Risky Return

“Stop investigating or you will die.”

A Covert Operatives story

Searching for a missing pregnant foster teen, Rebecca Mason stumbles across a human trafficking ring. Now with criminals determined to silence Rebecca, security specialist Collin Walsh appoints himself her protector. But how can the secret husband who once abandoned her to join the military regain her trust? Collin will do anything to make up for the past...but first he must ensure they survive.

VIRGINIA VAUGHAN is a born-and-raised Mississippi girl. She is blessed to come from a large Southern family, and her fondest memories include listening to stories recounted around the dinner table. She was a lover of books from a young age, devouring tales of romance, danger and love. She soon started writing them herself. You can connect with Virginia through her website, virginiavaughanonline.com, or through the publisher.

Also By Virginia Vaughan

Covert Operatives

Cold Case Cover-Up

Deadly Christmas Duty

Risky Return

Rangers Under Fire

Yuletide Abduction

Reunion Mission

Ranch Refuge

Mistletoe Reunion Threat

Mission Undercover

Mission: Memory Recall

No Safe Haven

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk.

Risky Return

Virginia Vaughan

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-09687-4

RISKY RETURN

© 2019 Virginia Vaughan

Published in Great Britain 2019

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

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Version: 2020-03-02

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“Collin, they know all the information I’ve gathered and everyone I’ve spoken with,” Rebecca whispered.

Collin’s gut clenched as a text confirmed what he’d suspected. Rebecca’s car had been inventoried as part of gathering evidence at the crime scene, but her laptop was not there. Was this the work of a dirty cop?

“Your computer was never taken for evidence. It’s gone.” He took Rebecca’s arm. “We should go. You can recount whatever you remember to the FBI and they can pick up the trail you started.”

The sooner they got Rebecca’s witness out of town and to the FBI, the better off they were going to be. If anything happened to her, or all three of them, the trafficking ring would have succeeded in tying up their loose ends and could continue on unscathed.

Collin opened the passenger door for Rebecca. But from the corner of his eye, he spotted a car approaching them, slowing down. The window lowered and the barrel of a gun protruded.

His instincts kicked in and he grabbed Rebecca and threw her to the ground behind the car as gunshots rang out, spraying his car with bullets...

Dear Reader,

Thanks so much for joining me in book three of my Covert Operatives series. I hope you enjoyed Collin and Rebecca’s story as much as I enjoyed writing it.

I love reunion stories and this one was no exception. These two characters fell in love at a very young age, but the pressures of real life tore them apart. This happens all too often these days, but thankfully, we serve a God of second chances. One of my favorite Bible verses is Joel 2:25, where God tells how He will restore to us what the locusts ate. I clung to this verse during a dark time in my life when it seemed all my hopes and plans for the future were ruined. I wondered if life could ever be good again. It was. My past mistakes do not define me and neither do yours because no matter how dark your situation seems right now, we have hope through Jesus Christ. He wants to heal your pains. He wants to rebuild your life.

I love hearing from my readers! You can contact me online through my website www.virginiavaughanonline.com or on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/ginvaughanbooks.

Blessings!

Virginia

Thou in thy mercy has led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation.

—Exodus 15:13

This book is dedicated to the men and women who serve others unselfishly in all capacities and fields. Thank you for what you do.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Note to Readers

Introduction

Dear Reader

Bible Verse

Dedication

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

EPILOGUE

Extract

About the Publisher

ONE

It was her.

Collin Walsh spotted Rebecca across the cashier stands at the local grocery store. He would know her anywhere, her long dark hair cascading over her shoulders as she picked up her groceries and walked out. He paid for his items then followed, watching her as she moved through the parking lot, oblivious to his presence. He’d wanted to play it cool when he saw her again but he wasn’t sure he could. Should he approach her? Say hello? Or turn and walk away and not open those old wounds? He didn’t even know what name she used these days. Had she kept the last name Walsh or gone back to her maiden name of Rebecca Mason?

She stopped at a blue Toyota Camry and dug through her purse, presumably for keys. He’d known he might see her when he’d returned to their hometown, but he hadn’t expected the way his heart would be racing or how his mouth would be going dry when he finally did.

