Love Inspired Suspense May 2015 - Box Set 1 of 2: Trail of Evidence\Gone Missing\Lethal Exposure (36 page)

“Elisabeth and Liam will be here soon,” Joslyn said. “She called and said she and her FBI friends are about thirty minutes away.”

“Is there enough evidence to put Richard Roman away?”

Joslyn hesitated. “I'm not sure. There's still evidence on Frank's computers to put Martin away, though.”

He expected to feel some emotion at that news, but he only felt cold and flat, like coffee that had been sitting out all day. He'd overheard Martin talking to Fiona—he knew Joslyn had heard it, too. When Martin found out Clay and Joslyn were searching for Fiona and that Roman was after them, he had figured they'd be a good distraction while he tried to find Fiona on his own. He hadn't cared about the danger they were in.

Fiona had looked horrified. In combination with other things that Martin had said tonight, it seemed Fiona was having a hard time figuring out how she felt about her father.

Clay had never heard Martin be so brutally honest before. Maybe it was the wound, especially since he hadn't known how severe it was until the EMTs arrived. To Clay, who hadn't seen Martin in a while, it seemed he had become even more self-focused and driven to accomplish his own agenda. Fiona had been surprised, too, so maybe he'd gotten worse only in the two years since Fiona left LA.

Clay had been silent for too long. Joslyn touched his arm again. He had the feeling she knew what he was thinking about.

“Your past has shaped who you are, but it's not what defines you,” she said. “I've done some stupid things in my past, and I'm learning how to move on. You taught me that.”

“Me?” He had no idea how he'd done anything like that.

“Your strength and protectiveness made me feel brave. You made me realize not everyone's like my ex.”

He touched the bruise on her cheek. “Did he hurt you?”

He thought she'd look away, but she met his eyes. “He did. It's why I froze when Roman hit me.”

He couldn't imagine how awful it must have been to face that kind of terror again.

She took a deep breath. “I lost a lot because of Tomas. He killed my father, and when I ran from him, I miscarried our baby because of the fear that he'd find me.”

The pain in her voice cut into him. He reached out to her, touching her face, folding her into his arms. “I'm so sorry.” It seemed like such a paltry thing to say. “I wish I could do something.”

“You did. I thought the counseling was going nowhere, but the past few days have shown me that I can move on. I thought I wasn't strong enough, but tonight I realized that I just wasn't trusting God enough to help me.”

His arms tightened around her. “I never thought much about God before I met you. We were never close.”

“What do you think of Him now?”

He cupped her face. “If God is the one giving you this strength, even after what you've been through, then I want that. I've always wanted to prove something, to find something. But all I really wanted was peace, acceptance.”

“God can give you that. And I can, too.”

He bent to kiss her, and there was that feeling again, as sweet as candy, as comforting as a hand on his head. It was like sinking to the floor in front of a fireplace, or sipping tea on a back porch. He was at rest. He was enveloped. He was home.

NINETEEN

Twelve months later

J
oslyn's lungs were burning as she climbed the hill. All she could see was brilliant blue sky above her, spindly trees around her on either side of the faint trail, and ahead of her, Clay's backpack like a beacon, spurring her on.

“Why again are we voluntarily going more than twenty miles away from a WiFi connection?”

He turned to grin at her. “Want some cheese with that whine?”

“You've gotten much more snarky since you started working for Shaun O'Neill.” Head of security for the posh Joy Luck Life Hotel and Spa in Sonoma, Shaun had been quick to offer Clay a job as a security guard, which he'd taken.

“I don't get that from Shaun,” Clay said. “I get that from Fiona. She is walking sarcasm. You should know that already.”

“She's gotten worse since we were in LA.”

“It's because of the trial.” Fiona had agreed to testify against her father, and the FBI had indicted him on charges of money laundering.

“Is she doing okay?” Joslyn asked. She stumbled a little over a root.

“Martin still sends her letters abusing her for her betrayal.” Clay's voice was grim. “I think it hurts her more than she admits. But she said she's enjoying piecing her life back together again in LA. She said she's coming up to Sonoma next week.”

“Oh? What's the occasion?”

“Funny you should ask that.” He'd stopped at the summit of the hill. “Come on, take a look at this.”

She panted her way to the top...and then she couldn't breathe.

