The Heart of a Hero by Janet Chapman Read Free Book Online Page A

Trisha even home? The girl was supposed to hang out with Kimberly today until one, when Duncan MacKeage was going to pick her up at the Nova Mare marina and take her across the fiord to babysit his and Peg’s little tribe of heathens tonight and all day tomorrow.
    So what was she doing home? And who had called the resort in a panic? Their sister-in-law, Jerilynn? Then that meant Trisha had called Tom for help, which meant the girl must be in some pretty bad trouble.

Chapter Four

    “What’s going on at home?” Nicholas asked, returning the guard’s nod as he sped past the booth at the beginning of the road that descended the mountain.
    “I don’t know. Somebody called the resort and said Trisha’s in trouble with my father. She’s my sister that you . . . met last night.”
    Nicholas pulled his phone from inside his jacket and held it out. “Does she have a cell? Call her. Or call your house,” he added when Julia didn’t take it.
    “I don’t know how to
use
those phones,” she softly growled.
    “Yes, you do,” he growled back, sliding his thumb across the screen to unlock it. He held it out to her again, even as he slowed to make a hairpin turn while watching for oncoming traffic—specifically a silver Lexus he’d been told had been the only vehicle through the lower gate in the last half hour. “Use your finger. Touch the phone icon and dial, then touch send.”
    She took the phone just as he exited the turn, and Nicholas sped up again as he also kept an eye out for the stretch limo he’d been told had left the summit about thirty minutes ago but hadn’t arrived at the lower gate yet. Every driver traveling the resort road was given a radio they would then turn in at the opposite gate, so his guards could give updates about road conditions. It was a program he’d implemented within a month of taking over as director of security, and it had already proven invaluable during several winter storms last year, a number of accidents, and two ambulance runs. And just like all of his guards, Nicholas knew the road’s every twist and turn to the point he could make today’s run in about twenty minutes—assuming his passenger had an iron stomach.
    Julia apparently figured out the phone and held it up to her ear, only to lower it a minute later. “She’s not answering her cell,” she said, dialing another number, then holding the phone to her ear again. “Jerilynn! What’s going on?”
    Nicholas heard a frantic female voice on the other end, although he couldn’t make out what she was saying. “She locked herself in her bedroom?” Julia said, also sounding frantic as she grabbed the handle above her door when he took a corner without slowing down. “Did he hit her?” she whispered tightly. “Look, just make sure Tom keeps him away from her. I’ll be there in—Jerilynn!
Hello?
”
    Julia lowered the phone to her lap. “She hung up. Or she dropped the receiver and it broke. I heard a loud crash.” She handed him back the phone. “My brother Tom is there. He won’t let anything happen to Trisha. Jerilynn said she called the sheriff.”
    They passed the Lexus parked in a scenic turnoff just as the road grew less steep, and Nicholas pushed down on the accelerator. “Can your brother handle himself in a fight?” he asked. “Your father’s not exactly a small man, and last night he appeared to have the strength of an ox—even inebriated.”
    “Tom’s at a disadvantage size-wise, but he’s strong. Um . . . about last night,” she whispered. “I want to apol—”
    “Let’s agree that you won’t apologize for something you had no control over,” he said before she could finish, “and I won’t apologize for getting involved in your business in the first place.” He grinned in her direction. “And we’ll also agree not to feel awkward when we run into each other at work.”
    He saw her take a deep breath—which ended abruptly when her expanding lungs pressed against her sore