overcome the world.
—John 16:33
I hope you’re enjoying the FBI: Special Crimes Unit series as much as I am! Writing these stories has given me an opportunity to explore some of the darker aspects of life. It has also given me an opportunity to explore the most beautiful. Every day, I read news reports about the terrible things that go on in the world. These things challenge me to be kinder, to worker harder and to extend more grace. The world needs more of what God has offered—peace and restoration. Through His abundant grace and mercy, we learn to offer the same to those around us. In Gone, Ella and Sam have both been through challenges in life. Their faith is what pulls them through, guiding them to have hearts of forgiveness and love. I hope and pray the same for you, my friends. May the journey you’re on always lead you to peace, forgiveness and grace.
I love hearing from readers. You can reach me at [email protected] or visit me on Facebook or Instagram.
Blessings on your journey,
Shirlee McCoy
To Jude, Caleb, Seth, Emma and Qian. You are my heart, and I am exceedingly proud of the people you have become.
Contents
She woke to darkness so thick she thought she’d been buried alive. She shuddered, listening to the silence, trying to remember where she was, what had happened, who she was. Her mind was as dark as the place she lay.
She shifted, trying to ease a throbbing ache in her shoulders. Movement was difficult; her wrists were bound behind her back, her ankles bound, too. She should be terrified. She realized that, but all she felt was a strange numbness and the need to close her eyes and sink back into oblivion. Frigid air seeped through her clothes and settled deep into her bones, making her teeth chatter and her body shake. She’d freeze if she didn’t move. Even that didn’t scare her like it should.
If Ruby were here, she’d tell you to snap out of it.
The thought flitted through her head, and a million memories flooded in. The late-night phone call from the Damariscotta police telling her that Ruby had died. The frantic trip to Maine to identify her cousin’s body. The hours spent praying desperately that the police were wrong. The realization that they weren’t.
The grief that was still lodged beneath her sternum, throbbing in her heart.
She’d buried Ruby in North Carolina, and then she’d driven back to Newcastle to clean out Ruby’s apartment. Two trips to Maine in two weeks, seeing the place her cousin had loved too late to share the experience with her.
It’s inexpensive. Beautiful. Everything I’ve ever wanted. When are you coming to see it, Ella ?
How many times had Ruby begged her to make the trip? Too many to count. Ella had always had an excuse. She’d always had a deadline to meet or research to do or some random obligation that kept her close to home.
Ruby, on the other hand, had never missed an opportunity to visit Ella. Christmas, birthdays, random trips just because.
She’d loved wholeheartedly and without reservation,
