CAUGHT IN THE CROSSHAIRS
Held hostage on a train, ex-lawyer Morgan Thorsby finds her powers of persuasion failing her for the first time. Former marine sniper Brady Owens is her only hopeâbut his split-second hesitation on the trigger leaves her wounded. Yet when an obsessed stalker threatens Morgan, Brady steps up. Protecting someone so tough and beautiful is hardly a chore, but Brady pulls back every time they get close. Morgan isnât ready for the connection forming between them, either, but she knows she needs his help. Can Brady capture the culprit in time for Christmas?
First Responders: Brave men and women alert and ready for danger and love.
A scream pierced the air. Shattering glass followed.
The kitchen. Morgan.
Adrenaline rekindled in his veins. His hand on his sidearm, he closed the distance to the kitchen in a few strides. He stepped inside, his boots grinding over broken glass. Morgan stood by the sink, physically unharmed, but her face was white.
âSomeone was here. He leftââ Her words were barely more than a whisper.
Brady looked around. He saw nothing odd other than the glass sheâd dropped on the wood floor. âLeft what?â
âThose.â She pointed at the countertop. âI didnât leave them there.â
Brady looked at the counter, then back at her ashen face. His pulse kicked into high gear, and he drew his weapon. It was a good thing heâd walked Morgan home. A very good thing.
Brady needed to check the other rooms for an intruder, but he also wanted to take a better look at the photograph lying under a long-stemmed red rose.
The downright creepy photo was an engagement announcement. A man sat next to Morgan, but some picture-editing program had left only a silhouette with the words Your One True Love superimposed on it. The caption below read, âYou are mine. You will marry no one but me.â
ONE
The gun couldnât be real. Could it?
Morgan Thorsby clutched her friend Lacyâs arm and scooted back from the gun-wielding man charging onto the MAX light rail train. Brisk, chilling air rushed in behind him as she looked at the silvery gun glinting in the overhead light.
The weapon looked real. Very real.
The man took a step closer. Anger radiated from his body. His breathing was ragged as he made a quick survey of the space, skimming tortured eyes over the few passengers on board this late at night.
Please, God, donât let this be real, Morgan begged, her heart thumping in her chest. She fought to control her fear and studied the manâs jittery behavior.
Could he be one of those shooters whoâd been pushed beyond his breaking point until heâd decided to randomly kill people? She couldnât just sit here and wait to find out. Her life was in immediate danger and it was up to her to protect herself. She had to do something, but what?
Run. Hide. Fight. The active shooter video sheâd viewed at work rushed through her mind. The video taught them not to sit back passively but to run, hide or fight. She couldnât run. She couldnât hide. She could fight. But how? With what?
She searched the train looking for a weapon. Any weapon.
The manâs distressed gaze landed on her with a finality that took her breath away.
âHeâs coming toward us.â Lacy grabbed Morganâs hand.
âDonât panic,â Morgan said and forced herself to look into the gunmanâs eyes. She saw no life in the depths. Desperation, panic, yes, but nothing to prove he was alive.
Oh no. No.
She knew this man. Sheâd seen him in the sea of men and women whoâd brought a class-action lawsuit against her familyâs company, claiming Thorsby Mill had polluted the water and caused cancer in the residents. As the companyâs attorney at that time, sheâd seen the plaintiffsâ turmoil day in and day out during the trial.
Plaintiffs whoâd threatened her life then and continued to send threatening letters after the mill had been cleared of any wrongdoing. The gunman was one of those people. And that meant heâd come for her. Her alone.
Her heart raced faster. Beating at an unstoppable gallop.