Heather Woodhaven - Credible Threat

NO SAFE PLACE

Someone wants accountant Rebecca Linn—the granddaughter of a federal judge—dead, and it’s Deputy US Marshal Kurt Brock’s duty to figure out why and protect her. But her powerful family insists Kurt keep his relationship with Rebecca strictly professional...no matter how much he’s drawn to the feisty, fast-thinking beauty. Rebecca is sure the suspicious evidence she uncovered in her latest auditing case has put a target on her back. But staying ahead of those out to silence her is bringing her dangerously close to Kurt—and putting both their careers on the line. With the attacker closing in, can Rebecca and Kurt survive long enough to reveal the would-be killer’s secrets?

HEATHER WOODHAVEN earned her pilot’s license, rode a hot-air balloon over the safari lands of Kenya, parasailed over Caribbean seas, lived through an accidental detour onto a black-diamond ski trail in Aspen and snorkeled among stingrays before becoming a mother of three and wife of one. She channels her love for adventure into writing characters who find themselves in extraordinary circumstances.

Also By Heather Woodhaven

Calculated Risk

Surviving the Storm

Code of Silence

Countdown

Texas Takedown

Tracking Secrets

Credible Threat

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Credible Threat

Heather Woodhaven

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-08061-3

CREDIBLE THREAT

© 2018 Heather Humrichouse

Published in Great Britain 2018

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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Kurt fought with the steering wheel as their truck lurched into the guardrail.

The sound of crunching metal filled the cab. The Hummer gave a final shove, and their pickup flipped over the rail. He and Rebecca hung like rag dolls against the seat belts as they vaulted toward the unforgiving water below.

“Protect your head!” he shouted.

The front end slapped into the water, and the truck flipped to the side. Pain blinded Kurt. The sound of rushing water filled the back seat.

“Kurt! Kurt, are you okay? Should I open the door? Roll down the window?” Rebecca’s questions came out as fast cries that he could barely comprehend. They hung upside down with all the windows and doors covered in water. The doors wouldn’t budge until they stopped sinking and reached equilibrium. The statistics of water crashes had been drilled in his head. They had thirty, maybe ninety seconds at the most before they lost any chance of survival...

Dear Reader,

Thank you for going on the adventure with me to Coeur d’Alene. If you ever have a chance, it’s a gorgeous place to visit.

I enjoyed developing the romance between Rebecca and Kurt, as they are so different from any other characters I’ve written in the past.

Letters from readers are the best, and I invite you to contact me or sign up for my newsletter at writingheather.com.

Blessings,

Heather Woodhaven

And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.

—Colossians 3:23

To the fire marshal who thought my research questions were grounds for placing me on the FBI watch list, thank you for still talking to me. Also, if it makes you feel better, I’m pretty sure my search history placed me on that list seven books ago.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

Dear Reader

Bible Verse

Dedication

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

FOURTEEN

EPILOGUE

Extract

ONE

Rebecca Linn slid in her socks across the gleaming wood floor, cozy and happy to be in her favorite flannel pajamas. She filled the ceramic mug with hot water and a chamomile tea bag before returning to her grandfather’s desk. She had one more week in Coeur D’Alene, Idaho, to finish up an audit for Vista Resort Properties before flying back to Ohio.

Her firm would’ve put her up in the resort and spa, but it seemed like a conflict of interest to audit the company while being pampered in one of their resorts. Besides, her grandfather, a federal judge in town, owned a magnificent house overlooking the lake. Staying at his place was luxurious enough.

She dropped into the desk chair and her empty laptop bag fell to the ground. A black flash drive slipped out of the front pocket, reflecting off the soft glow of the desk lamp. Rebecca leaned forward and squinted. She’d never seen it before and she’d just reorganized her bag that morning before meeting with the accountants of Vista Resorts. She picked up the drive and turned it in her fingers. Other than a scratch on the back, the casing had no telltale markings to jog her memory.

Babette, a Siamese mix with white fur and blue eyes, jumped onto the ornate cherry desk and flopped down onto her side beside Rebecca’s laptop, purring. She absently moved to pet her with one hand, but the cat swatted her away. Figured. She liked only Grandpa. “What are we going to do about this, Babette?”

The cat held up her head for a second but didn’t answer. Procedure would have her send the strange drive into the corporate office for the IT department to scan, but it wasn’t as if she’d found it in the middle of a parking lot. It had been in her laptop bag. So, either one of the accountants had accidentally placed it in her bag or one of them had put it there on purpose.