Laura Scott - Her Mistletoe Protector

TAKEN!

Pinned inside her wrecked car, Rachel Simon is powerless to stop her son’s abduction. Unless she can come up with one million dollars, Joey won’t survive until Christmas. With her son’s life hanging in the balance, Rachel turns to the one lawman who can help her. His own painful past still shadowing him, Detective Nick Butler is determined not to fail. Racing against a ticking clock, Nick will have to put all his investigative skills to the test if mother and son are to be reunited—and then perhaps he might have a chance at the redeeming power of love.

Her greatest weakness was her son’s safety. If the kidnappers threatened to hurt him, she knew she’d go along with whatever they asked of her.

Rachel turned to walk away, but suddenly Nick grabbed her hand to stop her. Glancing over her shoulder, she found him staring at her intently. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Nothing. Just—be careful, okay?” he said gruffly. Then, before she could respond, he pulled her close and gave her a quick kiss.

The kiss was over before she had a chance to register what had happened. But she longed to throw herself into his arms, absorbing some of his strength. This wasn’t the time or the place, though, so she said the first thing that came to mind. “Remember your promise,” she blurted. “No matter what happens, save my son.”

LAURA SCOTT

grew up reading faith-based romance books by Grace Livingston Hill, but as much as she loved the stories, she longed for a bit more mystery and suspense. She is honored to write for the Love Inspired Suspense line, where a reader can find a heartwarming journey of faith amid the thrilling danger.

Laura lives with her husband of twenty-five years and has two children, a daughter and a son, who are both in college. She works as a critical-care nurse during the day at a large level-one trauma center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and spends her spare time writing romance.

Please visit Laura at www.laurascottbooks.com, as she loves to hear from her readers.

Her Mistletoe Protector

Laura Scott

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

—Philippians 4:4

This book is dedicated to my sister Michele Glynn. I know Madison is only an hour away, but I still miss you so much. I love you!

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

“Ms. Simon, wait! I have a letter for you.”

Rachel Simon, CEO of Simon Inc., froze, despite the fact that she was running late for her nine-o’clock meeting. The sick feeling in her stomach swelled with dread as she forced herself to turn and face the receptionist.

“Here you go,” Carrie Freeman said with a wide smile.

Rachel stared at the thin envelope with her name typed neatly on the front, the dread congealing into a mass of fear. The letter looked exactly like the one she’d received in her mailbox at home last night, and she instinctively knew there was another threat inside. She swallowed hard and took the envelope from the receptionist, being careful to hold it along the edges. Then she cleared her throat. “Who dropped this off for me, Carrie?”

“I don’t know... It was sitting on my desk chair when I came back from the restroom. There was a sticky note, telling me to deliver it to you first thing.”

Rachel tried hard to keep her fear from showing as she cast a worried gaze around the lobby. Was the person who had left the note watching her right now? “Do you still have the sticky note?” she asked.

Carrie’s expression turned perplexed. “I tossed it in the trash bin.” Rachel glanced over the receptionist’s shoulder at the large stainless-steel trash container standing near the lobby door. “Do you want me to go through the garbage to find it?” Carrie’s tone indicated she wasn’t thrilled with the idea of pawing in the trash although Rachel knew she would if asked.

As much as she wanted to see the note, she shook her head. Asking Carrie to search through the bin would only bring unwanted attention to herself. She wasn’t ready to go public with the weird phone calls and the threatening letter she’d received. The last thing she needed was some sort of leak to the media, as if her company hadn’t been through the wringer already.

“No thanks, just curious to see if I recognized the handwriting, that’s all. Thanks again, Carrie.”

Rachel turned back toward the elevators, her mind focused on the contents of the letter rather than on her upcoming meeting with the two top research scientists in her pharmaceutical company.

The ride to the tenth floor, where her office suite was located, seemed to take forever. She smiled and chatted with various employees as if the envelope in her hand didn’t matter.

“Good morning, Rachel,” her senior administrative assistant, Edith Goodman, said as she entered through the glass doors. “Dr. Gardener and Dr. Errol are waiting for you in the conference room.”

“I’m sorry, but please tell Josie and Karl that I’ll need to reschedule our meeting.”

Surprise flashed in Edith’s eyes, but she quickly nodded and crossed over to the conference room next to Rachel’s office. As her assistant delivered the news to the two researchers, Rachel ducked inside her office and closed the door, dropping the envelope on her desk as if it might burn her fingers.

She didn’t have any gloves, so she put another piece of paper over the envelope and used her letter opener to slice beneath the flap. Inside was a single piece of paper with a computer-printed message, exactly like the one she’d received at home. Her stomach knotted with anxiety as she carefully opened the paper and read the short message.

“You will scream in agony, suffering for your past mistakes.”

She shivered, the words searing into her mind. She opened her purse and drew out the letter she’d received last night, when she and her son, Joey, had come home from basketball practice. The wording was similar, yet different.

“You will repay your debt of betrayal.”

The two letters, spread out side by side on her desk, seemed to mock her. She couldn’t ignore the threat any longer, not when she knew, with grim certainty, the source of the veiled threat.

The only person she’d ever betrayed was her ex-husband, former State Senator Anthony Caruso. A few months after they were married, the joy of discovering she was pregnant was marred by learning Anthony had ties to organized crime. At first she couldn’t believe he was involved in anything illegal. She was embarrassed that the man she’d fallen in love with was nothing more than an illusion. His fake charm covered a black soul.

All too soon, Anthony was openly talking about his Mafia association as if nothing she did could touch him.