Little Stolen Memories | Georgiana Germaine Mysteries #9 | Ebook

In a secluded cabin deep within the woods, an ominous stranger is about to change the lives of six unsuspecting teenagers forever …

When Owen ventures outside and mysteriously vanishes, Jackson and Aiden set out to find him. As night descends and the teen boys fail to return, Cora joins in the search. The silence of the woods is shattered when Cora stumbles upon a horrifying discovery—Jackson lying motionless in a pool of his own blood, his fragile life slipping away.

With every moment counting, Cora rushes for help, unaware of the danger lurking nearby. Someone steps out of the shadows, striking her on the side of the head with a heavy object. As her legs buckle beneath her, she sags to the ground, and everything around her goes black.

Little Stolen Memories is a haunting, pulse-pounding mystery of survival, deception, and intrigue that will hold you captive from the heart-stopping beginning to the unimaginable end.

What Readers are Saying about the Series: 

"Makes you want to keep reading the story into the night."

"A strong lead character and plenty of drama, it keeps the reader engaged." 

"Leaving you wanting to read more."

"You feel like you live close by and can see these characters walking by and waving to you."

"I will definitely read more from this author."

"Kept me on the edge of my seat."

Want a sneak peek?  Here’s an exclusive look at chapter one …

Cora Callahan kicked back in the worn leather recliner, smiling as she watched her friends dance to Usher’s Yeah! in the living room. The plan to take a trip with Brynn and Aubree before the trio headed off to separate colleges in the fall had taken weeks to put in motion. Once the arrangements were made, Cora moved on to step two: convincing her mother to allow her to take a weekend trip without parental supervision. It took some finagling, but in the end, she’d done it.

Her parents believed the three of them were spending the weekend at the beach.

In truth, they were nowhere near it.

They were in the woods at Cora’s grandmother’s summer cabin.

And they weren’t alone … their fellow classmates Aidan, Jackson, and Owen had joined them.

It was the perfect getaway for what Cora was sure would be a weekend none of them would forget. Brynn was dating Aidan, and Aubree was dating Jackson. That left Owen, who had been Cora’s next-door neighbor since they were seven.

Cora and Owen had shared many memories over the years, and in recent months, her feelings for him had begun to change. What started out as a childhood friendship had blossomed into something more, and Cora found herself struggling to decide the best way to tell him. She was ninety percent sure Owen shared her feelings. But that stubborn ten percent kept her lips sealed, and she’d pushed her feelings down, down, down until she’d all but convinced herself she no longer had them.

Tonight, it was all about to change.

Tonight, she’d tell him everything.

Thinking about it now, her heart raced.

“Come on, Cora,” Aubree said, waving her over. “Dance with us.”

Cora looked at Aubree, whose long, blond hair was bouncing up and down to the beat of the song, and said, “I’m waiting for Owen.”

“You don’t need Owen in order to dance,” Aubree said.

“I know. It’s just … we’re supposed to go for a walk.”

Aubree glanced outside. “In the dark?”

“We have flashlights. We’ll be fine.”

“Where is Owen, anyway?” Aubree asked. “I haven’t seen him for a while.”

“He was outside earlier,” Jackson said. “He needed to get something out of his car.”

“When?” Cora asked.

Jackson shrugged. “I dunno. Been a while, I guess.”

Cora shot out of the recliner and walked to the door, opening it, and flicking the porch light on. She cupped a hand to the side of her mouth and shouted, “Owen? Are you out here?”

She was met with silence.

Poking her head outside, Cora glanced in all directions, shouting his name a few more times. She got the same results as before. She pulled a mini flashlight out of her pocket and clicked it on, shining it in the direction of Owen’s car.

Nothing suspicious there.

Still, she was beginning to worry.

She stepped back inside the cabin and said, “If he was out here, he isn’t now.”

“What did you say?” Aubree asked.

Cora walked over to the stereo and lowered the volume. “Owen’s not outside. At least he’s not answering when I call his name.”

“Have you tried looking upstairs?” Jackson asked. “Maybe he’s in his room. Brynn and Aiden are in theirs, spending … ahh, time together.”

“You can say they’re having sex,” Aubree said. “We’re high school seniors for heaven’s sake.”

Cora walked upstairs. Owen’s door was closed. She knocked on it, waited a minute, and then opened the door, peering inside. Sitting on top of the bed was a coat and a thick pair of socks. Hiking boots were nearby on the floor. Cora assumed he’d been preparing for the walk they’d planned.

If he wasn’t here, and he wasn’t outside, where was he?

The door across the hall opened and Brynn stepped out. She smiled at Cora and said, “What’s everyone doing?”

“I can’t find Owen,” Cora said. “When did you last see him?”

Brynn ran a hand through her short, auburn hair. “Ahh … I haven’t seen him since we arrived, I guess. It’s not a big cabin. He’s gotta be around here somewhere.”

Cora hoped Brynn was right, and she did another sweep of the cabin, looking in closets this time.

Owen was nowhere to be found.

Cora asked everyone gather in the living room to talk about what to do next, and Jackson suggested the girls remain inside while he and Aiden searched outside.

Twenty minutes turned into forty, and the teen boys still hadn’t returned.

“Something’s wrong,” Cora said. “They should have been back by now. Maybe we should call—”

“If we call our parents, it’s all over,” Aubree said. “They’ll kill us for lying about where we are this weekend. I don’t know about you two, but I’m not interested in being grounded all summer.”

“I’m scared,” Brynn said. “I should call my mom.”

Cora considered their situation for a moment and said, “Give me five minutes. If I don’t find them, we’ll make some calls.”

“You’re going outside?” Brynn said. “You’re crazy. Who knows what’s out there?”

“I’m not going to sit here and just hope they come back,” Cora said.

“Fine,” Aubree said, “I’ll go with you.”

“No way,” Brynn said. “You’re not leaving me alone, and I’m not going out there.”

“Aubree, you stay with Brynn,” Cora said. “Give me fifteen minutes. If I’m not back, call your parents.”

Cora grabbed Owen’s coat off his bed and fished a bigger flashlight out of the kitchen drawer. On the way out, she remembered her grandmother always kept a pair of night vision binoculars behind her jacket. She located them and stepped outside. The forest was quiet tonight, much more so than she remembered it being in years past. It was almost like it had been suppressed somehow, like all the life within had stilled.

She descended the cabin’s steps and started down the dirt road, shouting, “Jackson? Aiden? Can you hear me? Owen? Is anyone there?”

When no response came, she lifted the binoculars from around her neck and scanned her surroundings. She saw nothing unusual at first, and then she noticed a hand reaching up from the forest floor—a hand that appeared to be waving at her.

Cora rushed in its direction and found Jackson, his head bloody, eyes fluttering open and closed.

 She knelt beside him, grabbing his hand as she said, “Jackson! What happened?”

“Hit me, and I … I fell. Need … go home. You … out of here.”

“I’m going to get help. I’ll be right back. I promise.”

Cora jumped to a standing position. She started for the cabin, and someone stepped out of the shadows, striking her on the side of the head with a heavy object. As her legs buckled beneath her and she sagged to the ground, she looked up, staring in confusion as her surroundings went black.

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