Read Online Yuletide Protector (Love Inspired Suspense) by Lisa Mondello - Free Book Online

truck, Daria. I just need to check around the back and see if whoever did this is still here.”
    “Please don’t go,” she whispered.
    “You’ll be okay. Just get into my truck and lock the door.”
    Although she hesitated, Daria nodded.
    She ran down the stairs toward the street. Once she was out of view, Kevin moved in the opposite direction toward the backyard and into the shadows.
     
     
    The door to Kevin’s truck was unlocked and Daria climbed in quickly, shutting and locking the door behind her. But for some reason, she couldn’t sit still. She felt too vulnerable, too exposed, and she really didn’t want to sit out in the dark all alone. She needed comfort. She needed to feel safe and that could only happen after she went inside her home and locked all her doors.
    Slipping back out of the SUV she walked to the front porch. In contrast to the back of the house, the front porch was well lit enough for her to see what she was doing and see anyone around her. She’d have to fight with the front lock again, but she wouldn’t have to deal with being alone in the dark until Kevin came back.
    She struggled with her shaking hands to get the key in the lock, then fought to get it to turn. Tears sprang to her eyes, her shoulders sagging. She’d just replaced the lock last week! Obviously she’d done something wrong or the lock would work right. What would she do if she couldn’t get it open, if she was stuck out here on the porch, completely unprotected?
    Sniffing, she jiggled the key up and down as she turned the doorknob. Relief washed over her when it finally turned and the door opened.
    Once inside, Daria threw on the light switches by the door, illuminating the antique hanging lamp that lit up her stairway and the hall leading to the living room and kitchen. Without pulling off her coat, she moved down the hallway and switched on all the rest of thelights in the house until every room was lit up like a Christmas tree.
    Her insides trembled. Instinctively she hugged her coat tightly around her. But even as she did, Daria knew that wouldn’t make a difference. The cold wind that swept through her had nothing to do with the temperature in the house.
    The front door swung open, creaking on its hinges, and she leaped.
    “Someone was out there, but he’s long gone now,” Kevin said, to her utter relief. “I thought I told you to stay in my truck. I got worried when I didn’t see you in there.”
    “I didn’t want to be alone outside.”
    “You should have let me check the house first,” Kevin said gently. “Whoever left the bird could have gotten inside.”
    Daria’s eyes widened as her jaw dropped. “Are you purposely trying to scare me?”
    “No. Just trying to be cautious.”
    “Did you actually see anyone in my backyard?”
    “I heard something, but I didn’t see anyone. But usually when someone is bold enough to pull a prank like hanging a dead bird on someone’s door, they wait around for the reaction.”
    She laughed without humor. “Well, if someone was watching, they got a good reaction out of me.”
    His shoulders sagged. “This whole thing reeks of a prank from street kids.”
    “You sound like you’re disappointed.”
    “Suspicious. I’m not crazy about the idea of it being common knowledge that you use the back door, in the dark, but that just makes it all the more likely it’s someone from the neighborhood. George was planningto hire a hit man to take you out—he’d have no reason to do surveillance on you himself. Besides, from the amount of complaints I found that were filed from this neighborhood, these kids have been causing trouble for a while. This could be one more prank.”
    Daria straightened her posture. “Say it. You don’t believe it was them.”
    Kevin glanced around the room, his face still wearing the scowl she knew he’d had earlier. “I don’t know. I prefer the street-kids explanation, but I don’t want to overlook anything that might lead back to