Long Road Home.pdf

LongRoadHome

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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used

fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely

coincidental.

Samhain Publishing, Ltd.

512 Forest Lake Drive

Warner Robins , Georgia 31093

Long Road Home

Cover by Anne Cain

ISBN: 1-59998-618-3

www.samhainpublishing.com

All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the

case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: November 2007

Long Road Home

Sharon Long

Dedication

To Fru. I wouldn’t have finished this book without you!

Chapter One

Norwood , Colorado

Jules Trehan climbed out of her rented Jeep and looked warily around her. The remote cabin she had been

staying in for the last week had afforded her privacy…so far. But she didn’t harbor any illusions that it would last

for long. Northstar would find her. It was time to leave.

She slammed the door and leaned heavily on the cold metal. Around her, the rugged beauty of the mountains

gave her a small measure of comfort she’d long been without. Sadness that she would soon move on crept over her,

inserting an unrelenting ache in her chest.

Closing her eyes, she breathed deeply of the pine-scented air. Here in this untamed land, the illusion of

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freedom was ever present, yet she viewed it as she would a magician’s feat—pleasing, but not real.

Though she knew she must hurry, she allowed herself one more moment to revel in the stark beauty of the

Colorado sky. Regret pierced the fragmented tatters of her soul, then she deliberately hardened her mind, shutting

out everything but the task at hand. Survival.

Spurred to action, she swiftly mounted the steps to the cabin that overlooked Miramonte Reservoir and opened

the door. She slipped inside, intent on collecting her sparse belongings and hitting the road.

There wasn’t much to pack. She threw a change of clothes and several packets of dried rations into an

overnight bag. All her weapons, with the exception of the pistol she carried, were secured in the back of the Jeep,

and the rest of her supplies were tucked away in a locker in Denver. She’d go there next to collect them. Then

she’d disappear to some foreign country and start a new life. And if she were really lucky, she could escape the

person she had become.

The sound of tires crunching on gravel drew her attention to the window. She yanked her gun from her back

waistband and vaulted across the living room. She flattened herself against the wall next to the window, and, with

one finger, she pulled the curtains slightly open and peered out. A light-colored sedan, obviously a rental, pulled to

a stop beside her Jeep.

Her hand gripped the stock of her pistol, and her finger caressed the trigger. Adrenaline pumped furiously

through her veins as she waited for the occupants to get out. When they did, she nearly dropped the gun in shock.

Pain, and so much longing, throbbed through her veins. How had Mom and Pop found her?

She jerked away from the window and leaned her head against the wall. It was a trick. It had to be. Look-

alikes hired by Northstar.

Footsteps sounded on the steps, and she slid over to the door, her gun raised. Her breath came in rapid spurts

as her throat swelled with unspent sobs.

A soft knock pierced the quiet. “Jules?” Her mother’s wavering voice drifted through the heavy wooden door.

God, if it wasn’t her mom, someone had done their homework. Fear gripped her. Had the Trehans been

harmed? Had Northstar carried out his threats?

She cracked the door and shoved her gun out at the older couple. “Who are you?” she demanded. “What do

you want?”

“Put that damn thing away,” Marshall Trehan groused. “Is that any way to greet us after three years?”

She shoved her gun back into her pants and threw open the door. She was in her mother’s arms in an instant.

“Jules, my God, it’s really you.” Her mother’s arms tightened around her.

Jules closed her eyes and inhaled the comforting scent of her mom. Still a mixture of vanilla and butter after

all these years.

“Do you have a hug for your old man?”

She released her mother and went willingly into Pop’s arms. His strong embrace seemed weaker than usual,

but he still smelled of Old Spice aftershave. He patted her on the back and kissed the top of her head. “You’ve got

a lot of explaining to do, girl.”

Reality quickly tempered her euphoria. She drew away and gestured her parents inside. As they walked by, she

scanned the outside perimeter, taking in every detail of her surroundings.

At her side, her phone pulsed and vibrated. Dread stole over her. Northstar.

“I’ll be right back in, Pop. Make yourselves at home.”

“Be quick. You don’t want to keep your mother waiting,” he said gruffly.

She closed the door behind her and yanked out her phone. “What do you want?” She walked toward her Jeep

as she waited for a response.

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“Always to the point. I admire that about you.”

“Try it sometime,” she bit out.

“Enjoying your visit with the Trehans?”

She froze. “Are you behind this?”

“I would’ve thought you’d appreciate it.”

She remained silent, her mind working quickly. Northstar did nothing that didn’t directly benefit him. If he was

responsible for her parents coming here, she had to find out why.

“Why?” she asked.

“It’s simple, Magalie. I want you back.”

“My name is Jules,” she ground out.

“What you call yourself is inconsequential,” he said airily. “I want to bring you back in. I know where you are.

