Marilyn Pappano - Covert Christmas: Open Season Second-Chance Sheriff Saving Christmas

To my grandson, Cameron, who still believes in Santa Claus; my son, Brandon, and his lovely wife, Bobbi; and my husband, Bob. For making Christmas that much more special. I love you guys!

W ith one last glance over her shoulder, Natalia Parker turned off the sidewalk onto an overgrown path and gave a sigh of relief. She always felt exposed on Augustas streets, but here, at the ancient house where she rented the upstairs apartment, azaleas grown wild mostly hid her from sight.

A sharp wind cut through the narrow alley formed by house and fence, making her shiver. Shed gotten rid of her heavy clothes when shed left Chicago, and the unusually frigid temperatures this week made her regret it.

As if she didnt have enough regrets already.

She reached the back of the house, resting one hand on the siding to balance as she stepped across the arching roots of a long-gone live oak. A plaster fairy sat on the rough-sawn stump, looking cold in the thin evening light. Clearing the roots and the corner, Natalia headed for the rickety stairs, her thoughts on warmth, security, hot cocoa and a movie.

Abruptly, awareness prickled down her neck. Danger. Her gaze swept the small yard, from fence to vine-covered fence, past a pine, an oak and a gum tree, before darting back to the oak.

In the shadows a lean figure stood motionless, his brown leather jacket and trousers practically blending into the bark. His stance was casual: one shoulder against the tree, one knee cocked. A knitted cap covered most of his long blond hair, and a beard stubbled his chin. For three and a half years, shed seen him in her dreams. In her nightmares. And now here he was, in the flesh.

Josh Saldana.

He pushed away from the tree, taking a few steps into the light cast by the weak lamp outside her door, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets. Hey, Nat.

His voice was low, his manner loose, but neither lessened the menace emanating from him. Shed known danger since she was a child. She sensed it, smelled it, tasted it, chilling the very air between them.

Cursing the mall job that forced her to go out with nothing more than a four-inch blade for protection, she gauged the distance to the stairs. She might make it halfway to the top before he caught hermaybe, with luck, all the way. But the door to her apartment would give with one good kick, and the only other exit was a fifteen-foot drop out the bedroom window. Her sole hope of escape was back the way shed just come, to the street, to the open.

Whats wrong, Nat? Cat got your tongue?

She locked gazes with him. His eyes were so blue, they defied description. Usually they were full of emotion: warm; heated; laughing; angry; gentle; mocking; deeply, darkly passionate. This evening they were blank.

How had he found her? Why had he bothered? To avenge the wrongs shed done him? Payback was a bitch, hed always said.

Shed had enough payback to last a lifetime. She wasnt looking for any more.

Willing herself to give no hint of her intent, she suddenly lunged, spinning around, racing for the corner. She had a few seconds, max, before he reacted, and he was bigger, faster. Given half a chance, he would be on her before she reached the sidewalk.

Her leap carried her over the bigger tree roots, but she stubbed her toe on a small one, sending her skittering for balance. Shed almost found it when Josh slammed into her from behind. Her landing was hard, sending her glasses flying, rushing her breath out with a grunt, forcing her face to the ground. The rich scents of earth and decaying leaves filled her lungs, threatening to choke her, before the pressure on her back eased.