Soldier's Christmas Secrets Read online

  She glanced around, thinking she’d find the snowmobile he’d mentioned. When she didn’t see it, her hopes plummeted. Had someone stolen it? Or had the ski-mask guys found it before Hawk had?

  Hawk stepped over to a bush and began moving snow-laden branches. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw the camouflage-green snowmobile hidden behind the shrubbery.

  It took Hawk a while to get the thing uncovered. It soon became clear that the bush hadn’t been a bush at all but dozens of loose branches placed strategically around the machine.

  He swung his leg over the seat and gestured for her to get on in front of him. She hesitated, worried about Lizzy.

  “Keep her in front of you,” he whispered.

  She nodded and did as he asked. The seat seemed far too small for the three of them but her protest was swallowed by the roar of the engine.

  She felt Lizzy shuddering against her, guessing that the little girl hated the loud sound. Hawk hit the gas and the machine moved forward, the twin skis gliding over the snow, fallen branches and leaves. She let out a screech as he went even faster, tearing a path through the woods.

  Stealth was not an option now. The way they roared through the woods broadcasted their location to anyone still searching for them. Clutching Hawk’s knee with one arm, while clinging to Lizzy with the other, she grew convinced that he was the only one capable of getting them out of there.

  But where would they go? It wasn’t as if you could drive a snowmobile down the center of a plowed road. Or could you? Maybe. Yet as fast as they were moving, she knew the machine carrying them didn’t have the necessary speed to outrun a car.

  Bare branches slapped her in the face, making her eyes sting with tears. She curled her body around Lizzy’s, protecting the little girl the only way she could.

  The trees thinned and she wondered if they were getting close to the road or to the end of Hawk’s property. She felt certain they’d escaped, until she heard the loud echo of gunfire above the drone of the engine.

  No! Jillian gasped, horrified that the ski-masked men were still out there, shooting at them.

  “Keep your head down,” he ordered.

  Doing anything else was impossible anyway, but what about Hawk? He was the most exposed, and if something happened to him...there was no hope for her and Lizzy to survive.

  She prayed again as Hawk continued driving. The woods seemed to go on forever, thinning out a bit, then growing thicker again. She had no idea how much land Hawk owned, or if they were out on someone else’s property by now.

  Did it matter if they were? It gave her a measure of hope that the owners might call the police.

  The gunfire had stopped, but she couldn’t relax. Not with Hawk still driving like a maniac.

  Then he abruptly pulled over and stopped the machine. Silence reigned except for the ringing in her ears.

  “Take Lizzy and stand over there for a minute,” Hawk said, urging her off the snowmobile and pointing at a pine tree.

  She wanted to protest but knew it was useless. She awkwardly climbed off the machine, feeling Lizzy’s weight slipping down.

  Hawk jumped back on the snowmobile and rode it about eighty yards away before abandoning it. Then he pulled several items out of a storage area behind the seat, before hurrying toward her. He was careful to step only on the tracks made by the sled.

  She was impressed by his actions, knowing the machine would draw the men in the woods away from them. She hitched Lizzy in her arms.

  “I’ll take her.” Hawk didn’t wait for permission but took Lizzy from her, after storing what looked like duct tape and twine in his jacket pocket. “This way.”

  Lizzy didn’t cry, too frightened to do anything but hang on. They once again moved through the woods, faster now that Jillian wasn’t impeded by her daughter’s weight.

  Hawk stopped in front of a large tree. “We’re going up.”

  Her jaw dropped. “Up? The tree?”

  He nodded, pulling another length of twine out of his jacket pocket. “I’ll carry you while you hold Lizzy.”

  She shook her head, thinking he was crazy. No way could Hawk carry both of them all the way up a tree. And what would they do when they got up there? Swing from the branches like Tarzan and Jane? She’d fall on her face for sure.

  “Like this.” He placed Lizzy back in her arms. “You’re going to put your arms around my neck and lock your legs around my waist, keeping Lizzy tucked between us.”

