Barb Han - Ambushed At Christmas

A killer is at large.

And she’s next on his holiday hit list.

Someone is killing women in Detective Leah Cordon’s town—women who jog the same trail as her every day. Leah will do whatever it takes to ensure the case is solved by Christmas. But when details of the crime eerily resemble what’s been happening on cattleman Deacon Kent’s own ranch, he shows up looking for answers. It quickly becomes obvious that the killer has his sights set on Leah. Can Leah and Deacon discover the criminal’s identity before he strikes again?

USA TODAY bestselling author BARB HANlives in north Texas with her very own hero-worthy husband, three beautiful children, a spunky golden retriever/standard poodle mix and too many books in her to-read pile.

In her downtime, she plays video games and spends much of her time on or around a basketball court. She loves interacting with readers and is grateful for their support. You can reach her at barbhan.com.

Also by Barb Han

Cornered at Christmas

Ransom at Christmas

Sudden Setup

Endangered Heiress

Texas Grit

Kidnapped at Christmas

Murder and Mistletoe

Bulletproof Christmas

Stockyard Snatching

Delivering Justice

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Ambushed at Christmas

Barb Han

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-09459-7

AMBUSHED AT CHRISTMAS

© 2019 Barb Han

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.

® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Version: 2020-03-02

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All my love to Brandon, Jacob and Tori, my favorite

people in the world.

To Babe, my hero, for being my great love and my

place to call home.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Note to Readers

Dedication

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

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

About the Publisher

Homicide Detective Leah Cordon jogged along the familiar path of the Trinity River Trail in Fort Worth, Texas. She was halfway through her run and a cold front had arrived, causing a frigid gust of wind to penetrate the terry hoodie she wore.

December weather in Texas could drop from high sixty-degree temperatures to well below freezing in half an hour. She pushed her pace to increase her heart rate in order to stave off the next couple of blasts.

Leah reached up to tug on the rubber band taming her normally unruly locks and freed her hair from a ponytail in hopes that it would provide a little extra insulation. The loose-fitting hood wouldn’t stay put so she didn’t bother pulling it over her head. Instead, she zipped her lightweight vest up to the neck. She didn’t like the idea of blocking access to her Glock, which was something she hadn’t considered needing on her nightly run until a woman had been murdered near this very spot last night.

At ten o’clock the sky was covered with rolling gray clouds, blocking out all moonlight. She was entering the stretch of trail where trees thickened and there was little artificial light.

“Bad Medicine” by Bon Jovi rocked through her left earbud. She always kept one ear clear in order to listen for faster runners, bikers or in-line skaters. Fatalities with pedestrians who were distracted by earbuds and cell phones were rising at a dizzying pace, especially at intersections. But now she felt the need to listen for a predator.

Leah tugged at her covered thumbholes to hold her sleeves in place over her base layer.

Keeping her pace, she considered turning back for a split second as the exact spot that the woman was pulled off the trail last night and brutally murdered came into focus. Crime scene tape roped off the section of trees where she’d been found fifteen feet off the trail.

A dozen temporarily placed lamps illuminated the path ahead.

The feeling of eyes watching her pricked the hairs on the back of her neck. A cold chill raced down her spine. She blamed it on the cold front, the area. Even so, the creepy feeling took hold.

Looking ahead, a yellow haze from the streetlamp covered a fifteen-foot radius. She stood outside its glow, breath coming in rasps. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell, turning down the volume.

Leaves rustled just ahead. Movement seemed too deep in the underbrush to be caused by gusting winds. They’d died down for the moment.

Leah stopped, pulled out the left earbud and studied the area as best she could in the dim light. Her eyes had adjusted to the dark enough to see decently. More movement ramped up her pulse. She immediately unzipped her lightweight vest in case quick access to her weapon was needed. And then a single low-hanging tree branch rustled. Her eyes tracked the movement. Her heart stuttered and her hand came up to rest on the butt of the Glock holstered inside her vest.