Elizabeth Goddard - Undercover Protector

SHATTERED SANCTUARY

Undercover at a tiger sanctuary, Special Agent Grayson Wilde’s convinced the owner must be involved in a wildlife trafficking ring—until someone tries to kill her. Now with Gemma Rollins’s life on the line, it’s clear that more than the wildcats need his help. Gemma’s determined to rebuild the tiger oasis she lost when her family died. But someone wants her out of the way, and she’s starting to wonder if her parents’ and uncle’s deaths were really accidental. Grayson says he’ll do anything to protect Gemma, but she can’t shake the feeling that her alluring new volunteer might not be all that he seems. With a vicious criminal closing in, though, she has to trust Grayson...because she won’t survive without him.

“You trust too much, Gemma.” Grayson stepped closer.

“I think you’re right,” she replied. “I trust people I don’t even know. Like you. I trust you when I shouldn’t. I don’t even know you.”

How could he make her understand he was here to help her? But that wasn’t true, either. What was he thinking? Helping Gemma Rollins had never been part of his mission parameters. He was here to finish this, to find the man who was not only responsible for Bill’s death but who was also the head of a large wildlife trafficking ring.

“Listen, Gemma, I was looking for you to tell you about an idea I came up with.”

Her eyes brightened. “You came up with an idea for me? What—”

A rumble above cut off her question. Rocks shifted overhead, crashed against the cliffside, and echoed across the mountain and through the trees.

“Look out!” Grayson grabbed Gemma, cane and all, and pressed her beneath a protruding part of the rock wall, covering her with his body. Protecting her. Her breaths came hard and fast against his neck as her fear mingled with his own.

God, please protect her. Protect us!

Dear Reader,

Thank you so much for joining me on this adventure. I hope you enjoyed the story. I set my story in the beautiful region surrounding the Rogue River in southwest Oregon—my old stomping grounds.

As always when researching a story, I learn so much more than I can ever put into the novel. What I learned about wildlife trafficking and how poachers are decimating entire species was disheartening. Whether you’re an animal lover or not, God put Adam in the garden to care for the earth—the plants and animals—and God’s directive for man hasn’t changed.

On a more spiritual note, Gemma has had her share of tragedy and she keeps moving forward in life because she focuses on something bigger than herself. She has a cause and others (the tigers) are counting on her. Still, she struggles in that she doesn’t have the sense that God hears her or answers her prayers. In the end she realizes that God was with her all along, working things out for her good.

We live in a fallen world and bad men do bad things, but we know that God is always there working things out for good on our behalf. Don’t ever forget that. If you struggle with knowing this, ask Him to open the eyes of your heart.

It’s always my hope and prayer that my stories will entertain you and provide a powerful emotional experience, but more importantly that they will bring you closer to the One who holds you.

Once again, thank you for reading Undercover Protector. For something extra, if you’d like to see pictures of the Wild Rogue Wilderness region, you can visit my Pinterest board at www.pinterest.com/bethrachg/wild-rogue-wilderness-series/and look at tigers at www.pinterest.com/bethrachg/wilderness-inc-book-2/.

Be sure to visit my website at www.elizabethgoddard.comto find out about my books and sign up for my newsletter.

Many blessings!

Elizabeth Goddard

ELIZABETH GODDARDis an award-winning author of more than twenty novels, including the romantic mystery The Camera Never Lies—winner of a prestigious Carol Award in 2011. After acquiring her computer science degree, she worked at a software firm before eventually retiring to raise her four children and become a professional writer. In addition to writing, she homeschools her children and serves with her husband in ministry.

Undercover Protector

Elizabeth Goddard

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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A righteous man has regard for the life of his animal,

But even the compassion of the wicked is cruel.

—Proverbs 12:10

For Mom

Acknowledgments

Thanks to my many dear writing friends who have encouraged me along this journey. I’m so blessed that God brought us together. I’m grateful that God planted a dream in my heart and then made my dream of telling stories come true. Special thanks to Jeri at Crown Ridge Tiger Sanctuary for answering my questions about these wonderful big cats and what it’s like to care for them in a sanctuary. I’m more than blessed to have an editor who believes in my stories—thank you, Elizabeth Mazer—and an agent who saw something in me years ago—thank you, Steve Laube.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

About the Author

Title Page

Bible Verse

Dedication

Acknowledgments

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

FOURTEEN

FIFTEEN

SIXTEEN

SEVENTEEN

EIGHTEEN

NINETEEN

Extract

Copyright

ONE

Siskiyou Mountains, southwest Oregon

Gemma Rollins shifted gears as her beloved Jeep CJ bounced over the narrow gravel road carved from the mountain. With this torrential downpour, she was glad she’d opted for the hard cover and doors on this older model.

But she should have gotten the mud tires too.

This was just like when the Pineapple Express came through southern Oregon a decade ago. Except spring was the wrong time of year for the tropical moisture to be sweeping in from the Hawaiian Islands. The meteorological phenomenon occurred in the winter.

And the tigers in her sanctuary, fifteen beautiful creatures she knew by name, wouldn’t be happy in this inclement weather either.

Gemma downshifted, slowing at the curve on the steep one-lane road, her pulse edging up as the rain pounded harder. This was a lot more like the kind of weather she’d see in Houston, Texas, rather than southwest Oregon. And too much rain might cause flooding in the sanctuary. With a USDA inspection coming up in three weeks, she so did not need more hurdles in her goal of getting Tiger Mountain accredited as a big cat sanctuary.

She pressed her foot against the brakes as she came up on the switchback. Suddenly, the steering refused to turn. What was happening? The sharp bend approached. She would never make it!

Throwing her entire body into turning the steering wheel, Gemma’s effort paid off. The CJ slid around the bend, though still much too close to the edge of the ravine.

Trees and rocks would slow anything trying to take a fall, but that didn’t reassure her. Nearing the next curve, she pumped the brakes. They weren’t working so well either.