“Chelsey, you can’t stay here. Eventually they’ll figure out where we’re located. The best way you can help me is to get to the cabin.”
“I’m scared,” she whispered.
“I know, but I’ll keep diverting their attention until you’re safe.”
“And then you’ll meet me there?”
“Yes. I need you to trust me on this. Once you’re at the cabin, I can move quicker without worrying about your ability to follow me.”
“Okay, I’ll do it.”
“Thank you.” He couldn’t hide his relief. “Here’s how we’re going to do this. The second I throw the rock, you’re going to move, but stay on your belly, crawling like we did in order to get here, okay?”
She drew in a deep breath and nodded. “Yes.”
“Each time I throw something, they’re going to shoot. That’s your cue to keep moving.”
“Got it.”
It wouldn’t be easy for Chelsey to cover a hundred yards crawling on her hands and knees. But he was determined to give her every opportunity to get to safety.
Even if that meant sacrificing himself.
Laura Scott is a nurse by day and an author by night. She has always loved romance and 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
Wyoming Mountain Escape
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
True Blue K-9 Unit: Brooklyn Christmas
“Holiday Stalker”
Visit the Author Profile page at Harlequin.com for more titles.
Wyoming Mountain Escape
Laura Scott
Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
—Romans 15:13
This book is dedicated to Kyle and Daniele Doberstein.
Congratulations on starting your new life together.
I wish you both peace, love and happiness.
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 Shielding the Amish Witness by Mary Alford
ONE
Chelsey Robards walked out of the Teton Valley Hotel and approached the grassy knoll where her wedding guests waited. She paused at the front of the aisle, her stomach knotted with tension. Wearing a white gown, her veil trailing from a ring of flowers pinned in her curly golden-blond hair, she looked apprehensively at Brett Thompson, her long-time friend and soon-to-be husband. Brett smiled encouragingly from his position near the right side of an arched lattice decorated with Wyoming wildflowers—the place they’d chosen to exchange their vows. Snow-covered Tetons, a section of the majestic Rocky Mountains, loomed behind Brett, creating a picture-perfect scene. Bars from “The Wedding March” began to play, but her feet refused to move.
This is a terrible mistake.
Chelsey had ignored the lingering doubts she’d experienced over the past week. The doubts had grown more pronounced when Duncan O’Hare, her and Brett’s childhood friend, had arrived to fulfill his role as best man. Chelsey’s friend and assistant manager, Trish Novak, was standing in as her maid of honor. Seeing Brett and Duncan together reinforced Chelsey’s doubts.
She couldn’t do this. Marrying Brett was a mistake. How had she let it go this far? She’d known Brett and Duncan from childhood, until her parents had moved to Wyoming the summer after her freshman year of high school. She loved Brett, but she understood now that she loved him as a friend.
Not a husband.
The song continued, her guests waiting expectantly. What should she do? She couldn’t embarrass Brett by refusing to marry him in front of their friends and relatives.
Duncan’s intense dark gaze caught her eye, his expression full of concern as if he sensed her inner turmoil. Drawing strength from Duncan, she forced herself to take the first step. And another.
The closer she came to the arched lattice where Brett waited, the more her stomach twisted painfully. She swallowed against the urge to throw up. Despite the sunlight overhead, she felt cold to the bone.
As she approached her husband-to-be, she abruptly stopped, unable to take that final step toward Brett. Every eye from those seated in the grassy knoll was glued to her and it was all she could do not to turn and run away as fast as her white ballet slippers would take her.
Brett’s smile never faltered. He waited patiently, having no idea how she felt. In contrast, Duncan’s dark brown gaze was serious, and she knew she wasn’t fooling him.
Not the way she’d fooled everyone else.
The song was winding down and she couldn’t postpone the inevitable any longer. She had to do this, even if it meant telling Brett afterward that she wanted an annulment. They could return the gifts and walk away as if this never happened.
Couldn’t they?
A sharp crack ripped through the air. It took a minute for her to notice the red spot blooming on Brett’s white shirt as he staggered backward.
“Get down!” Duncan lurched forward, grabbed her arm and dragged her away from Brett who’d crumpled to the ground.
He’d been shot!
Screams and bedlam broke out around them, the wedding guests scattering like mice, but Duncan didn’t let go of her hand. He dragged her away from the area, down the hill toward the wooded mountainside.
It was difficult to comprehend what had just happened. “Wait! We need to go back to Brett! He’s been shot!”
“He’s gone, Chelsey, but the shooter is still out there, somewhere. We need to keep moving.”
No! This couldn’t be happening! Brett! There wasn’t time to think, to truly comprehend. She followed in Duncan’s wake. Her bridal gown was long, and she kept tripping over the hem, the train picking up leaves and sticks as they raced for cover.
“But—I don’t understand.” Her mind was a chaotic, emotional mess. She didn’t want to marry
