Czytaj książkę: «Soldier's Christmas Secrets»

ONE

Hawk Jacobson parked his SUV and moved silently through the dark, cold December night, automatically raking his gaze over the area searching for a possible threat. As a private investigator, he didn’t have set hours, and tonight he was returning home later than usual.

After entering his house, he didn’t bother turning his lights on as he made his way through the interior. Hawk paused near the side window, the one overlooking Jillian’s home. Dark windows outlined by bright Christmas lights indicated his neighbor, Jillian Wade, and her young daughter, Lizzy, had retired for the night.

Just as he was about to step back from the window, he saw two men, dressed in black from head to toe, ski masks covering their faces and guns held at the ready in their hands, moving silently through the night and heading straight for Jillian’s house. No! Hawk sprang into action. Armed with a knife and a gun, yet hoping not to use either, he silently let himself out of his house. Picking the second man who was still standing on the driveway as his target, he stealthily approached from behind. With surprise on his side, he took him down, hitting him in the back of the head and rendering him unconscious. With one hostile out of commission, he went searching for the other.

The front door of Jillian’s house was ajar, and he hated knowing the guy had breached her personal space. Years of military training enabled Hawk to move silently down the hall. The gunman was hovering between the two bedroom doorways, as if unsure which one to try first. Indecision was his enemy. Hawk grabbed him from behind, covered the guy’s mouth and took him roughly to the ground and held his gun at his temple.

“Who sent you?” Hawk asked in a harsh whisper. “Why are you here?”

The man’s eyes, which Hawk could see from the round openings of the ski mask, showed no emotion. The hostile didn’t make a sound, apparently too well-trained to talk. Hawk was about to knock the guy unconscious when a slight movement caught his eye. The door to the second bedroom was open a crack and he saw Lizzy’s frightened face peering out at him.

He froze, wishing more than anything that the little girl didn’t look so terrified. Was she afraid of the gun? Probably, but he couldn’t risk hiding it from her. “It’s okay,” he called softly. “It’s me. Hawk.”

She quickly closed the door. With a frustrated sigh, Hawk pressed on the man’s twin carotid arteries to put him to sleep, making sure he was unconscious but not dead. He took a moment to lift the ski mask, but the man’s face wasn’t familiar. Hawk didn’t recognize him. Leaving him be, Hawk rose to his feet and lightly rapped on Jillian’s door. “Jillian? It’s Hawk. I’m coming in.”

“Hawk?” Jillian’s voice was sleepy. “What are you doing here?”

Entering her room felt wrong, but there wasn’t a moment to waste. The two hostiles wouldn’t stay unconscious forever. “I stopped two guys from trying to kill you. Get up. We need to leave.”

“What are you talking about?” She sounded grumpy. “What two men? I can’t leave. Lizzy’s asleep.”

“No, she’s not. I just saw her. One man is on the driveway near the front door, the other is just outside your room. Hurry. I’ll get Lizzy while you throw some stuff together. But don’t pack like this is a vacation, we’re traveling light.”

“But...”

Hawk was done talking. He turned and made his way to Lizzy’s room, stepping carefully over the body on the floor. He pressed again on the guy’s neck to give them more time, then reached for the door of the second bedroom and opened it. “Lizzy? It’s Hawk. I know you’re scared, but you and your mom need to come with me, okay?”

Lizzy didn’t answer. Not that he really expected her to. He stood for a moment, sweeping his gaze over the area. Lizzy’s bed was empty. There was a small desk, a dollhouse, a closet and dresser. She must be hiding in fear, likely in the closet or under the bed.

The bed. He dropped to his hands and knees, pressed his cheek to the floor. “Lizzy, your mom is waiting for us. We need to go.”

A muffled sob was the only sound she uttered.

His heart squeezed painfully in his chest, but he forced himself to ignore it. There was no time to waste. He reached under the twin bed, found her arm and tugged. She resisted, but the little girl was no match for him. He gently pulled her out and gathered her stiff body into his arms. She clutched a tattered brown teddy bear against her pink fleece footie pajamas, like a shield.

“I’m sorry, Lizzy. But we have to go.” He carried her to the next room, where a grim-faced Jillian was dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, tossing items into an overnight duffel bag.

“Lizzy.” She held out her arms for her daughter and Lizzy practically jumped to get away from him, grabbing onto her mother and clinging like a baby monkey.

