Sheltered By The Soldier. Lisa Harris

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      She glanced back at the house, terrified that at any moment someone was going to burst out of the back door and come after her. If someone had still been in the house, she had no doubt that they’d heard Mia crying. She turned the key again to start the engine. Her father had tried to convince her to replace her jeep with something more reliable, but it was going to take her another year to save up. Now she couldn’t help but wonder if she should have tried to make it work.

      A third try and the engine caught.

      Letting out a strong huff of relief, she pulled out of the driveway, her heart still racing. Calling 911 was the logical option, but something made her hesitate. The letters her husband had written her before his death while still deployed had left her shaken. And this happening so soon after she’d questioned his commanding officers made her wonder if she’d managed to ask the wrong person, triggering something she was at a loss of how to handle. Which meant if someone was after her, she had no idea how far their arm might reach. She stopped at a red light, then glanced at the leather bag with Will’s letters on the floorboard of the car. That had to be what they were after. She swallowed hard. No. She was sounding paranoid. But Will had been paranoid, too. So maybe her fear stemming from the last letter he’d written her wasn’t that far off after all.

       I think they realize I’ve been looking into the paper trail. I need to go to someone with what I have, but I have to make sure the evidence is solid. Some of these contractors are the kind of people who wouldn’t hesitate at defrauding our government. The kind of people who wouldn’t blink at killing anyone who got in their way.

      The light turned green and she headed north toward the freeway. She’d memorized the details of Will’s letters. They had mentioned contracted workers, so she’d assumed that going to someone in the military was safe. But clearly, she’d been mistaken. And now she couldn’t afford to trust the wrong person again. It wasn’t worth risking her daughter’s life. But either way, she needed a plan and the best option seemed to be to get as far away from here as she could.

      But where? The digital clock on the dash said it was a quarter to three. She could call her parents, but what could they do? They were currently enjoying Florida’s balmy weather and couldn’t exactly help her. She had friends that would take her in, but there was no way she was going to put someone else’s life at risk. And until she figured out who was behind this, she’d never be safe. Will was dead, and she had Mia to protect.

      Her mind shifted gears as she upped her speed and merged onto the freeway. There was one person who might be able to help her. She glanced at the phone laying in the console next to her. One person who might have the answers to whoever was behind this.

      Liam O’Callaghan.

      She tried to push the name out of her mind, and instead glanced at the line of cars behind her as each mile took her farther way from danger—and closer to the town of Timber Falls near where he lived. She hadn’t heard from Liam for several weeks. He and Will had been deployed together, then Liam had spent months in both inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation with injuries from the blast that killed her husband. Over the past year and a half, he’d called at least once a month to check on her and make sure she was doing okay and had even come to see her several times. But she hadn’t missed the hint of guilt in his voice each time. As if what had happened to Will was somehow his fault. And she was clearly a reminder.

      She placed the call on the cheap smart phone she’d picked up yesterday before she had a chance to change her mind again. But instead of him answering, it switched to voice mail.

      “Liam, this is Gabby.” She paused, wondering if she was doing the right thing. Wondering why she felt so hesitant in asking for his help. She tried to shake off the tension in her voice. “Listen... I need to talk to you. It’s important. Please. Call me back as soon as you can on this number.”

      Gabby hung up the call, then glanced into the rearview mirror at the back seat where Mia sat in her car seat, playing with her stuffed giraffe. At least she’d stopped crying. When Gabby had found out she was pregnant, everything had seemed so perfect. She’d had the perfect marriage, perfect family, perfect life. Then in one life-altering moment, two uniformed officers had shown up at her front door and everything changed.

      Her phone rang, pulling her back into the present. She pushed the call-answer button on the steering wheel. “Liam?”

      “Gabby...are you okay?”

      “Not really.” She didn’t want to tell him what was going on—that would only make the situation more real—but neither could she put the life of her daughter at risk. “I need help, and I didn’t know who else to call.”

      She glanced back into the rearview mirror. Mia had thrown down the giraffe and was fussing again, but Gabby couldn’t stop the car. Couldn’t take any risks that might jeopardize her baby’s life more than she already had.

      “What happened?” he asked.

      She swallowed hard, trying to dismiss the feeling she was being followed. “I got home this afternoon and discovered someone had ransacked my place.”

      “Wait a minute... Have you called 911?”

      “I was scared and panicked. Afraid someone might still be in the house.”

      “I understand, but you need to call the authorities.”

      She hesitated. “I can’t.”

      “Why not?”

      The last thing she wanted to do was get Liam involved, but what other option did she have?

      “Gabby...what’s going on?”

      “There’s something I need to talk to you about. There have been other threats—”

      “Threats? Is that why you have a new number?”

      “I was afraid someone might have been tracking my phone, but I’d rather discuss everything in person.”

      “Where are you now?” he asked.

      She glanced at the clock. “I’m about twenty minutes from Timber Falls. If you could meet me in town—”

      “Of course. Or you could come out to the ranch.”

      “I don’t want to get your family involved.”

      “Will was my best friend. I promised him if anything ever happened to him, I’d make sure you and Mia were okay. I owe him my life. My family understands that.”

      She looked around, her chest still heaving. Sirens wailed from a wreck on the other side of the highway.

      “Is there a chance anyone is following you?” he asked.

      “I don’t think so, but I can’t be sure. Traffic’s pretty heavy, and it’s starting to snow.”

      “I’m out at the ranch, but I’ll head to town now. It will take me at least thirty minutes, but you can wait for me at the sheriff’s office on the edge of town. It’s well lit. You can’t miss it.”

      “Okay.”

      “Do you remember meeting my brother Griffin?”

      “Yes.”

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