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Safe At Hawk's Landing
Rita Herron
She’s sworn to protect her students—he’s sworn to protect herCharlotte Reacher is the only witness to a human-trafficking abduction and FBI agent Lucas Hawk will have his work cut out for him keeping her safe. But is it more than just work…
She’s sworn to protect her students—he’s sworn to protect her
Charlotte Reacher found her calling teaching art therapy to teens. But when her attempt to stop a kidnapping leaves her wounded and unable to see anything beyond trauma and fear, she’s hesitant to trust the stranger who promises to keep her safe.
FBI agent Lucas Hawk knows Charlotte’s the only witness to the human-trafficking abduction that shook his Texas hometown. Determined to find the victims, he must convince her to work with him—even while resisting his growing desire for her. Every hour is critical for the kidnapped girls. And every breath Charlotte takes could be her last.
Badge of Justice
Lucas stiffened. Something was wrong.
Charlotte gasped for a breath, her fingernails digging into his palm. “Help…”
He cradled her hand between both of his, soothing her. “You’re safe now, Charlotte. You’re in the hospital and you’re safe.” But those four teenagers weren’t.
She pushed at the sheets and grabbed the bed rail with her free hand. “I…can’t see,” she whispered between choked breaths. “I can’t see you. I can’t see anything.”
Lucas’s pulse clamored. “You mean you can’t see the shooter? You were in the studio, weren’t you? Or did you and the girls hide?”
“No…I was there,” she cried, her chest heaving. “They stormed in and took them. I tried to save them, but the big one shot me and hit me in the head.”
He leaned over the bed and stroked her arm. “Charlotte, it’s okay, I know it was terrifying and you wanted to save your students. Just tell me what you saw and we can still save them.”
“You don’t understand. I can’t see. Anything.”
Safe at Hawk’s
Landing
Rita Herron
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
USA TODAY bestselling author RITA HERRON wrote her first book when she was twelve but didn’t think real people grew up to be writers. Now she writes so she doesn’t have to get a real job. A former kindergarten teacher and workshop leader, she traded storytelling to kids for writing romance, and now she writes romantic comedies and romantic suspense. Rita lives in Georgia with her family. She loves to hear from readers, so please visit her website, ritaherron.com (http://www.ritaherron.com).
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Special Agent Lucas Hawk—He will do anything to stop the human-trafficking ring targeting Texas—and to protect Charlotte Reacher, the only surviving witness to the men’s crimes.
Charlotte Reacher—Blinded by the men who kidnapped four students in her therapeutic art class, she must accept Lucas’s help and his protection in order to save the girls. But can she resist the sizzling attraction she feels for Lucas?
Evie Cranton—She shot one of her foster fathers when he tried to molest her. Could he have sold her out to the trafficking ring to get revenge?
Herman Stanley—This banker has made a fortune off swindling people out of their property—has he also been selling and buying girls into sex slavery?
Stefan Ludwig—Is he the head of the trafficking ring?
Earl Ramus—Lucas killed him to protect Charlotte. But dead men can’t talk—can they?
Geoffrey Williams—Could this city councilman be involved in the human-trafficking ring?
Louise Summerton—Her parents thought she ran away with a boy she met online. Was the meeting a setup to lure her into the hands of the trafficking ring?
To my beautiful daughter Elizabeth—who works tirelessly to help victims of domestic violence and prevent human trafficking.
So proud of you!
Love you always, Mom
Contents
Cover (#uf6eb4163-d930-5202-8ab8-6cb2e8c01e63)
Back Cover Text (#ue4077c6a-05e6-5e7b-b4c3-bbe23ff0b481)
Introduction (#u50a15621-4732-5f56-a578-4f54339b10d7)
Title Page (#u51218fb9-f939-58aa-bb78-0e5c64f0df28)
About the Author (#uad3f1b46-f678-5ed2-a790-b0fa36d9732c)
Cast of Characters (#u3fcb1035-e970-53ec-81f0-876093aa715b)
Dedication (#u0d7f71b3-a253-53eb-afd6-4a6cbce5b267)
Chapter One (#u1dbf731a-21aa-5600-a11d-9d5f564d3be8)
Chapter Two (#u7c47778c-b577-5106-9886-ce6e4c9f978c)
Chapter Three (#ue8c0739f-1e91-5b54-80e9-84cea2aa3635)
Chapter Four (#u10fdfd0a-5a01-50e5-abde-b88008ca1a8b)
Chapter Five (#ue5571570-faa9-523b-8e74-30bd01c4b17b)
Chapter Six (#u4a0a0525-0efe-5a30-9d2c-0936e2a82784)
Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seventeen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eighteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nineteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-One (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Two (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Three (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Four (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Five (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twenty-Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter One (#u879bc957-ee39-5475-897c-9277cac85550)
Charlotte Reacher knew what it was like to be alone. Without a home or family.
