Fatal Secrets. Barbara Phinney

      

      Kristin’s heart swelled in sympathy for Zane.

      They were both searching for their family. In a way, she’d found a kindred spirit. “I’m sorry, Zane.”

      “It’s all right. I’ve built a good business here in Montana, and searching for my brother is something I do when I have the time. I have even less information on him than you have on your mother so I always knew I might never find him.”

      “So you’re back to square one now?”

      “I have one much weaker lead out there, but I’m not expecting anything to come of it. Like I said, I may never find him.”

      He watched her as if he was also looking for understanding. Her heart lurched. He was hurt, too. He was struggling to find a connection with his past. And like her, he might never find his family.

      PROTECTING THE WITNESSES:

      New identities, looming danger and forever love in the Witness Protection Program.

      Fatal Secrets—Barbara Phinney, May 2010

      BARBARA PHINNEY

      was born in England and raised in Canada. She has traveled throughout her life, loving to explore the various countries and cultures of the world. After she retired from the Canadian Armed Forces, Barbara turned her hand to romance writing. The thrill of adventure and the love of happy endings, coupled with a too-active imagination, have merged to help her create this and other wonderful stories. Barbara spends her days writing, building her dream home with her husband and enjoying their fast-growing children.

      Fatal Secrets

      Barbara Phinney

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      MILLS & BOON

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      With God we will gain the victory,

       and he will trample down our enemies.

      —Psalms 60:12

      CONTENTS

      PROLOGUE

      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

      LETTER TO READER

      QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

      PROLOGUE

      MEMO: Top Secret

      TO: FBI Organized Crime Division; U.S. Marshal’s Office

      FROM: Jackson McGraw, Special Agent in Charge, Chicago Field Office, Federal Bureau of Investigation

      DATE: May 10, 2010

      RE: Operation Black Veil

      Vincent Martino has escaped custody. We have received new information from our “Martino Mystery Witness.” Vincent Martino has discovered Eloise Hill’s daughter lives in Montana. He knows her first name only and he is now believed to be in Montana searching for both mother and daughter. Salvatore Martino is dying and the family is stepping up efforts to find both women.

      All police services have been informed.

      The Marshal’s Office is requested to ensure all women in the Witness Protection Program in Montana who fit Eloise’s description are protected. The investigation is continuing on all fronts, including previous deaths, and the daughter (location on a need-to-know basis only) will be informed and told to stay vigilant. Protective custody not required at this time.

      Contact SAC McGraw with any information that could assist the FBI in its case against the Martino crime family.

      ONE

      Nothing is harder than leaving my precious baby girl.

      For the past five months, Kristin Perry had hung on to the words her birth mother wrote to FBI agent Jackson McGraw all those years ago. Written just before she’d left.

      Eloise Hill was out there somewhere, and in her note to Jackson, she’d said she loved Kristin enough to give her up to keep her safe, something in which Kristin should find comfort.

      Comfort didn’t come easily, though, Kristin decided as she sat in the café and fought back the first sign of tears. Her new identity, as both orphan and adoptee, was still sinking in, displacing any comfort. She’d lost both her adopted parents five months ago, and the ache inside had yet to ease. Only after discovering the contents of her father’s safe did she learn of her adopted status. She’d found her real birth certificate, and a note from her birth mother.

      But visiting Jackson McGraw, the man to whom her mother had written, had done nothing to solve the mystery of where the woman might be. His last contact with her had been the note Kristin had since memorized.

      Dear Jackson:

      Nothing I’ve done, from testifying against a Mafia kingpin, to starting over in the Witness Protection Program, is harder than leaving my precious baby girl. Kristin almost died because of the path I’ve needed to take. I love her too much to risk her life. For her safety, I must give her up, though it breaks my heart. Please see to it she’s placed in a loving, Christian home.

      Yours,

       Eloise.

      Kristin lingered over and over such parts as “nothing is harder” and “breaks my heart.” And each time, the ache increased. She needed to find her mother. Her only family now. Or did she now have brothers, sisters?

      The mere thought of a big family gripped Kristin. She’d been an only child, with grandparents that were now just a faint memory to her. When her aging parents, Anna and Barton Perry, had died in that terrible car crash last January, she felt so alone.

      Not so much now, though. She had a mother somewhere, and while sitting in this downtown coffee shop near her Westbrook, Montana, university campus, watching one particular man enter, Kristin knew she was that much closer to finding her.

      Was that Zane Black, the man she’d asked to meet her this