Reader,
I loved writing Audrey and Kendra so much it’s going to be hard to say goodbye. I hope you enjoyed their happy endings as much as I did.
Joe’s spiritual realization wasn’t planned. I had a different moment in mind for him, but I think it’s what we both needed to hear at the time. There is so much freedom that goes with acknowledging and trusting God with every area of your life. The reminder has brought an extra spring to my step.
I may not love all the traditions and preparation for the holidays as much as Audrey, but I do enjoy thinking of Christmas as a time to celebrate a successful rescue mission.
And I’m really craving one of Audrey’s gingerbread cookies right about now.
Merry Christmas,
Heather Woodhaven
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
—Proverbs 3:6
To my readers—I hope you don’t eat as many Christmas goodies while reading as I did while writing this. Though, if you want my recommendation, gingerbread men are the way to go.
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Note to Readers
Kendra Parker reached the entrance to the lecture hall and listened to the voice reverberating through the door. She’d heard somewhere that a child would always recognize their mother’s voice, but what if she’d never heard it before? What if her birth mother had handed over Kendra and her twin to someone without a word? This professor’s voice rang strong, without much emotion, as she rattled off some historic study on behavior analysis. Kendra couldn’t detect anything in her voice alone.
Her phone felt heavy in her pocket as she itched to text Audrey, the newfound twin she’d discovered in the midst of an FBI operation gone wrong. In fact, the mission had gone so wrong, Kendra had been shot and her partner, Special Agent Lee Benson, felt it necessary for Audrey to take Kendra’s place in the deep-cover assignment. It’d been six weeks since Kendra had seen her sister return to normal life, with the odd exception of Lee’s plans to marry Audrey soon.
Kendra had used the last six weeks to track down leads in an effort to locate their mother, but now she hesitated. She left the phone untouched since it could turn out to be another dead end, and her twin was a lot more sensitive—despite being a genius PhD at Caltech—to disappointment. Instead, Kendra needed to treat this like any other FBI assignment and stifle her emotions to get the job done. No more stalling.
She hauled open the door to find the classroom set up like a theater. Only a few students gave her half glances before they returned to their laptops, typing away notes as Professor Beverly Walsh lectured without missing a beat. Kendra lowered herself into a chair five rows down, in the first open aisle seat to her
