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Mountain Hideaway
Christy Barritt
No safe havenAfter being caught collecting evidence on her ex-boyfriend's criminal dealings, Tessa Jones has no choice but to go into hiding. She feels safe in her mountain refuge, right up until private investigator Trent McCabe comes knocking—and bullets start flying their way. Now for the second time, Tessa is on the run. And Trent’s mission has shifted from tracking down a missing person to keeping the brave beauty alive. Trent once lost a woman in his care, and he won’t make the same mistake again. But Tessa trusts no one—not even Trent. Out in the wilderness with danger closing in, Tessa must make a choice: rely on the handsome stranger…or take her chances with a killer.
NO SAFE HAVEN
After being caught collecting evidence on her ex-boyfriend’s criminal dealings, Tessa Jones has no choice but to go into hiding. She feels safe in her mountain refuge, right up until private investigator Trent McCabe comes knocking—and bullets start flying their way. Now for the second time, Tessa is on the run. And Trent’s mission has shifted from tracking down a missing person to keeping the brave beauty alive. Trent once lost a woman in his care, and he won’t make the same mistake again. But Tessa trusts no one—not even Trent. Out in the wilderness with danger closing in, Tessa must make a choice: rely on the handsome stranger...or take her chances with a killer.
“What will it take for you to trust me?”
Trent tried to get a better look at Tessa’s face in the blackness of the forest.
She shook her head. “The only person I can rely on is myself.”
But he saw the tears in her eyes and knew her walls were coming down. He glimpsed the woman lurking there, scared and alone. A fierce surge of protectiveness rose in him.
They couldn’t stay here. It wasn’t safe. “Let’s go back to the cabin.”
With hesitation, she put her hands in his. It wasn’t a romantic gesture, though the idea was appealing. It was a matter of survival, the two of them sticking together in the bleak wilderness.
He led her up the mountain, but as they neared his cabin, he pulled her behind a tree, his muscles tightening as instinct kicked in. Instinct that told him something was wrong.
He nodded toward the distance. “Listen.”
A crackle, followed by an explosion.
“What is that?” Tessa whispered.
“That was my cabin. It just went up in flames.”
He felt Tessa shudder.
They were here. The killers had found them. Again.
CHRISTY BARRITT’s books have won a Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Suspense and Mystery and have been twice nominated for the RT Reviewers’ Choice Best Book Award. She’s married to her Prince Charming, a man who thinks she’s hilarious—but only when she’s not trying to be. Christy’s a self-proclaimed klutz, an avid music lover and a road trip aficionado. For more information, visit her website at christybarritt.com (http://www.christybarritt.com).
Mountain Hideaway
Christy Barritt
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.
—Matthew 17:20
To all the children my husband and I work with every Sunday at Kempsville Christian—your faith inspires me. Thank you for being a part of my life.
Contents
Cover (#u096a05e1-b31e-5b58-bc4d-56638d0ab246)
Back Cover Text (#u09e08b2d-89e9-53ae-91e1-575b410f7e77)
Introduction (#u05914e1f-9b0d-5e60-9200-e0f18fdf4a77)
About the Author (#u5ff549a2-f895-5722-962b-31e2707dc317)
Title Page (#ud793a798-a57f-5bb4-b792-defd7cc96731)
Bible Verse (#u9e5e8f77-7cc5-5540-858c-f5b668493f00)
Dedication (#u2e871fa8-814c-5d7a-b87e-43a486eb69ec)
ONE (#u14a6353d-c69b-5e80-8eff-ff6a63a5d865)
TWO (#u81e50e36-b2bd-51e5-a287-0849f6785ccf)
THREE (#ub81dae2b-5e39-5e50-b665-2839d7e2dba8)
FOUR (#u2b0db7d0-4ff3-5333-8d58-31c17d45762d)
FIVE (#u42cdbdb2-4d04-55f3-b445-eea25316757f)
SIX (#litres_trial_promo)
SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)
NINE (#litres_trial_promo)
TEN (#litres_trial_promo)
ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
TWELVE (#litres_trial_promo)
THIRTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
FOURTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
FIFTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
SIXTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
SEVENTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
EIGHTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
NINETEEN (#litres_trial_promo)
TWENTY (#litres_trial_promo)
TWENTY-ONE (#litres_trial_promo)
TWENTY-TWO (#litres_trial_promo)
EPILOGUE (#litres_trial_promo)
Dear Reader (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
ONE (#ulink_8599f164-39b0-509f-a34d-9e94356f6a66)
Tessa Jones flung herself across the couch toward the lamp and pulled the switch so hard the ceramic base nearly toppled onto the wooden floor below. With quick breaths, she darted toward the wall.
