Read Online Escape to Morning by Susan May Warren - Free Book Online Page A

solve—the border between Minnesota and Canada often seemed no more than a fuzzy line drawn on a map. Between miles of border lakes and thick pine forests, Hayata could practically drive a battalion of tanks through, and the border guards, despite their efforts, would be hard-pressed to corral them. Hence the need for men like Will to watchdog the pockets where Hayata set up shop.
    The sentry stood so close scanning the forest that Will could have drawn a detailed caricature of his thin beard, dark eyes, and scar down his cheek. Will tightened his grip on his Beretta M9 pistol and prayed for invisibility. He may have had a few iffy moments, including his lie-by-omission to Dannette, but he had to believe that God was on his side.
    Wanted to believe it. Despite his mistakes, his failures.
    In fact, Will hoped the Almighty might, in fact, give him another chance to make amends with Dani. The look of betrayal on the K-9 handler’s face embedded itself in Will’s brain, and he couldn’t deny the pinch in his chest that felt like regret. Something about her—her smile or the way she let him in under her defenses to see her fatigue or even the nickname Cowboy on her lips—had churned up a desire that felt foreign, even impossible.
    Friendship.
    Except it hadn’t ended well. He had as much chance to make friends with Dani Lundeen as he did with a Turkish blunt-nosed viper.
    The guard gave one last look, then continued slowly along the perimeter.
    Will released his full breath in a long, unheard stream. He needed to get closer if he hoped to sketch the layout of the compound in his mind. From this position, he outlined two buildings—a house and a garage, obviously not used for cars. Probably weapons. Or communications. Behind the garage, a twelve-foot satellite dish aimed for the Southern Hemisphere.
    The sentry finished his stroll around the perimeter and sat on the steps. Will watched as he lit a cigarette, the faint ash glowing green in Will’s night-vision goggles.
    The wind rustled the branches, the quiet of the forest settling over Will, filling his pores. He had always enjoyed surveillance. The quiet of aloneness, the focus of analyzing details, of formulating hypotheses, the insight that came when watching the enemy on their private, safe turf. People became comfortable in the known, in their own territory. They dropped their defenses, allowed the enemy to penetrate, learn, possess. He’d seen too many blindsided because they thought the perimeter was safe. Maybe that’s what made Will a good soldier—he had learned, via the life lessons of his father’s fists, never to let his guard down, never to let a soul past the defenses that kept him sharp.
    He’d feared the comfort of being known by someone and had instead substituted it with the pleasure of knowing.
    No wonder he’d ended up alone—and empty. He wasn’t a fool. He knew that Lew had a love with Bonnie that came only from letting a woman inside a man’s heart and letting her love all the blemishes and scars.
    But he wasn’t that type of guy. And now, especially since he’d given his life to God, hoping to do things God’s way, he had little hope that he’d ever find a woman like Bonnie. Not in the scarce time he had between missions.
    Guys like him lived for the moment, hoping to snatch a morsel of that true love. Only morsels weren’t in God’s plan.
    Which meant, neither was any hope of true love.
    Will swallowed a sudden lump of regret. If he’d done it God’s way from the beginning, he might have a woman like Bonnie right now, giving him a reason to be out in the woods, wet and a little cold, spying on the bad guys in the wee hours of the morning.
    He’d have a reason to want to stay alive. To come home in one piece. And a reason to leave in the first place.
    The guard stood, snuffed out his cigarette, began his perimeter round. Will tracked him past the