Valerie Hansen - Standing Guard

OPERATION: PROTECT FAMILY

A scared widow and her defenseless son have former marine Thad Pearson on red alert. Someone is systematically wrecking Lindy Southerland’s life. First her house. Then her bank account. And unless the thug gets what he wants, her child will be targeted next. The woman jumps at every shadow, but refuses to go to the police. Why? With Thad’s every protective instinct in overdrive, he guards Lindy and her son as if they’re his own family. But keeping his scarred heart safe proves his toughest assignment yet. And leads him straight into a mastermind’s deadly trap.

“Who would want to hurt you?”

When Lindy whirled and gawked at him, Thad was certain he’d asked the right question. “What do you mean, hurt me?”

“Just what I said. This is no computer mix-up. It’s deliberate. Somebody wants you broke and they’ve just about succeeded in making that happen. What I need to know is, why? Who’s that mad at you, Lindy?”

“Nobody.” She leaned her elbows on her knees and cupped her face in her hands.

“Okay,” he drawled, choosing his words carefully, “then who might still have it in for your late husband?”

Her head snapped up. Her jaw gaped. It took several long seconds for her to regain her composure and in that short space of time Thad saw a myriad of conflicting emotions.

“You don’t have to tell me a thing,” Thad said. “But you should confide in someone, preferably somebody in law enforcement. You do see that, don’t you?”

She pulled her jacket tighter. “I...can’t.”

He had to find out why.

VALERIE HANSEN

was thirty when she awoke to the presence of the Lord in her life and turned to Jesus. In the years that followed, she worked with young children, both in church and secular environments. She also raised a family of her own and played foster mother to a wide assortment of furred and feathered critters.

Married to her high school sweetheart, she now lives in an old farmhouse she and her husband renovated with their own hands. She loves to hike the wooded hills behind the house and reflect on the marvelous turn her life has taken. Not only is she privileged to reside among the loving, accepting folks in the breathtakingly beautiful Ozark mountains of Arkansas, she also gets to share her personal faith by telling the stories of her heart for all of the Love Inspired Books lines.

Life doesn’t get much better than that!

Standing Guard

Valerie Hansen

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Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

—Psalms 23:4

I wish I could honor all the people, past and present, who have brought me to the place in my life, and in my faith, where I’m able to write these stories. There would not be room for all those names if I took up pages and pages, so I’ll simply say a heartfelt “Thank you” to friends and family.

Contents

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

Epilogue

Dear Reader

Questions for Discussion

Excerpt

ONE

“Mama? Mama?”

The little voice was barely audible, yet it was enough to reach into Lindy Southerland’s subconscious and rouse her from a troubled sleep.

She sat up in bed, raked her long, reddish-gold hair back with her fingers and strained to listen. Could she have imagined hearing Danny calling?

Suddenly, something hit the floor somewhere in the otherwise silent house. The thud was muted but unmistakable. Had her only child fallen out of bed?

“Mama?”

Danny’s high-pitched plea was tinged with anxiety. “Coming, honey,” she called. She hadn’t imagined hearing it the first time. Poor little guy sounded scared. Again. No wonder. Neither of them had slept well since they’d seen Ben...

Banishing the memories of her family’s kidnapping and her husband’s murder that continued to haunt her, Lindy threw back her blankets, stood to slip into a warm robe and belted it, while exiting her room.

How she hated the night. Her irrational fears had increased in the six months since she’d been tragically widowed and she didn’t know how to fight back. Or how to help her seven-year-old son.

She took a settling breath and mustered her courage. Danny needed her. That was all that mattered.

“It’s okay,” she whispered, trying to fool herself by pretending she was composed and unruffled. “I’m okay. Danny’s okay. We’re fine now.”

But she wasn’t fine. And her little boy wasn’t fine, either. They’d been through too much, seen too much, suffered too much.

“I’m coming, honey,” she repeated. “Mama’s coming.”

Trembling inside, she padded barefoot down the second floor hallway. Danny’s open door was illuminated by one of the tiny night-lights she had placed throughout the house after her son had begged for them. Not that she blamed him. Their world seemed far less gloomy and intimidating when it wasn’t filled with darkness.

Lindy expected to spot his tousled head on the pillow but the blankets were too bunched.

She tiptoed closer.

Reached for the edge of the covers.

“Mama!”

Lindy whirled in the direction of the distant echo. He sounded terrified!

Without pausing to think, she physically answered the child’s summons, her feet slapping the cold, hardwood floor, the hem of her robe fluttering behind her as she bounded down the stairs as fast as she could without falling.

She paused at the bottom. “Danny? Where are you?”

All she could hear was his whimpering nearby. Had he been sleepwalking and awakened somewhere other than his bed? That was most likely the case. It had happened before. The pediatrician had assured her it was probably just a phase the child was going through but that didn’t keep Lindy from hurting for her confused little boy.

“Danny?” Still on the trail of his soft sobbing, she dashed past the entrance to the ultramodern kitchen.

What she glimpsed in her peripheral vision took a second to register. Although momentum had already carried her well beyond the doorway, she suddenly realized she’d seen movement. Menace.

A huge, dark shape jerked and shifted as she darted past.

Lindy almost faltered. If not for the continuing sounds of her child’s weeping she might have bolted, run for her life. But she could not think only of herself. She had to find Danny.

She rounded the corner into the living room and stopped. Held her breath. Cast around with her eyes and saw no one. Nothing. Where was he? His last plea had definitely come from this direction but there was no sign of him now.

The sound of childish crying had ceased. All she could hear now was muttered cursing and multiple, heavy footsteps behind her. There had to be at least two prowlers, maybe more, and she had nowhere else to go. She was cornered!