She pulled her sweater closer around her neck and forced air into her lungs. Anxiety pressed down on her and adrenaline surged, the mix making her head spin.
Slowly, she edged toward the window. She had to look. She had no choice.
With all the lights extinguished in her home, anyone lurking outside shouldn’t see her. Still, she had to be careful. She had no idea who or what was on the other side of that glass. Here in the middle of nowhere, there were no neighbors to hear her scream, to rush to her rescue. If something happened to her, she might not be found for days.
That had worked to her advantage...until today.
At this moment, she craved having someone nearby to help her, to be a second set of eyes. But she’d been mentally preparing for months to be self-reliant if a situation like this ever occurred. She’d only hoped it would never come to this.
As she turned toward the window, her eyes adjusted to the darkness. She stared hard yet cautiously into the abyss of thick woods surrounding the property.
Certainly, the speck of light bobbing on the horizon had just been her imagination. There was no one out there among the trees and the steep landscape of the mountain terrain. There couldn’t be. No one even knew this place was here.
Blackness stared back, and her heart slowed.
It had been her imagination. Just her imagination. Maybe her paranoia. It didn’t matter, as long as what she’d seen hadn’t been real.
Just then something flickered in the distance.
She blinked, her momentary relief instantly vanishing. She clutched her chest as her heart thumped out of control. Despite the cold, sweat spread across her forehead.
The light was small, like a flashlight, and it continued to bob through the woods.
Someone was walking. Toward the cabin. Toward her.
Leo’s men had found her, she realized.
Fear paralyzed her.
It didn’t matter that she’d run through this potential scenario a million times. That she’d rehearsed what she would do. That she’d planned the best course of escape.
Right now, all of those thoughts disappeared.
She’d been here eight months. She’d thought she was safe. She’d prayed she was.
But God had stopped answering her prayers a long time ago.
The beam grew larger as it neared the property. Whoever was holding the light had probably seen the lamp on. Knew that Tessa was here. Hiding, at this point, would be fruitless.
No, she had to run.
She shook her head, thoughts colliding inside.
If she ran, the mountains would kill her, even if whoever was after her didn’t. It was too dark. There were too many cliffs. Too many unknowns.
Either way, she had to move, and now!
She grabbed a backpack from her closet. She’d put it together just in case something like this ever happened. It had a flashlight, some cash, some water and a small blanket. After she slung the bag over her shoulders, she crept to the back door. She had to be decisive, to stop hesitating. If she wasn’t, the person out there would reach the cabin and might hear her leave. Might sneak around to the back and catch her.
It took every ounce of her determination to pull the door open. A brisk wind blew inside. Though it was late autumn, the air felt brutally cold here in the middle of the mountains, especially at night.
She was going to miss this cabin. Miss this life.
The thought of starting over again made Tessa’s head pound, made her feel as though a rock had been placed on her chest.
But she’d have time to worry about that later. Right now, she had to concentrate on surviving.
She quietly closed the door behind her. On her tiptoes, she started toward the woodshed in the distance. She’d hide out there and see what unfolded. She didn’t have much choice. If the intruder came too close, she could dart into the woods. She’d take her chances there before she’d take them at the hands of the ruthless men who Leo had probably sent after her.
Ducking behind the rough wood of the shed, she crouched, desperate to stay concealed. As the wind blew, the leaves swept across the ground. The sound, normally comforting, made her nerves tighten.
She held her breath, listening for any indications of the intruder.
She heard nothing.
That was when her mind began running through scenarios and she remembered—
Her car!
Of course, anyone after her would see her car. They’d know she was here. They’d tear everything apart until they found her. And once they found her... She shuddered to think of what would happen then.
If she somehow happened to escape, they could easily trace her license plate. They’d put one and one together. She felt hunted and as if there was no safe place for her to hide. Her cubbyhole away from the world had been compromised.
She’d have to start over again with a new identity, a new home, a new everything.
How could she go on like this for the rest of her life? Living with this kind of fear wasn’t living at all. It was surviving.
Just as she closed her eyes, on the verge of praying for mercy, she heard a bang. She clutched her chest. As she peered around the corner, the back door flung open.