He looked away. If he was smart, he would walk back to his car and drive away, pretending he’d never seen her. But when he glanced at her again, he couldn’t. She was beautiful. Just as beautiful as she’d been twelve years ago, and his brain reactivated memories he’d spent years pushing away. The feel of her in his arms. The taste of her lips. Running his hands through her hair. The way her eyes had gleamed as he’d slipped a pawnshop wedding ring on her long, slim finger.

Man, how he’d loved her.

Irritation bit at him. He’d faced down terrorists and some of the evilest people in the world in his jobs as both an army ranger and then a covert security specialist for the CIA, but saying a simple hello to the woman he’d once loved and married paralyzed him with fear.

His good sense kicked in and he walked in the opposite direction, toward his car. He’d already let her down once. No need to revisit his failure. Yet, he couldn’t resist one last look. He turned back just in time to see a man approach her from behind, grab her and slam her head against the car.

Collin didn’t even think as he dropped his bags and ran toward her, her cries of pain echoing in his ears. She slid to the ground but the man grabbed her hair and pulled her to her feet, this time whispering something in her ear. Collin couldn’t hear what he’d said but it didn’t matter. All that mattered was getting to Rebecca before this man could do any more damage.

He screamed at the attacker, who spun to face him then whipped out a knife and slung Rebecca to the ground before lunging at Collin. Oh, how he wished he had his gun with him, but he didn’t need it to take down this man. It wasn’t the first time he’d had to fight hand-to-hand with an armed assailant. His instincts kicked in, and he batted away the knife, knocking it from the attacker’s hand as he kicked his legs out from under him. The attacker scrambled to his feet and took off running, disappearing around the corner of the store.

Collin didn’t try to follow him. He was more concerned with making sure Rebecca was all right. He bent down beside her and called her name. When she didn’t move, he carefully turned her over. Blood was running from a wound above her eye and her hands and arms were scraped from the pavement, but she was alive. Her eyes fluttered as she regained consciousness and his heart hammered against his chest when he saw her beautiful brown eyes staring back at him. She blinked several times then tried to sit up, grabbing her head in pain as she did.

“Take it easy,” he said as he helped her.

“What—what happened?”

“A man attacked you as you were leaving the store. Don’t you remember?”

She glanced at him again, but her eyes held more confusion than fear. He suspected his presence was probably only adding to it. “We should get you to a hospital.”

“No!” The confusion seemed to clear from her face. “I don’t need a hospital,” she told him. “I need to go.”

“You’re bleeding.”

She reached up and touched the gash then looked at the blood on her fingers. “I’m sure it’s nothing.”

He pulled out his phone. “I’m calling the police.”

“Don’t.” She struggled to stand and he reluctantly helped her when it was obvious she wasn’t going to remain still.

“I have to call. Someone intentionally tried to hurt you, Rebecca. You at least need someone to look at that gash and I know he slammed your head against the car. You should be examined by a doctor. You probably have a concussion. The police need to be notified and the man who did this needs to be found and held accountable.”

“I just want to go home.”

He thought she must still be in shock and didn’t realize how close she’d come to being killed. Maybe she hadn’t seen the knife her attacker wielded, but he was certain she’d felt her head slamming against the car. She reached for her car door handle, but Collin intervened, keeping it closed.

“You can’t leave the scene of a crime and you certainly don’t need to be driving in your condition.” He should probably call someone on her behalf. Her family. A husband, perhaps. She would have had their sham of a marriage dissolved a long time ago and moved on with her life. They’d only been kids when she’d gotten pregnant and they’d run away together. She’d been barely eighteen and he’d been nineteen, not even old enough to get married in Mississippi without a parent’s signature, so they’d crossed state lines and married in Louisiana, where eighteen was the legal age.

He’d left town after everything fell apart and hadn’t looked back, so he’d never received any divorce papers, but he knew after certain public notices that she could have gotten one without his signature. He didn’t see a ring on her hand and although he knew it didn’t necessarily mean anything, he felt vindicated to know she was still single.

He should call her parents now, but he shuddered at the thought of even speaking to them. Collin would let the police handle that, or Rebecca, when she was able.

She looked up at him, the confusion returning to her face. “What are you doing here, Collin?”

