Ranch Hideout

COMPROMISED SECURITY

When an armed thug attacks the only witness to a mob murder, Liz Madison Kennedy fears her hideout in rural Tennessee has been compromised. But a handsome stranger, who’s also staying at the Little Pigeon Ranch, saves her life...and makes Liz feel safe for the first time in ages. Undercover FBI agent Gabriel Decker has one mission: make sure Liz lives to testify. But with her location leaked, he can’t keep his identity hidden from her. Once his secret’s revealed, though, Liz no longer seems to trust him—or their fledgling friendship. Yet with a relentless killer in pursuit as they flee into the mountains, Gabriel is all who stands between her and a deadly bullet.

“Liz, I think we need a do over.”

Gabriel spied a bale of hay on the other side of the alley and pointed to it. “I’m going to sit down over there. When you’re through with what you’re doing, come sit with me and let’s see if I can’t make amends for upsetting you.”

Her mouth opened, but she didn’t speak. It was as if she was debating whether or not she wanted to listen to anything he had to say. Then she nodded. “All right. I’ll put Cricket back in his stall, and then I’ll be back.”

He smiled. “I’ll wait for you.”

A minute later, Liz walked back and stopped in front of him. “Okay, here I am. What do you want to talk to me about?”

“I want...” he began, but the words froze in his mouth at the sight of a red laser dot focused on the center of Liz’s forehead.

With a strangled cry, he lunged from the hay bale, tackled her around the legs and fell to the ground on top of her just as a bullet whizzed past their heads.

Dear Reader,

I hope you enjoyed reading Ranch Hideout. I wrote this story because I wanted to impress upon readers the importance of relying on God. In this story Liz faced what seemed to be an insurmountable problem, but she knew she wasn’t facing it alone. She did what we all should do when we find ourselves facing something that threatens to overwhelm us—she put her faith in God. He has told us that He is sufficient to meet our needs, make our lives richer and give us peace. If you haven’t done so, I pray you will put your trust in God and experience the strength and peace that will come from it.

Sandra Robbins

SANDRA ROBBINS is an award-winning, multipublished author of Christian fiction who lives with her husband in Tennessee. Without the support of her wonderful husband, four children and five grandchildren, it would be impossible for her to write. It is her prayer that God will use her words to plant seeds of hope in the lives of her readers so they may come to know the peace she draws from her life.

Ranch Hideout

Sandra Robbins

www.millsandboon.co.uk

The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise Him.

—Psalms 28:7

To my husband who’s always there to support and help me

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

Extract

Copyright

ONE

Liz Madison realized her mistakes too late. First, she shouldn’t have dawdled in the theater lobby studying the posters for coming attractions when the movie was over. By the time she exited the building, the parking lot had emptied, and her car sat in its lone spot in the late afternoon’s gathering darkness. Second, she really should have been more attentive to her surroundings. If she had been, she would have heard the man’s footsteps behind her, and she could have made a run for it.

Now she found herself pressed face-first against the driver’s side of her car with her hands splayed against the window, her keys dangling from her fingers. A choking sound escaped her throat as a hand tightened around her neck, and her attacker pressed a gun against her head.

A sudden gust of wind swished her long skirt around her legs, but she trembled more from fear than from the cold. A man’s face rubbed against her cheek, and the fabric of the ski mask he wore scratched her skin. The smell of tobacco assaulted her senses as his warm breath rippled over her face. “Don’t make a noise, lady, or it’ll be the last one you ever make.”

Liz closed her eyes and tried to keep from retching. “Wh-what do you want?”

“Let’s start with your money,” he said. His body kept her pinned against the car as one hand pushed the gun harder against her head and the other rifled through her jacket pockets. He pulled her cell phone out and threw it to the ground before he reached back in for her wallet.

The reprieve of his hold on her neck gave her the opportunity to glance over her shoulder. His attention was directed to the cash in her wallet. A moment later, he snorted in disgust, and the gun pressed against her head again.

“Fifty dollars?” he snarled. “You only carry fifty dollars?”

“I—I never carry much money,” she answered.