Love Inspired Suspense April 2021--Box Set 2 of 2 by Laura Scott (free e reader .TXT) 📕

No!

Come after me, he wanted to shout. Not my son.

Only a coward would try to harm a child. Liam had plenty of experience in dealing with cowards, those who used the innocents of the world for their own vile purposes, warlords and insurgents who hid out in schools and hospitals, knowing that the American troops wouldn’t attack.

A trickle of sweat worked its way down his back. He’d have decked anyone who called him a coward, but he was acting like one now.

He had to get Jonah somewhere safe, somewhere the people who were after Liam couldn’t get to his son. The knowledge that someone wanted him dead and was willing to kill his son along with him shook him to the core.

Fear for his son hardened his resolve. Jonah had to be protected. At any cost.

Liam McKenzie didn’t give in. And he didn’t give up.

But right now he needed help in the worst way. Admitting he needed help didn’t come easily. Not for Liam. Not for any special ops soldier who did his best to keep his country safe from the world’s bullies. If keeping Jonah safe meant asking for it, then that’s what he’d do.

He’d learned of S&J Security/Protection through buddies with whom he’d served. They hired ex–special operators, as well as former DEA, FBI, and ATF agents, like Paige Walker, the little sister of a friend from high school.

He called S&J and spoke to the founder Shelley Rabb Judd. “I need help,” he said. After explaining his problem, he added, “I knew Paige Walker in high school. If she’s available, I’d appreciate having her assigned to my case.”

A pause. “I think we can arrange for Paige to help you.”

Pride had no place when it came to keeping his son safe from harm. He’d ask for her help—he’d beg if necessary. Protecting Jonah was the only thing that mattered.

Whatever the cost.

Paige Walker covertly studied S&J’s newest client. Liam McKenzie. From the moment Shelley had given her the name, memories from fifteen years ago rushed back.

The jagged scar from a football injury in his senior year was still there, bisecting his left eyebrow. That captain-of-the-varsity-football-team face was even more handsome now. And the blue-green eyes were the same as those belonging to the boy she remembered, the boy she’d had a crush on so many years ago.

If the boy had been handsome, the man was now compelling. Crinkles at the corners of his eyes showed up white against a wind-scoured complexion, hinting at many hours spent outdoors. His once-blond hair had darkened to the color of wheat, and the planes and angles of his face had grown more defined. It was his eyes that had changed the most, though, holding both compassion and wisdom that had been lacking in the younger Liam.

She’d heard that he’d joined the army and had made Delta, then started his own software company when he’d left the army. She watched as he scanned the room, dividing it into grids, she thought—a way of life for him, ex-Delta or not. The soldier was still in the man whether or not he wore the uniform. The stoic countenance and the quiet watchfulness were unmistakable.

To her mortification, her heart had picked up its beat, her breathing quickening. Could he detect the rapid rhythm of the pulse at the base of her neck? She was a professional, a trained agent. Agents didn’t get all gooey-eyed over a long-ago crush. Agents didn’t allow foolish schoolgirl feelings to interfere with work. Agents didn’t feel any of the things she was feeling at this moment.

Enough.

Resolutely, she put the past where it belonged and prayed that her boss, Shelley, hadn’t noticed her consternation. The last thing Paige wanted was for her boss to witness her acting unprofessionally. Her job at S&J Security/Protection was a safe haven in the chaos her life had become after she’d left the ATF.

So start acting like the operative you are and quit mooning about the past.

She listened as Liam recounted the last month and a half. Three of their former classmates had recently died in suspicious accidents. As soon as he mentioned their names, Paige knew the connection—they were all survivors of the bus crash that had killed her brother and four other students. When Liam added the attack on him and Jonah, she leaned forward.

“Where’s Jonah now?” Paige asked.

“I took him to my parents’ place in Savannah. He’ll be safe there, and they love when he visits.”

“Did you tell your parents what was going on?” Shelley asked.

“Only the bare bones. They knew something was up, but I didn’t want to worry them more than was necessary.”

He pinched the skin between his brows, released it. The small gesture was telling—he was worried but wanted to spare his parents the same. It reminded her of the boy she’d known from high school, the one who put others first. “What about the police? Have you told them?”

“I tried, but they brushed it off. I didn’t have enough evidence—in fact, I don’t have any at all—to prove that the deaths are related, much less murder. So far, everything has been made to look like an accident. One was a fall. Another died in a diving accident, and a third when an electrical short caused a fire in his house.”

“The police didn’t see the connection?” Shelley asked, a line forming between her brows.

“If I weren’t part of it, I don’t think I’d see the connection. Just three random accidents of people who happened to have been in the same class a decade and a half ago.”

Would he share the details of that long-ago accident with Shelley?

“Fifteen years ago, I was in a school bus accident,” he told Shelley. “The driver fell asleep, and the bus went over a bridge into a river. Five kids died. I was the strongest swimmer and, along with a couple of other boys, was able to save several kids, but we