Her Christmas Guardian Read online

  TO SAVE HER DAUGHTER

  Former army ranger Boone Anderson immediately senses danger when he spots Scout Cramer and her precious little girl while holiday shopping. Then two cars suddenly give chase in the parking lot—kidnapping the child. His worst suspicions are confirmed, and professional instincts propel him into action. Having lost his own infant daughter years before, Boone is determined to reunite the beautiful single mother and her missing child. But when a secret from Scout’s past finally catches up to her, she must work with her self-appointed guardian to save her daughter. Before the kidnappers cancel Christmas for all of them…permanently.

  Mission: Rescue—No job is too dangerous for these fearless heroes

  “Shhhhh,” Boone said. “You’re okay.”

  “No. It’s not,” Scout sobbed. “Lucy is missing.”

  “I didn’t say it was okay. I said you were.” He eased back, cupping her face in his hands, his eyes dark blue and filled with compassion. “There’s a big difference, Scout. One you have no control over. The other you do.”

  “I don’t have any control over any of it, that’s the problem.” She stepped away, swiping at the tears.

  “You know what I’ve realized during the years my daughter’s been missing?” he asked quietly, his hair gleaming in the afternoon sunlight, his eyes deeply shadowed. “We don’t always have to be in control to be content. We don’t always have to know every outcome to have peace.”

  Coming from anyone else, it would have sounded trite, but Boone had lived her nightmare. He knew every ache of her heart.

  “I wish I had your faith. I wish that I could believe something good was going to come out of this.”

  “I wish I had my daughter. But, I don’t, and becauseI don’t, I’m helping you find yours.”

  Books by Shirlee McCoy

  Love Inspired Suspense

  Die Before Nightfall

  Even in the Darkness

  When Silence Falls

  Little Girl Lost

  Valley of Shadows

  Stranger in the Shadows

  Missing Persons

  Lakeview Protector

  *The Guardian’s Mission

  *The Protector’s Promise

  Cold Case Murder

  *The Defender’s Duty

  †Running for Cover

  Deadly Vows

  †Running Scared

  †Running Blind

  Out of Time

  †Lone Defender

  †Private Eye Protector

  The Lawman’s Legacy

  †Undercover Bodyguard

  †Navy SEAL Rescuer

  Tracking Justice

  †Fugitive

  †Defender for Hire

  Texas K-9 Unit Christmas

  “Holiday Hero”

  Safe by the Marshal’s Side

  **Protective Instincts

  **Her Christmas Guardian

  Love Inspired Single Title

  Still Waters

  *The Sinclair Brothers

  †Heroes for Hire

  **Mission: Rescue

  SHIRLEE McCOY

  has always loved making up stories. As a child, she daydreamed about elaborate tales in which she was the heroine—gutsy, strong and invincible. Though she soon grew out of her superhero fantasies, her love for storytelling never diminished. She knew early that she wanted to write inspirational fiction, and she began writing her first novel when she was a teenager. Still, it wasn’t until her third son was born that she truly began pursuing her dream of being published. Three years later, she sold her first book. Now a busy mother of five, Shirlee is a homeschooling mom by day and an inspirational author by night. She and her husband and children live in the Pacific Northwest and share their house with a dog, two cats and a bird. You can visit her website, www.shirleemccoy.com, or email her at [email protected].

  HER CHRISTMAS GUARDIAN

  Shirlee McCoy

  Here is what I am commanding you to do.

  Be strong and brave. Do not be terrified.

  Do not lose hope. I am the Lord your God.

  I will be with you everywhere you go.

  —Joshua 1:9

  To Beth.

  I miss going on long walks with you and your kids!

  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

  DEAR READER

  QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

  EXCERPT

  ONE

  I’ve been found.

  The thought shot through Scout Cramer’s head, left her breathless, frantic. She veered the shopping cart toward the store exit, her heart pounding, her body vibrating with fear.

  In her periphery, a man moved in. Casual in his dark slacks and sport coat, he looked like any other holiday shopper. She wanted so badly to believe he was.

  Please, God. Please. Let me be wrong about who he is.

  But she didn’t think she was.

  She thought she was right. Thought that somehow, after nearly three years, everything she’d tried to do for Amber, everything she’d tried to do for herself and Lucy had come to nothing. If she’d been found out, if he’d learned the truth, it was all for nothing. Every lie. Every broken friendship.

  All of it.

  For nothing.

  “Please, God,” she whispered as she unhooked Lucy’s belt and lifted her from the cart. At just a little over twenty-four pounds, she was tiny for her age, her little arms wrapping snugly around Scout’s neck.

  “Mommy needs to find the restroom,” Scout murmured, afraid to walk out into the parking lot. He’d follow her there. She was sure of it. After that...

