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Back Lying Next to Me Save as PDF
Chapters (87)
  1. TITLE PAGE
  2. COPYRIGHT
  3. DEDICATION
  4. CONTENTS
  5. START READING
  6. CHAPTER ONE
  7. CHAPTER TWO
  8. CHAPTER THREE
  9. CHAPTER FOUR
  10. CHAPTER FIVE
  11. CHAPTER SIX
  12. CHAPTER SEVEN
  13. CHAPTER EIGHT
  14. CHAPTER NINE
  15. CHAPTER TEN
  16. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  17. CHAPTER TWELVE
  18. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  19. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  20. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  21. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  22. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  23. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  24. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  25. CHAPTER TWENTY
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  34. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  35. CHAPTER THIRTY
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  44. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  45. CHAPTER FORTY
  46. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  47. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  49. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  53. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  54. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  55. CHAPTER FIFTY
  56. CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
  57. CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
  58. CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
  59. CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
  60. CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
  61. CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
  62. CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
  63. CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
  64. CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
  65. CHAPTER SIXTY
  66. CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE
  67. CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO
  68. CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE
  69. CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR
  70. CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE
  71. CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX
  72. CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN
  73. CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT
  74. CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE
  75. CHAPTER SEVENTY
  76. CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE
  77. CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWO
  78. CHAPTER SEVENTY-THREE
  79. CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR
  80. CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE
  81. CHAPTER SEVENTY-SIX
  82. CHAPTER SEVENTY-SEVEN
  83. CHAPTER SEVENTY-EIGHT
  84. CHAPTER SEVENTY-NINE
  85. CHAPTER EIGHTY
  86. EPILOGUE
  87. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

I keep my eye on my phone while stroking my cat and wish that I could do the day over. I am sorry. I was doing the right thing. But that doesn’t make it feel right.

No reply comes from him.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

ADAM

Seeing Lee at her office with that doofus partner did what seeing her always does to me.

It made me think about the day she went missing.

Kip and I were in homeroom when the principal’s secretary came to the slit of a window in our classroom door and motioned for Mr. Saperstein. It was Twentieth-Century History, and I was glad for the break from the teacher’s monotone recitation of the New Deal. I called it the Big Deal just to get under his skin a little when he called on me.

Mr. Saperstein, with his wholly ridiculous goatee and horn-rimmed specs, shut the door and went over to Kip. His eyes bugged out from behind his glasses, and he leaned in very close to Kip’s ear.

“You’re needed at home,” he said, his voice charged with emotion.

Kip looked confused. “What’s up?”

“We can’t talk about it here,” he said.

“Is it my mom?”

“We can’t talk,” the teacher repeated. “Please gather your things and go.”

Then Mr. Saperstein looked at me. “Adam, I’m excusing you too.”

Ordinarily, I would have been elated, but I knew that this was not a chance to hang out and have a good time with my best bud. Mr. Saperstein thought that Kip would need some moral support.

It had to be bad.

I thought that maybe one of his folks had dropped dead. Or maybe the house burned down.

That something had happened to his sister, Lee, was the furthest thing from my mind.

Mason County Sheriff Jack Masters was at the Husemanns’ house when Kip and I got there. In fact, there were four cop cars in total. Right then we both knew two things: There had been no fire. And since there were no ambulances in the queue, it was likely that no one had had a heart attack.

It was something else.

Sheriff Masters was older—though I was a teen and thought that anyone over fifty was ancient—and well known to everyone in Shelton. He’d been around forever. He’d come to our classrooms to talk about the perils of drug use when we were in second grade. He came in fifth grade to share insights about “stranger danger” and then in seventh to remind us again about the perils of drug use. He had gray hair even then and a belly that indicated that Mrs. Masters knew how to cook—or that he couldn’t pass by a drive-through window without braking. He was decent, though. When we were in high school and did the kinds of things everyone does, Sheriff Masters lectured us but also gave us rides home.