“Hi, I’m Mallory, Jake Shelton’s wife? He’s the evening supervisor here, at The Auto Supply Warehouse. It seems he’s late.” Again. I shouldn’t be surprised.

I worry. A lot. About everything. All the time. Especially when it comes to Jake. My parents died unexpectedly, leaving me alone in the world. What’s to stop Jake from leaving me?

The number of times I’ve waited up for him, thinking the worst has happened, are too many to count. Pacing back and forth in front of the window, eyes searching the gravel road fronting our farmhouse, wishing for headlights to make their way up our long drive, I often wait for Jake to get home from his 3 to 11 shift. It’s particularly stressful in the winter when a storm blows in, obliterating the countryside, the woods across from our house invisible in the wake of blowing snow. On decent-weather nights when he texts to let me know he’ll be late, out for a drink with the guys from work, I go upstairs to bed. I need my rest for the next day and a classroom full of kindergarteners who don’t allow an exhausted teacher’s aide to close her eyes for a minute. During the summer weekdays, when I’m off work, I read in bed until sometime after 1 or 2 a.m. till I hear the front door open and he stumbles up the stairs to see if I’m ‘in the mood’.

This is my life. Waiting for Jake to come home. Waiting for Jake to stop throwing money in the garbage. Waiting for Jake to be ready to start a family.

“You think he’s still here?” The long-haired guy standing on the other side of the warehouse door looks me up and down and scratches his beard, trying to decide whether he should let me in. I show him my I.D. “Well, I guess you can come in and wait for him.”

He leads me through the warehouse, between rows of shelving with auto parts stacked to the ceiling. Jake will be in his office, up on the mezzanine level, probably caught up in some paperwork. But as we approach the stairs, the windows stare back, dark and foreboding.

The guy pulls out his walkie-talkie and asks his co-worker if he’s seen Jake. His answer drains the blood from my face. “There’s no one in the building. The last person left twenty minutes ago.”

Calm down. Hold it together. Jake’s voice is always in my head.

I insist on searching the aisles. Jake has to be here. I dropped him off for work before 3:00 this afternoon, and now I’m here to pick him up, like I do every Friday night during the summer.

“Jake? Jake? Where are you?” My voice carries throughout the warehouse, echoing back at me as my shoes slap the concrete flooring.

“He’s not here,” the guy shouts, following me. “Maybe there’s been a misunderstanding. Maybe he got a ride with someone else.”

“Misunderstanding?” Yes, maybe that’s it.

After I’m escorted from the premises back to the dark parking lot, I scan the area. A shiver runs down my back. Something’s not right. Jake’s not just late this time. He’s nowhere to be found.

Where is my husband?

Where is My Husband?, A Jake and Mallory Thriller Book #1
Genre: Thriller
Release: October 2023
Format: Print, Digital
Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Too many secrets, too many lies—and now a missing husband.

Since the death of her parents, Mallory has suffered from increased anxiety and depression. When she falls in love with Jake, he revives her will to live.

One day Jake is a no-show at work, even though Mallory dropped him off there. She can’t find him anywhere. When Mallory hears noises at night, and senses someone watching her inside their home, she suspects the reason for Jake’s disappearance stems from something sinister. And if her husband’s life is in danger, then so is hers and their baby’s.

As memories of her happy life with Jake morph into haunting flashbacks, Mallory realizes there’s a dark side to their relationship and that their marriage is far from perfect. She wonders if she knew her husband at all.

Now she must decide whether it’s worth having him home or if she should forget he ever existed. Mallory has so much to lose—the perfect little family that she’s always imagined.

About the author
Ivanka Fear is Canadian writer, born in Slovenia. She earned her B.A. and B.Ed. in English and French at Western University. Prior to pursuing writing full time, she enjoyed a long career in education. Where is My Husband, A Jake and Mallory Thriller, is her second book. Ivanka is also the author of The Dead Lie, the first book in the Blue Water Mysteries series. She is a member of International Thriller Writers, Sisters in Crime, and Crime Writers of Canada. Ivanka resides in Ontario, Canada, with her family and the stray cats that wandered in. When not reading and writing, Ivanka enjoys watching mystery series and romance movies, gardening, going for walks, and watching the waves roll in at the lake.