  What would he do?

  Confront her?

  Worse?

  The store was filled with holiday shoppers, dozens of people crowding into Walmart’s long lines, all of them desperate for Christmas bargains.

  Would anyone notice if Scout was attacked?

  Would anyone intervene?

  Maybe, but she didn’t plan to stick around long enough to find out.

  She glanced at the man, hoping he didn’t notice her sideways look. He was still, hovering at the head of an aisle, pretending to look at cans of asparagus.

  She pivoted away, hurrying toward a restroom sign and the corridor beyond it. There had to be an emergency exit. She nearly ran to the end of the hall, stopping at double doors marked Employees Only.

  What would happen if she walked in?

  Would someone call the police? Set off an alarm?

  Would she be arrested? If she was, what would happen to Lucy?

  She looked at her little girl, smiling into dark brown eyes that were so much like Amber’s it hurt to look in them.

  “It’s going to be okay,” she whispered, and she hoped she was right. She’d made a lot of mistakes in her life. She’d done a lot of things she
’d regretted, but she’d never regretted her friendship with Amber. She’d never regretted the promise she’d made to her.

  Even if she did sometimes wonder if she’d been right to make it.

  She glanced over her shoulder. No sign of the guy in the sport jacket. But her skin crawled, and her hair stood on end.

  Something wasn’t right, and that scared her more than anything else that had happened in the past couple of years.

  She pushed the door open, took a step into what must have been an employee break room. No one there. Thank goodness. Just vending machines, a microwave, a refrigerator. Straight across from where she stood, an external door with a small window offered the hope of escape she’d been looking for.

  “Everything okay, ma’am?” The voice was so unexpected, she jumped, whirling to face the speaker, her heart in her throat, her arms tightening around Lucy.

  Tall.

  That was the first impression she got.

  Very tall, because she was eye to chest, staring straight at a black wool coat that hung open to reveal a dark purple dress shirt.

  She looked up into ocean-blue eyes and a hard, handsome face, took in the black knit cap that almost covered deep red hair, the auburn stubble, the deep circles beneath the man’s eyes. He smiled, and his face changed. Not hard any longer. Approachable. The kind of guy a woman might put her trust in.

  If she ever put her trust in anyone.

  “I’m fine,” she managed to say.

  “You’re in the employee break room,” he pointed out, flashing an easy smile. There was nothing easy about the look in his eyes. She was being studied, assessed, filed away for future reference.

  “Yes. Well.” She glanced around, trying to think of a good excuse for being in a place she shouldn’t be. “I was looking for the restroom.”

  “You passed it.”

  “I guess I did.” Her cheeks heated, but she refused to look away. He hadn’t hauled out handcuffs or threatened to arrest her yet, so he probably wasn’t a security guard or police officer. She doubted he was working with the man who’d been following her. She’d have noticed him way before she’d noticed the other guy. That dark red hair and lanky height weren’t easy to miss. “I’ll just go find it.”

  She sidled past him, moving back into the hall, Lucy’s arms still tight around her neck. She’d do anything for her daughter. Anything. Even run away from everything she knew. Give up a job she loved. Say goodbye to friends and never contact them again.

  “Are you in some kind of trouble?” the guy asked, following her down the hall.

  Was she?

  She didn’t know, wasn’t made for intrigue and danger. She liked quiet predictability. No drama. No muss. Nothing that was even close to trouble. The one time she’d tried to break free, do something wild and reckless and completely different, she’d caused herself enough heartache to last a lifetime.

  No more.

  Never again.

  Except that she had done it again. Gone out on a limb, done something completely out of character. For different reasons, but the results had been the same. Trouble. It was breathing down her neck. She felt it as surely as she felt Lucy’s soft breath on her cheek.

  “Ma’am?” The man touched her arm, and she jerked back, surprised and a little alarmed. She’d kept mostly to herself since moving to River Valley, Maryland, spent all her time with Lucy or at work. She didn’t let people into their world, into the place she’d carved for them. The safe little house in the safe little neighborhood.

  “Are you in trouble?” he asked again, shoving his hands in the pockets of his black slacks and taking a step back.

  “No,” she mumbled even though she wasn’t sure. The guy in the sport jacket seemed to have disappeared, and she was beginning to think she’d let her imagination get the better of her. But if she hadn’t...?

  Then what?

  Could she run again?

  Did she need to?

  “Sure looks like you are to me.”

  “I’m fine,” she insisted, and he nodded solemnly, his blue eyes never leaving her face.

  “I’m glad to hear it, ma’am, but just in case you decide you’re not—” he pulled a wallet out of his pocket, took a business card from it “—take this. I can help. If you decide you need it.”

  She took the card. Plain white with black letters and a small blue heart in one corner. “‘Daniel Boone Anderson. Hostage Rescue and Extraction Team,’” she read out loud.

