He’ll put his life on the line...
If it means protecting a little boy and his pregnant mom.
After months of searching, security expert Ryker Tillman finally finds Olivia Habush and her young son—just as they are attacked by armed mercenaries. Now safeguarding Olivia, her unborn child and little Aaron is the former special ops soldier’s new mission. But to save the family burrowing into his heart, Ryker must figure out why someone wants them dead...
USA TODAY Bestselling Author Laura Scott
Olivia heard a sharp report. A gunshot?
She scooped her sleeping son into her arms and went inside the bathroom within the motel suite.
The mercenaries must have found her. Again.
She blinked back tears, trying to convince herself that Ryker would survive.
That they would all survive.
“Olivia? Are you in there?” Ryker’s familiar voice made her knees go weak.
She opened the door, grateful to see Ryker standing there. “What happened? Is everyone all right?”
“Yeah, but we need to hit the road. Now.”
She stepped into the suite but stopped abruptly when she saw the two men unmoving on the floor.
“Thankfully, they must not have realized I had Duncan and Mike with me. I’m sure if they’d known, they would have come with more men.”
More men. It was horrifying to think that there would be more men coming after them.
Forever, or at least until they’d gotten what they’d wanted.
Laura Scott is a nurse by day and an author by night. She has always loved romance and had read faith-based books by Grace Livingston Hill in her teenage years. She’s thrilled to have published over twenty-five books for Love Inspired Suspense. She has two adult children and lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with her husband of over thirty years. Please visit Laura at laurascottbooks.com, as she loves to hear from her readers.
Books by Laura Scott
Love Inspired Suspense
Justice Seekers
Soldier’s Christmas Secrets
Guarded by the Soldier
Callahan Confidential
Shielding His Christmas Witness
The Only Witness
Christmas Amnesia
Shattered Lullaby
Primary Suspect
Protecting His Secret Son
True Blue K-9 Unit: Brooklyn
Copycat Killer
Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for more titles.
Guarded by the Soldier
Laura Scott
Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name’s sake.
—Psalm 79:9
This book is dedicated to my niece Taylour Rose Iding, DPT. Welcome to health care. I’m so proud of you!
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Epilogue
Dear Reader
Excerpt from Hunted by the Mob by Elisabeth Rees
ONE
Olivia Habush closed and locked the office door, then shouldered her large zebra-striped bag before heading out the back door of the church. The early June evening was warm, and she resisted the urge to fan herself. Early summer in the quaint town of Harrisburg, Illinois, was much warmer than what she was used to when she’d lived in Madison, Wisconsin.
The edges of her oversize blouse flapped around her large pregnant belly as she made her way across the street. Mrs. Willa Bentley was watching over Olivia’s three-year-old son Aaron while Liv did her weekly Thursday-night bookkeeping job for the We Are One Church. As an accountant, she enjoyed working with numbers and it was the least she could do for the nice people who’d welcomed her with open arms.
Upon turning the corner, the hairs on the back of her neck rose in alarm. For the second time this week she had the distinct feeling she was being watched.
The Blake-Moore Group.
Was it possible the organization her late husband worked for had found her again, after all this time? Having overheard details about what the former soldiers belonging to the Blake-Moore Group had gotten involved in, she knew they were not to be trusted.
Resisting the urge to glance over her shoulder, she began to run, her movements awkward and clumsy because of her pregnant belly. Her oversize purse/diaper bag banged against her hip as she moved. The run didn’t last long, and she slowed to a fast walk while frantically looking for someone nearby.
But there wasn’t anyone around. For whatever reason, the streets of the Garden Ridge neighborhood were unusually vacant and quiet.
Liv pulled her phone from the front pocket of her bag, intending to call 911 despite her determination to avoid the police, but before she could push a button, large, strong hands roughly grabbed her from behind.
“No! Let me go!” She managed to get most of the words out mere seconds before a firm, calloused hand clamped hard over her mouth. Her phone fell uselessly to the ground with a loud clatter.
She couldn’t breathe!
Panic flared, paralyzing her with fear. They’d found her. After all this time, the men employed by the Blake-Moore Group, the men who’d turned her husband into a monster, had found her!
Dear Lord, help me!
Desperate to save herself and her unborn baby, she lashed out against her attacker with all her strength, kicking backward with her feet and scratching at every exposed inch of skin on his face and hands.
“Knock it off,” her attacker growled, his voice low and rough in her ear as his arm tightened painfully around her. “Or I’ll kill you right here and now.”
Kill her? No! This couldn’t be happening! She thought about her son, Aaron, and her unborn baby. Her eyes burned with helpless tears as her attacker easily subdued her feeble struggles and began to pull her backward, away from the streetlights and deeper into the shadows.
She stopped struggling, in an attempt to preserve her strength while reminding herself that she’d escaped once before and could do so again. Granted, that was six months ago, when she’d only just discovered she was six weeks pregnant instead of thirty-four.
How had they found her?
“Oomph.” The man holding her in his iron grasp abruptly let go. Still off-balance, Liv felt herself falling backward, even as she flailed her arms in an attempt to stay upright.
A pair of strong hands caught her before she could hit the ground, gently pushing