  “She’ll fall,” she protested.

  “She won’t. She’ll hang on to you. Trust me.”

  She did trust Hawk. Had trusted him to get them out of danger twice now. Knew that God was somehow guiding him.

  “Hold tight, Lizzy.” The little girl nodded and wrapped her tiny arms snugly around her neck. Then Jillian faced Hawk’s back and locked her arms around his chest. When she lifted her legs around his waist, pressing Lizzy securely between them, he began to climb, using the rope around the tree for leverage.

  How he made it up the tree was a mystery. The muscles of his chest and shoulders bunched beneath her arms with the strain, but he didn’t make a sound as he went vertical.

  She wasn’t sure what she expected, but the flat platform about two-thirds of the way up the tree was a surprise. Especially when she saw that there were three full sides to the thing that protected them from view. Hawk managed to get up and over the edge of the platform, landing on his hands and knees.

  “You can get off now,” he whispered.

  It was scary being up so high, but she unlocked her legs first, then slid to the side so she was sitting on the platform next to him. Holding Lizzy close, she edged closer to the trunk of the tree, seeking some sense of stability.

  “We made it,” she whispered in awe.

  Hawk nodded. “We still need to be quiet, okay?” He didn’t wait for a response but pulled out his gun and flattened himself against the platform. He inched to the edge, peering down to see what was going on down below.

  She lifted her hand to push her hair out of her face, frowning when she saw blood. For a moment she didn’t understand, but then she noticed several more drops of blood staining the platform.

  He’d been shot!

  FOUR

  “Hawk! You’re hurt!” Jillian whispered in a low, urgent tone.

  “It’s nothing. Keep Lizzy quiet, okay?” Ignoring the pain in his shoulder, Hawk looked carefully over the edge of the deer blind, searching for hostiles. He had two guns and a knife but didn’t want to use them unless there was absolutely no other option. He’d taken one man temporarily out of commission, but there were three more, and he couldn’t bear the thought of Jillian and Lizzy witnessing him killing a man.

  Yet he’d do whatever was necessary to keep them safe.

  They were in danger because of him. Because he’d poked the sleeping bear by probing for information on Senator Barton. It was the only thing that made sense.

  Pushing the thought away, he kept his gaze focused on the wooded area below while internally planning their next move. He needed to call Mike Callahan for help, but he wasn’t thrilled with the idea of putting his buddy in danger.

  Jillian did her best to soothe Lizzy, urging the little girl to stay quiet. Lizzy’s hiccuping sobs were muffled against Jillian’s chest and he hated knowing his daughter was so frightened.

  Peering through the trees, he could see the dark shape of the snowmobile where he’d left it, eighty yards from where they were hiding.

  Time to implement the next phase of his plan.

  “Stay up here with Lizzy,” he whispered to Jillian.

  “Where are you going?” There was thinly veiled panic in her voice.

  He wasn’t sure how to answer her without causing her to become even more afraid. He trusted his ability to take out the three men but hated leaving her here, alone. Pulli
ng out his phone, he found Mike Callahan’s number and showed it to her. “If I’m not back in an hour, call Mike. He’s a cop and will keep you and Lizzy safe.”

  “Why can’t we call him now?” Jillian argued. “Then you can stay here with us.”

  “He’s at least forty-five minutes away, maybe more.” He thrust the phone at her. “Please, Jilly. I’m asking you to trust me on this.”

  She held his gaze for a long moment, before reluctantly nodding. He wanted nothing more than to pull her close in a reassuring hug but needed to get moving.

  Soundlessly, he climbed down the tree, ignoring his injured shoulder, and moved quickly without the added burden of having to carry Jillian and Lizzy. On the ground, he took a moment to get his bearings.

  He found a branch and used it to help wipe away his footprints from the base of the tree. Then he took a roundabout and silent path toward the snowmobile.

  Hawk halted behind a tree when he caught sight of one hostile positioned twenty yards in front of him. Hawk could only see his back, it was clear the man’s attention was focused on the snowmobile.

