Lisa Mondello - Her Only Protector (Love Inspired Suspense Series)  

I take your brother back to the U.S. for prosecution before the bail needs to be paid and I get a nice bonus for my troubles, Gil said. Thats the way it works.

Me and the baby, too? she asked. Do you take us, too?

The words were out of her mouth before she even had time to comprehend what shed said. The surprise in his eyes mirrored what she felt. But it was the only way. Shed come far, but she couldnt do this alone. She needed help and if she worked this right, she and Ellie might be able to get back to the States alive.

Go on. Get in, he said quietly.

She closed her eyes and sighed softly, soothing the fussy baby in her arms.

Gil was after money. She was out of money. He wanted her brother. She wanted safety for all of them. She had only one choice, not that she liked it. She had to go with him. She stepped off the curb and into the back seat of the compact car, hoping she hadnt just made the biggest mistake of her life.

Books by Lisa Mondello

Love Inspired Suspense

Cradle of Secrets

Her Only Protector

LISA MONDELLO

Lisas love of writing romance started early when she penned her first romance novel (a full fifty-eight pages long, but whos counting) at the age of ten. She then went on to write a mystery script that impressed her sixth grade teacher so much he let her and her friends present it as a play to the whole grade. There was no stopping her after that! After going to college for sound recording technology and managing a Boston rock band for four years, she settled down with her husband of over sixteen years and raised a family. Although shes held many jobs through the years, ranging from working with musicians and selling kitchen and catering tools to teaching first and second graders with special needs how to read and write, her love of writing has always stayed in the forefront, and she is now a full-time freelance writer. Lisa lives in western Massachusetts with her husband, four children (who never cease to amaze her as they grow), a very pampered beagle and a rag-doll cat who thinks she owns them all.

Sonny Montgomery had an itch she couldnt scratch. It sat dead center between her shoulder blades, just out of arms reach. Like a persistent mosquito buzzing around her ear, it nagged at her. But she couldnt stop to deal with it. Even a small move like that could attract unwanted attention on these South American streets.

She needed to remain invisible. To be in and out of Colombia without anyone being able to recognize or remember her. Any connection to her family either by name or face would spell certain death for her and the baby.

And Cash. That is, if her brother was still alive. If the Colombian kingpin who had kidnapped Cashs baby girl from her cradle in Eastmeadow, Massachusetts, just four months ago had shown him enough mercy not to kill him. But she couldnt think about that. The Lord had brought her this far on her journey. She had to trust that He would help Cash with his.

She held tight to the basket of fruitit was heavy and her arm ached. She focused her mind on the ache instead of all she couldnt control. Slipping her free hand beneath her poncho, she checked to make sure that her traveling papers were still in her money belt, which was strapped to her waist. They were.

Thanks to the duplicate passport the U.S. Embassy had issued for the baby, theyd both be able to fly out of Colombia without incident. Hopefully. The Colombian government might challenge it. But she was ready to deal with that if it happened.

Sonny was having a hard time coming to terms with what she was doing. Never in her life had she entertained the idea of doing anything illegal. And here she was in Colombia, ready to steal a baby and flee to the United States.

But it was the only way. Even her brother, Dylan, a former marine and a Chicago cop, had assured her of that. Off the record, of course.

It had rained in the night and the pungent smell of mud, earth and rotting garbage permeated the quiet, early-morning streets. A thick mist drifted up from the already hot ground. In an hour, the fruit market in the center of the city would be open. Some of the street vendors were already setting up their carts full of goods, ready for the tourists who would soon crowd the road, eager to barter for a bargain.

It was a long walk from her little room near the foothills to the center of town. It was also a dangerous walk so early in the morning, alone. But escaping the city would be much easier if she didnt have to contend with the morning traffic.

If all went well, Sonny would be long gone by the morning rush. And any evidence of her trip to Colombia would be erased. The team would make sure of that. They had her backDylan had promised her. Lord, I hope so.

Closing her eyes for a brief moment, she ran through her part of the plan one more time, telling herself she had to get it right. There was no room for error. The sooner she had the baby in her care and was out of Colombia and away from Eduardo Sanchez, the head of the Aztec Corporation, the sooner shed be able to relax. Really relax. Not like the falling-down-because-you-cant-stay-awake-anymore type of relaxing shed been doing since shed first learned her niece had been kidnapped by the Colombian businessman involved in organized crime.

The sweat of her palm made it hard to hold the heavy wicker basket in her hand, but she gripped it tighter, ignoring the urge to stretch her arm and scratch her back. As moisture beaded on her brow, Sonny thanked God for the ache in her arm and the itch between her shoulder blades. They kept her mind off her nerves. Off all the things that could go wrong in a long string of choreographed steps that had to be perfectly performed in order for the plan to work.

She thought of her brother. Cash would have been as against her coming to Colombia as Dylan had been at first. But then, both of them wanted to believe she was still their baby sister tagging along behind them and not the capable twenty-five-year-old woman shed grown into. Cash hadnt noticed much of her maturing since hed become an agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration. Dylan, the eldest, had missed even more while he was away in the military. If it werent for the fact that she was the only person who could make this plan work, shed probably be padlocked in her bedroom.

But Sonny couldnt think about Cash or Dylan right now. The baby was her only concern. If she failed

No. Im not leaving this country without little Ellie.

She walked off the path and onto the paved road, leading to the center of the city. Unlike the outskirts of town, central Monteria was modern, much like an American city. Stores and restaurants catered to the foreign tourist. Concrete high-rise hotels and office buildings packed the downtown streets. It seemed almost strange that a city like this could be just a few hundred meters from foothills that were lush with greenery and jungle.

The basket of fruit she held was just a prop, a reason for her to be walking the streets at this hour of the morning should anyone take notice of her. Shed learned that only vendors walked the road this early in the morning. She couldnt risk renting a car or calling for a taxithat would leave evidence of where shed been and where she was going.