Safeguarding the Surrogate by Delores Fossen is available on June 29.

Book Description

She’d brought him his greatest joy.

Now he must save her life…

Rancher Kara Holland’s hot on the trail of a murderer who’s been killing surrogates—like she was for her ill sister. But when Kara’s trap goes terribly wrong, she’s thrust headlong into the killer’s crosshairs…along with her sister’s widower, Deputy Daniel Logan. And as she and Daniel stay one frantic step ahead of a deadly foe, the sparks igniting between them rival the danger they face.

Excerpt

Kara Holland stood in the darkness and waited for the killer.

With her heartbeat throbbing in her ears and her back pressed to the barn wall, she tried to listen for any sound to alert her that he was coming. Nothing. Not yet. But she’d done everything she could to lure him out and make him come after her.

And she was ready.

She had the Glock gripped in her hand, and thanks to the hours of firearms training, she knew how to use it. If that failed, if he somehow got the jump on her, she’d fall back on the hand-to-hand moves she’d also learned. Of course, those things didn’t guarantee that she would stop him, but she had to try. She was tired of living with this smothering weight of fear.

Finally, she heard something. The sound of a car engine. Then a door closing. He had finally come for her.

The next thing she heard were the footsteps, slow and cautious. They were coming straight toward her barn.

She’d purposely turned off all but the single light in the tack room, and Kara had left the door cracked just enough for a thin beam to pierce the darkness. She stayed in the shadows by a stack of hay bales, but when the killer came in the barn, she’d be able to see him.

Kara could certainly hear him.

Along with the footsteps, the hinges creaked on the barn door, and she pinpointed every bit of her focus while she lifted the Glock. And she took aim.

“Kara?” the man called out.

She groaned, mixing it with some muttered profanity, because she instantly recognized that voice. Not a killer. But Deputy Daniel Logan.

“What are you doing here?” she snapped once she could manage to speak.

“Checking on you,” Daniel snapped right back.

When he stepped into that beam of light from the tack room, she had no trouble seeing the riled expression on his face. Or the rest of him for that matter. He was wearing his usual jeans and work shirt on his tall rangy body. His Mercy Ridge deputy’s badge was clipped to his belt.

“I’m fine,” Kara assured him. Of course, that wasn’t true, and he could clearly see that. After all, she was waiting in her dark barn while holding a gun. “You can go.”

“No, I won’t.” Daniel sounded “all cop” with that one-word response. And he didn’t budge, either. In fact, he came closer, meeting her eye to eye.

“You shouldn’t have come,” Kara insisted.

“I wanted to have a look around and see for myself if the rumors were true. They are,” he added in a snarl. “What the hell are you thinking?”

“You know what I’m thinking,” she fired back.

That only caused him to release a long hard breath. No doubt one of frustration. Well, she was frustrated, too. And scared. Especially scared. Something that she’d hoped to end tonight.

“Two surrogates are dead,” Kara reminded him. Not that a reminder was necessary. Daniel knew because she’d already told him. She’d taken the news articles to him right away when she had learned about the dead women. “Both used the Willingham Fertility Clinic in San Antonio.”

Just as Kara had done. Again, no reminder was necessary for Daniel since the reason she had used the clinic and become a surrogate was to carry a baby for Daniel and his wife, Maryanne. Maryanne had also been Kara’s sister.

As it always did, just remembering Maryanne made her feel as if someone had clamped a vise around her heart. It was almost certainly even worse for Daniel. It’d been nearly two years since Maryanne had lost her battle with breast cancer, but sometimes it felt as fresh as if it’d just happened.

Buy on Amazon Kindle | Mass Paperback

About the Author

USA Today bestselling author, Delores Fossen, has sold over 70 novels with millions of copies of her books in print worldwide. She's received the Booksellers' Best Award, the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award and was a finalist for the prestigious Rita ®. In addition, she's had nearly a hundred short stories and articles published in national magazines. You can contact the author through her webpage at www.deloresfossen.com.

Connect with the Author

Website: https://www.deloresfossen.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorDeloresFossen/timeline/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/dfossen

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deloresfossen/?hl=en

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/delores-fossen

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/240672.Delores_Fossen