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Navy SEAL Rescuer (Heroes for Hire Book 7) Kindle Edition
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherLove Inspired Suspense
- Publication dateSeptember 1, 2012
- File size396 KB
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Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Red letters dripped like blood down the front of the freshly painted house.
Smaller letters marched across the newly whitewashed porch floor.
Murderer.
The painted words seemed to taunt Catherine Miller as she trudged to the back of the old farmhouse and grabbed two nearly empty paint cans from the dilapidated shed. Hopefully, she had enough to cover the vandalism. She snagged a couple of paint pans, tucked paint rollers under her arm and carried everything to the porch. Ten minutes, and she'd be done.
Good. Eileen would be finished with chemo in an hour, and Catherine didn't want her grandmother waiting. She was too sick, too exhausted, too frail to be left sitting in a crowded hospital waiting room. At sixty-seven, Eileen's clock was running down, and Catherine wished desperately that she could wind it back up again. She couldn't, so she'd purposed to spend every moment she could making sure Eileen's last weeks and months were comfortable and pleasant.
That meant getting rid of the vandalism before Eileen got home.
She touched a finger to the dry red paint. Not even tacky. Whoever had vandalized the house had done it soon after Catherine and Eileen had left for the hospital. Some punk kid. She was sure that was what the sheriff would say if she called.
She wouldn't.
She'd put her grandmother through enough already. She wouldn't bring her home to vandalism or to police poring over the property. She'd cover the paint and keep what had happened locked safely away with all the other things she couldn't share.
The sun blazed from the blue summer sky, the breezeless air hot and arid. Sweat trickled down her temple and neck as she poured dove-gray paint into a pan. Whoosh. One letter gone. Swish. Another disappeared. She should have felt satisfaction, but she felt nothing. Not anger. Not irritation. Not dismay, disgust, horror.
Nothing.
She covered another letter and wiped sweat from her upper lip, surveying the fresh paint. Not even a shadow of red peeked out from under the gray. Perfect. Eileen would never know what had happened, and that was the only thing Catherine cared about. She dipped the roller in gray again, sweeping it over the e and r, the silence of the old farmstead only broken by the swishing of paint on wood. Nothing moved. Not the tall grass and weeds that pressed up against the perimeter of the yard. Not the leaves on the trees.
The stillness ate at Catherine as she worked, nudging at the back of her mind. Four years in the state prison had insulated her from the world, but not from people and life. There had been little silence in her cell block and even less time alone. Here, in the small town where she'd grown up, she seemed to always be alone and silent. Even when she was in a crowd. Even when Eileen was close by.
She grabbed a fresh roller, poured white paint into a clean pan and slicked it over the red letters on the porch. Almost done. There'd be plenty of time for the floor to dry before she picked Eileen up from chemotherapy.
Something rustled to her left, the tall weeds that edged the property swaying. No breeze to blow them, but they moved again, twitching to the left and right as she watched.
"Who's there?" she asked, sure a bird would fly out of the overgrowth. Instead, soft laughter drifted from the weeds, the sound chilling her blood.
"I said, 'who's there?'"
"Murderer!" The taunt whispered out, and Catherine stiffened.
She'd been out of prison for two months, and in that time, vandals had broken a window, slashed her car tires and egged the house. The sheriff had been out three times, but he hadn't been able to track down the perpetrators. Kids with too much time on their hands. That's what he'd said, and Catherine had believed him, because she hadn't wanted to believe an adult was trying to chase her out of town.
But, then, in Pine Bluff, just about anything seemed possible. Here, the guilty wandered free and the innocent rotted in jail.
Just once, her rational self said.
Just you.
The weeds rustled and a tall figure stepped out. Broad and muscular, he stood at the edge of the yard, a ski mask pulled over his face.
A kid?
Catherine didn't think so, and she tensed, setting the paint roller in the pan without taking her eyes off the man. "Go home."
"Go home," he mocked, chuckling softly.
"I'm going to call the police," she said, backing toward the front door.
"I don't think so," he responded and loped toward her.
She lunged for the door, yanking it open, terror squeezing the breath from her lungs as an arm wrapped around her waist, a hand slapped over her mouth.
"Let's go inside." He pressed her toward the yawning doorway, and she shoved back, raking her hand down his knit ski mask, slamming her elbow into his ribs. Prison hadn't taught her much, but it had taught her how to fight.
He cursed, his grip loosening, and she broke free, lifting the paint roller, swinging at his face. Paint splattered across his ski mask, and he stumbled back.
She didn't wait. Didn't try to fight more. Just jumped off the porch and sprinted across the yard, heading for the dirt road that connected the homestead to its nearest neighbor.
Please, please.
Footsteps pounded behind her, closing in fast.
Please.
She turned left at the road. A quarter mile, and she'd be at the Morris place. Empty for years but finally sold to a man that Eileen said spent more time away than home.
Please, let him be home.
Her breath panted out, the old broken mailbox that marked the beginning of Morris property just ahead, the curve in the road that hid the house from view just beyond it.
Close.
She was so close.
God is smiling down on you, my sweet girl.
The voice echoed from a past so far away that Catherine wasn't sure it had ever been hers.
And then she was yanked back with so much force she flew. Off balance, arms flailing, she beat at her attacker, jabbed at his eyes, tried to pull the mask from his face, screaming, screaming. As if someone might hear. As if rescue might be just a moment away.
His fist clipped her jaw, and she reeled, stars and darkness dancing at the edge of her vision.
Please, please, help me.
The prayer danced, too, slipping into her muddled thoughts, breaking her cardinal rule to never ask for help. She'd clung to her faith through rocky times, but the past few years had been stagnant and empty of hope, her faith shriveled and dry from lack of care.
