Debby Giusti - Holiday Defenders

If only she knew where to take them.

She plopped the totes and computer in the rear between the kids’ car seats, grateful Zack had loaded them in her car earlier. Just in case, he’d mentioned. Had he known there might be trouble?

Why, Zack?

Why tonight?

Why this close to Christmas?

Why, when the children have already lost their mother, would you do anything this dangerously foolish?

Anger swelled within her and mixed with frustration and fear that left her gasping for air.

She shook her head. She needed to focus on getting away. From whom, she wasn’t even sure.

Racing back into the house, she yanked heavy winter coats from the closet, along with fleece hats, mittens and boots that could be pulled on over the children’s flannel, footy pajamas.

What else?

Lights from the tree twinkled in the living room.

She unplugged the cord and shivered in the darkness. The only illumination was a small band of light, spilling from the hallway.

Footsteps sounded on the front porch.

Her blood chilled.

She stared at the door, paralyzed with fear. Why had she delayed so long?

Two knocks.

“Lizzie?”

A voice she knew. Her inner resolve to be independent crumbled, and relief flooded over her.

She pulled open the door. Nick Fontaine stood before her, tall, muscular and even more handsome than she remembered.

In spite of her best intentions, her knees went weak, and her heart skidded to a stop.

Ten years. She hadn’t seen him in all that time, yet she’d never forgotten him. How could she forget her first and only teenage love—not to mention the first boy to break her heart?

“Zack called.” He pushed past her into the house, the scent of his aftershave and the cold outdoors coming with him. He closed the door, locked the dead bolt and turned to stare at her with unfairly beautiful dark eyes.

Overpowered by the bulk of him, she took a step back.

“My truck’s parked on the next block,” he said matter-of-factly. They weren’t exactly the first words she’d expected to hear from him after ten years with no contact. But then, she should have known better than to expect anything from him ever since he’d walked out of her life the night of her high school prom.

Even after all these years, she couldn’t cast off the feeling of betrayal. Going to prom with Nick had been a dream come true, and when he’d stood on her front porch and said he loved her, her heart had soared with joy. It had broken the next day, when she learned that he’d left town without even saying goodbye, never to return again.

“I don’t need your help, Nick.”

“Zack thinks you do.”

“What do brothers know about kid sisters?”

“You’re in danger, Lizzie.”

She bristled, hearing the name he’d whispered between kisses the night he’d left her.

“It’s Elizabeth, and I think you should go.”

“Not until you and the children are in your car, headed for safety.”

Why was he so determined?

She reached for the door. He didn’t need her ten years ago, and she didn’t need him now. End of discussion.

A car engine sounded outside. Nick stepped to the window and tugged back the curtain ever so slightly. She peered past him, and her heart froze as four men crawled from a utility van parked in front of the house.

In a blur of motion, Nick hurried her out of the living area. She pointed him to her nephew’s room. “Joey’s a sound sleeper. He won’t wake up and be frightened seeing you like his sister might be. Make sure you bring his lamb.”

Hurrying into the other room, she scooped Mary Grace from her bed and met Nick in the hallway, with Joey in his arms. Leading the way into the kitchen, Nick grabbed the pile of coats and pointed to the back door. “Garage?”

She nodded.

Leaving the warmth of the kitchen, Mary Grace blinked open sleepy eyes.

“We’re going for a ride,” Elizabeth reassured the child as she woke Joey and helped both of them into their coats. Once bundled up, Liz placed them in their car seats and climbed into the rear between them.

“Keys are in the ignition,” she told Nick as he slipped behind the wheel.

He started the engine and glanced back at her before he hit the garage remote control. The panel door lumbered open. Shouts sounded from the side of the house.

“Dear God, protect us,” Liz prayed as she covered the children’s heads with her arms and pulled them close.

Nick backed the SUV out of the garage and turned onto the rear access road before he shifted into Drive and floored the accelerator. Four men with drawn weapons ran toward the car.

Elizabeth wanted to scream. Instead, she whispered words of comfort to the children and tried to shield them with her body.

A shot rang out.

“Keep the kids down,” Nick warned.

The SUV screeched onto the main road. The force of acceleration threw her head against the seat. Hot tears stung her eyes, and she struggled to keep the nervousness from her voice as she soothed the children.

Nick’s hands gripped the wheel so tightly his knuckles had gone white. A muscle twitched on the side of his neck. She saw him glance at her reflection in the rearview mirror and then turn his focus back to the road.

The SUV tore through the neighborhood of white lights and evergreen wreaths. An inflatable Santa Claus and Jolly Snowman nodded in passing. After a series of sharp turns, they left the subdivision and sped away into the night.

Everything had changed seemingly in the blink of an eye. An informant was dead. Zack was in danger, and she had to depend on Nick Fontaine—a man she’d never wanted to see again—in order to save her niece and nephew and herself. Elizabeth hadn’t been able to trust Nick ten years ago. Why should she think she could trust him now?

TWO

Nick could barely take his eyes off Lizzie’s reflection in the rearview mirror. She’d grown even more beautiful over the years, but it hadn’t been her pretty face that took him by surprise earlier.

Rather it had been the look in her blue eyes that cut him to the core when she’d opened the door at Zack’s house. Betrayal and abandonment flashed across her face for an instant before she’d raised her chin and glared at him with accusation.

As much as he wanted to explain what had happened ten years ago, he had to focus on the children’s and Lizzie’s safety first. They could delve into past issues after the danger was over.

When Zack called, he’d been on the run and worried about his family. Without a moment’s hesitation, Nick had raced down the mountain to his old friend’s house.

The two guys had reconnected a number of times over the years when Nick came back to Tennessee on leave, always meeting at Nick’s mountain cabin, on Nick’s turf. He’d never gone back to Lassiter. Never would have, if not for Zack’s plea for help.

Nick couldn’t say no to his old friend, especially when he’d learned Lizzie was in danger along with two adorable kids. The promise Nick had made to Lizzie’s father, Judge Tate, years earlier, that he would never step foot in Lassiter again—a promise that Lizzie never knew about, made under duress—wasn’t as important as keeping the three of them safe.

“Where are you taking us?” she asked from the rear.

He glanced again at her reflection. Long honey-brown hair, arched brows, full lips and crystalline eyes he’d seen too many times in his dreams.

“We’re going someplace safe.”

“I need to know where,” she insisted, her voice raised ever so slightly.

He lowered his gaze to the little guy strapped in beside her who still clutched the stuffed lamb in his arms. Long, thick lashes drooped over his full cheeks.

Nick raised a finger to his lips. “Shhh. Someone’s falling asleep.”