New Release: Take On Me (An Alex Mercer Thriller)

A traumatized girl wakes in the hospital with no memory of how she got there. Or of anything else. Her only thought is to find the one person she remembers—her Uncle Alex.

When the authorities contact Alex Mercer, he rushes to the hospital. He’s surprised to find it’s his cousin Ayla. Shocked to see the condition she’s in. Stunned to learn her parents are missing.

Alex welcomes her into his home, and the family rallies around her as she tries to recover. But progress is slow, and for every step forward, she backslides. Compounding the problem is the mounting evidence that none of this was an accident. And the answers to the mystery are locked in her fragile mind.

Ayla is scared she’ll never remember. Even more frightened she will—and she won’t like what she recalls. But when she comes face to face with the worst memory of all, she realizes so much more than her history is at stake. And it might be too late to do anything about it.

AVAILABLE AT:

Amazon | Apple | Nook | Kobo

Excerpt

Everything had been quiet so long. Too long. Something wasn’t right. It had to be a trick. But even if it was, Ayla needed to try and make an escape. She tugged on both sides of the blindfold. It was not only super tight, but it wouldn’t even budge. It had been glued to her hair and scalp.

She’d have to get away with it on.

Ayla tried to pull the fabric up and then down, but it was so tight. Scratchy. It hurt, but she’d gotten used to it. Kind of. She definitely wanted it off. But that would have to wait. Especially if she could leave.

She felt around the shag carpet. Her finger bumped the dinner plate and the fork on it made a really loud noise. Ayla held her breath and froze in place. Waited.

Nobody came.

She released her breath and felt around again—this time, not so rushed. Part of the carpet was soggy. She didn’t want to think about why. He’d made her stay in the room for so long and hadn’t let her leave for anything.

Fresh air would be so nice. She held on to that thought as she felt around some more. Just carpet. The shaggy kind like her grandparents had had when she and her parents had traveled on a plane to visit their house, back when Grams and PopPop were still alive.

Ayla pushed aside thoughts of them. It usually made her heart hurt thinking about never seeing them again, and now it was so much worse. Tears stung her eyes, and she blinked them away as best she could with the tight fabric.

She crawled on her hands and knees, breathing heavily. Her left knee ached, but it was nothing compared to her throbbing cheekbone and mouth. Or her arms from when she’d been shoved into the small trunk of that car.

The thought sent a shiver down her spine. Goosebumps formed, hurting where she had cuts and bruises.

Was her mom okay? The last time she’d seen her had been in that trunk. Well, not seen. They’d already been blindfolded. But she’d been there. Mom had held her close and whispered for her to stay strong. Said not to give up—if she didn’t give up, she’d survive.

The words were supposed to have helped, but they only scared her. Could she be strong? How long would she have to keep going without giving up?

Mom kept saying that over and over during the bumpy ride. That and how much she loved Ayla.

She bumped into a wall and pulled herself from her thoughts. No, it wasn’t a wall. She pressed her palm on it. It felt like a door. Her heart pounded as she reached up. Higher…

A knob, cold metal. And it jiggled.

Her pulse pounded in her ears. Ayla waited for it to stop. She needed her ears more than ever because of the blindfold. Once she could hear again, she twisted the knob. Slowly. Once it went as far as it would go, she paused.

Read more….