By Your Side

by Candace Calvert

Overview

ER nurse Macy Wynn learned essential, gritty lessons in the California foster care system: land on your feet and trust no one. She’s finally located the fellow foster child she loves like a sister, but the girl’s in deep trouble. Macy’s determined to help, no matter what it takes. Her motto is to “make it happen” in any situation life throws at her—even when she butts heads with an idealistic cop.

Deputy Fletcher Holt believes in a higher plan, the fair outcome—and his ability to handle that by himself if necessary. Now he’s been yanked from Houston, his mother is battling cancer, and he’s attracted to a strong-willed nurse who could be the target of a brutal sniper.

When everything goes wrong, where do they put their trust?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781496403650
Publisher:	Tyndale House Publishers
Publication date:	02/19/2015
Series:	Crisis Team
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	384
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Candace Calvert is the author of several hopeful medical dramas, including the Mercy Hospital, Grace Medical, and Crisis Team series. An ER nurse who landed on the other side of the stethoscope after an equestrian accident broke her neck, she is convinced that love, laughter, and faith are the best medicines. A native Californian and proud mother and grandmother, she is a passionate foodie, equally at home with a whisk as she is with a pen. For more information, visit CandaceCalvert.com.

Caroline McLaughlin is a versatile narrator with a smooth voice who strives to bring the author's words to life. She discovered her love for storytelling while recording audiobooks for people with reading disabilities. Being a great study of people has helped her to develop rich characters and accents. With a degree in journalism from the University of Maryland, she began her career in broadcasting and her credits include announcer, spokesperson, voice actor, and narrator.

Read an Excerpt

By Your Side

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By Candace Calvert, Sarah Mason

Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

Copyright © 2015 Candace Calvert
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4143-9032-1

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CHAPTER 1

"Officer, help!"

Deputy Fletcher Holt spotted a woman waving her arms overhead, a frantic flash of purple in the crush of idling cars. Sacramento's afternoon rush hour had been brought to a tire-squealing halt by an overturned gravel truck blocking all four southbound lanes. He'd seen it happen in his rearview mirror.

"We need you ..." The woman's voice strained over a continual, indignant barrage of car horns. "Over here!"

Fletcher signaled back, then broke into a jog, sucking in a breath made acrid by asphalt, car exhaust, and burnt rubber. Sweat trickled beneath his protective vest despite the mild, early June weather. He'd been headed to the Florin substation, end of watch, when the dump truck did its kamikaze dive across the freeway, causing at least a dozen vehicles to skid on gravel and bounce against each other like a Six Flags bumper car ride. It was Highway Patrol's jurisdiction, but there was no way he'd drive on and not help. In the last ten minutes, he'd set out flares, offered his assistance to the arriving CHP officers, and now—

A horn blared: vintage M-class BMW, its driver wearing a business suit, sunglasses, and an openly belligerent look. "What's the deal? When can we get out of here?"

"Hang on.... They're working on it," Fletcher huffed, the edge in his voice coming from more than physical exertion. You're not the only one who's got someplace else to be, buddy. "Stay with your car—be patient, okay?"

He pushed his stride and covered the last dozen yards, coming to a halt beside the vehicle of the woman who'd waved to him.

"Yes, ma'am," he said, noting that she appeared unharmed. "You called for help?"

"Not for me," she explained, turning to point toward the far lane. "Over there, that van. I think someone's hurt."

Fletcher spotted a clutch of people, phone cameras held aloft. No surprise social media was getting a look before first responders. Tweet-a-wreck.

"Thank you. Stay with your car," Fletcher told the woman, relieved to hear sirens in the distance. Paramedics. Amazingly, the truck driver had climbed from the cab without a scratch. And as far as Fletcher knew, there had been no serious injuries. Hopefully that mercy would continue.

"Cop's here!" someone announced as Fletcher approached the vehicle. Even from several yards away, he saw the shattered window and crumpled side panel. It was an older-model minivan with a faded business stencil. Balloons, kites ... kids?

Yes.

Little faces pressed against the remaining windows. And another child was on the ground beside the van. A young woman knelt alongside, offering aid. A teacher? Probably not, the way she was dressed. Black hair, sort of pulled up in a loose knot, a short blue skirt ... long stretch of bare leg, high heels. None of it meant for herding kids or crawling around on a gritty freeway.

The young woman turned for a second to gaze across the lanes. Her white top was smeared with blood.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from By Your Side by Candace Calvert, Sarah Mason. Copyright © 2015 Candace Calvert. Excerpted by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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