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Unbreakable Bond & The Missing Twin: Unbreakable Bond / The Missing Twin
Rita Herron
GUARDIAN ANGEL INVESTIGATIONS–ALWAYS READY TO PROTECT UNBREAKABLE BOND For eight years Nina Nash has been told to move past the night that changed her life forever. But she believes that her little girl is still alive. And there's one man who'll help her find the truth. Investigator Slade Blackburn takes Nina's case, hoping to give her closure. Yet what she really needs is someone to trust, to protect her…and to erase the sadness from her sweet blue eyes.THE MISSING TWIN Detective Caleb Walker is skeptical of Madelyn Andrews's claims that her five-year-old daughter is "communicating" with her twin sister, who never made it home from the hospital. But one glimpse of the beautiful single mother, and he can't walk away. As he uncovers suspicious details, Madelyn clings to him. And the deeper he digs, the more invested Caleb becomes in the tiny family…
Guardian Angel Investigations is there for you when there’s nowhere left to turn… Two reader-favorite stories from USA TODAY bestselling author Rita Herron.
Unbreakable Bond
For eight years Nina Nash has been told to move past the night that changed her life forever. But the intense feeling that her little girl is still alive remains. And there’s one man determined to help her find the truth. Investigator Slade Blackburn takes Nina’s case, hoping to give her closure. Yet what she really needs is someone to trust, someone to protect her…someone to erase the sadness from her beautiful blue eyes.
The Missing Twin
Detective Caleb Walker is skeptical of Madelyn Andrews’s claims that her five-year-old daughter is “communicating” with her twin sister who’d never made it home from the hospital. But one glimpse of the beautiful single mother, and he can’t walk away. As he looks into what really happened, suspicious details are uncovered that prompt Madelyn to cling to him. And the deeper he digs, the more invested Caleb becomes in the tiny family…
Praise forUSA TODAYbestselling author Rita Herron
“Herron understands the bonds between mother and child and presents a touching and terrifying tale of evil and redemption.”
—RT Book Reviews on Unbreakable Bond
“Rita Herron is a gifted writer with the ability to draw her readers into the story and the minds of not only her hero and heroine but also the mind of the criminal. A real page turner, Up in Flames will not disappoint the readers.”
—CataRomance.com (http://CataRomance.com)
“A slick plot combined with riveting characters and unyielding suspense make Herron’s latest a star attraction for fans.”
—RT Book Reviews on The Missing Twin
“This story will totally captivate the reader. A tale packed solid with suspense and excitement with a new surprise at the turn of every page…An absolutely fascinating read that is definitely recommended. Rita Herron is an extremely gifted writer.”
—Fresh Fiction on Forbidden Passion
RITA HERRON
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 write her at PO Box 921225, Norcross, GA 30092-1225, or visit her website, ritaherron.com (http://www.ritaherron.com).
Books by Rita Herron
Harlequin Intrigue
Guardian Angel Investigations
His Secret Christmas BabyUnbreakable BondThe Missing TwinHer Stolen Son
Bucking Bronc Lodge
Cowboy To The MaxCowboy CopNative CowboyUltimate Cowboy
Other Titles
Cold Case At Camden CrossingCold Case At Carlton’s CanyonCold Case At Cobra CreekCold Case In Cherokee Crossing
Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com (http://www.harlequin.com/) for more titles.
Unbreakable Bond & The Missing Twin
Rita Herron
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
CONTENTS
UNBREAKABLE BOND (#ub8aba3f6-c94f-560c-bedf-59fe5274d341)
THE MISSING TWIN (#litres_trial_promo)
Unbreakable Bond
Rita Herron
To my beautiful daughter Emily
and her new son, Bradford.
And to the real Rebecca.
Thanks for inspiring us all!
CONTENTS
Prologue (#u30e13866-f1b1-5e08-87c7-a6215c2ae5a1)
Chapter One (#u6d155598-b2bc-593b-b412-0043e84bb9d0)
Chapter Two (#udde5bca4-177d-5f1e-93ac-5bc95a56c1ea)
Chapter Three (#u22b573d0-4c53-5a08-8917-cbcd5935fb30)
Chapter Four (#ubc3442c1-7c90-557e-844f-dac837e67077)
Chapter Five (#ua3245db4-3b54-5e9c-b118-327aae3fcd5b)
Chapter Six (#ufbffff61-4b8d-5615-94a2-e659bd9b6485)
Chapter Seven (#uc188deb5-d88f-5b6d-8871-54e6046c430c)
Chapter Eight (#u7d20f29f-53ba-501c-aaa1-9107681d2a39)
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)
PROLOGUE
A THUNDEROUS BOOM rocked the hospital walls and floor, jarring Nina Nash awake. What had happened? Had she been dreaming, or had there been an explosion?
