All That Remains (A Missing and Exploited Suspense Novel Book 1)
Page 19
“It’s no trip for an old dog,” she informs Radar.
On her way out of town, she’ll make a detour to the local animal shelter. She’ll stay outside to hug her second best friend, probably shed a few tears as she does. Then she’ll send Radar inside along with a note and some money attached to his collar. Beneath the kid’s name and hometown she’ll write Sew up my ear. Then please send me home to Gabriel, the person I love most.
«Epilogue»
Gabriel is Superman: his red cape flies out behind him as he races down the beach as fast as his legs will take him. He grins at Helena, his temporary foster sister, who runs beside him. She banks with both arms spread out as they near the end of the beach. Gabriel flies with one arm out. He keeps his injured arm, which the doctor says is healing well, down by his side.
“Race you back,” Helena shouts.
Gabriel’s lungs and muscles are on fire. Because of being handcuffed in Willard’s cell for so long, Superman is slower than Cat Woman. Helena beats Gabriel to the finish line near the beach blanket where their foster mother is sitting in the shade with Helena’s baby brother and Radar.
“Who’s hungry?” the foster mother says. Earlier she let Gabriel help her pack a basket with his favorite foods.
Helena doesn’t listen to the foster mother. Instead she runs back into the lake even though they’ve already dried off in the sun for the drive home.
Gabriel’s stomach and head want him to obey, but his Superman feet won’t stop running. He splashes into the water after Helena. Because he’s wet, his foster mother will have to wrap him up in the beach towel to pat him dry again. He doesn’t mind.
“I made my father disappear,” Helena says when Gabriel’s close.
“How?”
“By not believing in him anymore. Just like Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny. It’s easy if you know how.” Gabriel wants to ask why next, but Helena runs away screaming that a shark is coming to eat them.
Gabriel isn’t afraid of pretend sharks. He lies on his back to float. He likes the way the waves from Helena’s running rock his body, but with his ears covered everyone sounds like they’re small and far away. He’s frightened for a moment until he remembers he only has to lift his head to bring everyone close again.
Tomorrow is the first day of school and he gets to go. All the doctors agreed he’s ready. He thinks of Miss Granger’s classroom that won’t have Miss Granger in it because she got sick trying to find him. He thinks of the new teacher and the kids in his old grade four class who sent him a big card that says Welcome Back, Hero!
Everyone’s voices get smaller as Gabriel drifts farther from shore. He closes his eyes and believes with all his might the foster mother will keep tucking him in at night and the foster father will help him get learn how to catch a baseball when his shoulder’s better. Gabriel believes they will stop Celine who is trying to get him back because she wants the trust fund money.
“Come on, Superman,” Helena shouts.
Gabriel lifts his head. He likes Helena even though she gets him in trouble with their foster mother and is mean to Detective Harvey Sam who she’s supposed to go live with. It was Helena’s idea to write a thank-you poem for Chase and send it to the newspaper so she would get to see it.
His toes dig into the soft, silty lake bottom as he turns around to look at the blue sky, sparkling green lake, and happy families. The safe circle that spreads out from his body turns into many more. They reach the foster mother, now wading with baby Mark, and Helena playing on a floating log with some kids.
Radar barks for him on the shore. As Gabriel plows through the water toward his dog, he looks behind just once. And, sure enough, traveling with him, are all the safe circles his body has made.
~ ~ ~
The End
~ Want to know what happens next? Turn the page. ~
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Chase finds love in Arizona’s Sonoran desert. But will she trust the sexy, dog-loving cowboy enough to confess her criminal past? Or will she break both their hearts and run away?
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~ Turn the page for more Harvey Sam in the Missing & Exploited Suspense Series ~
How far will a woman go to protect and provide for her family? Detective Harvey Sam is about to find out.
Five years after botching the Gabriel Wheeler abduction case, Detective Harvey Sam faces the second major case of his career. An asthmatic mother, Gillian, eats peanut butter before surgery—and dies on the operating table as planned. Her suicide ends an abusive affair and is meant to provide for her family through a malpractice settlement. Instead, Gillian’s husband, her teenage son, and a doctor with a multiple personality disorder, must flee for their lives. They are pursued by the doctor’s husband, the psychopathic lover who drove Gillian to her death.
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~ turn the page for more by Hannah Holborn ~
Nineteen-year-old Epke Van Toorne’s childhood on her family’s idyllic organic apple orchard was darkened by tragedy that left her alone with a bitter grandmother. When illness forces the sale of the farm, Epke is swept into the alien landscape of the city. Her quest for answers about her family’s past leads to stunning revelations. It also brings Epke the younger brother her grandmother always denied existed.
The boy and his friends expose Epke to two sides of environmental activism. She’s torn between a peaceful guerrilla gardening movement and a militant Earth Liberation Front cell group. As the cell members become increasingly volatile, Epke instigates an action toward the orchards’ new owners who are Frankenfruit researchers. Will she risk everything for one night of retribution—including the lives of her fellow activists? Or will she choose a future with the visionary man she loves?
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Thank You!
If I could, I’d hug you for reading All That Remains. This book came from a place of deep passion for me. From the first moment I met Gabriel, he won my heart. The slight little boy stood at the door of his kidnapper’s house, steps from the freedom he was too young to know he could claim. I was fascinated by his mindset and I needed to discover how he survived.
I’d love to know your thoughts on the book’s major themes. Should social services have removed Gabriel from Celine’s custody? Why didn’t Gabriel escape from Willard when he had the chance? Did Willard’s backstory help you feel compassion for the boy he once was? How will the things Gabriel has suffered affect his future?
If All That Remains was the right book for you, then I have a humble request. Please consider leaving a few words on the book’s Amazon page. As an indie author, I get to set my prices low, but I also rely on satisfied readers to spread the word. Simply follow this LINK and sign in to your Amazon account to leave a review.
With gratitude and affection,
Hannah
Acknowledgments
Certain people have supported me in the writing of this book:
My agent, the delightful and incomparable Stephanie Sinclair at Transatlantic Agency. Thank you for bountiful exclamations marks in your e-mails, unflagging belief in my books, editorial brilliance, and for taking brave chances!!!!
Authors Rachael King (The Sound of Butterflies and Magpie Hall) and Richard Lewis (Bones of the Dark Moon and The Killing Sea) for providing sound advice on a very early draft. Lara Hinchberger for earnest feedback. Shannon and Colin Rankin, extraordinary doctor/musicians and generous beta readers. Shannon Thiessen for making my hair look good, reading a draft, and needing to know more about Gabriel before the book ends. Joyce Williamson for going on hikes among other things;,:!
Tamara Lee my fabulous copy-editor, who tidied up the mess I made with commas, hyphens, em-dashes etc.
Mr. Randall P. Rush, crazy fountain of creativity a
nd generosity. Every author longs to write in Paradise—because of you, I do.
Garrett and Graham for answering all kinds of tricky tech questions, sometimes with the answer, “Google it, Mom.”
And Ian—the inspiration for the most endearing qualities of Harvey Sam. Every author needs an Ian. I’m so grateful I have mine.
And, most of all, I thank you—the reader!
Copyright
All That Remains
A Missing and Exploited Suspense Novel - Book 1
Copyright © Hannah Holborn (2016)
All rights reserved in all media. No part of this book may be used or reproduced without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, locales, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual people, places or events is coincidental.
ISBN: 978-0-9919536-1-5
Published in Canada in 2016 by Ferndale Publishing
Cover Design: © 2016 Extended Imagery