Read Online A Baby Before Dawn by Linda Castillo - Free Book Online Page B

U.S. Secretary of State Geoffrey Rollins, had been taken hostage in civil-war-torn Barik. The hostages, mostly engineers, teachers and missionaries, were being held in a densely populated downtown, in the basement of a closely guarded building. The world prayed for their safe release. After several failed rescue attempts, an elite team was assembled.
    Under the leadership of Commander Tom Bradley, the coterie consisted of security expert Shane Peters, computer ace Ethan Matalon, demolitions man Ty Jones, tactical expert Grant Davis, electrical specialist Liam Shea, linguistics man Frederick LeBron, and Chase. They were charged with getting the hostages out alive.
    But something had gone terribly wrong.
    Bent on revenge against the sect holding the hostages, Liam Shea disobeyed direct orders. He acted impulsively, without waiting for the commander’s signal to cut the power to the building, throwing off the timing of the rescue. Alerted to an assault, the captors released cyanide gas in the basement, leading to the deaths of three hostages, including Secretary of State Rollins.
    In the end, Shea was court-martialed and sent to prison, effectively terminating the political career he dreamed of. Teammate Grant Davis, on the other hand, having been hailed a hero in the mission for saving Shea’s life, parlayed his military career into the second seat in the White House.
    Throughout the trial, Liam Shea had maintained his innocence and went to prison a very angry man. But not before threatening the lives of everyone involved.
    Was Shea behind this? Chase thought. Had he been released from prison, or escaped?
    Had he ambushed the other men from the mission as well?
    LeBron, now the king of Beau Pays, was in his country, ensconced in the Alps, and Tom Bradley had passed away years ago. But Ethan lived here in Boston, the owner of a successful software company, and Ty was here as part of the vice president’s detail. Chase’s pulse pounded. He had to contact Ethan and Ty and warn them…if it wasn’t already too late.
    Tension coursing through his body, Chase rose and pulled out the two cell phones. Both glowed with the No Signal light. Cursing, he hit the call history on the phone he’d appropriated from the gunman back at the shelter, and checked the outgoing call history. He recognized the area codes—Seattle and Boston, mostly—but not the individual numbers. Same for the incoming calls. Frustrated, he turned off the phones to conserve the low batteries.
    He needed to know if Shea had been released from prison. But in order to do that, he needed a phone signal. He wasn’t going to find it in the basement of a century-old building.
    That brought him back to the situation at hand—and Lily. The last thing he wanted to do was put her in any more danger than she already was. On the other hand, he wasn’t going to solve this thing by hiding out. The men with guns were not going to go away. Chase had to act, and he had to act now.
    Scrubbing his hand over his face, he turned and, for the dozenth time, found his eyes on Lily. She lay on her side on a small rug with a folded towel tucked beneath her head. Her eyes were closed, her lashes dark and velvety against the pale skin of her face. Her knees were drawn up as far as her swollen belly would allow, as if she were trying to protect her unborn child even in sleep. She looked incredibly small and vulnerable lying there, and a fierce need to protect her rose up inside him with surprising force.
    Chase knew better than to indulge in the moment but, even pregnant and disheveled, she was by far the most beautiful woman he’d ever laid eyes on. They’d had something special once. A small part of him wanted to believe they could recapture that old magic. But he knew there was no way she would ever give him access to her heart again.
    Not that he wanted it, Chase reminded himself. He was better off alone. No entanglements. No one to ask questions. No one to answer to. No one to