Covert Christmas (7 page)

Linda Conrad

To Christmas lovers everywhere. And especially to Keyren Gerlach, Marilyn Pappano and Loreth Anne White!

Have a safe, loving and joyous holiday season!

O
h, dear God, not now.

Cameron Farrell's knuckles whitened on the steering wheel as his rear tires spun uselessly, slipping and sliding on hidden patches of ice. He hadn't thought it necessary to engage the four-wheel drive when they'd set out from his place on the mountaintop only a few minutes ago. The long driveway could be treacherous this time of year, but it was as familiar to him as the sky over his childhood home.

Still, typical of December weather on the western slope of the Colorado Rockies, the snowstorm they'd been expecting for tomorrow was heading in early. Things had gone from bad to worse in an instant.

Navigating the narrowest spot, with steep cliffs on both sides, Cam was afraid to take his hands off the wheel. Better wait for the public road and a more wide-open spot to reach down and flip the four-wheel drive switch.

“Daddy! Are those snowflakes?”

Cam flicked a glance in the rearview mirror and saw his nearly four-year-old daughter buckled securely in her child
safety seat. She was pointing out the window. Her blue eyes were wide and full of joy, and her straw-colored hair was tucked up tightly under her fake bunny-fur cap.

Just gazing at her beautiful face brought a familiar ache to his chest. Every day she grew more and more to look like her mother, the woman who'd died giving birth to her.

He loved his only daughter and would protect her with his life. And guilt was responsible for his pain—not the girl. But knowing that didn't seem to make a difference. It was like being caught up in a tornado of emotion he could do nothing to stop. Cam knew their time was running short. If he didn't take a break from his own child soon, their relationship might be ruined forever.

“Yes, Chloe, those are snowflakes,” he said, trying his best to temper the tone of his voice as he hit the public road and flipped the four-wheel switch. “Don't you remember snow from last year?”

“No, Daddy. Will it be a white Christmas like in Nana's pretty song, do you think?”

Damned Patricia Connolly's meddling, anyway. As much as he appreciated her help and concern, his mother-in-law and her sentimentality drove him nuts. He would be perfectly happy forgetting about the holiday all together. He had no pleasant memories of Christmas and would be just fine doing without the songs and the lights, the music and the mush.

“The weather reports say we're in for a good snow. I imagine it will stick around the whole week 'til Christmas day.”

“Yippee! Can we build a snowman? Will I be home?”

“We've already talked about this, Chloe Amanda. Your grandmother wants you to spend your birthday and the holiday at her house. She wants to throw a birthday party for you. All your friends from playschool will be there. That's why we packed your overnight bag and brought your doll along. You like it at Nana's. And you love your grandparents. I know you do.”

“Yes, Daddy. I like it there. But I want to be home with you.
Who's going to spend Christmas with you if I'm with Nana and Grandpa? Will you come for my birthday party?”

“No, I have to stay at home to take care of the animals.” That was as good an excuse to be alone as any. “You remember that Maxine and Jim have the week off. You waved goodbye. Who would take care of the lambs and chickens if I left?”

Cam had taken pains to arrange for his housekeeper and farmhand to take off so he didn't have to face anyone on Christmas Eve. He would much prefer to spend the time by himself, toasting the good woman he'd lost four years ago that night.

He glanced in the mirror again and saw Chloe pouting. What a beautiful child she was. Even when she was throwing a tantrum or crying, she simply glowed with beauty and good spirit. It ripped his heart out not to be able to hold her in his arms. To be the daddy she so desperately needed. But he couldn't bear it. He just couldn't.

Instead, his housekeeper, Maxine, did the hugging. And his mother-in-law gladly stepped up in the hugs and kisses department. The tension between him and Chloe was building fast. He knew he had to act now. His daughter deserved the best life he could provide. And that didn't include living with a shell of a man.

“I had another dream about my mommy.” Chloe's voice was soft and tenuous. She knew he didn't like it when she talked about her mother.

