Excerpt from pages 44-47 of FATAL FINALE by Nancy Mehl:
“You need to wake up. You’re in a lot of trouble.”
Kaely tried to open her eyes, but it was difficult. She felt odd. Not herself. Where was she? Did she have a bad dream? Was Noah lying in bed next to her? But when she finally forced her eyes open, she saw the yellow walls and the cot with the blue blanket. It hadn’t been a dream. It was real. She struggled to sit upright, swinging her legs over the side of the cot and her feet onto the floor. Her head was still tender, but the pain had subsided quite a bit. Her tongue still hurt, but it was better too.
She realized suddenly that someone had just spoken to her. Was that part of her dream? It was then that she saw a figure perched on the chair that she’d pushed back against the far wall before she’d fallen asleep. Could it really be . . .
“Georgie?” she asked. Her voice sounded odd to her. Hoarse. She cleared her throat. “You can’t be here.”
“But yet, here I am.” Georgie’s curly brown hair framed her face. She wore blue jeans and a colorful shirt with tiny, different colored birds. She swung her small feet, clad in blue denim slip-ons, back and forth as she held on to the sides of the chair. Georgie looked exactly as Kaely remembered her. She smiled. “It’s been awhile.”
“But you . . . you’re not real.” Actually, Georgie was real. A childhood friend. But she was older than this version. This was the younger Georgie she’d imagined years ago when she had no friends. She’d stopped needing imaginary friends, but truth be told, she was thrilled to see her.
“I was there when you needed me, Kaely,” she said, a slight frown marring her delicate features. “You need me now, so here I am. I’ll always be with you when you’re in trouble.”
Kaely blinked several times, trying to make certain she was really seeing her old friend. “I’ve missed you,” she said in hushed tones.
“I know. I felt it.” She leaned forward. “So, we need to find a way out of this. Tell me what you know.”
Kaely swallowed, trying to calm her jangled nerves. This wasn’t a time to give in to her emotions. She had to get this right. She’d already started to profile her captor, but it was hard to remember what she’d come up with. Her thoughts were confused. Jumbled.
“You profiled him as someone who is completely dedicated to whatever he’s trying to achieve through kidnapping you,” Georgie said.
“That’s . . . that’s right.” Kaely tried to put words together that made sense. What was wrong with her? “When . . . when he hit me, I think it was because he had to for some reason. He . . . he struck me hard enough to knock me out, but not enough to kill me. That’s actually hard to do. I could have died. Everything else is so well-planned. It’s an odd choice.”
She stared at Georgie. There was more, but what was it?
“He definitely wants you alive,” Georgie said. “We’ve got to figure out why.”
“He gives me decent food. The bed is soft, the sheets and blanket are clean. I . . . I think he’s a decent man.”
“A decent man wouldn’t do this, Kaely.”
“Maybe he wants money,” Kaely said. The words sounded thick in her mouth. “That means . . .” She shook her head. “I need to lie down. I’m so tired. Maybe I actually do have a concussion.”
Georgie frowned. “That’s not what’s wrong with you, and you know it, don’t you?”
Kaely shook her head. She had no idea what Georgie was talking about. Why was this man doing this to her? What did he want? And why was she still alive? He was committed to a goal she wasn’t seeing. He was someone who would do whatever it took to achieve that goal. That made him especially dangerous. She might be wrong, but even though she’d brought it up, she didn’t believe this was because he just wanted money. People like that tend to devalue the lives of the people they kidnapped. They didn’t want to see them as human beings. Instead, they treated them as if they were invisible. A means to an end. Their treatment was usually rough. If they were ever released, they were usually beaten, starved, and sometimes assaulted. And they certainly didn’t write poems and share them with someone on the outside. Someone who could save her.
This was different. This man was taking care of her. That gave her hope that, somewhere in the back of his mind, he had considered the possibility that Kaely might live. She shared her thoughts with Georgie.
“Good,” Georgie said. “So how do we use that to get out of here?”
The room began to spin, and Kaely felt nauseated. “I . . . I don’t know,” she said. “Can you get a message to Noah? Tell him where I am?”
Georgie sighed. “You know I can’t do that, don’t you? You’ve got to keep it together, my dear friend.”
“I . . . I don’t know. I don’t feel right.” Kaely shook her head. “You can’t be here. You just can’t.”
Georgie got up from the chair and came over to the cot where Kaely sat. Georgie held her arm out, and Kaely leaned her head on Georgie’s shoulder. At that minute, she didn’t care if Georgie was real or not. She wasn’t alone anymore.
Excerpt from pages 44-47 of FATAL FINALE by Nancy Mehl, Bethany House Publishers, a division of Baker Publishing Group © 2026, Used by permission
FATAL FINALE by Nancy Mehl
Erin Delaney Mysteries #3
A Christian Romantic Suspense Novel with Action, Cryptic Clues, Police, and FBI Investigations
When bestselling author Erin Delaney’s novel gets picked up for a movie deal, she eagerly awaits her friend Kaely Quinn-Hunter’s arrival in Tennessee before they head to California to observe the film’s production. However, when Kaely does not arrive at the scheduled time and Erin can’t reach her by phone, her concern grows.
A cryptic phone call from Kaely’s kidnapper confirms her worst fears–Erin has exactly six days to save her friend’s life by solving his twisted clues. The man’s message comes with a warning: Contact the police or FBI and Kaely dies. But Erin works for the Sanctuary Police Department and Kaely’s husband is with the FBI, putting her in an impossible situation. As Erin races against time, she’s forced to crack the kidnapper’s chilling puzzle before it’s too late.
Bestselling author Nancy Mehl delivers thrills like no one else in the closure of her high-stakes romantic suspense series.
Christian Romance | Christian Mystery [ Bethany House Publishers, On Sale: August 18, 2026, Trade Paperback / e-Book / audiobook, ISBN: 9780764243387 / eISBN: 9781493454181 ]
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About Nancy Mehl
Nancy Mehl is the bestselling author of 50 books. She’s won the Daphne Du Maurier Award, as well as an ACFW Mystery Book of the Year Award and a Carol award. She was also a finalist for the prestigious Christy award. Her short story, Chasing Shadows, was in the USA Today bestselling Summer of Suspense anthology.
All of Nancy’s novels have an added touch – something for your spirit as well as your soul. “I welcome the opportunity to share my faith through my writing,” Nancy says. “God is number one in my life. I wouldn’t be writing at all if I didn’t believe that this is what He’s called me to do. I hope everyone who reads my books will walk away with the most important message I can give them: God is good, and He loves you more than you can imagine. He has a good plan for your life, and there is nothing you can’t overcome with His help.”
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