Every story I write is inspired by a variety of factors, and Taken Without a Trace was no exception.
When I set out to write the story, I wanted something specific to pitch to Love Inspired Suspense, so I began by looking for an interesting law enforcement agency to feature. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation came to mind because I hadn’t read many LIS stories featuring the agency. The GBI is headquartered in Atlanta, but it has regional offices throughout the state—including one in my hometown in northeast Georgia. That made it an especially fun choice for me.
As I researched the agency, I learned that the GBI operates differently from a local sheriff’s office or police department. Rather than focusing on crimes within a specific jurisdiction, GBI agents investigate cases throughout the state, usually at the request of a local law enforcement agency. Their involvement can also be requested by the governor. Both circumstances eventually found their way into Taken Without a Trace.
But one particular piece of research helped shape the heart of my story.
I interviewed someone who works for the GBI, and they recommended a book written by a former agent about a case that had deeply affected him. The case involved a serial killer who kidnapped and murdered a young woman. The agent wasn’t able to find the victim in time to save her, although the killer was eventually caught and brought to justice. He wrote candidly about becoming too emotionally involved in the case and with the victim’s family. His perceived failure to save their daughter continued to haunt him.
His vulnerability touched me, and I knew I wanted to give my hero a similar struggle.
Enter Special Agent Cash Brenner.
Cash is haunted by the disappearance of a young woman whose case has remained cold for four years. When an anonymous caller offers him a possible new lead, he jumps at the chance to investigate an abandoned warehouse where the caller promises he’ll find a clue. After years of false hope, Cash decides to determine whether the tip is credible before involving his partner—a decision that nearly costs him his life. He is ambushed at the warehouse and left with retrograde amnesia, unable to remember where he was or what important clue he might have discovered.
Of course, Cash needed a heroine who was every bit as strong and brave as he was, but I also wanted someone methodical enough to counter his impulsiveness.
Enter private investigator Maya Reid.
Maya has the courage to face the danger surrounding Cash as well as the investigative skills to help him uncover the truth. But she also needed to have just as much at stake in solving the mystery. So I gave her a missing person of her own.
As children, Maya and her younger sister, Jayda, were separated in foster care, and Jayda was later adopted. After years of searching, Maya finally locates her sister. But when Jayda fails to show up for their planned meeting, Maya’s attempts to find her lead nowhere. Help comes from the last person she expects—or wants—to see: Cash Brenner, her ex-boyfriend.
Every good romantic suspense needs two things: a page-turning plot and a heartwarming love story. I’m a fan of second-chance romance, so Cash and Maya had some unfinished business between them. As their two investigations begin to intersect, the former couple must put aside their painful past and work together to find Maya’s sister—and recover the vital clue locked somewhere in Cash’s memory.
Someone is willing to kill to keep the truth hidden, forcing Cash and Maya to rely on each other to stay alive. And, of course, that creates plenty of tension—both suspenseful and romantic!
But for me, inspirational romantic suspense has another important thread: faith.
Our Christian walk rarely follows a straight road. There are twists, turns, detours, and sometimes stretches when we can’t see where God is leading us at all. I enjoy exploring different aspects of that journey through my characters, and Cash and Maya each carry wounds that have shaped the way they see themselves.
Cash is a relatively new believer trying to overcome his troubled past and understand what it means to be truly forgiven. He believes in God’s grace, but accepting that grace for himself is much harder.
Maya’s childhood in foster care left her struggling with feelings of rejection. Deep down, she questions whether she is worthy of being loved and longs for the family and sense of belonging she has never had.
Their romance gives them the opportunity to love and support one another, but neither can heal the deepest wounds of the other. Cash must learn that God’s forgiveness really does cover his past. Maya must discover that her worth isn’t determined by the people who left her or the family she never had. Her value comes from a God who has always loved her and has never abandoned her.
That is ultimately the encouragement I hope readers carry away from Taken Without a Trace.
Our pasts can leave scars. Regret can convince us we are beyond forgiveness. Rejection can make us question our worth. Circumstances can leave us feeling forgotten or alone. But none of those things changes how God sees us.
I hope readers are thrilled by the suspense, entertained by the romance, and maybe kept up a little too late turning pages! But more than anything, I hope they close the book reminded that God’s grace is greater than our past, our worth is secure in Him, and His love for us knows no bounds.