Screams and shouts suddenly echoed in the halls, and footsteps of people rushing around outside her room pounded. Somewhere a food cart crashed and glass shattered.
Then the smell of smoke wafted to her.
Panic seized her. Dear God, there had been an explosion. The hospital was on fire.
She threw off the covers, not bothering to grab her robe or slip on her bedroom shoes, but the stitches from her C-section pulled as she shuffled to the door and shoved it open. Smoke flooded the hallway in a cloud so thick that she immediately coughed, her eyes watering.
She had to get to her baby. Little Peyton had been a preemie, less than five pounds, and was in the neonatal intensive care unit.
What if the fire was near the babies?
God, no…
Stumbling forward as fast as she could with her sore abdomen, she heard the sound of voices shouting again, another person crying. The fire alarm trilled, adding to the chaos. Through the gray fog, she spotted patients stumbling outside their rooms, everyone searching for an escape, confused and frightened.
“The east wing is on fire,” someone yelled.
“Find the stairwell and get out!” someone else shouted.
“Help me!” a woman screamed.
Someone bumped Nina as they raced down the hall toward the stairwell.
Heat flooded the hall and an orderly grabbed her arm to push her toward the staircase. “This way, miss.”
“No, I have to get to my baby,” Nina cried.
“No time, the nurses and firefighters are getting the infants out! And that corridor is engulfed in flames.”
“Then I’ll find another way,” she said and tore away from him.
Another woman darted into the fog of smoke, coughing as she collapsed onto the floor, and the rescue worker rushed to help her.
Determined to save Peyton, Nina hurried down the hall. But just as she reached the end, the ceiling crashed down, and flames shot all along the wall and floor, blocking the turn into the corridor.
She pivoted and headed in the opposite direction, feeling along the wall until she reached the next corner, but the smoke was so thick she could barely see, and flames rushed toward her. No… There was no way to get through….
Tears mingled with the sweat on her face as the heat scalded her. She had to try another direction.
Coughing, she dashed back the way she’d come, but suddenly another explosion rocked the building, the floor shook, and the ceiling crashed down.
Nina covered her head to dodge the debris, but plaster rained down on her, and a piece of metal slammed into her head. Another pummeled her leg and foot, and ceiling tiles smashed into her stomach, ripping open stitches. Pain rocked through her, and she screamed as she collapsed onto the floor. The scalding flames crawled toward her.
Through the haze, more footsteps rumbled, then a firefighter appeared and scooped her up. “My baby,” she cried. “I have to get her.”
“We’ll find her,” he said. “Just let me take you outside before the whole wing is engulfed in flames.”
Tears trickled down her cheeks as he carried her through the blazing hallway, dodging flames and more falling debris. She gulped in the fresh air as he burst out the front door and raced down the steps to the lawn. Blinking her stinging eyes to clear her vision, she searched the haze and chaos.
Firefighters were scrambling to help victims and extinguish the flames, but at least half the hospital was ablaze. Patients, hospital employees, doctors, nurses and visitors ran, crawled and helped each other from the burning building.
She spotted one of the neonatal nurses unconscious on a gurney, and two nurses holding infants, and hope shot through her. The firefighter carried her toward an ambulance, but she pushed against his chest. “Let me down.”
“Ma’am, you need to see a medic. You’ve been injured.”
She didn’t care if her head was bleeding, that her stitches had popped or her leg was throbbing. She had to make sure her daughter was safe. “No, not until I find my baby.”
She managed to get on her feet, then stumbled toward the nurses. But her heart sank when she realized neither of the babies was Peyton.
“Where’s my little girl?” she cried. “She was in the neonatal unit.”
One of the nurses frowned, and the other one shook her head with worry. “I’m not sure. Maybe one of the other nurses got her.”
Another baby’s cry rent the air, and she turned and raced toward the sound. A medic was holding the infant, but when she neared him, she realized the baby was a boy.
Panic clawed at her, and she ran from medic to medic, from nurse to doctor to orderly. Screams and cries flowed freely as people were carried from the hospital and the body count began to rise. More sirens and cries reverberated as police, friends and relatives of the hospital employees and patients arrived, each searching for loved ones.
Finally she found one of the nurses who’d cared for Peyton lying on another stretcher, and she hobbled toward her. “Where’s my baby?”
Sorrow filled the nurse’s eyes as she looked at Nina. “I don’t know. I thought someone else rescued her.”
The sound of the NICU exploding rent the air, and Nina’s legs gave way, a sob of terror ripping from her.
Dear God…
