Perilous Security Detail


 
 
 
 “Freeze!”
 The attacker stumbled away and then picked up speed.
 Growling, Everly started after him, but Sawyer grabbed her arm.
 She yanked her arm free. “Let me go! I need to get him.”
 “Layla.” He said the one word, the name. The reason he’d hired Everly.
 She stopped in her tracks.
 They could both run after this guy, but he doubted they would find him tonight in the dark. Sawyer couldn’t leave Everly alone to find the guy, but neither could he leave his niece alone.
 “Why did you leave her?” She sent him an accusing look.
 He fisted his hands at his sides. “Someone was attacking you!”
 “Someone say my name?” The young voice bounced against the trees dripping with rain.
 And Layla stepped up behind Sawyer.
 “What are you doing here?” he huffed out, failing to hide his frustration. “You should have stayed in the house.”
 She seemed oblivious to what happened around her most of the time, always on her cell. He hadn’t stopped to think she might come looking for them. He’d only thought to save Everly.
 
 
 Elizabeth Goddard is the award-winning author of more than thirty novels and novellas. A 2011 Carol Award winner, she was a double finalist in the 2016 Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense and a 2016 Carol Award finalist. Elizabeth graduated with a computer science degree and worked in high-level software sales before retiring to write full-time.
 Books by Elizabeth Goddard
 Love Inspired Suspense
 Honor Protection Specialists
 High-Risk Rescue
 Perilous Security Detail
 Mount Shasta Secrets
 Deadly Evidence
 Covert Cover-Up
 Taken in the Night
 High Stakes Escape
 Coldwater Bay Intrigue
 Thread of Revenge
 Stormy Haven
 Distress Signal
 Running Target
 Rocky Mountain K-9 Unit
 Tracking a Killer 
 Visit the Author Profile page at LoveInspired.com for more titles.
 
 
 Perilous Security Detail
 Elizabeth Goddard
 
 
 
 Be not afraid, only believe.
 —Mark 5:36
 
 
 Contents
 Chapter One
 Chapter Two
 Chapter Three
 Chapter Four
 Chapter Five
 Chapter Six
 Chapter Seven
 Chapter Eight
 Chapter Nine
 Chapter Ten
 Chapter Eleven
 Chapter Twelve
 Chapter Thirteen
 Chapter Fourteen
 Chapter Fifteen
 Chapter Sixteen
 Chapter Seventeen
 Chapter Eighteen
 Chapter Nineteen
 Epilogue
 Dear Reader
 Excerpt from Deadly Vengeance by Jodie Bailey
 
 
 ONE
 October; Puget Sound
 The familiar sensation of being watched swept over Sawyer Blackwood as he set fresh roses on the pedestal of the tombstone for his twin sister, Paisley. Like he’d done every year for the past four years. This was the anniversary of her death, after all. Her murder.
 He read the epitaph:
 Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning how to dance in the rain.
 It was, in fact, raining both literally and in a metaphorical sense... “I’m trying to dance in the rain, sis.”
 But dancing in the rain held an entirely different meaning for him these days. His sister had perhaps danced in the rain during the storm, but she hadn’t lived through it, and he came back every year to remind himself that he could have made a difference if he hadn’t been overseas. He came back to her grave every year to remind himself why he was involved in his particular clandestine operation.
 Water droplets clung to the rose petals before dripping off. “Don’t worry, sis. I’ll keep her safe.”
 When he could no longer ignore the prickle of his skin, the raised hair on the back of his neck, he lifted his gaze from the roses and tombstone and glanced around the cemetery, which consisted of several acres of rolling hills, groomed lawn and aesthetically placed trees, views of Puget Sound, and the Olympic Mountains in the distance—peaceful scenery, really, except that he knew someone had followed him here and was watching his every move. But Sawyer didn’t see anyone hiding behind a tree or standing at another gravesite, pretending to visit a loved one while watching him. On such a dreary day, he only spotted an elderly couple standing under a red umbrella at a gravesite.
 He turned his back on the tombstone to return to his vehicle. Across the cemetery and by the main building, he caught sight of a blue Cadillac sedan with dark windows—the same one he’d seen last night. He’d been unable to retrieve the license plate number, but maybe today he could remedy that. Sawyer was wearing a raincoat, but he didn’t pull the hood up over his head, nor did he carry an umbrella. Living in the Puget Sound region had made him used to the rain. He walked up the hill and was almost breathless by the time he got to his white GMC Acadia. He remained aware of his surroundings, and in his peripheral vision, he could still see the Cadillac as he shrugged out of his raincoat before climbing into his vehicle.
 So far, the Cadillac had remained in place. As he exited the cemetery, Sawyer kept to a normal speed and hoped the Cadillac’s driver would catch up to him or get close enough that he could see and memorize the license plate number. For all he knew, someone could have been following him for days and he had just failed to notice earlier.
 Regardless, as soon as he’d spotted the tail last night, he’d contacted a security service and requested protection for his niece, Layla, for whom he was now guardian after his sister’s death. Some might think his actions hasty, but he refused to hesitate like his father had years ago. His inaction had precipitated unnecessary trauma for Sawyer and Paisley.
 Finally, he spotted the Cadillac in his rearview mirror; it was following him, keeping three cars behind. That was too far for him to see who was driving or catch the license plate. Now he wished that he had simply walked up to the car and faced off with the driver while at the cemetery. Get it over with because right now, he couldn’t know with certainty from