep hoping.
Lightning flashed in the distance, and the quiet rumble of thunder followed. Another storm. Was it the third or fourth since she’d made the decision to leave the rental jeep she’d woken in?
Did it matter?
Another winter storm meant water. Water meant life.
Her foot caught in thick desert scrub, and she fell hard, her breath leaving on a painful gasp. She forced herself up again, shivering as icy wind seeped through her T-shirt. Warm days. Cold nights. Sunburned skin and bone-deep chill. They’d taken their toll, and she wanted to rest more than just about anything.
But not more than she wanted to live.
Not more than she wanted justice.
And she
did
want that.
Someone had tried to kill her. She was going to find out who, she was going to find out why and she was going to smile when her would-be murderer was thrown in jail. First, though, she had to survive.
One trudging painful step after another to the mesa.
That was the only way to do it.
All around her, the night throbbed with energy and life; creatures moving in the darkness. Slithering, creeping, jumping creatures.
Were there wildcats in the desert?
Skylar didn’t know, and she didn’t want to find out.
Something shifted in the blackness, a deep shadow against the darkness. She blinked and it was gone, leaving nothing but a stillness that made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. Something was out there. Something that was stalking her through the blackness. Skylar was as sure of that as she was of anything.
Something or some
one.
Maybe the guy who’d left her to die had returned to make sure she’d done so.
She crouched low, not taking her eyes off the spot where the shadow had been, her hand skimming the ground. A weapon. Any weapon. That’s what she needed.
But there was nothing.
No thick tree branches.
No heavy rocks.
She grabbed a fistful of dirt, her heart thumping a hard irregular beat, the desert pulsing with tension from something she couldn’t see, but knew was there. Endless seconds passed, each moment a lifetime.
Please, God, let it be my imagination.
A figure appeared inches from where she crouched, stepping from blackness so suddenly Skylar was sure he’d disappear just as quickly.
She reached out, her fingers brushing a leather boot.
Real.
He was real.
“Skylar Grady?” His voice was smooth and deep, and Skylar didn’t bother asking what he wanted. No way was this guy part of a search-and-rescue team. If he were, he
wouldn’t be alone. She jerked back, letting the handful of dirt fly before breaking into a sprint. Endless desert stretched out around her with no hope of rescue or safety. She knew it, but she ran anyway.
Please, Lord, get me out of this alive. Please.
Please.
Please.
The prayer chanted through her mind, matching pace with the frantic thrum of her pulse. Something snagged her shirt, pulled her back and she went fighting, swinging her fists the same way she had when she’d been a runty freshman in a high school overflowing with drug dealers and gang members.
“Cool it, Grady. I’m not in the mood to have my face beaten in.” The command barely registered, and she swung again, her fist connecting with a rock-hard jaw.
“I said cool it.” There was no heat in his words, and he grabbed her arm, pulling it behind her back with just enough pressure to hold her still.
“Let me go!” She stepped back, trying to unbalance him and loosen his grip, but he was as solid and unmoving as a mountain.
“I’m thinking your boss wouldn’t be happy if I did that. Neither would I. I’ve lost and found your trail a dozen times these past couple days. I lose it again, and you may be lost for good.”
“My boss?” She stilled, her heart beating too rapidly, her breath spilling out in great heaving gasps.
“Kane Dougherty. He’s an old college friend. He called me the day before yesterday. Asked me to take part in the search-and-rescue operation that was launched to find you.” His grip loosened, his hand smoothing up her arm and resting against her neck. “Take a deep breath, before you keel over.”
“I’m not going to keel over.” But she inhaled deeply, trying to force her racing heart to slow.
“I’m not sure I believe you. You’ve been out here for six days. That’s a long time.” His hand dropped away, and then he was in front of her, his eyes gleaming in the darkness.
“Long enough for people to stop looking for me. I haven’t seen a search plane in two days, and then it was too far away to see me. I thought for sure I was going to have to find my own way out of here.” She dropped onto the ground, relief making her light-headed.
Maybe she
was
going to pass out.
“They haven’t stopped looking, they’ve just scaled back.”
“Because they’re looking for a body?” It made sense, but that didn’t mean she wanted to hear it.
“It happens all the time. People drive into the desert to take pictures of the scenery, and they don’t realize how unforgiving the terrain is. They get lost or hurt, and they run out of supplies.”
“Look, buddy—”
“Jonas. Sampson.”
“Look,
Jonas,
I didn’t drive myself out here. Someone drove me. I didn’t choose to go on a six-day sojourn. Someone else decided to send me on one.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know, but as soon as I get back to civilization, I plan to find out.”
“You didn’t see him?”