If she could care again, would God save her?
Please!
Sun-scorched earth burned through her T-shirt.
On the ground, his hands around her neck, his breath fanning her cheek.
"How's it feel to be on the other side, Dark Angel?" he whispered, his grip tightening, his knee pressing into her stomach.
She gagged, clawing at his wrists, trying to break his iron hold. No air. No breath.
Just hot dirt and hot sun and cold blue eyes staring into hers.
Please!
She let go of his wrists, dug her thumbs into his eyes, air filling her lungs as he shoved her hands away. One more scream. Another.
And his hands tightened on her throat again.
A scream broke the silence of Darius Osborne's first day of vacation. Not an excited scream. Not an it's-summer-andwe're-letting-loose scream. A terror-filled, panicked, help-me scream, that made his hair stand on end.
Another scream followed the first, choked off at its zenith. He dropped the paint scraper, grabbed the hammer, racing around the side of the old farmhouse and onto the dirt road.
He stopped there. Waiting. Listening.
The hot summer day was silent again.
Not a breath, not a movement.
Nothing.
"Hello?" he called out, glancing up the road toward the distant highway, then down it toward the curve in the road and the dead fields of the neighboring farm.
"Help me!" A woman stumbled into view, burnished red hair gleaming in the sunlight, welts raised on the pale column of her throat. He knew her. Knew of her anyway. Everyone in Pine Bluff did.
Catherine Miller.
The Dark Angel of Good Samaritan. Injured, terrified.
He ran toward her, scanning the area as he slid an arm around her waist.
"What happened?" he asked.
"Someone attacked me," she rasped, her eyes hollow, her face expressionless.
"Where is he?"
"He ran when you called out." She gestured to the curve in the road, the tall, brown grass and weeds. Anyone could be hiding there.
"Come on." He urged her toward his house, her backbone prominent beneath his hand, every vertebra pressing up against her shirt. Too thin. That's what he'd thought the first time he'd seen her on the news.
Too thin, but beautiful.
Aloof.
The perfect neighbor because all she wanted was exactly what Darius didto be left alone.
Only, she hadn't been left alone.
The welts on her neck, the bruise on her jaw proved that.
"Who was it? Someone you know?" He opened his front door, ushering her inside.
"I'm not sure. He was wearing a ski mask." She shivered, and he pulled a throw from the back of the sofa and wrapped it around her shoulders, his fingers brushing her neck.
She flinched, tugging the blanket close.
"What else was he wearing?"
"Dark pants. Long-sleeved dark shirt. He was tall. Maybe a couple of inches shorter than you." Her teeth chattered, but she looked him straight in the eye, her gaze direct, her blue eyes dark and lifeless.
"I'm going to call for help, then I'll see if I can find him." He pulled out his cell phone, dialing 911 as he took his Glock from the gun safe in the hall closet.
Catherine watched as he loaded it, her expression never changing. The media had said plenty about her incarceration and release. They'd said plenty about her, too. Interviews with supposed friends, with people...
Product details
- ASIN : B0088NH2FW
- Publisher : Love Inspired Suspense; Original edition (September 1, 2012)
- Publication date : September 1, 2012
- Language : English
- File size : 396 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 219 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #316,128 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #431 in Religious Mysteries (Books)
- #1,813 in Christian Suspense
- #2,380 in Christian Mystery & Suspense
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
New York Times best-selling author Shirlee McCoy loves books. She loves reading them. She loves writing them. She loves sharing them with family, friends, and total strangers on airplanes and in doctors' offices. It's no surprise that she loves being an author. Her first book was published in 2004. Since then, she's written more than 55 novels. Her books have appeared on the New York Times, Publisher's Weekly, and USA Today bestsellers lists. When she's not writing, she enjoys spending time with family and friends and volunteering as a member of Chesapeake Search Dogs - a non-profit organization dedicated to finding the lost and missing and bringing closure to their families. A former teacher, she takes pleasure in helping others pursue their writing goals and enjoys sharing her knowledge with aspiring authors.
She enjoys hearing from readers and writers. You can email her at shirlee@shirleemccoy.com or catch up with her life and writing at http://shirleemccoy.blogspot.com/.
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Catherine spent four years in prison for crimes she didn’t commit. The sheriff’s department had issued her an apology and gave her a lump sum of money for the trauma she went through. The money couldn’t buy back the 4 years she missed of her life. It would never replace the time she could have spent with her grandmother Eileen. Once she got out of jail everyone still looked at her with disgust. The book starts out with someone vandalizing Her grandmother’s home. They wrote Murderer in read paint on the old farm house. She only had an hour to repaint the porch before having to pick up her grandmother from the hospital who was having chemo done. Before she could finish she was attacked. Her neighbor Darius heard her screams for help and came to help. Someone wanted Catherine dead, and Darius stepped in as body guard, and also helped find the person behind the attacks.
Other than that it was a great read. I really like this series.
The ending seemed off, like all the loose ends were quickly slapped together...the end. When the bad guy showed up, Catherine knew who he was but I had no idea. Because of the number of names of secondary characters it was hard to remember people, places and occupations. There is a lot of tragety in this story that does not balance out. It left me feeling sad even when the story was done. Walking a Christian life felt like an after thought, sort of plugged in to fit the category. Twice it was stated that she had always believed in God as if that alone made her a Christian. No personal decision or walk required.
I did laugh out loud until my eyes watered during one part. I loved the characters and the story never became boring, but that is the best I can say about the book. I give this book a three because I don't feel positive or negative. If it was the first, I wouldn't have purchased the next, but I'm not sorry I read it.