Family Of His Own

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)

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER THIRTY (#litres_trial_promo)

Extract (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER ONE (#uc49a32f3-c9e6-55e4-9433-52e6c86a7ed2)

THE SOUND OF gunshots cracked through snow-dusted tree branches and split the brittle December air. A flock of honking Canada geese veered away from the blasts, their wings thudding amid the rippling echoes.

Scott Abbott reloaded his GLOCK, aimed and fired at the paper target in the shape of a person a hundred yards from the plexiglass-protected shooting stand. His shots were all over the place. Only one came close to the heart. Still, he was vastly improved over last month when he stood here in the icy rain shooting through pea-soup fog. Night-vision gear wouldn’t have helped. Scott needed more practice if he wanted to be as good as his friends.

“Good thing my life doesn’t depend on your skills,” Trent Davis, Indian Lake Police Detective, teased as he pulled on a pair of military-issue, noise-canceling earphones and aimed his Smith & Wesson M&P45 and easily squeezed off six shots dead into the target’s heart area.

Scott grimaced at his best friend, Luke Bosworth, whose cool gaze was devoid of mirth. Luke had been a navy SEAL. His new semiautomatic 1911 Colt .45 plowed the target with eight shots, the paper flying off like escaping butterflies.

Scott blew on his freezing hands. “My aim is off. The cold.” He shrugged.

“Yeah, tell it to the judge.” Trent laughed and reloaded.

Scott pulled the sheepskin collar of his scarred leather bomber jacket around his neck. “How do you do it? I’m freezing and you’re not even wearing your parka.”

Trent rammed a new magazine into his gun and without taking his eyes from the target said, “This isn’t a game for me. Never was. Never will be. That’s not a paper man to me. That’s the man who nearly killed my fiancée.” Trent aimed and fired his gun.

Scott, who claimed a byline at the Indian Lake Herald newspaper, knew every last detail and then some about Trent’s brilliant and dangerous plot to bring down the leader of the Le Grande drug ring in Indian Lake only a few short weeks ago.

Trent had headed up the Indian Lake PD’s drug task force for nearly two years, resulting in many arrests, but it was the capture of Brad Kramer, AKA Raoul Le Grande, that brought national attention to their small Indiana town—and to Trent. He’d denied all interview requests, though, except Scott’s. Trent had many reasons to avoid the press. Accuracy was one. Trent had trusted only Scott to report sensitive details about the intricate sting he’d set up to catch Le Grande. Cate Sullivan, Le Grande’s ex-wife, had been at the center of the plan. Scott had met Cate when Luke hired her to sell his home after his first wife died of cancer. Cate was a private woman and had kept her personal life quiet. When Scott learned that Cate had been living in disguise in Indian Lake for the past six years, Scott was as surprised as everyone else.

Le Grande hadn’t only wanted to use Indian Lake as a way station for trafficking drugs from Chicago up to Detroit and eventually to Toronto. The drug lord had wanted his ex-wife and six-year-old son, Danny, back.

Trent had convinced Cate to act as bait to smoke Le Grande out. The plan was well orchestrated, yet even Trent had not calculated the extent of Le Grande’s twisted, maniacal mind.

Thanks to Trent’s Special Forces military training and his exceptional perceptive genius, Cate and Danny survived, and Le Grande was now in prison awaiting trial.

Scott had been at the Christmas Pageant at St. Mark’s school when Le Grande had attempted to kidnap Danny, and he’d managed to capture the entire, harrowing scene on his iPhone. His eyewitness reporting, along with his photos and videos, were still getting attention across the country.

Not since had Scott worked for the Chicago Tribune right after graduation from Northwestern University had he dared to dream of prizes and awards. Now those possibilities seemed once again in reach.

“Hey!” Luke shouted over the blast of Trent’s final bullet. “Back up there, buddy.” He put his hand on Trent’s shoulder. “Did you just say fiancée?”

Scott also did a double take. “What? You and Cate?”

Trent’s half smile grew into a full-blown grin. “Yeah. Can you believe it? She said yes!”

“No,” Scott said, feeling an odd sense of disbelief and disquietude. “I don’t. You’ve only known her—what, a couple months?”

Scott stared at Trent, who had a goofy look on his face. Trent had just become the town hero. He could outshoot and outsmart master criminals. But when he talked about Cate, he turned to mush. It had been a long time since Scott had felt that way about Isabelle. Come to think of it, he’d never seen her get dewy-eyed over him. And if she had, he’d missed it. Maybe that was a good reason to rush into marriage. Grab the feeling while it was new and fresh, like a spring sapling. Let it grow over time.

Trent’s laughter broke through Scott’s thoughts.

“Yeah, man, intense days, I’ll tell you. But—” He glanced down at his gun. “I can’t imagine another day without her.”

“Wow!” Luke grabbed Trent in a bear hug. “That’s awesome, man. Did she like the ring?”

“Actually, I haven’t gotten her one yet. I want it to be a Christmas present.” Trent looked from Luke to Scott. “Do you think I should surprise her or have her go with me to pick it out?”

“Surprise her,” Luke said emphatically.

“I dunno...” Scott shook his head. “Women can be weird about rings. I’d take her shopping. What if you pick out something she hates and then she’s stuck wearing it the rest of her life?”