Cornered At Christmas

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“I’m being honest. I can’t tell you who’s after me or why,” she said on a sharp sigh. It was more than she’d planned to say. He could tell by her tense body language.

“How do you know someone’s targeting you then?”

“It has to do with Randy Bristol, my foster father, but that’s all I know.” Thunder clapped and it got her feet moving into the babies’ room again. “I know you wouldn’t put either of these two in harm’s way, Mitch. Believe me when I say trouble is coming your way whether you choose to acknowledge it or not. That part’s up to you, but I can’t let them get to my babies.”

“You lost rights to these two when you died,” he fired back.

“It’s pretty plain to see that I’m still here,” she said.

“Not in the court’s eyes,” he shot back.

“Try and stop me,” she dared to say.

“Take another step toward those cribs and I’ll do just that. Then I’ll call Zach.” He referred to his cousin, the sheriff, to rattle her. “He’ll arrest you, which is something you said you can’t afford.”

She issued a sharp grunt but stopped. “You wouldn’t do that to me.”

“Try me.”

Chapter Five (#u8a2678ba-1ad0-5002-bd7a-d59d385ca9bb)

Kimberly stared at Mitch. His set jaw and narrowed gaze challenged her. Her back was against the wall, because that look said he wasn’t going anywhere until she confessed. The only progress she’d made so far was the fact that he was listening to her.

“Someone is trying to get rid of me. This is somehow related to my foster father, but I don’t know how or why. He warned me, sort of cryptically right before he supposedly drowned but was really killed, and then the deputy who interviewed me strongly insinuated that I benefited the most from his death. That night someone came after me directly,” Kimberly admitted, and it was like a huge weight lifted off her by being able to say those words out loud.

He looked at her like she was crazy. She couldn’t exactly blame him.

“I never knew you were in the system.” He paused a minute as though to let his brain click puzzle pieces into place. “You said your parents died when you were a teenager, and you had to spend high school living with a sick aunt who’d since passed away.”

She shot him a look. “I’m sorry that I lied before. He is the only father I’ve known. It wouldn’t have helped if I’d told you the truth.”

“How can you say that?” he shot back. “It seems to me that it matters a whole helluva lot that I had no idea who my wife really was and now my life is in danger.”

How stupid had she been to think she could pull off a marriage and family when the creeps were never far behind? Granted she hadn’t known she was marrying one of the wealthiest and most eligible bachelors in Texas at the time. His downplayed clothing, calloused hands and rugged good looks made him seem like a salt-of-the-earth type, a cowboy and not a wealthy ranch owner.