I'm so excited! After months of writing and editing and promoting, Innocent Lies has released!
Not only that, but the reviews have already started coming in, and readers love it. There are phrases like, “Exciting reading” and “riveting” and “I couldn't put it down.” One reviewer said, “This is my favorite book in the series.”
It's also the last book in the series (except for one little surprise… But I'll save that announcement for another day.)
Hurry and get your copy! Innocent Lies is only $2.99 for a limited time, so don't wait!
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“My name is Daniel Anderson. My mama's name is Carrie. I don't have a daddy. I am eight years old.”
Daniel repeated the words over and over, holding onto them the same way he was gripping the skinny tree in the forest.
Mama had told him to walk to the white house and knock. Not that there were any other houses around here, deep in these woods. Seemed easy when Mama was standing beside him. With her gone, the house seemed far away, and he had to get through all the trees and bushes and stuff.
He shivered, and his teeth chattered. He couldn't make them stop. He let go of the tree and stuck his hands under his armpits. Didn't help. Nothing was warm. Not even his toes. He wriggled them but couldn't feel anything. They should have been toasty in his new boots.
It hadn't been snowing when they first got here. Now, Mama was gone, and snowflakes were falling everywhere, sort of hiding the house.
And it was getting dark. What would happen if the sun went all the way down before he got up his nerve?
There was nothing between here and the back door but woods and trees and probably bears. Except bears hibernated in the winter. He'd learned that in school. He probably wasn't gonna get eaten by a bear.
He'd just freeze like a snowman.
What if the man there wasn't as nice as Mama said? Just 'cause he was a police officer didn't mean he was nice, right? Except Daniel had only ever met nice ones. If only he could get up the nerve to go like she told him to.
“My name is Daniel Anderson. My mama's name is Carrie. I don't have a daddy. I am eight years old.”
The words were mostly true.
Daniel took a few steps toward the house and tried not to cry. ‘Cause he was too old to cry, and anyway, Mama told him he had to be strong. He wished she was with him. He'd hang on tight and beg her not to leave him, no matter what she said. It made no sense to him. If it was okay for Daniel to talk to the police officer, why couldn't Mama?
He turned and stared at the forest behind him. Maybe she'd change her mind. Maybe she'd come back for him. If he went to the house and found the police officer, then Mama wouldn't come back, not right away. Maybe not ever, even though she promised she would. She'd never broken a promise before. But she'd never left him in the woods before, either. He stared behind him as far as he could see. If he went that way, he might get lost and never get found again. Except by the bears. They were sleeping, weren't they?
And anyway, he'd promised to go to the house.
She shouldn't have made him promise. That wasn't fair. Mama was usually fair, but not this time.
A noise came from the house. Daniel turned, saw the back door open.
A big yellow dog came outside, a man right behind him. The man was wearing jeans and a sweater, but no coat or hat. He probably just wanted to make sure the dog did his business, as Caleb's mama would say. “Make sure he does his business before you let that mangy mutt back in the house.”
Daniel always laughed at that, because the mangy mutt, Peanut, was little and cute. Caleb's mama practically treated it like another son.
Daniel missed Caleb. He missed Caleb's mama and Peanut and everybody from back home. Mostly, he missed his own mama, and she'd only been gone a little while.
The dog stepped down onto the snow and sniffed the air. This was no cute little dog. It was a big dog. Its head came up, and it stared into the forest, right at Daniel.
Then it bounded across the yard, straight toward him.