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
A car pulls up behind us. The headlights blind us for a moment, and then both doors open and close, one on each side. Haley rolls down his window, and Dad’s face appears, leaning down to see inside the car.
What is he doing here?
“Mr. Gifford,” Haley says. “Your son put on quite a display tonight.”
Someone taps on my window, and I lower it. Olivia. She looks a little worried and a lot embarrassed.
“Are you okay, Hunter? This detective guy called the house and said you were coming over here. So Dad was worried you were going to do something dumb, like get in a fight.”
“It wasn’t much of a fight,” Haley says.
Dad looks concerned. Really concerned. And I’m the cause of it. Again.
“Can I take him home?” he asks.
Haley shakes his head. “Not a chance. You see, Hunter here was just about to explain to me how he ended up with a journal the police haven’t been able to find since Chloe disappeared. So if you’d like to stick around for that revelation…”
“I did it.”
My head whips back to the window. “Livvy. No.”
“I did it,” Olivia says again. “I knew about Chloe’s hiding place. So I went into her house and found the journal. I gave it to Hunter. It was me the whole time.”
“Livvy,” I say. “Just stop. Don’t say anything else.”
“Well, it kind of was my idea.”
Haley pretends Olivia isn’t here and says to me, “Are you saying you went into the Summerses’ house without their permission and stole this journal?”
“It sounds a lot worse when you say it that way. But, yes, I did go into their house and find the journal. And I always intended to bring it to you, Detective.”
Dad’s face still fills the driver’s side window. His mouth hangs open, and his forehead is more wrinkled than I’ve ever seen it. But he doesn’t say anything. He just looks at me like he doesn’t know me.
“You’d better tell me the whole story,” Haley says.
Video #3
The red light glows.
It burns like an angry eye. One that sees me. And judges me.
Unlike the other times, I have no idea what I’m going to say. I’m not even sure I want to make the video. But something compels me to do it. Something makes me want to say…something. Anything.
To tell my side of the story.
Dad and the lawyer will be pissed again. Really pissed.