  He nodded. “That’s right.”

  “I’m not a hostage.” She tried to give the card back, but he shoved his hands in his pockets, still eyeing her solemnly.

  “That doesn’t mean you don’t need rescuing,” he responded.

  “I—”

  “Take care of yourself and that baby.” He nodded, one quick tilt of his head, and walked off, long legs eating up the ground so quickly he was out of the corridor and around the corner before she could blink.

  She shoved the card in her coat pocket.

  She wouldn’t use it. Couldn’t.

  She’d promised Amber that she wouldn’t tell anyone the truth about Lucy. She’d promised that no matter what happened, she’d keep it to herself. At the time, she’d expected Amber to be around, to help her navigate the world of subterfuge she’d agreed to. The fact that she wasn’t didn’t change the promise. Scout had an obligation to her friend. Even if she didn’t, she had an obligation to herself and to Lucy. She couldn’t cower in a store corridor, praying for rescue. She had to take action, do what needed to be done. Face her fear or call for help. One way or another, she needed to get moving.

  “Mama! Go!” Lucy cried, impatient, it seemed, with staying in one spot.

  “Okay, sweetie. I hear you.” She put her shoulders back and her chin up, marched back to the break room as if she owned the place. Walked through the room as if she had every right to be there. Out the door and into the cold November evening. She’d parked close to the store entrance, and she had to walk around the side of the building to get there. Her heart tripped and jumped, the leaves rustling in the trees that lined the parking lot. A shadow moved in her periphery, and she took off, Lucy bouncing on her hip, giggling wildly as they rounded the side of the building.

  * * *

  The baby was giggling, but the woman looked scared out of her mind. Not that it was any of Daniel Boone Anderson’s business. He should have gone back to hunting for the ingredients for pumpkin bread instead of leaving the store and waiting by the employee entrance. The problem was, he hadn’t been too into the holidays during the past few years, and the entire store was decked out with tinsel and Christmas trees and wrapping paper. Every aisle had some reminder of the holiday he least liked to celebrate. The best Christmas had been the one right after Kendal’s birth. Two months before Lana had walked out and taken their daughter with her.

  Not Lana. He could almost hear his deceased wife’s voice. The Prophetess Sari. It has been ordained and it will be so.

  That had been her mantra when she’d finally contacted him. Six months after he’d returned from Iraq and found their empty apartment—and the note.

  But he tried really hard not to think about that.

  Four years was a long time to be missing a piece of your heart.

  Which was probably why he spent so much time sticking his nose into other people’s business and dealing with other people’s problems.

  He followed the woman around the side of the building, hanging back as she walked to an old station wagon. Nothing fancy, but she didn’t seem like the fancy kind. Her jeans were a little too long, their scuffed cuffs dragging along the pavement as she buckled her daughter into a car seat. A long braid hung to the middle of her back. That had been what he’d noticed first—that long fall of golden-blond hair. Then he’d noticed the
dark-haired little girl with her dimples and curls. Probably a couple of years younger than Kendal.

  She’d turned five a couple of weeks ago.

  He imagined her hair had grown long. It was probably straight as a stick, too.

  But that was another direction he couldn’t let himself go.

  All the begging, all the searching, all the resources that were available, and he still hadn’t been able to find Kendal. She’d been lost to someone in the cult. Probably someone who’d left it. Knowing Lana, she’d handed their daughter off without a second thought as to the child’s welfare.

  Boone never stopped thinking about it.

  Even in his sleep, he dreamed about his daughter.

  He clenched his fist, leaned his shoulder against a brick pillar that supported a narrow portico. Christmas shoppers moved past, hurrying into the store for whatever deal they thought Friday shopping would bring.

  He noticed them, tracking their movements in the part of his brain that had been honed by years working long hours deep in enemy territory, but his focus was on the woman and her child. She opened the driver’s door, tossed her purse into the vehicle, glanced around as if she was looking for someone.

  Maybe whoever she was running from.

  He was sure she was running. He’d seen it in her eyes when she’d lifted her daughter from the grocery cart and run toward the restroom—fear, desperation, all the things he saw in the gazes of the people he was hired to rescue.

  The station wagon’s headlights went on, and the woman backed out of the space. He’d have been wise to let her go and let the whole matter drop, but he’d never been all that wise when it came to things like this.

  As a matter of fact, he often got himself in way deeper than he should be. Mostly because the one thing he wanted to accomplish, he hadn’t been able to. He couldn’t help himself, but he could help others.

  Maybe he really did have an overinflated hero syndrome. That was what his coworker Stella said. She also said it was going to get him killed one day. She might be right about that, too, but he’d rather die trying to help someone than live knowing he hadn’t.