  His mistake. Hawk managed to sneak up on him from behind, taking him down without making much of a sound despite the ache in his shoulder. Hawk knocked him unconscious, then bound and gagged him using the duct tape in his pocket.

  Another one down, two more to go.

  Hawk moved silently away, estimating that another assailant would be at the three o’clock position. Hiding behind a tree, he searched for a sign and then found him.

  The second guy didn’t go down as quietly as the first one. Could be because Hawk was feeling the effect of blood loss, but he refused to acknowledge weakness. When he had the second man unconscious and tied up securely, as well, he looked for the next one.

  Keenly aware of the minutes ticking by on his allotted hour, he hoped Jillian wouldn’t place the call to Mike before he’d had the chance to take the last attacker out of commission.

  Hawk knew that taking down the last man would be the most difficult. The hostile must know that his cohorts were compromised and would have no reason to stay at his point location.

  Ducking behind a thorny bush, Hawk wiped snow away to uncover a large rock. He tossed it high in the air, then crouched down and watched carefully for signs of movement when it landed with a dull thud.

  For several long seconds there was nothing, but finally, the slightest movement from the twelve o’clock position caught his eye. Target in sight, Hawk moved in.

  Another movement had him dropping to the ground. The sound of gunfire echoed loudly through the woods, narrowly missing him. Gut instinct had Hawk rolling to the side and returning fire at the spot where he’d seen the muzzle flash.

  Then there was nothing but silence.

  Because he’d hit his target? He wasn’t sure.

  He waited another five minutes before edging along the ground toward the nine o’clock position. The man was lying there, dead from a gunshot wound to his chest.

  Hawk sighed and rose to his feet, staggering a bit. Four men taken down total, one dead. A wave of despair hit him hard. He hated knowing that he’d killed a man even though it was in self-defense.

  After a long moment, he pulled off the man’s ski mask, realizing this guy was the same one who’d been in Jillian’s house. Searching for ID proved fruitless, but he did find a set of car keys. Hawk tucked them away. Returning to the snowmobile, he fired it up and rode back to the tree with the deer blind.

  “Jillian? You and Lizzy okay?”

  “Yes,” came the faint response. “Just cold.”

  “I know. Did you call Mike?”

  “Not yet.”

  “Good.” He gathered every ounce of strength and determination, knowing he’d need it get up the tree and back down with Lizzy and Jillian. It was much harder this time: his left arm was weak and he didn’t have the same surge of adrenaline roaring through his veins. But he managed, and soon the three of them were back on solid ground.

  “Now what?” Jillian asked, her body shivering with cold.

  He indicated the snowmobile. “Now we find the vehicle belonging to the men who came to find us.”

  She looked as if she wanted to argue, but he gestured for her to get on the snowmobile first with Lizzy. He slid in behind them and reached out to grab the handlebars.

  The trip to the highway didn’t take long, and he quickly found the black SUV, a newer make and model compared to his own.

  “We need Lizzy’s car seat,” Jillian protested as he ushered them inside.

  “I know.” Hawk didn’t want to stay at the cabin for much longer, fearing more men were on the way, but the cabin was only a half mile up the road. Getting the car seat didn’t take much time, and soon they were back on the highway.

  He cranked the heat for Jillian and Lizzy while considering their next move. They’d been found at the cabin far too quickly. He never should have gone there in the first place.

  The weight of Jillian’s and Lizzy’s safety was incredibly heavy on his shoulders.

  He couldn’t afford to make another mistake.

  * * *

  Jillian gratefully absorbed the warm air blasting from the vents of the SUV. She’d prayed the entire time they’d been up in the tree stand, and God had answered by not only keeping them safe but providing a method of escape.

  Between Hawk’s ingenuity and God’s support, they’d made it out the woods alive. Yet it was difficult to relax. She felt certain the danger was far from over.