Unwanted. Unloved.
That loneliness had inspired her to start her art program for teenage girls in Tumbleweed, Texas. This particular group of four were all foster kids and needed reassurance and love.
She strolled through the studio smiling at the girls perched behind canvases that had once been blank slates, but now were being transformed. When they’d first organized the group six weeks ago, most of them had painted drab, colorless pictures, all grays and blacks, depicting the despair in their lives.
Not every girl had a bikini body, liked makeup and glamour magazines or cheerleading.
And not every girl had parents with the money to fix her flaws.
The confident ones knew how to socialize, make friends and express themselves, while others wilted on the inside, withdrew and suffered from low self-esteem. Cruel classmates complicated the situation with teasing and bullying, and caused the girls to die a little with every mean word said.
It had been the same for her, growing up in the system. Her port-wine birthmark had drawn cruel remarks and stares, killing her own confidence.
She brushed her fingers over her cheek. Thanks to a gifted and generous plastic surgeon, who’d offered her services to needy kids when Charlotte was eleven, the skin was smooth now, the birthmark gone.
Still, the internal scars remained. These girls had scars, too. Both physical and emotional.
But here—in her studio, Expressions—everyone was free to paint or draw whatever they wanted with no judgment.
She just hoped the small town of Tumbleweed embraced the teens. So far, the locals had been nice to her. She’d made friends with Honey Granger Hawk, the developer who’d built the small house she lived in. Honey appreciated her cause and had thrown in the studio renovation for next to nothing.
Now Charlotte had a home, a friend and a business. And hopefully a family in this town and her students...
She adjusted the volume of the music playing in the background. Early on, she’d discovered that music relaxed her and the students. Now she allowed the girls to select the CDs they wanted to listen to during their sessions. Today Evie had chosen an upbeat country song.
“Ms. Charlotte, what do you think?” Fifteen-year-old Mae Lynn looked up at her with a mixture of apprehension and hope. She was shy and the most fragile of all of them, but she’d begun to warm up.
“I like the way you’ve used the colors,” Charlotte said. It was obvious the sea of blues and grays represented her changing mood swings. Who could blame her, though? The poor kid had been in and out of more than ten homes in five years.
Two girls who were horse lovers, sixteen-year-old Agnes and her fourteen-year-old sister, Adrian, chatted softly about their portrayals of a big ranch where they hoped to live one day, while thirteen-year-old Evie splashed pinks and blues and purples in a whimsical pattern. Despite the fact that she’d ended up in a group home, Evie had a perpetually positive attitude.
Hopefully, her attitude would rub off on the others.
Suddenly, the front door to the studio opened, and Charlotte glanced up, hoping to see Sally, another foster child she’d invited to the class, but instead four tall masked men dressed in black stormed in, guns raised and aimed at the girls.
Charlotte froze, mentally assessing the situation. She had to protect her students no matter what. Pulse hammering, she stepped forward, placing herself between the men and girls.
The biggest man turned the gun on her. “Don’t move.”
She stared at the snake tattoo, then noticed a bolt of lightning tattooed on his neck.
Behind her, the girls screamed. Charlotte raised her hands in a submissive gesture. “Please don’t hurt them,” she said in a choked voice. “I don’t keep much money here, but you can take it all.”
“We don’t want your money,” the shortest guy shouted. “Get on the ground.”
A sob echoed behind her, then another scream.
“I said get down!” the one who seemed to be in charge barked.
Charlotte dropped to the floor, her gaze scanning the room for something to use as a weapon, but her art supplies and brushes wouldn’t do any good against these guns. Semiautomatics. They weren’t playing around.
Her phone was inside her purse in her office, too. She didn’t have a weapon or an alarm.
Boots clicked on the wood floor as the heaviest man strode to her. With one quick grunt, he slammed the butt of the gun against her head. Stars swam in front of her eyes as the world spun. More screams rent the air, shrill and piercing.
Panic shot through Charlotte. She had to do something. If the men didn’t want money, what did they want?
“Leave us alone!” Adrian cried.
“Don’t shoot!” Agnes said shakily.
