Redeeming Travis. Kate Welsh

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      “Believe me, Travis, I understand that kiss was nothing but a diversionary tactic. I meant, what are you doing here?”

      His eyes narrowed at his former girlfriend. “Where exactly is here?”

      “The middle of my investigation.”

      “I believe it was you who ran into me. You really ought to watch where you were going, Ms. Streeter.”

      “That’s Major Streeter, Air Force Office of Special Investigations. Now answer me. You followed someone. Which of them was it and why?”

      FAITH ON THE LINE:

       Two powerful families wage war on evil…and find love

      ADAM’S PROMISE—

       Gail Gaymer Martin (LI #259)

      FINDING AMY—

       Carol Steward (LI #2634)

      GABRIEL’S DISCOVERY—

       Felicia Mason (LI #267)

      REDEEMING TRAVIS—

       Kate Welsh (LI #271)

      PETER’S RETURN—

       Cynthia Cooke (LI #275)

      PROTECTING HOLLY—

       Lynn Bulock (LI #279)

      KATE WELSH

      is a two-time winner of Romance Writers of America’s coveted Golden Heart^® and a finalist for RWA’s RITA^® Award in 1999. Kate lives in Havertown, Pennsylvania, with her husband of over thirty years. When not at work in her home office, creating stories and the characters that populate them, Kate fills her time with other creative outlets. There are few crafts she hasn’t tried at least once or a sewing project that hasn’t been a delicious temptation. Those ideas she can’t resist grace her home or those of friends and family.

      As a child she often lost herself in creating make-believe worlds and happily-ever-after tales. Kate turned back to creating happy endings when her husband challenged her to write down the stories in her head. With Jesus so much a part of her life, Kate found it natural to incorporate Him in her writing. Her goal is to entertain her readers with wholesome stories of the love between two people the Lord has brought together and to teach His truths while she entertains.

      REDEEMING TRAVIS

      KATE WELSH

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      Acknowledgments

      Brian Krawchuk—ex-air force and favorite nephew. Jeff Sweetin, Special Agent in

       Charge, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Rocky Mountain Division.

       Thank you, gentlemen, for your contributions. Any errors found here

       are mine and certainly not theirs.

      Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins?

      And not one of them is forgotten before God.

      —Luke 12:6

      Cast of Characters

      Travis Vance—He’d lost everything—his college sweetheart, his young wife and daughter…and his faith. But when his old flame returns, is he ready to risk his heart to her—and the Lord—one more time?

      Air Force Major Patricia Streeter—Pretending to be in love with Travis Vance was easy—she’d been there before. But telling her heart that this was just an undercover mission to connect La Mano Oscura and the Diablo crime syndicate was another matter!

      El Patrón—Who was the leader of La Mano Oscura that the rogue airmen dealt with?

      Maxwell Vance—How involved was Travis’s father with La Mano Oscura…and which side was he working for?

      Air Force Major Ian Kelly—What secrets did the investigator uncover that left him dead?

      Dear Reader,

      I was so excited to be asked to join the FAITH ON THE LINE series for Love Inspired. My reason was pretty simple. I fear many of us, sitting in our safe little homes and going to our idyllic churches, forget that there are Christians out there in the line of fire. They go forth into danger, fighting the world’s evils wherever they find them—for us. We need to remember that though many who don the mantle of warrior also wear the mantle of Jesus, they still need our continuous prayers. They face a double foe, the one they can see and another we all battle. Temptation is there all around them and they need our prayers to combat it.

      I tried to show that battle as Travis lay in relative safety while taking aim at the men who would gleefully have killed the woman he loved if she were discovered. He prayed first for forgiveness as he contemplated his duty, but then he started feeling very righteous anger as they planned Tricia’s death. Temptation had found its subtle inroad, and Travis felt the darkness engulfing him and he remembered to turn to God. Tricia also faced death, and she too steadfastly turned to her Lord for comfort. My prayer for all who wear uniforms and carry badges of authority is that they remember where to turn in those darkest of moments on the job and in the quiet aftermath.

      I love hearing from readers at [email protected], but I regret I can only answer e-mail correspondence, or letters accompanied with a self-addressed stamped envelope when you write through Love Inspired.

      Love and blessings,

      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

      Chapter One

      From the shadow of an abandoned warehouse Major Patricia Streeter aimed her camera. Through her telephoto lens she saw the pilot she’d been following hand over an oversize duffel bag to a dark, swarthy man, then take a briefcase in exchange. The transaction took only as long as it took to shoot five quick images of the two men—evidence in her current investigation.

      Captain Taylor, one of seven pilots who called themselves the Buccaneers, opened the briefcase and shook his head, his blond hair glinting in a sliver of sunlight that cut through the alley. “This isn’t nearly enough. What are you trying to pull?” she heard him shout.

      The second man turned a bit more away from her. Tricia strained to hear him but she could only see him gesture in a way that said “Calm down.” Then he shrugged as he said something else that was as equally indiscernible.

      “Fine,”