It had to be a shock for her to see him again after all these years, but this didn’t seem like the time to go into a lengthy description of why he’d returned. She was hurt and bleeding and had just been through a trauma.

He glanced at her belongings, now scattered on the ground. Her purse was still there and so were her keys. The attacker hadn’t tried to rob her or even steal her car. This attack had been personal. “Who did this, Rebecca? And why would anyone want to hurt you?”

* * *

Rebecca’s head was still swimming when the paramedics and police arrived. She hadn’t wanted them there, but she’d agreed because she didn’t want to tell him about Missy. She allowed herself to be helped into the ambulance and her gash and scrapes tended to. Her head was pounding and she was having trouble focusing on what was happening. But she had to keep her wits about her. A girl’s life depended on it.

An unmarked cruiser pulled up to the scene and Kent Morris got out, his hair and clothes neat and orderly. He’d always dressed impeccably ever since high school and she knew he was ambitious and had recently been made an investigator with the sheriff’s office. He approached Collin first and started asking questions.

Collin Walsh! A new rush of confusion washed over her. What was he even doing here? She hadn’t seen him in twelve years, but today he’d appeared out of nowhere and swooped in to save her life. There was no denying it was him. He was older, but he had the same strong features and beautiful green eyes. He was a shadow from her past. Her first love. Her high school boyfriend, then later her husband when they’d eloped after discovering she was pregnant. And the father of the baby lost to them both before he was even born.

She’d often imagined that if their baby had lived, if she hadn’t miscarried him, he would he have had Collin’s smile and curly hair. He would have been twelve now, nearly a teenager and as witty and charming as Collin had been at that age. She tamped down that train of thought. She couldn’t go there. She wouldn’t, because it hurt too much to even imagine.

The paramedic finished bandaging her up. “You should go to the hospital to get checked out.”

“I’m fine,” Rebecca assured her. “I don’t need to go.”

“If you lost consciousness, you might have a concussion.”

“I said I’m fine.” She didn’t relish the idea of sitting in a hospital for hours on end. Her head hurt but it was nothing a few Tylenol couldn’t help. She had to get back to Missy Donovan. Rebecca had promised her food and a safe place to stay until they figured out what to do and whom they could trust with her story. She’d picked up something for her at a drive-through when she took the teen to the motel, but she’d hoped to return with more food and supplies tonight. Those groceries were now scattered around the parking lot.

Kent approached her, followed closely by Collin. His green eyes studied her, and she was suddenly self-conscious. He certainly wasn’t seeing her at her best. Her face felt swollen and the bandage on her forehead couldn’t be attractive.

Stop it. It didn’t matter what she looked like to Collin. Not anymore. Not since he’d abandoned her after she’d lost the baby.

Kent spoke first. “Hey, Rebecca, Collin filled me in on what happened here. Did you see the man who attacked you?”

“I didn’t see anything.” It wasn’t a lie. The man had blindsided her. She’d never seen his face, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have an idea who’d attacked her.

“Well, I’ve asked Collin to work with a sketch artist to see if we can identify this man. We’re also pulling prints off your car and pulling security footage from the store. Don’t you worry, we’ll find this guy.”

“I appreciate that, Kent.”

“Any idea why someone would want to hurt you, Rebecca?”

Now was the time to come clean about the notes, the threats, even the girl she was helping hide out in the Batesville Motel, but something stopped her. Missy had told her that the police were involved in the trafficking ring she’d escaped from two nights ago. And her attacker’s eerie warning to mind her own business entered her thoughts.

Collin noticed her hesitation. He could always see right through her. “What is it, Rebecca? Are you in some kind of trouble?”

All she wanted was to go home and crawl into bed and forget this day had ever happened, but she knew she couldn’t. “I’ve been receiving some threats lately. Letters and messages.”

“What did they say?”

“They warned me to stop what I was doing or I would be sorry.”

“And what is it they think you’re doing, Rebecca?” Collin asked.

She saw the doubt in his face—he was wondering if she’d gotten involved in something illegal. Could he really believe she would have changed that much? Had he? “It’s complicated.”

“Uncomplicate it,” Kent insisted.