  She wrestled with the fact that Hawk was really James. She’d lived next door to him for five months—how could she not have figured it out? This all seemed like some sort of twisted movie plot rather than something that happened in real life.

  She glanced over at him, searching his profile for signs of the man she’d once married.

  Now that she knew the truth, it was easy to spot the similarities and differences. His intense blue eyes were the same, but the prominent cheekbones were gone, and she felt bad about the deep scar grooving his face. Hawk was leaner and more muscular than she remembered, and his voice, which always sounded hoarse now, made her wonder if there had been some sort of internal damage to his vocal cords as a result of the plane crash.

  Hawk didn’t laugh the way James had, or talk as much. He was serious and to the point.

  She turned away, mourning the loss all over again. Maybe Hawk was right to claim James had died in the Appalachian Mountains. The man sitting beside her, the one who’d climbed up and down a tree with her and Lizzy on his back, seemed very different than the man she’d married.

  And for the life of her, she couldn’t look at him and think James. He was Hawk.

  “You’ll need to stop at a drugstore. I need bandages and other supplies to take care of your wound.”

  He gave a small nod. “Later. Right now I need to figure out a place to go where we’ll be safe.”

  “You mentioned a place with individual cabins and a playground for Lizzy,” she reminded.

  He hesitated and shrugged. “Yeah, that’s where we’re headed. But it’s just five days before Christmas and I’m not sure they have openings.”

  “I can’t imagine individual cabins being a hot place to spend Christmas.”

  He glanced at her in surprise. “It is for me.”

  “Because you’re a single guy without a family.” The minute the words were out of her mouth, she wished them back. “I mean, until now.”

  Hawk didn’t respond and she knew that she’d stuck her foot in her mouth, big-time. Yet it was hardly her fault. She’d only known he was James for a few hours.

  Terrifying hours that they’d spent hiding from armed men wearing ski masks.

  The silence grew uncomfortable. More proof that they were virtual strangers rather than husband and wife.

  “How do you know ab
out this place with cabins and a playground anyway?”

  “Used it last summer when a friend of mine needed to hide out for a while.”

  “Mike Callahan? That friend?”

  He nodded.

  More silence, and it occurred to her that attempting to have a conversation with Hawk was harder work than panning for gold. Not that she’d ever tried panning for gold.

  “I’m sorry,” she finally said.

  He frowned. “For what?”

  She let out a sigh. “For insinuating that you don’t have a family. It’s just—difficult to wrap my mind around all of this.”

  “Understandable. And as I said before, it doesn’t have to change anything between us.”

  But it did, she thought. Knowing Hawk was James changed everything.

  She found herself thinking about the future more than ever. How her relationship with Hawk would move forward after the danger was over.

  “Mommy, I’m hungry,” Lizzy said plaintively.

  Glancing at the clock, she was surprised to see it was approaching eleven o’clock in the morning. Considering they’d been up by six and running for their lives since seven, she couldn’t blame Lizzy for wanting to eat.

  “We’ll stop at a restaurant soon,” Hawk surprised her by saying. “There’s one not too far away. And there’s a drugstore nearby, too.”

  She was glad to hear they’d soon have the supplies they needed to tend to his wound.

  “Can I have chicken strips?” Lizzy asked.

  Jillian smiled. “Sure.”

  “Okay.” Lizzy was satisfied with that response.

  “I take it those are her favorites?” Hawk asked.

  “Yes. With lots of ketchup.” She was saddened by the fact that Hawk didn’t know these small details about his daughter. Her favorite foods, favorite books, her friends at day care.

  Five months that they could have spent getting reunited had been wasted. In fact, she doubted that Hawk would have come clean at all if it hadn’t been for her need to be rescued.

  “You have no idea who they were?” She glanced over her shoulder at Lizzy to make sure she wasn’t listening. Amazingly, despite running for their lives, riding a snowmobile and going up into a tree, Lizzy still had her ragged teddy bear. Her cheek was resting on the teddy bear’s head, her eyes drooping with sleepiness.