Truth And Consequences

THE PROTECTOR’S MISSION

Honoring a promise to a fallen comrade, former army medic David Evans heads to Arizona to check up on the soldier’s sister. But as his train pulls into Desert Valley, David witnesses a drug run gone wrong and narrowly avoids the bullets flying his way. And when the police show up, he discovers the investigating officer is the woman he’s supposed to look after. With a fiercely protective K-9 partner and a new badge, Whitney Godwin insists she can take care of herself and her infant daughter. But the criminals want both David and Whitney permanently silenced, so David will stop at nothing to protect the family he yearns to join.

Rookie K-9 Unit: These lawmen solve the toughest cases with the help of their brave canine partners

“You were amazing out there,” David said.

He meant that. “If anything had happened to you—”

Whitney shook her head. “Your overly protective attitude is kind of chivalrous, but I told you I had it covered. I can take care of myself.”

“And I told you, I wasn’t about to leave you there.”

“Would you have left a male officer?” she asked.

David glanced at her, hoping to make her understand. But she had him on that one.

“But because I’m a rookie and a woman, you felt the need to rush in and help me. Don’t do that again.”

Wow. She sure had a chip on her pretty shoulder. Seemed she also had a lot to prove. “It’s not in my nature to just leave a woman alone when she could be in danger. I’m not sorry I stayed.”

“Well, cowboy, I do appreciate your assistance, but hopefully there won’t be another time for you to play the hero.”

ROOKIE K-9 UNIT:

These lawmen solve the toughest cases with the help of their brave canine partners

Protect and Serve—Terri Reed, April 2016

Truth and Consequences—Lenora Worth, May 2016 Seek and Find—Dana Mentink, June 2016 Honor and Defend—Lynette Eason, July 2016 Secrets and Lies—Shirlee McCoy, August 2016 Search and Rescue—Valerie Hansen, September 2016

LENORA WORTH writes award-winning romance and romantic suspense. Three of her books finaled in the ACFW Carol Awards, and her Love Inspired Suspense novel Body of Evidence became a New York Times bestseller. Her novella in Mistletoe Kisses made her a USA TODAY bestselling author. With sixty books published and millions in print, she goes on adventures with her retired husband, Don, and enjoys reading, baking and shopping…especially shoe shopping. Visit her on the web at lenoraworth.com.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

For where envying and contention is,

there is inconstancy, and every evil work.

—James 3:16

Many thanks to my fellow writers in this series—

Terri Reed, Lynette Eason, Shirlee McCoy, Dana Mentink and Valerie Hansen. I loved working with all of you.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

About the Author

Title Page

Bible Verse

Dedication

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

FOURTEEN

FIFTEEN

SIXTEEN

SEVENTEEN

EIGHTEEN

NINETEEN

TWENTY

Dear Reader

Extract

Copyright

ONE

“Next stop, Desert Valley, Arizona.”

David Evans took a deep breath and got up to exit the passenger train, glad to finally be at his destination. Now if he could locate the woman he’d come here to see.

There were only two other people left in this car. Two men wearing baseball caps and dark shades. They’d kept to themselves most of the trip from Los Angeles, and so had David. There was something about these two.

They grabbed their carry-on duffels and rushed out of their seats so fast they stumbled upon the car attendant coming up the aisle. Startled, one of them dropped his tattered black bag, causing it to rip open.

Several colorful bundles covered in shrink-wrap crashed onto the floor. Everything after that happened so fast—David’s blood pressure spiked, and he felt himself slipping back into the arid mountains of Afghanistan.

The attendant’s surprise turned to realization, his gaze moving from the two men to the packages spilling from the duffel.

“Keep moving, old man,” one of the men told the attendant. “Don’t you have someplace else to be?”

The attendant stared at the bag. “No, can’t do that. I’m afraid I’ll have to report this immediately.”

“Wrong answer.” One of them pulled a knife on the frightened older attendant, stabbing him in the stomach. The attendant went down on his knees, shock and fear evident in his wide-eyed stare.

David saw the whole thing from his seat a few feet up the aisle. While the two argued about leaving without the packages they’d dropped, David hurried to help the injured man.

But one of the men pulled out a gun and pointed it at David, his expression hard-edged while his trigger finger twitched. “Get out of here. Now.”

David glanced up at the man holding a gun on him and then down at the bleeding man lying on the floor of the passenger train. “I’m not leaving. I’m a medic, and this man needs help.”

He braced himself and knelt down beside the attendant, fully expecting to be shot. Which was kind of ironic since he’d just returned from Afghanistan. He’d managed to survive the front lines, and now he might be killed while trying to honor the promise he’d made to a dying soldier.