He told himself not to take it personally as he slung the duffel over his shoulder and cupped Jillian’s elbow in his hand. “Grab coats for you and Lizzy. We’ll take my car.”

“I’m not sure—” She stopped abruptly when she saw the man lying in the hallway. “Who? What? Oh my—” She looked as if she might scream, so he cut her off.

“Later. We need to be quiet in case there are others nearby.” Hawk steered her around the body. The man groaned, indicating they were running out of time.

In the kitchen, Jillian snagged her purse from the counter. They paused long enough to grab winter gear, especially for Lizzy. There hadn’t been time to change her out of her pajamas, but that didn’t stop Jillian from putting winter boots on her daughter. Hawk waited impatiently, desperate to get them out of the house.

Outside, the second man remained unmoving. Hawk’s SUV was in the driveway, where he’d left it. But Jillian dug in her heels, resisting him much like her daughter.

“Wait. Where are we going? Shouldn’t we call the police? I don’t understand...”

“Not now,” he said forcefully. “We’ll talk later.”

“Fine, but I’m not going without Lizzy’s car seat.”

Giving in was easier than arguing. “Give me your keys, then get into the SUV.”

Thankfully she did as she was told. He grabbed the child seat out of Jillian’s rusted sedan and hurried over to his vehicle. Within minutes he had the car seat strapped in and Lizzy plunked inside. The little girl’s crying shredded him.

After sliding in behind the wheel, he wasted no time in backing out of the driveway. Keeping an eye on Jillian’s house in the rearview mirror as he drove away, he caught a fleeting glimpse of a black-clad man staggering out through the front door, holding the ski mask in his hand.

Fearing more hostiles on the way, Hawk hit the gas, speeding as fast as he dared through the slick, snow-covered streets of their Brookland, Wisconsin, neighborhood, until he reached Highway 18. Then he headed west toward the interstate.

“I don’t understand,” Jillian said. “What’s going on? Who were those men?”

He glanced over at her. “I don’t know. But they were armed and dangerous.”

“Why did they come after me?” Jillian’s voice sounded shaky and confused. He had to give her credit for not falling apart. She lifted a hand to her long, dark-red hair, a gold wedding band on the third finger of her left hand glinting in the moonlight.

“Could they have been looking for your husband?”

“My husband is dead,” she said in a flat tone.

“Lizzy’s father?”

She glared at him with clear exasperation. “Weren’t you listening? My husband, Lizzy’s father, is dead. James was killed in Afghanistan a few years ago.”

Hawk went perfectly still, his gaze locked on the highway stretching out before him. He wanted to tell Jillian that he was really James—and that he wasn’t dead. That he didn’t die in Afghanistan but almost had from a small plane crash that had killed his three teammates and their pilot, deep in the Appalachian Mountains. That despite the fact that he looked completely different thanks to the horrible facial fractures and scars he now wore on his face, he was right here, next to her. But the words remained locked in his throat.

Two hostiles. Professional hit men. No way they had shown up just to take out Jillian or Lizzy.

They’d come for him.

To finish the job of killing him.

Jillian gripped the armrest with such force her fingertips went numb. Two men wearing ski masks and carrying guns had come to her house! She couldn’t comprehend what was happening—it was all so surreal. If she hadn’t seen them for herself, one lying in the hallway and the other on the snow-covered ground, she would have thought Hawk had lost his mind.

Lizzy’s crying increased in volume.

“It’s okay, Lizzy.” She reached back to stroke her daughter’s knee. The four-year-old was obviously terrified. “We’re fine, see? Everything is just fine. Mr. Hawk has come to save us, isn’t that nice? We’re going to be all right.”

It took a while, but her daughter’s sobs slowly quieted. As Jillian had hoped, the little girl began to nod off, still clutching the teddy bear close. Car rides had that effect on her.

Jillian glanced at Hawk. Her strong, silent, scarred yet kind neighbor who didn’t say much but was always there to lend a hand. At times it was as if he knew what she needed done before she did. She would come home from work to find her lawn had been mowed or a broken shutter repaired. Just that morning he’d gotten up early to shovel her driveway so that it was clear before she needed to head to work, the last day of school before Christmas break. It was odd yet sweet. Hawk wasn’t one for small talk, either. He would simply lift a hand to acknowledge her, and that was all.

Frankly they’d spoken more tonight than they had in the five months she’d known him.

