Valerie Hansen - The Danger Within

Layla rounded the corner and slid to a stop, gasping a heartfelt “Thank You, God!” when she realized there was no immediate danger to animals or buildings.

A pile of soiled hay was doing its best to burn in spite of the frigid temperatures. She didn’t want to leave the pile smoldering that close to a vulnerable building so she grabbed a pitchfork and proceeded to scatter the old hay to cool it.

The tines of the pitchfork hit something hard. Layla scraped away the glowing embers to reveal a blackened feed pan. She didn’t have to look closely to see the scrape marks she’d left on it when she’d taken her lab samples.

One mystery was resolved. When someone had tried to destroy the evidence, they’d admitted to purposely poisoning Michael Vance’s innocent cattle.

FAITH AT THE CROSSROADS: Can faith and love sustain two families against a diabolical enemy?

A TIME TO PROTECT-Lois Richer (LIS#13)

THE DANGER WITHIN-Valerie Hansen (LIS#15)

THROUGH THE FIRE–Sharon Mignerey (LIS#17)

IN THE ENEMY’S SIGHTS-Marta Perry (LIS#19)

STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL-Terri Reed (LIS#21)

HEARTS ON THE LINE-Margaret Daley (LIS#23)

was thirty when she awoke to the presence of the Lord in her life and turned to Jesus. In the years that followed she worked with young children, both in church and secular environments. She also raised a family of her own and played foster mother to a wide assortment of furred and feathered critters.

Married to her high school sweetheart since age seventeen, she now lives in an old farmhouse she and her husband renovated with their own hands. She loves to hike the wooded hills behind the house and reflect on the marvelous turn her life has taken. Not only is she privileged to reside among the loving, accepting folks in the breathtakingly beautiful Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, she also gets to share her personal faith by telling the stories of her heart for Steeple Hill’s Love Inspired line. Life doesn’t get much better than that!

Before you start reading, why not sign up?

Thank you for downloading this Mills & Boon book. If you want to hear about exclusive discounts, special offers and competitions, sign up to our email newsletter today!

SIGN ME UP!

Or simply visit

signup.millsandboon.co.uk

Mills & Boon emails are completely free to receive and you can unsubscribe at any time via the link in any email we send you.

To Joe, who loves me even when he thinks

I’m crazy—which is most of the time!

Special thanks and acknowledgment are given to Valerie Hansen for her contribution to the FAITH AT THE CROSSROADS series.

Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from the violent men; who have purposed to overthrow my goings.

—Psalms 140:4

Michael Vance—His cows kept getting sick and dying. Were they succumbing to disease or was someone poisoning them?

Layla Dixon—Working as the temporary ranch veterinarian and helping uncover the secrets behind the ailments of the cows kept the bohemian beauty close to Michael.

El Jefe—Who was the man also known as Chief? What did he have to do with the new influx of drugs into Colorado Springs? And why was he so intent on bringing down the Vance and Montgomery families?

Hector Delgato—Michael’s secretive new foreman was never around whenever bad things happened….

Dear Reader,

If you’re familiar with my other books, you’ll notice that this one is a bit different. Six authors were asked to participate in a series set in Colorado and I was thrilled to be included.

Many thanks to my fellow authors, Lois, Sharon, Marta, Terri and Margaret, and to our editor, Diane, of course. We brainstormed via e-mail and worked hard to make our series books fit together, as well as be wonderful stand-alone tales of love, faith and romantic suspense.

I also want to thank my other Colorado friends, Vicki and Carol, for answering my questions about daily life in the shadow of the Rockies.

Although I’m very particular about details in my books, I also understand that being a joyful believer is not dependent upon location or circumstance. Rather, it is a condition of the heart. Peace is found in Christ, no matter where life takes you. If that peace and sense of belonging is missing, it won’t be found by running away or by traveling aimlessly, as Layla learns in this story. To belong to God’s family, all you have to do is turn to Jesus and humbly ask for forgiveness. His arms are always open to embrace you.

I love to hear from readers. The quickest replies are by e-mail—valw@centurytel.net—or you can write to me at P.O. Box 13, Glencoe, AR, 72539 and I’ll do my best to answer as soon as I can. Or visit my Web site: www.centurytel.net/valeriewhisenand/

Blessings,

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Epilogue

“We have to be careful, El Jefe.”

“Now you think of that? I told you not to trust an amateur like Ritchie Stark with a job as important as taking care of Mayor Vance.”

“It’s not my fault. Everything would have been fine if Ritchie hadn’t brought in one of his flunkies to do the job instead of handling it himself.”

“Fine? Hah! The guy botched it. Twice. And that nurse saw him the second time. She can identify him.”

“Chloe Tanner? Not necessarily. He hit her pretty hard. We can’t be positive how much she remembers.”

“All the same, now that she’s tied up with that FBI man it’s even more dangerous for us. We need to eliminate any witnesses who can lead the Feds back to us.”

“Well, don’t look at me! I have a reputation to protect.”

“Never mind,” The Chief, El Jefe’s Anglicized code name, rasped angrily. “I’ll do it myself, starting with that idiot friend of Ritchie’s.”

“We mustn’t act foolishly. I know you want success as much as I do but we must not call undue attention to this situation. Right now, everyone is concentrating on the mayor’s condition, hoping he’ll come out of the coma and be able to help the police. If there are more accidents or deaths associated with him, someone may suspect a conspiracy.”

The Chief snorted. “If they do, it’ll be the first intelligent conclusion they’ve come to.”

“Still…”

“I’ll be careful. This time, it’ll look like an accident. Like you said, I want this plan to succeed. And you’re going to help me.”

“My pleasure. The sooner you get what you want and make us both even richer, the happier I’ll be.”

“There’s more at stake here than merely a fortune in drugs. I have a score to settle with the Vance and Montgomery families. Nothing is going to stop me.”

“Or me,” his companion added.

“Good.” His laugh was sinister and guttural. “Because I would give up my life itself, if I knew my enemies would die with me.”