Lisa Harris - Sheltered By The Soldier

He took a sip of his coffee, wishing he could somehow drown his worries. His training had taught him how to fight and how to survive, but it had never completely prepared him for what it was like to watch someone you cared about die. The emotional wounds he’d suffered had ended up being far worse than the physical ones he’d received.

She reached out and brushed her hand against his arm. “Thank you for bringing me here.”

“It’s not a problem at all. My mom’s always telling us there’s too much testosterone when we’re all home, though I know she loves every minute of it.”

“I’m sure she does. How often do the O’Callaghan brothers get to all be home at the same time?”

“Except for yours truly, pretty often, actually. You know Griffin. He’s the oldest and one of the deputies in town, so he’s around a lot. Next in line is Caden, who was an army ranger until he was honorably discharged three years ago. He now runs the ranch with my father and lives in a small house next to my parents’ home. Reid’s one of three full-time firemen in Timber Falls and lives there, and I’m the youngest.”

“I don’t think I knew that.”

“The baby of the family, as they like to constantly remind me. I’m the one who’s spent the most time away, but no matter where we are, we all always manage to find ourselves back at the ranch.”

“I like your parents.”

“My father considers retiring every year, though something tells me he never will. At least not officially.”

She let out a low laugh, but her smile quickly faded.

“You okay?”

“For now, yes. It’s almost too easy to forget the reason why I’m here.” She pulled a handful of letters out of her pocket. “But as much as I’d love to just enjoy the sunrise, I need you to look at these.”

“You’re sure you don’t mind?” Part of him felt uncomfortable reading through Will’s personal letters to his wife.

“It’s fine. I’ve organized them in chronological order.”

Liam pulled out the first letter in the stack. “I used to tease Will for sending as many handwritten letters as emails. And do you know what his answer was?”

“That I loved handwritten mail?”

He nodded.

Gabby let out a sharp breath of air. “Now I can’t help but wonder if it was also a way to write out his concerns without leaving a digital trail.”

He started through the letters in order by date, surprised at how many memories they evoked. If he closed his eyes, he was there again, catching Will writing letters to his wife by flashlight in the tent in the middle of the night.

Why didn’t Will tell me what was going on?

Twenty minutes later, he set down the last letter. “While my mom’s watching Mia, would you like to go for a short walk? The fresh air always clears my mind and helps me think better.”

She nodded, and they started down the path that led east of the house toward the creek, the reality of why she was really here at the forefront of his mind. Even with the idyllic scene of the red barn in the background and several horses in the corral, he couldn’t ignore it. Someone had broken into her home, then tried to run her off the road. She needed answers and he was determined to get them for her.

“You were right. Will clearly stumbled onto something and didn’t know what to do, but with no specifics, it’s hard to know where to start. And just because he was tracking down some corruption doesn’t mean he was killed over it.”

“When I married Will, I thought I knew what I was getting into, but the reality is that you’re never ready for long deployments and so many months apart,” she said. “It was hard, but we were determined to make it work. In the back of my mind, I always knew that losing him was a possibility. What he did was dangerous, and I accepted that, but now... I guess having Mia makes me look at things differently. And this... I have no idea how to deal with this.”

“There are a lot of things that you simply can’t completely prepare yourself for.”

Like losing someone you love.

“What did you think about the letters? What am I supposed to do?”

The phone he’d just given her back started dinging, and she pulled it out of her pocket to check her messages. A moment later, her face paled.

“Gabby...what’s wrong?”

“It’s a bunch of photos.” Her voice broke as she spoke. “Liam...”

“Photos of what?”

She handed him the phone. There were half a dozen photos of her and Mia, snapped at several different locations. And after the photos was a chilling message.

We told you to stop asking questions. We know where you are. Don’t go to the police. You will regret it.

Gabby spun around and started down the path back toward the house, her heart pounding. “I can’t stay here. If they know where I am—”

“Wait a minute.” Liam ran to catch up with her. “Look again at the photos. Where were these taken?”

“I don’t know.” She stopped, tears welling in her eyes as she pulled open the photos again. “In front of my house...the grocery store with Mia...getting into my car...it looks like the gym parking lot.”

“They were following you. That is clear, but there are no photos of Timber Falls or the ranch.”

Her brow narrowed in surprise. “You’re right.”

He took her hand and caught her gaze. “I think they’re bluffing, because they don’t know where you are. If they did, they’d show up here, not just send you photos.”

“Maybe, but I still don’t understand any of this.” She worked to hold back the dam of tears about to break loose. “If they’ve been following me back home, why didn’t they confront me then?”

“I don’t know. Maybe they wanted to make sure you knew something before they did anything. This all began after you started asking questions.”

“Yes.”

“So it makes sense that someone’s trying to find out what you know. And in the process scaring you to make sure you don’t go to the authorities.”

“Well, I am scared.” She could hear the panic in her own voice but at this point, she didn’t care. “Will is dead, and I have a child to protect. If anything happens to Mia, I’ll never forgive myself.”

Liam pulled her against him. “Nothing’s going to happen, Gabby. Not to Mia. Not to you. I won’t let it.”

She nestled her head into his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her. There was something calming in the warmth of his embrace. Something that made her want to stay in this moment for as long as possible. She missed feeling secure and cherished. Missed having someone to face life with. A partner for her. A father for Mia. Not that she was looking for someone to take Will’s place. She was just so tired of doing everything on her own.

“I’m sorry.” She pulled away from him abruptly and wiped her eyes. “I didn’t mean to fall apart like that.”

“You have nothing to be sorry about. You’ve been through a lot this past year and a half, and none of it’s been easy.”

“No, it hasn’t, but my losing it isn’t going to help put an end to all of this.”

She started back to the house beside him. “I called James Casada two days ago. He lives in a suburb of Denver. Will indicated he trusted him. I thought it would be a good idea to talk to him in person. Maybe he knows something.”

Liam stopped on the path and turned to her. “Did you get ahold of him?”

“Yes. He was out of town but was flying back to Denver last night. He told me he’d be working at home all day if I wanted to come by. I almost forgot I’d thought about going to go see him this morning.”

“What if he’s somehow involved in this?”