AGENT UNDERCOVER
DEA agent Tyler Griffin must stop a drug cartel thatâs using an Idaho Christmas tree farm to smuggle narcotics across the Canadian border. But to do his job, Tyler needs the cooperation of farm owner and widowed mother Heather Larson-Randallâwhose informant brother died on Tylerâs watch. Tyler knows a crucial piece of evidence is hidden somewhere on the property. But getting the protective mother to trust him is the hardest part of his mission. As threats against Heather mount, he vows to keep her and her child safe...and clear the farm of danger before Christmas.
Northern Border Patrol: Keeping the US-Canadian border safe..
âYou really do believe my brother was murdered?â Heather asked.
Tyler nodded. âI do. Whatever information he had found about the drug mastermind cost him his life.â
And now put her and her son in danger.
She shook her head. âNo, you cost him his life. You pushed him to do something he wasnât trained to do.â
The sharp tip of her barb hit him squarely in the gut. âA fact I will have to live with,â Tyler stated with more regret than she could possibly know. âBelieve me, I wish I had done things differently.â
Tyler had been doing his job. A job that wasnât finished. âIf I am going to bring his murderers to justice, I need to find the notebook he told me he had.â
She held his gaze. âThatâs why you broke into the house.â
âI didnât break in. As I said, your brother gave me a key. Heâd said if anything happened to him that Iâd find what I needed here at the farm.â
Well, something had happened. Something terrible. And he wasnât going to let anything happen to Heather and her boy.
TERRI REEDâs romance and romantic suspense novels have appeared on Publishers Weekly top twenty-five and Nielsen BookScanâs top one hundred lists and have been featured in USA TODAY, Christian Fiction Magazine and RT Book Reviews. Her books have finaled in the Romance Writers of America RITA® Award contest, the National Readersâ Choice Award contest and three times in the American Christian Fiction Writersâ Carol Award contest. Contact Terri at terrireed.com or PO Box 19555, Portland, OR 97224.
Every good and perfect gift is from above,
coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
âJames 1:17
This book is dedicated to my family for all the support
and love you give me every day. God blessed me greatly with a wonderful husband and two fabulous kids.
ONE
âGood night, sweet boy.â Heather Larson-Randall leaned in to kiss her six-year-old sonâs forehead.
âNight, Mommy.â Colin snuggled deeper beneath the thick comforter. He lay in the twin-size bed in the room that once had been Heatherâs.
Gone were the decorations of her adolescenceâposters of the latest celebrity heartthrob and her 4-H ribbons and trophies. It had taken the past three days to transform the room in a superhero motif that would have made Ken, her late husband, proud.
A cold draft skated across the back of her neck. The late November night had grown chilly, but at least the northern Idaho rain had abated for now. The weatherman had predicted a drop in temperature over the next few days. Fitting for this yearâs Thanksgiving. She just needed to get through the day for Colinâs sake. Then she could concentrate on Christmas.
Hopefully celebrating the birth of Jesus would take her mind off her brotherâs tragic death.
She also hoped they had snow by Christmas morning. Colin loved the snow. And, as always, her lifeâs priority was Colin.
She moved to the bedroom door. The creak of the old farmhouseâs hardwood floor beneath her feet followed each of her steps, echoing the hollow, lonely beat of her heart.
âMommy?â
Pausing in the doorway with her hand hovering over the light switch, she smiled patiently at her son. Colin looked so much like Ken with his dark brown hair falling over one eye and his dimpled chin. She ached with love for her son and regret that heâd never know his father. âYes, sweetie?â
Her late parents had taught her that replacing the word what with the more positive yes when talking to children created a strong, effective bond. The proof was in how close her family had been.
Colinâs big blue-green eyes stared at her intently. âDo you think Uncle Seth is with Daddy and Grandma and Grandpa?â
The innocent question speared through her like a hot poker. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep the tears of grief at bay. Five years ago, just before Colinâs first birthday, her husband had been killed while serving his country in Afghanistan, leaving Heather to raise their son alone. Sheâd made sure every day that Colin knew his father had loved him. Adding to her grief, her parents had been killed in a freak car accident when Colin was four.