Authors: Kathleen Brooks
"The rocks
.
300 yards to your right."
"How many?"
"I don't know. I only saw one with a sniper rifle."
"What do you want me to do?"
"Hold on." Miles scanned the ar
ea as the caravan approached
and
detected more movement. Men with automatic rifles and machine guns started to get into position.
"I count eight men.
All with automatic weapons.
Abort. Abort. I think we were set up.
"
He watched as Cade turned quickly and fired int
o the rocks. The explosion was
violent
and took the eight terrorists
by surprise
.
Cade turned and ran
for the rocks
that hid
Miles. T
he caravan slammed on the brakes
and men spilled
out of the back of the trucks.
"Shit
!
You got twenty men on your tail. Move dammit!" Miles took a deep breath, let it out and began to pick off the terrorists one by one. "Dump the la
uncher, it's slowing you down."
Miles changed the clip
and
a hail of gunfire erupted around him as
they tried to pinpoint his location.
"Man approaching on your left flank," Miles told Cade as he took out the man on Cade's right.
Cade had pulled ou
t his pistol and fired on the me
n, but they were coming too fast now. Cade was taken down
hard
. Miles fired when he was sure he wouldn't hit Cade and watched as his brother fought for his life.
He was helpless three
hundred yards away as Cade was hauled to his feet and beaten
by the ten remaining men
.
Mi
les watched as a battered and bleeding Cade surrendered. He looked right at Miles and winked his swollen eye as
much as he could. It was their sign for the remaining team members to fall back, regroup
,
and then attempt a rescue mission when
and if they were
able. There was no way that was going to happen. He'd rath
er die than leave his brother behind
.
He looked around the rocky terrain
and ga
u
ged the best way down the hill without being detected. Shouting drew his attention back to his brother. One of the men had pulled
a
pistol out of his holster and was pressing it against Cade's head. The man was quickly losing his temper as Cade refused to talk.
Miles felt as if the wor
ld slowed on its axis. He moved
without conscious thought from behind the rock. With the rifle secure against his should
er
he fired as he ran
down the slope.
His feet slid on the loose rock, but all he could see was the gun pressed against his brother's temple. He took down man after man who made the mistake of not divi
ng for cover.
Miles slowed as he came within twenty-five yards of
the man who had hauled a now
unconscious Cade in front of him, using him as a human shield. There were only three of them left now.
Two behind a rock and then the lead man holding Cade hostage.
"Let him go," Miles shouted in Dari.
"Release an American spy? You'd have to kill me first." The man grinned and tightened his hold on Cade.
"You made your choice." Miles fired without hesitation, hitting the man in the forehead.
He released his hold on Cade who fell to the ground. Before he could run to his brother's side the two men emerged firing at Miles. One laid cover while the other ran for Cade's body.
"No!" Miles shouted as he ran forward firing his weapon. He never felt the bullet
that
r
ip
ped
through his bicep
or the one that tore through his side.
All he could see was the still, bloody heap of his brother lying
lifeless on the gravely ground.
*
*
*
Miles'
s
eyes shot open as he woke up screaming. He sat up so quickly
that
he knocked the dog sitting beside him off the bed. He was wet, drenched in sweat. His throat was r
aw from screaming in his sleep
from
another nightmare. He heard the dog whi
mper and look nervously at him.
"Did I scare you?"
The dog stepped back from the bed and took a running jump to get onto it again. He nuzzled
Miles'
s
arm and licked his face.
"Oh, so this isn't all sweat. You were licking me, trying to wake me up, weren't you?"
The dog thumped his tail and rested his head on Miles'
s
lap. Miles found himself calmed by the simple act of petting the dog. He looked over at the clock
—t
hree in the morning. Well, at least he got three and a half hours of sleep tonight. That was an hour more than yesterday.
"Well, if you're going to stay with me you need a name," he said as he continued to pet the dog, feeling the adrenaline slowly leaving his system. It would take him
a couple of hours to recover from
this. "Bill. You look like a Bill." The dog thumped his tail in approval.
Miles got out of bed and pulled on a pair of black boxer
briefs. Bill followed him
down the stairs and over the dark hardwood floor
to the living room. Leaving the lights off
,
Miles took a seat in the leather chair and looked out
the wall of windows
at
the farm. Bill curled up at his feet and
was snoring
within minutes. Miles settled in and waited for the sun to come up. He hadn't missed a sunrise since that day he rescued Cade.
