MYSTERY CHILD - Shirlee McCoy
Mission Rescue Series, #5
Love Inspired Suspense
ISBN-13: 978-0-373-44747-3
June 2016
Series Inspirational Romantic Suspense

Echo Lake, Maine; Maryland and Pennsylvania - Present Day

Kindergarten teacher Quinn Robertson hasn't seen her sister, Tabitha, in years, but suddenly, she appears on her doorstep, bruised and broken and holding the hand of her five-year-old daughter, Jubilee.  Tabitha begs Quinn to run and take the girl to her biological father in Washington D.C.  And just like that, Tabitha is there, then gone, almost before Quinn can catch her breath.  So Quinn sets out for her brother's cabin in rural Maryland.  Ex-Marine, August McConnell lives in the woods, and Quinn's almost there when she's forced to stop, take Jubilee, and hide under a fallen tree, praying whoever was following her turns back.

HEART operative Malone Henderson is on vacation staying at a small cabin in Maryland near August McConnell's.  At least he's supposed to be on vacation, but when he learns that the little girl Quinn Robertson is running with might be Boone Anderson's missing daughter, Kendall, he jumps right into the action.  Now, he's found Quinn and the little girl and has to get them safely hidden before whoever is chasing them corners them all.  (HEART is a private rescue team, specializing in rescues, security and cyber tracking.)

MYSTERY CHILD is a cat and mouse race across several states with Quinn, Malone, and a team of HEART operatives chasing the bad guys.  They're all trying to keep both Jubilee and Quinn safe until Boone gets back into the country from his current mission.  Quinn is beside herself with worry.  She doesn't know these people, but she trusts her brother, who thrusts her into the action as Child Protective Services workers, FBI, and HEART operatives all swoop in around them.  Quinn is only trying to carry out her promise to Tabitha; she believes in her sister. Everyone else seems to think that Tabitha is the proverbial bad guy who's been hiding Jubilee/Kendall for five years.  Boone Anderson has searched for his daughter ever since she was kidnapped.  Malone is his friend, and he'll stop at nothing to get the child safely to Boone.

MYSTERY CHILD is book number five in the Mission Rescue Series.  Even though this story can stand alone, I recommend you seek out the previous books for continuity.  Quinn and Malone become a pair of unlikely friends, then begin falling in love amidst all the danger, making MYSTERY CHILD a romantic, suspenseful, and fast paced story.

Diana Risso