âYouâre not going to get rid of me, not going to talk me into walking away.â
âI told Kane that if you were alive, Iâd find you and get you home safely. Thatâs exactly what I intend to do.â
âI donât need a protector, Jonas.â She smiled, trying to lighten the mood, but his eyes flashed and a muscle in his jaw clenched.
âThereâs something you need to understand. I always finish what I start.â He turned on his heel, walked to the door and opened it, disappearing inside before she could respond.
That was probably for the best.
There was nothing she could add to the conversation that would change anything. Jonas had his mission. She had hers. For now, they converged. Soon enough, theyâd both fulfill their goals. When they did, theyâd part ways and go on with their lives.
That was the way it was supposed to be.
That was the way she should want it to be.
She just wasnât sure she did.
Dear Reader,
Tragedy often brings us to a place of choices. Will we hold tight to our faith or will we doubt what we believe? Jonas Sampson has stood in that place. After the murder of his wife and unborn son, he questions his purpose and struggles to hold his faith. When heâs asked to help find missing private investigator Skylar Grady, he agrees. But getting Skylar back to safety is more complicated than he expects. As he and Skylar work to uncover a killerâs plan, Jonas must search his heart and learn that no matter how far we roam, God is only a prayer away.
I hope you enjoyed reading Lone Defender as much as I enjoyed writing it! I love to hear from readers. If you have time, drop me a line at [email protected].
Wherever you go, whatever you do, may you feel the fullness of Godâs ever-present love.
Blessings,
Dying shouldnât be so difficult.
At least, in Skylar Gradyâs estimation it shouldnât be.
The way she saw it, if it were her time to die, she should be allowed to go quickly. No fuss. No muss. No wandering through the wilderness for days.
Her time to die?
No way did she plan for it to be that.
Then again, she hadnât planned to get lost in the Sonoran Desert, but there she was.
Lost.
She frowned, forcing herself to keep walking toward the shadowy mesa. A couple more miles and sheâd be there. God willing, civilization would be on the other side. It better be, because six days with no food and minimal water had taken its toll. Much as she wanted to deny it, truth was truth. If she didnât find her way out soon, she wouldnât find her way out at all.
And that would be a shame. Not just because Skylar would be dead but because it also meant that the guy whoâd drugged her, driven her out into the desert and left her to die would get away with it.
That definitely wasnât how Skylar planned for things to play out.
Unfortunately, she wasnât sure she had much of a choice in the matter.
Desert wilderness stretched out as far as the eye could see. No roads. No buildings. Nothing but an endless landscape of cacti and low-lying desert scrub, with the mesa in the distance. Itâs all sheâd seen since sheâd left her jeep, everything she had lived, breathed and felt for six days. She wanted out with a desperation that left her hollow and empty inside.
If there wasnât something or someone on the other side of the mesaâ¦
She pulled her thoughts up short. Going there wouldnât help things. She had to keep walking, keep moving and, above all, keep hoping.
Lightning flashed in the distance, and the quiet rumble of thunder followed. Another storm. Was it the third or fourth since sheâd made the decision to leave the rental jeep sheâd woken in?
Did it matter?
Another winter storm meant water. Water meant life.
Her foot caught in thick desert scrub, and she fell hard, her breath leaving on a painful gasp. She forced herself up again, shivering as icy wind seeped through her T-shirt. Warm days. Cold nights. Sunburned skin and bone-deep chill. Theyâd taken their toll, and she wanted to rest more than just about anything.
But not more than she wanted to live.
Not more than she wanted justice.
And she did want that.
Someone had tried to kill her. She was going to find out who, she was going to find out why and she was going to smile when her would-be murderer was thrown in jail. First, though, she had to survive.
One trudging painful step after another to the mesa.
That was the only way to do it.
All around her, the night throbbed with energy and life; creatures moving in the darkness. Slithering, creeping, jumping creatures.
Were there wildcats in the desert?
Skylar didnât know, and she didnât want to find out.
Something shifted in the blackness, a deep shadow against the darkness. She blinked and it was gone, leaving nothing but a stillness that made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. Something was out there. Something that was stalking her through the blackness. Skylar was as sure of that as she was of anything.