Christmas
Eve
…
Miles
smiled as he dropped the signed
contract for
Jacks Hotel
s
in the mailbox. He had followed up with Katelyn’s father after
Marshall and Katelyn had gotten engaged
and had won the contract
to supply food for restaurants in every Jacks Hotel
. Miles was
still
in tight negotiati
ons with the grocery chain
over
who
would supply the fresh produce, but he was s
ure with this new contract in
hand he’d be able to best Top
Producers and have Family Farms produce in the stores b
y summer.
Miles hadn’t heard a word from Morgan and had actually managed to forget about her long enough to realize he wasn’t thinking of her. It was a vicious cy
cle that he was hoping to end
with his trip to Ge
rmany. He was on his way to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio
to
catch a cargo transport to
Ramstein
Air Base in Germany. He had boxes and boxes of Christmas gifts to give to the wounded soldiers
that his farmers and the townspeople of Keeneston had put together.
He hadn’t been to
Ramstein
since he was a patient there. Mile
s didn’t know how he’d handle going back
, but he knew how those soldiers felt being injured and so far from loved ones.
When his old commander told him donations were down this year, he knew he had to act. His sister, Paige
,
and sister-in-law, Annie
,
assured him the babies weren’t due until after Christmas so he had agreed to go. He just hoped he didn’t m
iss too much while he was gone.
Morgan placed the final report on Family Farms on David’s desk and waited for him to look up. It was Christmas Eve and she had come in on her day off to finish up the report. She had turned over every stone, looked behind every filing, and used up every favor she had to find out more about Miles’
s
company. And she had found it. It was all sitting there in the file on David’s desk.
“So, what do you think?”
“Family Farms is stable, growing, and a very sound investment. I’d purchase it in a heartbeat. It could easily turn into the most profitable
acquisition Top Producers has ever
made
.” If she
wasn’t
trying to take the company over, she’d have told David how proud she was of what Miles built. He was running a very successful company that was doing we
ll for the farmers of Kentucky.
“Good. I’ll look over it. Get to Kentucky as soon as
the holidays are
over
and start working on the acquisition
.” David pushed the file aside and
Morgan r
ealized she had been dismissed.
She glanced down at her watch and realized if she hurried she could reach the airport in time to catch her flight for her vacation. She was just happy she could finally take a break. It had been a year since her last day off and she liked to do anything she could to forget
about work over the holidays
. This year she was on her way to Fiji. She’d spend
her
Christmas
vacation
on the beach with a cocktail in one hand and a good book in the other. Morgan had scheduled her return for
January 2nd
,
knowing
she’d drive to Keeneston
the
second she arrive
d
back in
DC.
But for now she was going to focus on forgetting work and
the
hazel eyes that haunted her dreams.
*
*
*
Miles
smiled as he thumbed through all the pictures
he had taken of Paige’s son, Ryan, and Cade’s daughter, Sophie,
since his return
from
Germany
.
He couldn’t believe the call he had gotten from his mother early Christmas morning.
She was so happy she
couldn’t stop crying
,
and if he was really honest with himself
,
he was jealous of Paige and Cade.
When little Sophie wrapped her tiny hand around his finger
,
he
felt his heart growing. Then Ryan had grabbed his nose and cooed and it grew
even more. He’d
never thought of himself as a family man, but he wished he could find someone to start a life with. He just knew h
e wasn’t going to tell his mom
he was looking
!
Miles had also managed to make it back to Keeneston before his brother Cy left. It was so good to see his brother. He knew Cy missed being at home and was so glad he was able to be here to meet Sophie and Ryan. Miles had spent the holidays with the entire family and loved every moment. But now it was time to get back to work and there was no better way to start
back on
the grocery contract than by eating some of Miss Violet’
s country ham and cheese grits.
Morgan leaned over the
steering wheel
of her car
to
get a closer look at the farms
surrounding the road
as she drove into Keeneston for the first time in seventeen years.
She slowed her car
as she approached Main Street and took a deep breath. It felt surr
eal to be back in her hometown.
She noticed all the little things
that had changed, but it still seemed like the same old town.
Christmas lights were still
wrapped
around all the
lampposts
making the town glow.
A new bench was placed in front of the library. Mr.
Si
mmon's
antique store was now an
insurance agency with the name of one of her classmates over the door.
People still walked the streets and waved to her, even though they couldn't see who was behind the tinted glass. A large tractor drove down the street and the smell
of sweet feed
from the Horse and Feed
Store
tickled her senses.
It looked like Main Street had had a
makeover
recently too. The historic brick buildings were painted in shades of tan, yellow, blue
,
and deep reds.
The
window
trim was
freshly
painted white
and
made the large rectangular windows
pop against the painted brick.