Sharon Dunn - Top Secret Identity

HER NEW LIFE

Morgan Smith had to give up her name, her calling and her past when she entered the witness protection program. Now a caretaker of horses on an Iowa farm, she spends her days in the stables and helping kids learn to ride. But danger has followed her. She longs to tell her handsome boss, Alex Reardon, everything—about the troubled adoption agency she worked for, a missing infant and the attempt on her life. But sharing her past with Alex could put him in grave danger and lead a killer to their door.…

Witness Protection: Hiding in plain sight

Morgan was all alone out there.

After ten more minutes of riding on the horse, panic set in. She didn’t see any light or even any landmark that could guide her home. She thought about the fire and the man she’d seen earlier around her house. The darkness only fed her fear.

The horse stopped abruptly at the creek bed, pitching Morgan into the river. Morgan stood up, only to be knocked down by a torrent of water. A hand grabbed her arm and pulled her toward the shore. Fear sank in like the teeth of a lion.

“Leave me alone.” She hit the rider’s chest hard.

The rider released her. “Hey, hey.” The voice was Alex’s. He gripped her arms above the elbow.

She was soaked to the bone, but the strength of Alex’s touch and sound of his voice warmed her.

“You were really scared there,” he said.

More than anything she wished she could explain to him why she was so on edge.

* * *

SHARON DUNN

has always loved writing, but didn’t decide to write for publication until she was expecting her first baby. Pregnancy makes you do crazy things. Three kids, many articles and two mystery series later, she still hasn’t found her sanity. Her books have won awards, including a Book of the Year award from American Christian Fiction Writers. She was also a finalist for an RT Book Reviews Inspirational Book of the Year Award.

Sharon has performed in theater and church productions, has degrees in film production and history, and worked for many years as a college tutor and instructor. Despite the fact that her résumé looks as if she couldn’t decide what she wanted to be when she grew up, all the education and experience have played a part in helping her write good stories.

When she isn’t writing or taking her kids to activities, she reads, plays board games and contemplates organizing her closet. In addition to her three kids, Sharon lives with her husband of twenty-two years, three cats and lots of dust bunnies. You can reach Sharon through her website, www.sharondunnbooks.net.

Top Secret Identity

Sharon Dunn

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy as unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame.

—Song of Songs 8:6

For my husband, Michael, because your support and unconditional love has made all the difference in the world.

Special thanks and acknowledgment to Sharon Dunn for her contribution to the Witness Protection miniseries.

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

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

DEAR READER

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

EXTRACT

ONE

A wave of terror washed over Morgan Smith when she heard the tapping at her window. She gripped the book she’d been reading a little tighter. Someone was outside the caretaker’s cottage. Had the man who had tried to kill her in Mexico found her in Iowa?

Though she’d been in witness protection for two months, her fear of being killed had not subsided. Only a few days ago, she’d left Des Moines for the countryside and a job at a stable because she’d felt exposed in the city, vulnerable. She’d grown up on a ranch in Wyoming, and when she worked as an American missionary in Mexico, she’d always chosen to be in rural areas. Wide open spaces felt safer to her.

With her heart pounding, she rose to her feet and walked the short distance to the window, half expecting to see a face contorted with rage or clawlike hands reaching for her neck. The memory of nearly being strangled made her shudder. She stepped closer to the window, where there was only blackness. Yet the sound of the tapping had been too distinct to dismiss as the wind rattling the glass.

A chill snaked down her spine.

Someone was outside.

If the man from Mexico had come to kill her, it seemed odd that he would give her a warning by tapping on the window.

She thought to call her new boss, who was in the guesthouse less than a hundred yards away. Alex Reardon seemed like a nice man. She’d hated being evasive when he’d asked her where she had gotten her knowledge of horses. She’d been fortunate to get the job without references. Her references, everything and everyone she knew—all of that had been stripped from her, even her name. She was no longer Magdalena Chavez. Her new name was Morgan Smith.

The tapping came again, this time at a different window. She whirled around. Paralyzed by terror, she couldn’t bring herself to take a step. Did he intend to torment her before he moved in for the kill? With the description she gave them, the U.S. Marshals had tracked down a name for the man who had tried to kill her—Josef Flores, a mercenary for hire, a muscular man known for wearing white suits and killing his victims with his bare hands. But they hadn’t caught him yet.

Her pulse drummed in her ears as silence pressed on her from all sides. It had taken her weeks to get out of Mexico alive. Twice, Josef had found her and tried to strangle her. She could still see his bloodshot eyes as he vowed to kill her.

The trouble had started when she became suspicious of some of the practices at the agency where she assisted with international adoptions. Babies were being escorted into the States, instead of adoptive parents coming to Mexico to pick up their children. The behavior of some of the birth mothers was peculiar. At first, they would decide against adoption. Then they would return, days later, saying they’d changed their minds. The young mothers seemed afraid at that second visit. She’d just begun to look through old records and try to contact the mothers when Josef had come after her in her office late at night.

The marshals had agreed to provide her with protection and a new identity because they thought her case might be connected to a larger kidnapping and illegal adoption ring.

Now she stared at the dark window and took in a raspy breath. If what had happened to her was connected to a larger crime, it wouldn’t only be Josef who came after her. There could be others.

The knob on the locked door turned and rattled.

She’d been a fool to think the U.S. Marshals could keep her safe.

Clutching her book tighter to her chest, she waited for the moment when the attacker would break down the door and come after her. Morgan steeled herself against the rising panic. She wasn’t going to give up that easily. She grabbed her phone to dial 911 but couldn’t get a signal in the cottage. She glanced around the room for possible weapons and hiding places.