She looked at them both. The last few days had been a haze of suspicion and doubt. She didn’t know who she could trust in this town anymore. Even her own father was a suspect after Missy had told her about seeing the name Mason Industries, her father’s company, on the building where she’d been held.

“Four months ago, a pregnant teen in my care went missing. Kent, you classified her as a runaway, but I never stopped looking for her. I think whoever has her wants me to stop looking.”

“You believe she was abducted?” Collin asked. “Do you have any idea who took her?”

She didn’t see an ounce of doubt in Collin’s expression and she liked that, but she had to remember she hadn’t seen this man in twelve years, not since the day he’d walked out of their marriage and left her abandoned and alone in New Orleans. “When can I go home?” Rebecca asked, ignoring his question.

Kent gave her an annoyed look. “I still have some questions to ask you once we finish processing this scene and I need to see those threatening notes, Rebecca. You should have come to me when you received the first one.”

“I know I should have, but you never believed me that Missy wasn’t a runaway.”

“I might have changed my mind after seeing those.”

“I’m sorry, Kent. Please, I just want to go home. My head is killing me.”

She feared he was about to give her the you-need-to-go-to-the-hospital spiel again, but he sighed instead. “I can have a deputy take you home.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Collin said. “I’ll take her home.”

Rebecca wasn’t sure how she felt about that. Collin had swooped back into her life all of a sudden and she hadn’t even gotten her equilibrium back enough to process his return. Now, he was offering to drive her home?

He held out his hand and she took it, but as she stood, the world around her began to spin. Her knees buckled and she fell, but Collin was there in a shot, wrapping his strong arms around her and keeping her vertical. She soaked in the smell of his musky aftershave as she leaned into him.

“I’ll help you,” he said, his voice gentle and reassuring.

She allowed him to guide her to his car, but as she slid inside she realized she didn’t have the food she’d come here for. She pressed her head against the back of the seat. She wasn’t up for any more shopping today. Hopefully Missy would be okay until the morning.

Collin slid into the driver’s seat, started the car and turned out of the parking lot. She still couldn’t believe she was sitting beside Collin Walsh. It was too unreal to be anything but a dream. And how many times had she dreamed about this man reappearing in her life through the years? Now, he had.

She reached out and touched his arm just to reassure herself this was real. He covered her hand with his and the weight of it against hers convinced her it was. Collin Walsh was back in town and back in her life.

He squeezed her hand but the furrowing of his brow told her he was worried. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I will be.” She moved her hand and turned away. She couldn’t sit here drooling over Collin. She had to get back to Missy. But his reappearance in her life was something she hadn’t planned on. “I didn’t know you were back in town,” Rebecca said. In fact, she hadn’t heard of him being back in their hometown in years.

“My mom passed away a few months ago. She’d been in a nursing home for years. I thought it was time to clean out her house and put it on the market.”

His mother. Of course. Rebecca had visited with her often, keeping tabs on Collin and his jaunts around the world in the army, reading the letters he’d sent home to his mom until her health forced her to be moved. “I’m sorry about your mother. I always liked her.”

He gave a slight smile and glanced at her. “Thank you. She always liked you, too.”

If only her parents had been as easygoing as his mother, things might have ended differently between them. They had never liked Collin, even going so far as to forbid Rebecca from seeing him. That hadn’t stopped her. Nothing could have stopped her from marrying Collin Walsh back then...and nothing had.

And she’d paid a big price for doing so. She’d lost her husband, her baby and her happy future.

“I couldn’t believe it when I saw you in the store,” he said. “Honestly, I was trying to decide if I should say hi or not when I saw that man grab you.”

So he’d considered not even speaking to her? It stung her to know she meant so little to him when she’d once loved him so much. But she was grateful he’d been there. She didn’t know what her attacker would have done if Collin hadn’t intervened. Would he have used that knife he’d flashed at her? Or had this attack only been a warning? She wrung her hands and looked out the window. Was he out there somewhere following them? She was suddenly very glad Collin had offered to take her home.

“Thank you for helping me.” A thousand questions popped into her mind that she wanted to ask him. She’d thought about him often throughout the years, and wondered where he was and what he was doing. “Did I hear you joined the army?”