Like the talk about Christmas snow, this was one more problem his mother-in-law had brought down upon them. Constantly talking about Mandy and showing Chloe pictures of her dead mother was not helpful. He knew Patricia meant well, but what good did it do?

None. All this talk was only causing Chloe to have bad dreams about a mother that she had never met. He would have to speak to Pat again about keeping Chloe grounded in the present and thinking about the future instead of dwelling on the past. He did plenty enough of that for all of them.

“I really wish you'd…”

“But, Daddy, Mommy said she was sending me a Christmas angel to be my new mama.”

Sighing, Cam lowered his voice. “Chloe, would you like to live with Nana and Grandpa permanently and have Nana be your new mama? You love them. Think of all the fun you would have. Plus, next year when you go to school, you'll be able to walk from their house instead of taking a bus. Wouldn't that be fun?”

“I guess so. But I wouldn't mind the bus. And who's going to take care of you?”

Not waiting for the same boring answer he always gave when she asked things like that, Chloe sat back in her seat and pouted. Cam stayed silent, watching the heavy white snow falling against the backdrop of green spruce and pine covering his grandfather's mountaintop.

He loved this mountain and his family's home here. Most of his school years had been spent living down in the valley in the tourist town of Juniper with his parents, or off in the East at college. But his heart had always remained rooted in the deep forests and valley views of the large home and small farm his grandfather had built.

He never wanted to leave for long.

But the Farrell family was nearly all gone now. His grandparents gone due to natural causes and his parents taken by a deadly airplane accident. He missed them all. Chloe was the only real family he had left, and he couldn't stand being around her for very long at any one time. Just as well. He wasn't fit company for anyone, let alone a child, on most days.

When his in-laws had permanently moved to Juniper after Mandy died, Pat had said he should feel like a part of their family. She'd offered him a home. He liked Pat and Robert well enough. They were kind souls who'd lost their only daughter on the day he'd lost his wife.

But nothing had felt right to him when he'd tried to move in with them in Juniper after his rehab. Nowhere else on earth could ever be truly home except up here in the isolation and stark beauty of his family's mountain. The peace and the
magnificent charm went a long way toward healing his body, if not his soul.

When he'd been well enough, he'd brought his baby daughter up to the mountain. They'd had plenty of help and his in-laws were always near when he needed them. But recently, taking care of a growing, needy daughter had become too difficult. Especially when it hurt so much just to look at her.

His tires slipped against another hidden patch of ice and Cam was forced to give his full concentration to navigating the long, narrow road down the mountainside. He'd hoped he could make it to Juniper and drop off Chloe before the worst of the storm made climbing back up this road totally impossible. He was determined to spend the holiday alone, as usual.

 

Tara Jackson hung on to her steering wheel for dear life. That same car was following her again. And now it was snowing and the roads to Cam Farrell's home were slippery as hell.

It had been ten long years since the last time she'd come this way. Once upon a time she had even lived in Cam's grandfather's house on the mountaintop. As Tara gingerly stepped on the gas, hoping her tires wouldn't come out from under her on the ice before she could reach the safety of the Farrell home and Cam's help, she wondered if she would make it before her stalker caught up.

She had to. Not much question in her mind about why she was being followed. Her boss had probably guessed that she was a spy for the governor, and then had put a contract out on her. If she didn't reach Cam's place before the hitman reached her, she would never live to see Cam or anyone else again.

Glancing down at her backpack in the bucket seat beside her, she figured her boss, the Colorado attorney general, would also sincerely love to get his hands on the computer thumb drive she'd hidden in with her extra underwear, makeup and her .38. The computer drive contained proof of his criminal activities. She'd worked hard over the last year, gathering enough evidence, and her undercover investigation was almost over.

Tara had hoped to reach the governor with her information today. After talking to the governor in person and turning over her evidence, she would then be able to take the necessary steps to hide until the attorney general and his cohorts were behind bars.

Unfortunately, it was looking more and more like she would not be talking to the governor today. And judging by the weather, she would be damned lucky to make it to the top of this mountain in one piece.

