Explosive Secrets. Valerie Hansen

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      PREGNANT AND ALONE

      Implicated by her criminal cousin, Nicki Johnson is now the target of a murderous gang. Dark-haired policeman Jackson Worth thinks she is hiding something, but his remarkable bomb-sniffing dog has no such reservations. He’s there to protect her—no judgments, no questions. And Jackson is a man of honor. He’ll stand by this beauty and her unborn child. Because it is the right thing to do. And because guarding her has left his battle-scarred heart open to the possibility of love. Which changes everything…

      Texas K-9 Unit: These lawmen solve the toughest cases with the help of their brave canine partners

      “You’re sure your ex isn’t the one harassing you?”

      “Absolutely. He left after I told him about the baby. As far as I’m concerned, good riddance.”

      “He’s a fool” was all Jackson dared say. If he had opened up and told her everything he was thinking, she would have been even more embarrassed.

      There was a strong sense of honor and righteousness in him. Always had been. Maybe that was why this police job seemed to fit him so well. Why he felt such an undeniable obligation to step up and take care of Nicolette when her need was so great. She would never know how deeply, how personally, her plight affected him, of course, because he would never tell her.

      But he would be there for her, helping and guarding her to the best of his ability, for as long as she needed him to be. It wasn’t only because she might help the department solve a difficult case, either.

      Looking after her was simply the right thing to do.

      Whether she liked it or not.

      VALERIE HANSEN

      was thirty when she awoke to the presence of the Lord in her life and turned to Jesus. In the years that followed, she worked with young children, both in church and secular environments. She also raised a family of her own and played foster mother to a wide assortment of furred and feathered critters.

      Married to her high school sweetheart, she now lives in an old farmhouse she and her husband renovated with their own hands. She loves to hike the wooded hills behind the house and reflect on the marvelous turn her life has taken. Not only is she privileged to reside among the loving, accepting folks in the breathtakingly beautiful Ozark mountains of Arkansas, she also gets to share her personal faith by telling the stories of her heart for all the Love Inspired Books lines.

      Life doesn’t get much better than that!

      Explosive

      Secrets

      Valerie Hansen

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      MILLS & BOON

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      Special thanks and acknowledgment to Valerie Hansen for her contribution to the Texas K-9 Unit miniseries.

      I will give you a new heart

      and put a new spirit within you.

      —Ezekiel 36:26

      To my “partners in crime,”

      Shirlee McCoy, Margaret Daley, Sharon Dunn,

      Terri Reed and Lenora Worth, who were a joy

      to work with on this series. To Joe and Karen,

      beloved proofreaders who catch my boo-boos.

      And to my personal K-9 cops, Charlie Brown and Lucy, two rescued Labs who see to it that

      I don’t spend every waking hour sitting at my computer.

      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

       DEAR REARDER

       QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

      ONE

      Nicolette Johnson was about to leave for her night-shift job at The Truck Stop Diner when her cell phone rang.

      She slipped it out of her jeans pocket and hesitated while she listened to the ringtone playing “The Yellow Rose of Texas.” Most of her recent callers had been nosy reporters or curious neighbors wanting to ask what she knew about her cousin Arianna Munson’s recent murder.

      “That would be nothing, just like I told the police,” she muttered. But since her curiosity was aroused, she gave in and answered. “Hello?”

      “Hello, Nicki, darlin’.”

      The slow, deep drawl was dripping with menace, sending chills up her spine. “Who is this?”

      “Never