She was grateful he was there to help her now. She noticed Hawk kept his eyes on the road and made several turns, getting off the interstate, taking side streets and then getting back on. He was obviously taking care to be sure they weren’t followed.

Not once since he’d moved in next door had he ever made her feel uncomfortable. He’d never indicated he was interested in anything other than being neighborly. Maybe because he assumed she was married.

Her gaze dropped to the gold wedding band her deceased husband had given to her five years ago. She’d taken the diamond engagement ring off but not the plain band. She wasn’t sure why. James had been the love of her life, but barely a year after they’d married he was deployed to Afghanistan. Two months after he’d gotten there, he’d been sent off on some secret mission that he couldn’t talk about. One that had ultimately killed him.

James had never known about Lizzy. She hadn’t known about her pregnancy until after he’d died. She’d never understood why God had taken James from her so quickly, and she had stopped attending church after his death for several months. When she’d moved here to be closer to her mother, she’d found her faith and comfort in the church again.

“Jillian?”

“Huh?” She pulled away from her sorrowful thoughts. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

“I have a cabin in the north woods. I’d like to take you and Lizzy there until we can figure out what’s going on.”

“A cabin?” She wasn’t sure why the news surprised her. In the months she’d known Hawk, he’d been home at odd hours. Sometimes leaving before she did, and at other times, remaining at home as she left for school. In fact she’d often wondered exactly what he did for work but hadn’t wanted to pry. From the scar on his face, she thought he might be on disability or something. He knew she was a second grade school teacher at Brookland Elementary, but only because she’d offered the information.

“I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable with me,” he went on. “There are two bedrooms, a small kitchen and bathroom with indoor plumbing. It will be safer there than at a motel.”

“Safer how? I still can’t figure out why those two men came to find me in the first place. I’m a teacher. Why would anyone want to hurt me?”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

She let out a sigh. None of this was his fault. “Your cabin sounds fine. But shouldn’t we call the police?”

“Not yet.”

She frowned. “Why not?”

“By the time the police arrive, the two gunmen will be long gone. I only temporarily incapacitated them, I didn’t kill them. There’s no real proof of what happened—it would be our word against no one. I need to do a little digging before we call the authorities.”

She wasn’t sure she understood his rationale, but the idea that the gunmen might already be gone bothered her. She wished she’d thought to take a picture with her cell phone, especially of the guy lying on the floor outside her bedroom.

Silence stretched between them. Now that Lizzy was asleep, her thoughts raced. One gunman had gotten all the way inside her house. How was it that she hadn’t heard anything? She was normally an extremely light sleeper.

And how had Hawk gotten there in time to prevent the gunmen from hurting her? The fact that he’d taken out two gunmen without making a sound should have scared her to death.

But she felt safe. Ironic, since she didn’t even know Hawk’s last name or what he did for a living.

“Hawk—is that your real name?”

“Yes.” He cleared his throat. “Hawk Jacobson.”

She nodded, rolling the name around in her mind. “I want to thank you. For coming over to save us.”

He was silent for a long moment. “I’m just glad I was able to get to you and Lizzy in time.”

“Me, too.” She shivered and rubbed her hands together. “How far is the cabin?”

“Thirty minutes.” He glanced at her, his gaze impossible to read in the darkness. “Try to get some rest.”

She shook her head, knowing sleep would be impossible. “Do you think this could be related to one of my students? Like maybe one of the kids’ parents is into something illegal? I just can’t figure out what else it could be.”

“Anything is possible.” Hawk’s voice was husky and a bit hoarse, something she hadn’t noticed before now. As if he might have a sore throat. “When we get to the cabin you can make a list of possible suspects.”

“They’re students, not suspects.” The words were sharp and she winced, knowing she was taking her frustration out on Hawk. “Besides, I think the police should be the one to search for the men responsible.”

Another brief pause before Hawk spoke. “I’m a private investigator and I have friends who are cops in the Milwaukee Police Department. I need you to trust my judgment on this. Give me a little time to figure out what’s going on.”

Hawk Jacobson. Private Investigator. Friends who were cops. That was a whole lot more than she’d known about him an hour ago.

“Okay,” she reluctantly agreed.

The rest of the car ride was silent. Hawk exited the freeway and took a curvy highway heading northwest. Then he pulled off on the side of the road and shut down the vehicle.

