PROLOGUE

Prologue

"I really cannot thank you enough, Monica," Joshua Kelly said with a smile that came straight from his heart, "I always knew that there were angels out there, but I honestly never thought God would send one to me directly."

The angel smiled sweetly, her heart nearly bursting with happiness at how well this assignment had turned out. Joshua, though a brilliant prosecuting attorney for the state, had been lacking in the time he spent with his family, so much so, that he had failed to realize the trouble that his teenage daughter, Missy, had gotten herself into. The young girl had been crying out for her father’s attention for a long time, and had finally found herself in a relationship with a man older than she was and nothing short of abusive. Monica had known that Missy had settled on whatever attention she could get, from whomever she could get it from, but had the situation not been remedied; it very well could have ended tragically.

The Irish angel seemed to see so much more of this kind of situation in this day and age, where both parents worked and in the case of the Kelly family, both parents held prestigious jobs. Joshua’s wife, Heather was an oncologist in a private practice and both she and her husband had worked long hours more often then not, leaving their daughter to fend for herself. Though Missy’s parents could give her anything money could buy, no amount of wealth could give her the attention she longed for from her parents or the security a child needed to feel in knowing that her parents loved her enough to be there.

But in a matter of only a few short days, the Father had been able to turn it all around, with some help from Monica and now, the angel could not be more pleased, "God loved you and your family, Joshua. He just wanted to make sure that you were all focused on the same priorities."

The human chuckled at the sparkle in Monica’s eyes, her optimism contagious now, though he had resisted it at first, until he had seen in truth, what had been happening with Missy, "Well, if you ever need a good lawyer, I owe you one." He teased gently. Though he knew she was an angel, she had endeared herself to his family over the last few days and he knew that they were all going to miss her presence.

"Joshua, let’s hope you are never prosecuting me for anything," Monica laughed easily with a shake of her auburn head, "If you are, then it is safe to say that something went wrong somewhere."

Finally exchanging good-byes, Monica saw herself out and as she stepped foot out on the porch, she smiled once more at the beautiful starlit night. Closing the door behind her, she breathed in the late spring air, the sweetness filling her lungs. Sitting down on the porch steps, the angel just took a few moments to enjoy the warm night and reflect on the last few days.

Though things had gone remarkably well, at least from her perspective, she was still anxious to see Andrew again, as she had missed him over the course of her assignment. A smile broke out over her face at the thought of her dearest friend and the relationship that they shared. She was anxious to tell him about this assignment and she knew he would listen intently; sharing her joy with her at the way things had turned out for this family.

Tess, of course, was always interested in listening to her as well, but the Irish angel often liked to hash over those tiny details that made assignments unique and Andrew had been blessed with an indefinite amount of patience that Monica was often convinced he needed when dealing with her.

The music of the chirping crickets was interrupted by a "thud" that seemed to land at her feet, startling the angel out of her reverie. Looking down, she moved to pick up the newspaper that had just been tossed, and then looked back up with a smile at Tommy, the paperboy, who Monica had gotten to know over the course of the last couple of days. He was a good kid, but was more often delivering his papers in the dark due to being distracted by something else.

"Tell Mr. Kelly that I’m sorry it’s so late," Tommy called out to her from his bicycle, "Baseball practice ran late tonight. He’ll want to see the front page though as there is an article on his last case." Exchanging a wave with the angel, Tommy sped off to try and get the rest of his papers delivered.

Holding the paper in her hands, the angel welcomed the peace once more, knowing she really needed to get going, but deciding that a few more minutes before being whisked away to her next assignment certainly couldn’t hurt anything. Had that been the case, Monica was sure Tess would have already shown up to lovingly scold her about "dawdling".

The minutes flew by as she just enjoyed the warm night and the solitude, using it to offer up her thanks to her Heavenly Father for allowing things to turn out so well in her assignment, before she knew she really should leave. Rising to her feet and stretching, Monica looked down at the paper in her hands, remembering Tommy’s words about Josh wanting to see this one, and she turned back to the house. Still seeing the living room light on through the curtains, the Irish angel walked back to the door and turned the knob.

The sight that greeted her seemed to shatter the enchanting evening altogether as her horrified eyes first came to rest on Joshua’s all too still body on the floor, surrounded by a pool of blood. Monica’s face paled considerably, as a scream lodged itself in her throat, even as her eyes moved to meet squarely with those of the man holding the gun.

The gun that was now pointed at her.

She stared into the man's eyes and saw nothing there that spoke of any kind of goodness or humanity. She had never seen him before but now his face was indelibly drawn in her mind. Her small hands shook and the newspaper dropped from her suddenly numb fingers. It fell apart as it hit the floor, spreading pages across the hard wood floor.

"You picked the wrong time to get home, honey," his voice was low and threatening and he took a step towards her, causing her to involuntarily back herself against the wall.

Closing her eyes against what she feared might be about to happen, she sent out a prayer to God and loving thoughts to Andrew. She couldn't imagine what he and Tess would do when they found out. Then she looked up, determined that she would be strong whatever the cost. Her dark eyes were filled with apprehension, but they still held a trace of her stubborn spirit.

"Don't worry… I think it only hurts for a minute," he mocked her as he trained the gun on her chest.

His finger tightened on the trigger and Monica clenched her fists, thinking once more about her best friend and her supervisor and sending them both her love. Suddenly, at the instant that he fired, car headlights lit up the room, shining through the open front door. Somehow his aim wavered and the bullet went wide, embedding itself deep into the wall. Then his eyes went wide as he realized that he didn't have time to do anything else.

It only took seconds for him to run out of the room and the Irish angel heard the back door slamming open as he escaped. She looked again at the still body on the floor, and her eyes filled with tears as she slumped to the floor, dizzy with relief for herself and sorrow for the man before her.