Lakeview Protector

Lakeview Protector
Shirlee McCoy

Ex-military man Eli Jennings owed his commander his life and vowed to repay him by finding his missing sister. His search led to Jasmine Hart's mountain cabin in Lakeview, Virginia, where another woman had disappeared. A strong-willed widow, Jasmine didn't think the two were related. Until a major clue to both mysteries was found in her house. And her own mother-in-law was a witness.Scared for the only family she had left, Jasmine turned to Eli for help. But someone powerful wanted to ensure she never felt safe, never learned the whole truth. And that meant making one more woman disappear.

“Go on inside and lock the doors.

You never know who could

be lurking around here.”

“You’re very good at giving me new things to worry about,” Jasmine said.

Eli gave her a smile. “I’m also very good at keeping people safe.”

“Sarah and I don’t need you to keep us safe. We’re fine on our own.”

“Are you?” He leaned in close to stare into her eyes.

She wanted to move away, but she was frozen in place, fascinated by this strong, handsome man.

“Yes, we are. We’ve both been on our own for a while and managed just fine.”

“That was then. This is now. There’s real trouble here, Jasmine. If you’re not careful, it will find you.”

His words chilled her to the core, but she didn’t want to let him know how much, or just how desperately she wished she did have someone to count on besides herself and her ailing mother-in-law. “If it does, I’ll deal with it.”

“And I’ll be right here to help you out.”

SHIRLEE McCOY

has always loved making up stories. As a child, she daydreamed elaborate tales in which she was the heroine—gutsy, strong and invincible. Though she soon grew out of her superhero fantasies, her love for storytelling never diminished. She knew early that she wanted to write inspirational fiction, and she began writing her first novel when she was a teenager. Still, it wasn’t until her third son was born that she truly began pursuing her dream of being published. Three years later she sold her first book. Now a busy mother of four, Shirlee is a homeschool mom by day and an inspirational author by night. She and her husband and children live in Maryland and share their house with a dog and a guinea pig. You can visit her Web site at www.shirleemccoy.com.

Lakeview

Protector

Shirlee McCoy

“Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

—Isaiah 54:10

To Aunt Jessica, who knows more than most

what it means to grieve and go on.

Contents

Chapter ONE

Chapter TWO

Chapter THREE

Chapter FOUR

Chapter FIVE

Chapter SIX

Chapter SEVEN

Chapter EIGHT

Chapter NINE

Chapter TEN

Chapter ELEVEN

Chapter TWELVE

Chapter THIRTEEN

Chapter FOURTEEN

Chapter FIFTEEN

Chapter SIXTEEN

Chapter SEVENTEEN

Chapter EIGHTEEN

Chapter NINETEEN

Chapter TWENTY

Chapter TWENTY-ONE

Chapter TWENTY-TWO

EPILOGUE

ONE

Frozen rain fell from steel-gray clouds, pinging off the blacktop and pattering into Smith Mountain Lake. Aside from that the day was silent, the summer bustle of guests replaced by winter solitude. Jasmine Hart was glad. People brought cash, but they also brought baggage, and she wasn’t talking the kind that held clothes. Marital strife, teens with secrets, men and women hiding from the world and from their problems. She’d dealt with them all during her time at Lakeview Retreat, but that had been years ago.

Now she had her own baggage, her own secrets, her own reasons to hide, and dealing with people wasn’t something she wanted to do. It seemed, though, that she had no choice in the matter. One phone call in the middle of the night, one brief conversation with her mother-in-law’s best friend and Jasmine had been on a plane and flying from New Hampshire to Lakeview, Virginia. Three days later, she was caring for her mother-in-law and readying the neglected retreat for the first renter it had had in seventeen months.