Rescue At Cedar Lake

SNOWBOUND WITH A KILLER

Called in to work with a patient, therapist Theresa Vaughan didn’t anticipate being held hostage by a killer in a snowbound lake cottage...or rescued by her former fiancé. But now bodyguard Alex Dean is the only thing standing between Theresa and certain death, and her patient—who was supposed to be under Alex’s sister’s protection—has disappeared. Alex can’t fail on this mission, or in the eyes of the woman he once loved, so he has to convince her to trust him. With his sister’s client missing, a blizzard raging and a killer closing in, he must make a choice. Will he look to the future and focus on locating the missing charge...or remember the past and save Theresa?

He had to get to her.

He looked up the cliff. “Theresa? I’m on my way up.”

No answer. Snow fell heavily, and the wind beat against him. For every step, he slid back three. Where was she? A shiver of fear brushed his spine. “Theresa? You there?”

All he heard in response was a scream for help that filled his heart with dread. Theresa was in danger.

“Hold on! I’m coming!”

He scrambled to the top, his heart pounding like a fist inside his rib cage. He tried to get around the car that hovered over the cliff, but he couldn’t catch his grip.

“Alex, help!” Her voice floated on the wind.

He grabbed the twisted bumper and hoisted himself up onto the hood. The unstable car groaned beneath him, and he knew he’d have only one shot to save himself. He leaped for the branch above him at the same time the car plunged into the frozen lake.

And then he heard it. The deafening, unmistakable sound of a gunshot.

Dear Reader,

I love writing about the characters that inhabit the small town of Briggs, Idaho. They never cease to amaze me, especially the children.

Each time I sit down to write a new book, I think I know my characters inside and out, but somewhere during the course of writing their story they take on their own identities. Suddenly, the past I carefully designed for each character doesn’t meet their needs, so they up and change it. What’s even more surprising is when they change a secret desire I clearly thought they needed. Most of the time, it turns out to be something completely different than what I’d planned.

That’s the writing process…at least for me.

This story took on a darker tone than most of my books, with a deeper meaning. I wanted to delve into betrayal and loss, but I never expected to also take on abandonment, forgiveness and, eventually, acceptance.

That’s not to say all the humor is gone. It’s not. But this time, it’s wrapped in a bit more drama than I had originally intended.

I hope you enjoy A Cowboy in Her Arms as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Please come visit me on Twitter, @maryleoauthor, or at Facebook.com/maryleoauthor, and while you’re there, please sign up for my newsletter.

All my best,

Mary

MAGGIE K. BLACK is an award-winning journalist and romantic suspense author with an insatiable love of traveling the world. She has lived in the American South, Europe and the Middle East. She now makes her home in Canada with her history-teacher husband, their two beautiful girls and a small but mighty dog. Maggie enjoys connecting with her readers at maggiekblack.com.

Rescue at Cedar Lake

Maggie K. Black

www.millsandboon.co.uk

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak.

—Ecclesiastes 3:1, 7

With thanks to my amazing agent, Melissa Jeglinski, my wonderful editor, Emily Rodmell, the whole Love Inspired team and the incredible group of other Love Inspired writers who encourage me onward in the battle to turn stories into words.

I am very grateful to be surrounded by so many strong and talented women. You inspire 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

SIXTEEN

EPILOGUE

Extract

Copyright

ONE

Alex Dean fixed his sharp blue eyes on the screen of his Ash Private Security laptop and prayed hard for his stepsister, Zoe, to answer the secure video call. Winter winds howled through the trees outside and shook the frost-covered windows of the Dean family cottage. A storm was coming. The video call kept ringing. He ran his hand over the back of his neck where sandy blond hair brushed the collar of his leather jacket. Where was she?

Zoe wasn’t just family. She was a colleague and fellow bodyguard who’d joined him in helping their boss, Daniel Ash, create Ash Private Security. Despite being four foot eleven, she was every bit as strong and savvy a fighter as the rest of the team. Not to mention her assignment had been a very simple one—to bring a stressed-out university student up to the remote shores of Cedar Lake, Ontario, for a weekend of quiet studying. Not a high risk assignment by any means. The twenty-year-old client, Mandy Rhodes, came from one of the high-powered families they’d grown up knowing because their families all had cottages at the isolated lake. She was also the second cousin of their close friend Joshua, who was overseas completing his final few months of military service.