We all want to be known, don’t we? I think God gave us this desire, every one of us. It’s at the heart of the friendships we seek, the relationships we pursue. We want to be known fully and understood and still loved. I enjoyed exploring how this played out for Elsie, who didn’t know who she was due to circumstances beyond her control. What I learned through writing this story is that maybe we won’t ever truly understand ourselves. Maybe other people won’t know and understand us as fully as we wish. But God does.

For Wyatt, being known meant letting his past go. Not being defined by it. I loved seeing how both characters’ desires for connection drew them closer to God and to each other.

Thank you for reading this book and letting me share this story, and Alaska, with you! I love hearing from readers! You’re welcome to find me on social media at Facebook.com/sarahvarlandauthor or on Instagram @sarahvarland, though I post entirely too many dog pictures. You can write me at sarahvarland@gmail.com.

Sarah Varland

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Dangerous Texas Hideout

by Virginia Vaughan

Chapter One

Penny Jackson gripped her daughter Missy’s hand as they stepped out of the grocery store and into the humid Texas afternoon. She scanned the parking lot for any hint of danger, as had become her custom anytime they ventured outside since fleeing their Kentucky home sixty-seven days ago. She’d stayed away from town as long as she could, but they’d been out of food and necessities, so she’d finally had to take a trip to the grocery store to resupply.

Cars and people came and went but nothing stood out to her. Seeing no obvious threat, she gripped the child’s hand and hurried across the walkway to where she’d parked her car. A man passed in front of her, tipped his cowboy hat and smiled. He was tall with a strong jaw and green eyes that might have made her smile back a few weeks ago, pleased at the attention. Today, she gulped hard before acknowledging him with nothing more than a nod, then quickly moved past him. He was wearing a police uniform and the last thing she needed was police involvement.

She’d had enough of that with the FBI and Marshals. None of them had been looking out for her daughter. They’d only been looking to capture and bring down a bank robbery ring no matter the cost.

She fumbled for her keys, balancing groceries and a fidgety six-year-old child. Missy was restless and edgy. She had good reason to be. They both did. But Penny wasn’t going to let anything happen to her daughter. She clicked the button on her key fob, then loaded the groceries into the cargo space of her SUV. Missy jumped and played until Penny, irritated, raised her voice and told the girl to settle down and be still. It wasn’t fair that Missy didn’t get the exercise she needed and Penny knew she shouldn’t take her frustration out on her daughter when she had so much energy to burn, but their situation was beginning to take a toll.

She closed the tailgate, then grabbed Missy’s hand again and pushed her shopping cart to the return corral. The sooner they were back in the safety of their rented home, the better she would feel. She would let Missy run around the living room to her heart’s content and not complain one time.

They were heading back to the SUV when tires squealed nearby. Penny looked to her right and saw a car roaring toward them. The sun glared off the windshield, making her unable to see the driver’s face. Fear paralyzed her. This couldn’t be happening again. It couldn’t.

Missy cried out and Penny instinctively held her close.

Suddenly, strong arms grabbed them both and pulled them to the ground as the car roared by, barely missing them.

She looked up into kind, deep green eyes and a worried expression. The policeman who’d smiled at her earlier. “Are you both okay?”

Missy whimpered and tears filled her eyes. Penny glanced down and saw she was holding her knee. She’d scraped it when they’d tumbled.

“Hey, I’m sure it hurts, but that looks like it’s going to be okay,” the man said to Missy. “We’ll find you a Band-Aid.” He turned to Penny. “What about you? Are you injured?”

She shook her head. “I—I’m okay.” Her face flushed. She hated all the lying. Physically, she was unharmed—except maybe a scraped palm or knee like Missy—but emotionally, she was a wreck. Someone had targeted her and Missy.

Again.

“My name is Caleb. I’m the chief of police here in Jessup. You’ve had a close call. It’s okay to be a little shaken but you’re safe now.”

Oh, how she wished that were true.

“I—I think we’re okay, officer.”

His mouth turned up on one side. “Caleb, please.”

She allowed him to help her to her feet, ignoring the flutter in her stomach that had more to do with the man who’d swooped in and saved them than it did their near miss. She turned and quickly checked Missy over. She seemed to be uninjured except for the scrape, but she was scared and with good reason.

Caleb pulled a radio from his belt and clicked on it. “This is Chief Harmon. Send a team to Walker’s Grocery. We have a near hit-and-run. Also, put out a BOLO on a silver Nissan Sentra. The driver nearly ran down a woman and her child, then kept going.” He rattled off the tag number then turned to Penny. “Do either of you need to go to the hospital?”

The hospital was the last thing they needed. They would ask too many questions she didn’t feel safe answering. “No, we’re fine. I’d just like to go home now. I’ve got frozen foods defrosting.”

It was as good an excuse as any and not a lie. In the Texas heat, her refrigerated items would be spoiled soon.

He glanced toward her vehicle, then back at her. “I really have to get your statement about what happened. We need to catch up to that driver and cite him for at least reckless driving. Did you recognize him or the car?”

She shook her head. “I didn’t—or at least, the car isn’t familiar, and I couldn’t see the driver well enough to tell if he looked familiar or not. I was returning my cart to the corral. The sun was glaring off the windshield. He likely didn’t see me either.” At least, she hoped that was the case. It would be much better than the alternative—that they’d been discovered by the men chasing after them.

“That’s still no excuse for going as fast as he was through this area.”

His face was full of indignation. He was getting involved and the last thing she needed was for him to pay any extra attention to them.

“Don’t worry about it, Chief. We’re unharmed and we really just want to get home.”

He hesitated before finally acquiescing. “Fine but give me your name and number in case I need to follow up with you.”

She didn’t want to give him that information but how could she get away with refusing? She reluctantly told him. “My name is Penny Anderson,” she said, giving him the false name she’d come up with. “This is my daughter, Missy.”

He knelt down. “Nice to meet you, Missy.” He held out his hand to her but she quickly moved behind Penny’s leg.

“She’s very shy,” Penny explained. She didn’t add that she hadn’t always been this way or that she no longer spoke a word...not since the incident that had sent them running.

Thankfully, he didn’t ask questions about her daughter’s lack of social skills but it made Penny’s heart ache to remember a time when Missy would have peppered him with a hundred different questions instead of hiding behind her.

He stood and pulled out his notebook. “That’s okay. I guess I can be pretty scary, can’t I?’

She smiled at his attempt at humor. They knew scary and he wasn’t it.

“Your address and phone number?”

She gave him the number to the prepaid cell she’d purchased when she and Missy had fled Kentucky two months ago.

Now this had happened.