Classified Christmas Mission

UNDERCOVER GUARDIAN

Days before Christmas, CIA agent Amber Starke is on the run with her murdered best friend’s special-needs son. And they’re next on his criminal father’s hit list. Amber failed her undercover mission to bring down her friend’s husband for his crimes, but she won’t fail to protect her friend’s son. Now that the killer knows she’s not just a nanny but an agent, she must rely on her childhood crush, Deputy Lance Goode. The handsome lawman was burned in love by his first wife, who was killed while evading the law. But he’ll do everything he can to help Amber, except offer his heart. Unlocking the secrets in Amber’s autistic charge is the key to their survival, but with the killer on their trail, one mistake could cost them their lives.

“You have no one to trust.”

Amber didn’t need him reminding her.

“Well, now you’ve got me.”

She turned a fierce gaze on him. “You are going to leave and forget you ever saw the boy or me.”

Lance stood his ground. “That’s not happening. You’re stuck with me.”

“I don’t think you understand. The last two people who got involved with me are dead. I can’t let that happen to you.”

“And yet you came home,” he said softly.

Only to get something she desperately needed.

She gave a humorless laugh. “Is there supposed to be some psychological meaning to that?”

“What do you think?”

She glanced toward the house. “Maybe there is. I’ve been in a lot of tight spots, but this time I might be in over my head.”

“Then let me help.”

She met his gaze. “You could be putting yourself in the kind of danger that people don’t live to talk about.”

He didn’t flinch. “It wouldn’t be the first time.”

Dear Reader,

I hope you enjoyed reading Lance and Amber’s story as much as I enjoyed writing it! I loved writing Lance a healing story. He’d been through so much pain with the betrayal and eventual death of his first wife that I knew it would take someone super special to make him give up on the idea that he should be alone the rest of his life. And I knew that someone special was Amber. Of course she had her own baggage to deal with, but who doesn’t? We all have our issues, but it’s how we handle them that determines what the future will hold for us. Lance was still somewhat bitter about his past and yet coming to an acceptance of it as well when the story began. He had found some contentment when Amber dropped into his world and rocked it to the foundation. But Lance stood strong and his true character came out and he behaved like the hero he was meant to be, not based on his own power, but because he relied on God to be his strength. I pray that if you find yourself in a tough situation where you are faced with choosing bitterness or letting God heal you, I pray you choose God.

And thank you for choosing to read this story. I pray God’s blessings over you.

LYNETTE EASON is a bestselling, award-winning author who makes her home in South Carolina with her husband and two teenage children. She enjoys traveling, spending time with her family and teaching at various writing conferences around the country. She is a member of RWA (Romance Writers of America) and ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers). Lynette can often be found online interacting with her readers. You can find her at Facebook.com/lynette.eason and on Twitter, @lynetteeason.

Classified Christmas Mission

Lynette Eason

www.millsandboon.co.uk

He will cover you with His feathers,

and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

—Psalms 91:4

Dedicated to my family. I love you so much.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

About the Author

Title Page

Bible Verse

Dedication

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

FOURTEEN

FIFTEEN

SIXTEEN

SEVENTEEN

EIGHTEEN

EPILOGUE

Extract

Copyright

ONE

CIA officer Amber Starke pressed the gas pedal and prayed that she wouldn’t slide over the cliff and into the ravine below. She was trying to escape killers, not plunge to her death because she got careless in bad weather. But she couldn’t see the road she needed. It was around here somewhere, but her childhood memory was vague, the exact location of the drive refusing to rise to the surface. Of course it was dark and her windshield resembled a field of white.

The sun continued to drop along with the temperature and the snow-stressed windshield wipers slowed as ice started to form on them. Amber knew it would be time to find a place to hole up and she had just the destination in mind.

If they could get there.

She’d been driving for the last seventeen hours stopping only for restroom breaks and food. She hadn’t planned to do so, but her young passenger hadn’t protested so she’d kept going. Yesterday it had been fifteen hours of the same. She didn’t know why Sam had been so agreeable in riding almost nonstop, but she just counted her blessings and kept going.

She glanced in the rearview mirror and breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of the sleeping child. The six-year-old who didn’t like change had just had his life turned upside down. With a dead mother and killer for a father, Amber knew she was the child’s only hope to live to see seven. She just prayed she could make that happen. But in order to do that, she had to figure out how to coax the secrets from his brain before his father caught up with them. Fortunately, Sam loved road trips. She had a feeling it was because there were very few distractions and plenty of game time on his phone to entertain him. She’d gotten him a special phone that was encrypted and untraceable. He didn’t know that, but it sure made her feel better.