Your pitiful attempts at hiding are no credit to your training. I let you have a little vacation. It’s time to get back to

work.”

“No.”

“What?”

“I said no.”

“I really hoped you wouldn’t say that,” he said in a regretful tone. “It’s a shame the Trehans traveled all this

way for nothing.”

She dropped the phone and started for the cabin in a full sprint. “Mom, Pop!” she screamed.

She was almost to the porch when the entire world exploded around her. A ball of fire flashed in her vision as

a violent force propelled her backwards, her body arcing in the air.

She slammed viciously to the ground, wood and debris raining down on her like a hailstorm. Pain racked her

entire body, and her vision blurred, the sky swirling above her.

Tears slipped down her cheeks. “Mom, Pop,” she croaked out. Then everything went black.

Chapter Two

Montrose , Colorado

Manuel Ramirez stepped off the plane, slinging his carry-on over his shoulder. He walked briskly past the

security checkpoints, noting the lines of people waiting to pass through. Tourist season was in full swing. His

partner had arranged for a car, and hopefully he would breeze right through and be on his way. To see Jules.

Three long years he had searched for her. Utilizing every connection and department resource in his power,

he’d left no stone unturned in his urgency to discover why she had disappeared. But even his position with the CIA

hadn’t helped him in his quest.

Then, as suddenly as she had fallen off the face of the earth, she appeared as if from thin air. He had dropped

everything and flown to Colorado, praying that it wasn’t yet another dead end in a long line of disappointments.

He collected the necessary paperwork from the car rental counter and headed outside, anxious to begin the

drive to Norwood.

His chest tightened as he imagined seeing Jules for the first time in three years. Was she okay? Had she been

hurt? Thousands of questions burned a trail through his head.

Through countless missions in the last few years, his number one thought had been of her. If she was hungry,

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hurting, alone, scared. He had performed his duties like a wind-up toy.

Trips home had become more difficult as he had to face the Trehans each time with no answers to their

questions. Watching them slowly sink further into despair and into their belief that their adopted daughter was dead

had been more than he could bear.

How would she react to seeing him? If she was in Norwood, why hadn’t she called him? Was she in danger?

He shook his head as he climbed into the car. So many questions and no real answers. Not yet anyway.

As he started the engine, his secure cell phone rang. He flipped it up, knowing it was Tony. “Talk to me,” he

said.

A long period of silence followed. “Manuel.”

“What is it?”

“I don’t know to say this, man.” Tony’s voice was heavy with sadness, and Manuel’s pulse immediately began

to race. “It’s the Trehans.”

“Mom and Pop?” Manuel relaxed. “Did they call? You didn’t tell them about Jules, did you? I don’t want to

get their hopes up if this turns out to be a dead end.”

“Manuel, they were there.”

“Where?” he asked, his brow wrinkling in confusion.

Tony sighed. “They went to Jules’ cabin in Norwood. I don’t know how they found out. Maybe she called

them.”

“No, they would’ve let me know.” But they hadn’t let him know they were going, had they? Why? He blew

out his breath. “How’d they find out where she was?”

“Manuel, there’s more.”

Dread gripped him as he waited for Tony to continue.

“There was an explosion. The entire cabin blew up. The Trehans were inside.”

“What?” he gasped. He breathed rapidly, tears swimming in his eyes, blurring his vision. It couldn’t be true.

There had to be some mistake. Then another thought hit him, more powerful than before. “Jules?” he demanded,

barely able to croak out her name. “What about Jules?”

“She’s alive.”

Sweet relief poured over him, making him lightheaded and dizzy. She was all he had left now. He couldn’t lose

her.

“She’s in the hospital in Grand Junction. She was airlifted from Norwood.”

“How bad is it?” he asked, grief thickening his voice.

“I don’t know, man. She’s alive. That’s all I know. You need to get to Grand Junction fast. I don’t know

what’s going on, but I’m working on this end to try and figure it out. Your girl has some nasty enemies, and she

isn’t safe. Sanderson and I are working on a transfer as soon as she’s stable.”

“Thanks, Tony,” he whispered. “Tell the boss man I appreciate his help.”

“There’s one other thing, Manny,” Tony said, slipping to the nickname only Jules used.

Manuel waited as he heard Tony flipping through papers, the crackling coming over the receiver. He heard

another voice in the background. Sanderson?

Tony’s voice came back over the phone. “There was a veritable arsenal in Jules’ Jeep. High-tech stuff. Not the

run-of-the-mill self-defense for the average citizen. Most of it’s Russian. Sanderson thinks your girl is in quite a

bit of trouble.”

Manuel closed his eyes and shook his head in an effort to dispel the overwhelming confusion. “I’ll call you

when I get to Grand Junction.” He flipped the phone closed and tried to steady himself. His hands shook, and he

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