“I need to go in on foot, make sure the place is safe,” he told her. He took a gun out of his side holster and held it out to her. “Stay here. If anyone approaches, I want you to shoot first and ask questions later.”

She recoiled from the weapon as if it were a venomous snake. “I’m not touching that thing.” She glanced at Lizzy. “We’re better off without it.”

Hawk’s lips tightened, giving her the impression he wasn’t happy. But he so rarely revealed any emotion that she thought she may have misinterpreted it. He gently placed the weapon in her lap. “You’ll use it if your life or Lizzy’s is threatened.”

Without waiting for her to respond, he slipped out of the car and shut the door behind him.

She watched him round the front of the SUV and head into the woods. One minute he was there, the next he was gone, somehow without leaving obvious boot prints in the snow behind. The man moved with incredible silence, making her wonder where he’d learned such a skill.

The service? Had Hawk spent time in the military the way James had? Yet if that was the case, why was he working as a private investigator? Why not join a police force?

She shook her head. This insatiable curiosity about her neighbor wasn’t healthy. Hawk’s personal decisions were not any of her business. She wasn’t interested in anything beyond friendship.

Ignoring the gun in her lap, she twisted the wedding band on her finger, thinking about James. How much she missed him. How he was everything she could have asked for in a husband and how he would have been an amazing father to Lizzy.

Then she thought about Hawk. Who was here, now. Who had not only helped her with house maintenance without being asked but was determined to keep her and Lizzy safe.

She slipped the ring off, and then, besieged by a rush of guilt, pushed it back on. Staring out through the windshield, she wondered how long it would take Hawk to check out the cabin. This sitting in the darkness, waiting, was getting on her nerves.

She heard a noise and froze. Then she did something she never thought she’d do. She picked up the gun. It felt heavy and cold in her hand and she had to wrap both her hands around the handle to keep it steady.

Another rustle and she instinctively knew the sound wasn’t from Hawk returning. The man was too quiet to cause this much noise. She tightened her grip on the gun, sweeping her gaze from the windshield to the passenger-side window, searching for anything amiss.

Two deer walked out from the woods. They stopped, looked at her with glassy eyes and then gracefully leaped and ran across the street right in front of the SUV.

She let out her breath in a whoosh. Deer. A doe and her fawn. Not men wearing ski masks.

Yet she didn’t release her grip on the gun.

Five minutes later, she noticed a dark shadow stepping out of the woods. She tightened her grip on the weapon but within a few seconds recognized the shadow as Hawk. The moonlight on his face made it easy to see his scar.

He quietly approached the car, nodding an acknowledgement when he caught her looking at him. He came around and slid into the driver’s seat.

“It’s clear.”

She held out the weapon. “Take this. I don’t want it.”

He took the gun and pushed it back into its holster. He drove a quarter mile down the road and turned into a gravel driveway.

The cabin was about a hundred yards in, nicely surrounded by trees. He pulled to a stop and then climbed out. “Do you want me to carry Lizzy?”

“I’ll get her. She might cry if she wakes up to a stranger.”

He nodded, grabbed the duffel and went over to hold the door. A dusting of snow clung to her boots, so she kicked the lower doorjamb to clear them before going inside. Lizzy snuggled against her chest as Jillian carried her across the living room. She hesitated, glancing at Hawk questioningly.

“There are twin beds in this room.” He opened the door to the right of what looked to be a bathroom. “The other room is off the kitchen.”

“Thanks.” She went inside and gently set Lizzy on the twin bed closest to the door. After removing her winter coat and boots, she tucked her daughter into the sleeping bag on top of the bed. She straightened and turned to find Hawk standing close.

Too close.

In the darkness she couldn’t see his face very clearly, but she had often wondered about the deep scar he carried along his left cheek. Catching a whiff of his aftershave, she found her pulse kicking up and her knees going weak.

It was the same brand James used to buy.

“Excuse me.” Moving abruptly, she ducked around him and left the bedroom. Her heart was pounding erratically and for a moment she feared she was losing her mind.

In that brief instant, she’d thought the man standing beside her was James. Same height, same weight, same aftershave.

Impossible. James was dead. This was nothing more than her overactive imagination playing tricks on her. Hormones reacting to a familiar scent.

She wasn’t interested in a relationship with Hawk.

Yet for the moment, her life and Lizzy’s depended on him. On his strength and ability to keep them both safe from harm.