Unfolded in front of her was a small mountain lake. From their vantage point, she could see that it was completely surrounded by forests, without any trails that cut through the trees except for this one. The mountains of Tahoe were in the distance and reflected in the perfectly still water. Everything was silent, peaceful. It was like the seventh day of Creation, and everything was at rest.

Her breath came out long, low, filled with awe. “Oh, my.”

Clay's eyes were the same glittering blue as the sky reflected in the surface of the lake. “What did I tell you? Isn't it worth the hike?”

“Oh, yes.”

They made their way down the slope as the trail wended its way through tall fir trees down to the edge of the lake. Large rocks and boulders were scattered in the shallow water, and Joslyn could feel the intense cold even from a few feet away.

Everything smelled fresh and new, as if she'd never before smelled forest, or water, or rock. The air seemed purer. It filled her lungs and somehow made her feel lighter, fuller.

They were the only people here. It was amazing.

“Come on, take off your shoes.” Clay shucked his hiking boots and socks and waded into the water.

Joslyn did the same and yelped at the frigid temperature, but it was refreshing. They sat on a large, flat boulder where they could see all around the lake.

“I haven't been here in years,” Clay said. “I wasn't sure I could find it again, so I had to ask Bobby.”

“I'm so glad you brought me.”

“Let me read something to you.” He took out his phone and began to read Psalm 8:

“O Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is Your name in all the earth!

You have set Your glory

above the heavens.

“When we learned about this Psalm in my men's Bible study, I immediately thought of this place,” he said. “I knew I wanted to read it out loud, here, with you.”

She said, “That's perfect for this place.”

He took her hand in his, and the warmth of his palm contrasted with the cold of their surroundings. “I've been learning a lot in Patrick's Bible study. He told me something once that really stuck with me. ‘Love covers over a multitude of sins.'”

“That's a Bible verse,” she said.

He nodded. “It's what first made me start to think seriously about God. When I was a kid, Martin always made me feel so unwanted and alone. It's not an excuse, but it spurred me to make some bad choices. I went to prison for those.”

“You paid your debt.” She squeezed his hand. “It's in the past.”

“I was having a hard time really understanding that. I still held myself apart from people because I was sure it made me too different. But you and the O'Neills have made me feel like I belong.”

“You do belong.” She had a hard time remembering her life before he was in it. He'd helped her to laugh more. He'd shown her how to be adventurous—as this trip showed.

He'd helped her to stop rubbing the scar above her left eye, made from Tomas's ring.

Clay said, “Now, I want to belong to you, and I want you to belong to me.”

She suddenly felt something slip onto her finger.

The ring had a round sapphire, with tiny sapphires surrounding it so that it looked like a blue flower. A bachelor's button. It made her smile.

“I hope that smile means yes,” he said.

“I haven't heard a question,” she retorted.

“I'm not much into speeches,” he said, his face very close. “I love you, Joslyn. Will you marry me?”

She smiled, touching his face, looking into his eyes. “This smile means yes.”

He kissed her, and she knew God had taken care of all of it. God would continue to take care of the two of them, to create something good out of the pain of their pasts. She only had to surrender to God. To love.

* * * * *

Keep reading for an excerpt from WITNESS UNDERCOVER by Debra Cowan

Dear Reader,

Thank you for joining me once again for another adventure with the O'Neill Agency! Many of you who read
Treacherous Intent
will recognize Joslyn, Elisabeth and Liam. Also, Shaun and Monica O'Neill are from
Stalker in the Shadows
.

When I wrote
Treacherous Intent
, I knew I wanted to show how Joslyn came back from the traumatic events in that book, and my hero, Clay, was the perfect person to show her that she could be a stronger person than she believed she was. I also knew that Joslyn's faith and the acceptance of the O'Neills would help Clay come to realize that he is not alone, and Jesus loves him deeply no matter what he has done in his past. I hope you've enjoyed watching them escape from explosions and fall in love.

While I love Sonoma, I also have a fondness for Lake Tahoe, and so I set part of
Gone Missing
there. It's a beautiful place to visit in the spring and summer, and of course it's a popular skiing destination in the wintertime.

You can find out more about my entire Sonoma romantic suspense series at my website,
www.camytang.com
.

I love to hear from readers! You can email me at
[email protected]
or write to me at: P.O. Box 23143, San Jose CA 95123-3143. I post about knitting, my dog, knitting, tea, knitting, my husband's coffee fixation, occasional giveaways, food, oh, and did I mention my knitting obsession? Check out my Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/CamyTangAuthor
. I hope to see you all there!

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