Cam was her best hope. He was the closest lawman she knew she could trust. Everyone else was suspect.

She hadn't seen Cam in nearly ten years, but knew he had graduated from college and run for county sheriff—winning in a landslide. Tara had always thought being the sheriff was a perfect job for Cam. He was honest and strong, and truly cared for people's welfare—though she also knew his long-term goals were more political. Cam's dream as a boy had been someday running for the United States Senate like his father, Wild Bill Farrell.

A senate seat had been his father's dream for Cam, too. And was the whole reason why she and Cam weren't still together today.

As usual, a ten-year-old ache came back to drive a stake into her heart whenever she thought back to their breakup and his parents' role in it. Tara forced a deep breath of air into her lungs and pushed away the painful memories. She wasn't going to a sweethearts reunion and needed to remember that. No, this was a life or death mission. When she'd turned off the highway and headed for Cam's, she had committed. Now she had no other choice.

Besides, the last thing she'd heard of Cam was when his parents had been killed in a private airplane crash in the mountains. At that time, nearly five years ago, the papers stated that Cam was married and his wife was expecting a child. Tara had tried then to push him out of her mind for good. But she'd been trying unsuccessfully to do just that for the last ten years with little luck.

The only thing saving her sanity was her work. With other things to worry about, she didn't think of her lost lover every minute.

But today she desperately needed help from somewhere. And Cam was the closest lawman she dared trust.

She sure hoped his family still lived on this mountain and that they hadn't gone away for the holidays. With the reminder of the time of year, Tara thought back to the many wonderful Christmases they'd spent with Cam's grandparents up on this mountain. The Farrell family home had always been filled with music and laughter and warmth. So unlike her own desolate and lonely home—at any time of year. A loud
ping
hitting the trunk of her car snapped Tara out of her reverie. She glanced in the mirror and nearly peed her pants.

That was the sound of a bullet! Now that they'd driven off the main highway and into this isolated country, the hitman was taking his chances. Even through the falling snow she saw his gun arm hanging out the window with the barrel pointed directly at her car.

She stepped down hard on the gas as her entire back window exploded in a shower of breaking glass. Shrieking in terror, she pushed even harder on the gas and jerked against the wheel without thinking.

She only knew that she had to get away.

Her tires began to slip and the car spun sideways, crashing off the roadway and into blowing snow and trees. Everything around her was white for a moment. But the next thing she knew, a forest of trees loomed directly ahead. She tried steering, but it was a lost cause.

 

Still high on the mountain, but now on the two-lane public road, Cam felt more in control.

“Daddy, look! There's my Christmas angel! Stop!”

“Chloe, please. I can't stop here. There's a car coming around the bend. See the headlights?”

“But she's in trouble, Daddy. We need to help her.”

Cam seldom indulged his child in her many fantasies the way her grandmother did, but this time the tone of her voice was urgent. Still, as narrow as the road was and as dangerous the icy patches, it was impossible to stop. He hoped the other driver was going slow enough to avoid a collision.

“You must've fallen asleep and dreamed the angel, Chloe. You know angels aren't real. There's nothing there. Daddy has to pay attention to the road now. Please calm down.”

“But, Daddy…”

“Not now, Chloe.”

The other car kicked up a cloud of snow as it sped by, going way too fast for the conditions. It just missed slamming into the side of his SUV but the driver never slowed for a moment. Cam didn't get a good look at the driver but he knew none of his neighbors drove a car like that. If this was a visitor to the mountain, he'd picked the wrong day and would probably end up headfirst into a tree before he reached his destination.

With both hands back on the wheel, Cam entered the next curve in the road. He'd already engaged the four-wheel drive, but these damned icy patches were still treacherous.

As his headlights rounded the turn, Cam saw something terrible and his breath caught. Another car had tried to make the curve too fast and was crashed headfirst into a tree.

There was nothing to do now but stop. Cam couldn't leave anyone stranded in a snow drift in this kind of weather. Even if it turned out to be a drunk. Because drunks had families too.