YULETIDE STALKING
After moving to the Smoky Mountains at Christmastime, Cheyenne Cassidy is ready for a fresh start—until danger from her past follows her to her new home. Cheyenne believed the stalker who killed her parents was dead, but somehow he’s back and determined to kill her. And her only hope for survival is relying on Deputy Sheriff Luke Conrad. The lawman wants to help Cheyenne face down the obsessive madman, but he can’t protect her if he doesn’t know the full story. And Cheyenne has no choice but to trust him with a secret she’s never revealed about her stalker. Armed with the knowledge of her tragic past, Luke will put his life on the line to keep her alive...but will that be enough to save her?
“Why were you in such a hurry?”
The question sent a wave of fear rushing through her as she recalled what had occurred before she ran into the street. A crowd had gathered. She scanned the group but didn’t see a familiar face. But how could she tell who he was? In the two years she’d endured the terror of a stalker, she’d never seen his face.
How could he be alive? And if he was, how had he found her now?
“Ma’am...” The deputy’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “Did something happen that frightened you? Is that why you ran in front of my car?”
Cheyenne tried to speak, but her chest tightened so that she could barely breathe. She hadn’t had a panic attack in months now, but she felt the beginnings of one and bit down on her lip.
“Yes.” The word was barely a whisper.
The deputy had been leaning over her, but at her reply he frowned and squatted down beside her. “What happened?”
Cheyenne took a deep breath and stared into his eyes. “I think someone wants to kill me.”
I hope you enjoyed Stalking Season, the second book in my Smoky Mountain Secrets series. As I researched and wrote this book, I developed a deep heartache for the victims who endure the nightmare of being stalked. Not only did Cheyenne have to endure the fear of being watched, she also had to contend with guilt that her actions had brought about the deaths of her parents. She came to know, however, that just as God forgives the choices we make, we can learn to forgive ourselves. It is God’s intention that His children should live in peace. If you haven’t come to know the comfort He can bring to your life, I pray that you will seek what He offers.
Sandra Robbins
SANDRA ROBBINS is an award-winning, multipublished author of Christian fiction who lives with her husband in Tennessee. Without the support of her wonderful husband, four children and five grandchildren, it would be impossible for her to write. It is her prayer that God will use her words to plant seeds of hope in the lives of her readers so they may come to know the peace she draws from her life.
Stalking Season
Sandra Robbins
Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
—Hebrews 10:22
Dedicated to the 6.6 million people who,
according to The National Center for the Victims of Crime,
are stalked in one year in the United States.
Contents
Cheyenne Cassidy ambled down the aisle of the Smoky Mountain Christmas Store and hummed along with the sound of Bing Crosby crooning “White Christmas” over the store’s intercom. With Christmas only a few weeks away, shoppers were out en masse today, and from what she’d been told by the locals the crowds would only get larger as more visitors came to the mountains in the next few weeks to see the decorations and take in all the Christmas festivities.
The smells of cinnamon, pine and peppermint drifted in the air from the different areas of the store. Cheyenne stopped and blinked back tears at the reminder of her childhood and how their house had always smelled during the holidays.