Chapters (95)
- Front Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Contents
- Video #1
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Video #2
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-One
- Sixty-Two
- Sixty-Three
- Sixty-Four
- Sixty-Five
- Video #3
- Sixty-Six
- Sixty-Seven
- Sixty-Eight
- Sixty-Nine
- Seventy
- Seventy-One
- Seventy-Two
- Seventy-Three
- Seventy-Four
- Seventy-Five
- Seventy-Six
- Seventy-Seven
- Seventy-Eight
- Seventy-Nine
- Eighty
- Eighty-One
- Eighty-Two
- Eighty-Three
- The Final Video
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Back Cover
“Whoa,” Haley says, sounding surprised. “Are you on your way there?”
“Yes.”
“Okay,” Haley says. “I’ll meet you outside. I’m already at the Basher residence, but I don’t want you coming in until we talk.”
I want to ask why he’s there, but he hangs up.
I let myself believe I’m right.
Why else would Haley be there unless he’s reached the same conclusion I did?
At the Basher residence, there’s Haley, standing on the lawn, hands on hips, looking like a statue.
Sixty-Four
The Basher’s house glows like a giant spaceship. Every window shines with light that spills across the lawn.
The journal is in my hand, and Haley watches me with his hands on hips, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows like always.
“Look at this, Detective.”
Haley eyes me the way someone watches an unfamiliar dog—one they think might bite. But Haley extends his hand and takes the journal. He examines it in the light that spills from the house, turning it first one way and then the other as though it just fell out of the sky, an artifact from another world.
“What is this?” he asks.
“It’s Chloe’s journal. Remember, you couldn’t find it?”
Haley looks up at me, his brown eyes tough to read. “Oh, I remember. But how did you come up with it? Did you have this in your possession the whole time, Hunter? That’s obstruct—”
“Can we just hold off on that for a moment?” I ask. “What matters is what’s inside. Or maybe what matters even more is what’s not inside. See, this journal tells us what was going on right before she disappeared. Something was on her mind, something she didn’t think she could share with anybody. Not even me. Maybe she was pregnant.”
“Does the journal say she was pregnant?”
“It doesn’t. But it does say there was a problem. And she felt like she couldn’t say anything to anyone.” I point at the journal, which is still in Haley’s hands. “And then, right before homecoming, Chloe says she talked to Basher. He came to their house. You know he used to hang around there and work on cars with Scott.”
“I know that.”
“Why did she talk to him? Why not me? Or her parents? Maybe he was the cause of the problem. Maybe he got her pregnant. That’s why he followed us on the night of the dance. He was outside the school when we were leaving.”
Haley flips through the pages, the paper making a rustling sound. He stops where a page has been torn out.
“Did you do this?” he asks.
“No. No way.”
He keeps flipping, and I know nothing I’ve done has been very well thought out. And that Haley may not see things the way I want him to.