Lynette Eason - Christmas Cover-Up

HER STOLEN SISTER

Seven-year-old Lucy Randall had been kidnapped in broad daylight fourteen years ago, and now Detective Katie Randall is determined to solve her sister’s case. Her only option is to team up with the man whose family hates her. Former FBI agent Jordan Grey knows the beautiful cop isn’t to blame for his brother’s death, but he can’t risk causing his parents more pain by falling for Katie. He’ll have to focus on finding Lucy. But when Katie and Jordan uncover the truth, will this kidnapper turn killer?

Family Reunions: Bringing loved ones back together

“Someone’s either been in my house or is still there.”

Katie gestured to the open door. “Jordan, will you cover me?”

He didn’t waste time chastising her for not waiting on him. “What’s the layout?”

“Foyer leads straight into the great room. Two bedrooms and a bath to the right, kitchen and dining to the left. My bedroom is also to the left, behind the garage.”

“I’ll go right, you go left.”

Katie stepped into her house and caught her breath. Chaos greeted her. Cushions pulled off her couch and slashed. Bookcase overturned and coffee table shoved on its side. The Christmas tree lay on its side, ornaments crushed from one end of the room to the other.

A thud from the back of the house caused her to stiffen and shoot a glance at Jordan. “You hear that?” she whispered.

Suddenly a crash. Running footsteps.

The French doors swung open, and the intruder halted when he realized Katie had him cut off. She pointed her weapon. “Freeze! Police!”

LYNETTE EASON

makes her home in South Carolina with her husband and two children. Lynette has taught in many areas of education over the past ten years and is very happy to make the transition from teaching school to teaching at writers’ conferences. She is a member of RWA (Romance Writers of America), FHL (Faith, Hope, & Love) and ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers). She is often found online and loves to talk writing with anyone who will listen. You can find her at www.facebook.com/lynette.easonor www.lynetteeason.com.

Christmas Cover-Up

Lynette Eason

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.

—Ephesians 2:8

To my Lord and Savior, who loves me unconditionally and died so I could live.

Thanks to my ACFW Suspense Loop friends for your brainstorming help on this series. So many great ideas and suggestions went into this story. Couldn’t have done it without 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

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

EPILOGUE

DEAR READER

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

EXCERPT

ONE

Keys clutched in her left hand, Detective Katie Randall stared at her vandalized front door. She hadn’t noticed it when she’d pulled into the drive; she’d been too busy thinking about her sister’s cold case and the man who’d been assigned to help her work on it. Lucy had disappeared fourteen years ago from her front yard and it was time Katie and her family found closure.

Now she’d come home to this.

She’d parked in the drive and grabbed her stuff from the car, still thinking about canceling the meeting she had coming up in about five minutes.

It was only when she’d gotten closer to the house that she’d seen the splintered wood around the doorknob. And the Christmas wreath lying on the porch.

The hair on the nape of her neck spiked, and she stepped back. She set her briefcase and keys on the porch. The chilly December wind found its way under her collar, and she shivered as she mentally flipped through her options at lightening speed.

Her nerves tightened, muscles bunched. She pulled her weapon from her shoulder holster as she backed down the steps of the porch. With her left hand, she snagged her cell phone from the back pocket of her khaki slacks and pressed the speed dial number for Jordan Gray, the man she was supposed to meet in less than five minutes. She couldn’t let him walk into a potentially dangerous situation without some warning.

He answered on the third ring. “Almost there.”

“Don’t pull in the drive. Someone’s either been in my house or is still there.”

“Give me thirty seconds.”

“I’m calling for backup. I’ll be inside. Mariah might be here and need help.”

Mariah Sims, Katie’s friend and roommate. Mariah usually got home before Katie.

She hung up on his protests and orders to wait for him. Hesitating, she debated whether or not to call her partner, Gregory Lee, but decided Jordan, a former FBI agent, would be able to handle this just as well as Gregory.

And he was closer. She dialed 911 and within seconds had backup on the way. Once the address went out, every officer within a ten-mile radius would be on her doorstep.

She made her way up the porch steps again. Christmas lights lined the railing. Katie stood to the side of the broken door and nudged it open. “Mariah? Are you here?”

Silence greeted her call.

Katie whispered up a silent prayer for Mariah’s safety.

She glanced over her shoulder as Jordan’s car edged to the curb in front of her neighbor’s home. He climbed out, weapon in his hand as he jogged over to stand beside her. She’d hired him through Finding the Lost to locate her missing sister. The Finding the Lost organization, founded by skip-tracer Erica James, specialized in locating missing people. From private investigators to contracted FBI agents to police detectives, a plethora of talented men and woman worked tirelessly to help others reunite with lost loved ones.

Katie had hired the organization and then had second thoughts about doing so when she discovered who would handle her case. Jordan Gray. She knew him slightly because of her connection to Erica, his boss, but hadn’t realized Neil Gray was his brother. The brother who’d been killed in a jail cell after Katie arrested him for drunk driving.

Before she had a chance to tell Jordan she’d decided she couldn’t work with him, he’d called fifteen minutes ago to let her know he was on the way to her house.

He was ambushing her and she hadn’t been able to put him off. Now she was glad for his presence. She gestured to the open door. “Will you cover me?”

He didn’t waste time chastising her for not waiting on him. “What’s the layout?”

“Foyer leads straight into the great room. Two bedrooms and a bath to the right, kitchen and dining to the left. My bedroom is also to the left behind the garage.”

“I’ll go right, you go left.”

Katie stepped into her house and caught her breath. Chaos greeted her. Cushions pulled off her couch and slashed. Bookcase overturned and coffee table shoved on its side. The Christmas tree she and Mariah had decorated lay on its side, ornaments crushed from one end of the room to the other.