Maggie K. Black - The Littlest Target

Nanny and baby on the run

A taut thriller in the True North Heroes series

When her boss’s wife is murdered before her eyes, nanny Daisy Hayward flees with her infant charge. But she can’t escape danger. Someone wants the baby and will kill Daisy to get him. In the Canadian wilderness, a paramedic saves them. But when Daisy is framed for murder and labeled a kidnapper, will Max Henry help her...or turn her in?

MAGGIE K. BLACK is an award-winning journalist and romantic suspense author with an insatiable love of traveling the world. She has lived in the American South, Europe and the Middle East. She now makes her home in Canada with her history-teacher husband, their two beautiful girls and a small but mighty dog. Maggie enjoys connecting with her readers at maggiekblack.com.

Also By Maggie K. Black

True North Heroes

Undercover Holiday Fiancée

The Littlest Target

True North Bodyguards

Kidnapped at Christmas

Rescue at Cedar Lake

Protective Measures

Killer Assignment

Deadline

Silent Hunter

Headline: Murder

Christmas Blackout

Tactical Rescue

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

The Littlest Target

Maggie K. Black

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-08262-4

THE LITTLEST TARGET

© 2018 Mags Storey

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.

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www.millsandboon.co.uk

Version: 2020-03-02

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Her breath tightened in her chest.

She couldn’t believe her ears. Max had given her up to the authorities. Was this why he’d brought her here? To set her up?

“Daisy, I can explain.”

She pushed past him and ran outside, but Max stepped out behind her. “I called my brother because he’s an undercover detective. I want to protect you, Daisy.”

“I never asked you to protect me!”

“Fine.” He stepped back. “If you want to keep running, then go. But the baby stays with me. I won’t let anybody hurt him.”

“I don’t want to run anymore.” She grabbed his hand in both of hers. “I just want this nightmare to be over.”

“Then trust me.”

The irony wasn’t lost on her. She’d never trusted anyone, and he didn’t rescue people. Yet here they were.

Before she could respond, headlights swamped the porch and a voice barked, “On your knees, both of you! This time you talk...or you die.”

Dear Reader,

Thank you for joining me for my second book about the Henry brothers. When I finished writing Undercover Holiday Fiancée, I worried I’d never discover another couple I liked as much as Trent and Chloe. But Max, Daisy and little Fitz really worked their way into my heart.

Right now, I’m writing this by the window in my favorite coffee shop. Usually I work from home with my two little dogs. But about once a week, I like to write here to get a different view of the world. Often I’m surrounded by business meetings. Occasionally, I witness either sweet or disastrous first dates. But this coffee shop also gets a steady stream of people in uniform, especially paramedics. It’s not unusual for me to pop my head up and ask them random questions like, “Who gets to fly the helicopter?” or “What tools do you have on your belt?” I’m extremely thankful for their patience! All creative mistakes in this book are my doing, not theirs.

Thank you again to all the amazing readers who’ve got in touch with your thoughts, questions and suggestions. I really enjoy hearing from you! I’m sorry I’ve got behind in responding to physical letters, but I’ll take a trip to the post office as soon as this book is done. You can find me on Twitter at @MaggieKBlackor at www.maggiekblack.com.

Thank you all for sharing this journey with me,

Maggie

For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.

—Isaiah 25:4

Thanks as always to my agent Melissa Jeglinski, my editor Emily Rodmell and the rest of the Love Inspired team who encourage authors like me and bring stories like these to life.

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

FIFTEEN

EPILOGUE

Extract

ONE

Daisy Hayward brushed a kiss over nine-month-old Fitz Pearce’s tender head and gently lowered him into the crib, just as a deafening crash sounded through the darkened country house below. The baby’s eyes shot open. Fitz’s lip quivered. Tears filled his anxious gaze. Instantly, Daisy plucked her tiny charge from the crib and held him to her chest to rock him back to sleep. He nestled against her. The pervasive anxiety that seemed to fill little Fitz’s unhappy home tightened around her heart like a vise.

Lord, I feel so trapped in this miserable place. Sometimes, I don’t know how much I can take.

In the eight and a half months since she’d become Fitz’s nanny, there’d been moments when she’d almost felt like a prisoner in the remote Quebec countryside estate. Endless days of long, uncomfortable tension stretched whenever Gerald Pearce was away on business, only to then erupt into angry shouts and paranoid accusations between him and his young second wife, Anna, whenever he came home.