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HER LIFE IS ON THE LINE
For a year, U.S. marshal Hunter Davis has protected witness Annie Delacorte and her toddler daughter. But now, someone is determined to stop Annie from testifying against the men who killed her husband. To guard Annie, by-the-book Hunter will have to break a promise to himself: to not get emotionally involved. After all, he already cares more deeply than he ever imagined for the sweet family of two…a family he’ll do anything to keep safe and sound by his side.
Witness Protection: Hiding in plain sight
“I’m taking this situation very seriously,” Hunter said.
“The whole team is,” he continued. “We’ll figure out how you were found and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Annie wanted to believe him, but nothing had happened the way it was supposed to in the past year. She blinked back tears.
A new year. No more tears over things she couldn’t change. She was going to make her life what she wanted it to be. What she thought God wanted it to be.
“I won’t let anything happen to your baby. I promise,” Hunter said.
Please keep your promise, Hunter.
* * *
WITNESS PROTECTION: Hiding in plain sight
Safe by the Marshal’s Side—Shirlee McCoy, January 2014
SHIRLEE McCOY
has always loved making up stories. As a child, she daydreamed elaborate tales in which she was the heroine—gutsy, strong and invincible. Though she soon grew out of her superhero fantasies, her love for storytelling never diminished. She knew early that she wanted to write inspirational fiction, and she began writing her first novel when she was a teenager. Still, it wasn’t until her third son was born that she truly began pursuing her dream of being published. Three years later, she sold her first book. Now a busy mother of five, Shirlee is a homeschooling mom by day and an inspirational author by night. She and her husband and children live in the Pacific Northwest and share their house with a dog, two cats and a bird. You can visit her website, www.shirleemccoy.com, or email her at [email protected].
Safe by the Marshal’s Side
Shirlee McCoy
For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock.
—Psalms 27:5
With much thanks to a fantastic group of writers—Margaret Daley, Sharon Dunn, Liz Johnson, Valerie Hansen and Terri Reed.
You ladies are awesome!
Contents
ONE
“Three, two, one. Happy New Year to me,” Annie Duncan muttered as she flicked off the television. 12:00 a.m. on the first day of the New Year. She hoped this year would be better than the last one had been.
“At least it can’t be any worse,” she sighed as she walked down the hallway that led to the room she shared with her daughter. Sophia could have had her own bedroom, but Annie wasn’t ready for that. Not yet.
She eased the door open and stepped into the room. The house was older than the one they’d had during the year they’d spent in Milwaukee, the wood floor creaky and cool under her feet. Sophia lay in her crib, her little toes peeking out from beneath the blanket, the stuffed dog that Joe had bought when Annie learned she was pregnant clutched in her arms.
Sophia was such a beautiful little girl. Joe would have been so excited to see her as a toddler, hear her baby-babble change to words and sentences.
He’d loved their daughter. Annie could still say that, and she still believed it. Even if so many other things in their lives had been lies.
She touched Sophia’s soft baby curls, as the sound of quiet conversation drifted from the room below. She didn’t tense the way she had her first few weeks back in St. Louis. She’d gotten used to having people in the house with her twenty-four hours a day. The U.S. Marshals had made it as easy on her and Sophia as they could. The two-story safe house had been fitted with security systems and monitors, the upper level where she and Sophia spent most of their time perfect for their small family. It felt homey, but it wasn’t home.
Annie wasn’t sure when they would have that again.
Even Christmas hadn’t made the place feel any less like a comfortable hotel, a stopping point on the way to somewhere else. Poor Sophia. Her third Christmas had been a bust. For the most part, the marshals who were guarding them had left them alone. They’d spent the day together. Just the two of them. That was the way it had been since their return to St. Louis. Aside from an occasional trip to meet with prosecuting attorney Steven Antonio, Annie and Sophia hung out together. That was fine and fun for a twenty-six-month-old, but Annie was starting to crave adult company and companionship.
Just a few more weeks and the case against the men who’d murdered her husband