Little Boy Lost - Angus Reid Mysteries Prequel Audiobook

 Little Boy Lost is the prequel to the Angus Reid Mysteries series.

A MISSING BOY. A TOWN BURIED IN SECRETS. A DEPUTY WHO WON'T QUIT.

After a devastating incident shakes the small fishing town of Weyport, residents blame Michael Tanner for what happened. Ridiculed and shunned, he endures it all for the sake of his little boy, Archie.

Then Archie suddenly disappears, and everyone thinks Michael is imagining it - even his oldest friend.

Hopeless, desperate, and prepared to risk it all, Michael finds compassion in a new deputy who soon discovers there is something far more sinister behind Archie's disappearance.

Sit back, relax, and join Deputy Sheriff Angus Reid as he discovers the truth behind the disappearance of Archie Tanner.

From the pen of multi-award-winning Christian Suspense author, Urcelia Teixeira, this emotionally gripping, faith-filled suspense thriller takes you on a read-in-one-sitting journey as one man struggles against the evil forces of bitterness, betrayal, and deceit.

Inspired by Ephesians 4:31-32

“Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

Continue the Angus Reid Mysteries series

Book 1 - Jacob's Well

Book 2 - Daniel's Oil

Book 3 - Caleb's Cross

Book 4 - Hannah's Halo

Book 5 - Lilly's Vine

Book 6 - Martha's Veil

COPYRIGHT © URCELIA TEIXEIRA - EXCERPT FROM LITTLE BOY LOST. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Inspired By

Ephesians 4:31-32

“Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

Chapter 1

Dread settled in the pit of his stomach as Michael Tanner rubbed at the large calluses on his hand. He’d been sitting hunched over on the bright blue wooden park bench for nearly three hours now, and still there was no sign of his son.

His body was numb from the blistering cold sea breeze that swept over the play park, but he didn’t care. He had nowhere else to be and nothing else to do.

As he pulled the collar of his coat higher over his ears, a child’s laughter came from somewhere behind him and had him instantly turn around to look, hoping once more to find his little boy’s beaming face racing towards him. But, as was the case with the nearly dozen times he had turned around before, disappointment greeted him just the same.

At first, he thought he had mistaken the day of the week, often a symptom of working days on end at sea. But he hadn’t—confirmed also with the arrival of yet again another child who regularly came to play in the park. There was no mistake. It was Saturday. The one day of the week he lived for. The only day that mattered and the only reason he still got up every morning.

Seeing Archie on Saturdays was the single most important thing in his miserable life, and the only thing that kept him sane every time he was at sea. His little boy was his incentive, his lifeline, his reason to breathe.

He tapped the heel of his shoe restlessly against the rubberized flooring beneath the bench, his eyes pinned on the scuff marks on the nose of his boot as he counted each empty second that passed. Hoping, wishing, aching inside.

When he finally looked up and skimmed another hopeful look between the kids and structures in the playground, his stance settled on the stares of two gossiping moms pushing their kids on the swings. Like him, they were regulars at the park on a Saturday morning, but he had never spoken to them or any of the other moms or nannies. Socializing wasn’t exactly his thing. Nor would they want to anyway.

As his eyes met theirs, the two women quickly looked away, one pretending to dig for something inside her bag while the other turned away to push her little girl on the swing. Ever since the incident, he was used to people talking behind his back. It was something that would never change as long as he remained in town. But he had made peace with that.

He had to.

When it first happened, he had resolved to move away, to start over in a town where no one had heard of him. Then Archie came along, and being there for his son suddenly changed everything. Turning his back on his child and leaving him behind wasn’t even a consideration. He would never do what his father had done to him. Nothing else mattered. No sacrifice was too big. Not even the contemptuous ridicule of the entire town could stop him from doing the only thing worth living for. His beautiful little boy was more important than anything in the entire world, and just being with him somehow made all the gossip and scorn bearable.

Unable to fight the restlessness in his soul a moment longer, Michael got to his feet and walked around the bench, pausing behind it as he stared out to the small parking ground. There was no sign of Kate’s car and no sign of Archie.

He shoved one hand inside his pocket to find his phone, pulling the glove off his other hand with his teeth. The icy air instantly settled into his fingers as he dialed her number. Her phone rang and he waited anxiously for her to answer.

Except, she didn’t and it went to voicemail.

He had already left five messages, and still she hadn’t returned his call.

Refusing to believe the faint dooming voice that niggled in the back of his mind, he dialed her again. This time the ringing cut off after merely three rings. She was ignoring him.

Again.

In that moment something deep within Michael Tanner’s soul snapped, raising in him a sudden will to fight, to not give up.

He rushed toward the nearby bus stop, quickly glanced at the timetable, and decided to walk instead. Kate’s house was only four blocks away. It would be faster than waiting for the bus. Of course, going there would be breaking the law, but it was a risk he was prepared to take if it meant finding out why she had stopped bringing Archie to the park.

Where his body was nearly frozen before, he suddenly felt hot and clammy beneath the thick layers of his clothing. She had no right to do this to him. No right to keep him from seeing his son. It wasn’t her choice to make. He had already lost everything else in his life, and he wouldn’t let them take Archie away too. He’d rather die than lose his only child.

The mere thought of never seeing his little boy again propelled him to pick up the pace, his feet thumping down on the sidewalk. As he drew closer to the house he once shared with his ex, his heart thumped in synchronized rhythm to his feet, the soothing sounds of it threatening to eclipse the deep ache in his heart. His body rebelled and erupted in chaos, sending his emotions into war with each other. As his flesh fought against his fears, he dashed behind a nearby parked car, unable to stop his stomach from expelling its contents onto the pavement. It was as if his instincts already knew what was to come.

As he rid the last bit of sick from his body, he stumbled back onto the sidewalk, wiping his mouth with the back of his sleeve, his eyes pinned on the pale yellow house at the end of the street.

A dog barked from behind a fence next to him but his sights remained fixed on the house in front of him. It seemed quiet. The driveway was empty. So were the windows.

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