Valerie Hansen - Marked For Revenge

He had a price on his head—and no one to trust

An Emergency Responders thriller

EMT Kaitlin North can’t believe the shooting victim at an isolated Ozark cabin is the man who once saved her life. Now the only way she can keep undercover police officer Daniel Ryan alive is to help him elude the hitmen on his trail. With danger closing in, can Kaitlin and Ryan trust each other’s instincts...and take a chance on love?

VALERIE HANSENwas thirty when she awoke to the presence of the Lord in her life and turned to Jesus. She now lives in a renovated farmhouse on the breathtakingly beautiful Ozark Plateau of Arkansas and is privileged to share her personal faith by telling the stories of her heart for Love Inspired. Life doesn’t get much better than that!

Also By Valerie Hansen

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“Christmas Escape”

Classified K-9 Unit

Special Agent

Rookie K-9 Unit

Search and Rescue

Rookie K-9 Unit Christmas

“Surviving Christmas”

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Marked for Revenge

Valerie Hansen

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-09691-1

MARKED FOR REVENGE

© 2019 Valerie Whisenand

Published in Great Britain 2019

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

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www.millsandboon.co.uk

Version: 2020-03-02

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“We can’t stay here long or they’ll figure out where we went.”

Grasping the edge of the truck bed, Kaitlin straightened enough to peek over it. “So far, so good. Nobody followed us.”

“What now?”

“We steal a getaway car.”

“What?” Daniel’s gaping jaw snapped shut when he heard her chuckle.

“Relax.” Kaitlin grinned. “This is my truck. All I need is the keys and we can take off.”

“Where are they?”

“In my purse. In your room.”

His shoulders slumped. “My room?”

“Yes, but I know other ways in. Don’t try anything funny while I’m gone. I’ll be back in a jiffy.”

Daniel grabbed her wrist to stop her. “Be careful.”

“I will. Wait right there.”

He watched her for as long as he could, then hunkered down in the chair. Kaitlin had to make it. She had to come back to him in one piece.

Sighing, he closed his eyes and prayed for exactly that.

Dear Reader,

I come from a family filled with firefighters, EMTs, paramedics and nurses. My stint as an EMT was a short one but it taught me a lot about the rigors of that life. As Kaitlin and Daniel observed in this story, it takes a special kind of person to put themselves out for others, over and over again, with no expectation of reward or praise. They burn out. They struggle against unmerited guilt for failing to save every victim. They remember years later what a suffering child may have said to them in the midst of a terrible wreck and it haunts them.

So the next time you see or hear an emergency vehicle, please stop and pray for the ones aboard and the people they are racing to help. And if you harbor any doubts about your prayerful connections to the Lord, start by asking Him to accept you into His, into our, family.

I love to hear from readers! Visit me at my website, valeriehansen.com, or email me directly at Val@ValerieHansen.com.

May you be blessed and thankful for it every day.

Valerie Hansen

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

—Psalm 51:10

To my children and grandchildren who put in long hours helping others, both in emergencies and in hospitals. I’m so proud of you all! And to my Joe, who led the way and is still with me in spirit.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Note to Readers

Introduction

Dear Reader

Bible Verse

Dedication

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

FOURTEEN

FIFTEEN

SIXTEEN

SEVENTEEN

EIGHTEEN

NINETEEN

TWENTY

EPILOGUE

Extract

About the Publisher

Fog filled the valley in the Ozarks. Icy morning air chilled off-duty police officer Daniel Ryan to the bone. He’d been sent to the remote, deserted homestead for his own safety, or so his chief had claimed, but he knew there would be no true escape for him. Ever. Too much had happened.

He tensed. Real threats could lurk out there in the fog. Assassins. Armed and deadly. He could almost see them, sneaking through the misty, overgrown fields to ambush him and collect the bounty on his head.

“I am certifiable,” he muttered, shaking off the disturbing visions. If he hadn’t been forced into isolation, maybe his partner, Levi Allen, would still be alive and his former fiancée, Letty Montoya, wouldn’t be blaming him for Levi’s murder. Not that she hadn’t played a part in the mistaken-identity killing by inviting Levi to move in with her as soon as she’d had the opportunity.