Page 105 of When the Silence Breaks

This place had been forged by storms and silence, shaped by loss and survival. But hope lingered here. Ryder smiled. And now, maybe, so did a promising future with this former spy.

Author’s Note

I’m so thrilled you joined me for the first installment of this new series. While I loved every moment writing theHidden Bay series, set on the Washington coast, I decided it was time to head for the mountains—and my editor agreed.

The inspiration forMercy Ridgecame when I stumbled across the story of a World War II bomber that crashed in the Cascade Mountains. During a stormy night-training mission in late September 1944, a B-24 Liberator flying out of Walla Walla drifted off course and slammed into Wenatchee Mountain in the Squilchuck Basin, near what’s now Mission Ridge Ski Resort. A search party reached the site the next morning—there were no survivors—and while the crew’s remains and some wreckage were recovered, much of the bomber was left scattered across the slope due to the rugged terrain. Decades later, a section of the wing was removed and eventually became a memorial landmark at the ski resort.

I couldn’t let go of the questions that story raised, and finally a premise took hold:What if the plane crash was never discovered—and what if it carried something terrible?Whilethat real tragedy fueled my imagination,When the Silence Breaksis, of course, a work of fiction.

As for the characters, longtime readers may recognize Sarah Ellison as Sarah Frasier, who first appeared inCold Light of Day. I always wondered about her story, andMercy Ridgefinally gave me the chance to tell it. I hope you enjoyed meeting Maisie Trent. Though her appearance was brief, maybe she’ll turn up again in the next two books. She’s inspired by a real woman—a petite, elderly lady who teaches gun safety at the local shooting range and proudly carries a thick notebook of credentials to prove her expertise. The moment I heard about her, I knew she belonged in a story.

Of course, I had to have a volcano rumbling in the background. I live in the shadow of Mount Rainier, part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, and from it I created my fictional volcano—Blackspire Mountain—modeled on Rainier’s power and peril. In theMercy Ridgeseries, the mountain is more than simply backdrop. It’s a character of its own—relentless, dangerous, and never silent.

Thank you for stepping into this new world with me. I hope you’ll journey back to Mercy Ridge for the next installment, where danger still lurks in the shadows of Blackspire Mountain—and where courage, love, and faith will once again be tested.

Blessings,

Elizabeth Goddard

Read on

for a sneak peek at

the next book in

theMercyRidgeseries

Available February 2027

One

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

John 1:5

Lightning split the sky, momentarily blinding her. The cloud-to-ground strike had been too close for comfort. Sloane Andrews gripped the armrest of the puddle jumper—a single-engine Cessna. She’d experienced very little lightning in Seattle, but watching it out the window of this plane—and so close—unnerved her. That and the ridiculous turbulence. Her stomach roiled and her knuckles grew white.

The pilot’s attention remained focused on navigating through the storm, his hands steady on the controls. His competence so far had reassured her. His broad shoulders were rigid beneath that leather bomber jacket, and his left hand was steady on the yoke while his right adjusted the throttle. But beneath his cool demeanor, he seemed preoccupied with something beyond just flying the plane. He’d been quiet and serious with his one-word responses to her attempts at conversation. Just as well.

A friend of a friend of a friend had connected her becausethis guy was a pilot with his own plane and was already traveling to Mercy Ridge, a small town in the northern Cascades of Washington. Actually, she was surprised he’d agreed to let her—a complete stranger—ride along. She’d been desperate to get to her destination, but now she wished she’d driven out from Seattle instead of trying to save a few hours. What had she been thinking?

She slid her gaze sideways to the man with her life in his hands. What did she really know about Holt Goodwin anyway? Supposedly he was a former Air Force pilot and now he was some kind of federal agent. His title—Homeland Security something—should mean that he was someone she could trust. But her life experience left her wary and on guard, even with someone who seemed trustworthy. Everyone had their secrets. And here she was, risking everything on this stranger, trusting him to get her to Mercy Ridge so she could find the solution to a life-or-death situation.

But she didn’t have time to be selective.

“Is this normal?” She spoke into the headphone mic. “I mean, I’ve experienced turbulence. Maybe it’s just this region of the country.” On the last word, the plane dropped and shuddered, and she might have left her stomach about two hundred feet above her.

“Define normal,” he finally said.

“I thought we were flying into clear skies. So is this just a normal clear-sky flight into the mountain range?” Now she just sounded ridiculous.

“A word of advice. Expect the unexpected. A thunderstorm popped up. Microclimates can catch you by surprise, and here we are.” His voice remained smooth and even, once again reassuring her, as if this was simply another day in the sky.

Air Force. Hello.

She’d let him focus on getting them out of the storm without telling him she’d pinned desperate hopes of surviving this flight on him. As if he didn’t already know that.

Rain pummeled the windshield. Not that she could see much anyway—other than the lightning—in the fading daylight. And neither could the pilot. The storm clouds filled her view and had turned the day dark. Another flash of lightning illuminated his profile at the very moment she looked at him and seared his rugged features into her mind. She tried to blink away the image of his tightly clenched, angular jaw, his gaze focused on his instruments.