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Back She's Gone Save as PDF
Chapters (95)
  1. Front Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Contents
  5. Video #1
  6. One
  7. Two
  8. Three
  9. Four
  10. Five
  11. Six
  12. Seven
  13. Eight
  14. Nine
  15. Ten
  16. Eleven
  17. Twelve
  18. Thirteen
  19. Fourteen
  20. Fifteen
  21. Sixteen
  22. Seventeen
  23. Eighteen
  24. Nineteen
  25. Twenty
  26. Twenty-One
  27. Twenty-Two
  28. Twenty-Three
  29. Twenty-Four
  30. Twenty-Five
  31. Twenty-Six
  32. Video #2
  33. Twenty-Seven
  34. Twenty-Eight
  35. Twenty-Nine
  36. Thirty
  37. Thirty-One
  38. Thirty-Two
  39. Thirty-Three
  40. Thirty-Four
  41. Thirty-Five
  42. Thirty-Six
  43. Thirty-Seven
  44. Thirty-Eight
  45. Thirty-Nine
  46. Forty
  47. Forty-One
  48. Forty-Two
  49. Forty-Three
  50. Forty-Four
  51. Forty-Five
  52. Forty-Six
  53. Forty-Seven
  54. Forty-Eight
  55. Forty-Nine
  56. Fifty
  57. Fifty-One
  58. Fifty-Two
  59. Fifty-Three
  60. Fifty-Four
  61. Fifty-Five
  62. Fifty-Six
  63. Fifty-Seven
  64. Fifty-Eight
  65. Fifty-Nine
  66. Sixty
  67. Sixty-One
  68. Sixty-Two
  69. Sixty-Three
  70. Sixty-Four
  71. Sixty-Five
  72. Video #3
  73. Sixty-Six
  74. Sixty-Seven
  75. Sixty-Eight
  76. Sixty-Nine
  77. Seventy
  78. Seventy-One
  79. Seventy-Two
  80. Seventy-Three
  81. Seventy-Four
  82. Seventy-Five
  83. Seventy-Six
  84. Seventy-Seven
  85. Seventy-Eight
  86. Seventy-Nine
  87. Eighty
  88. Eighty-One
  89. Eighty-Two
  90. Eighty-Three
  91. The Final Video
  92. Acknowledgments
  93. About the Author
  95. Back Cover

I always thought he was funny. I always laughed at his jokes and admired his irreverence, the part of him that enjoyed poking fun at the administrators who made all the rules that governed everything we did. But right now, he doesn’t seem so funny.

“You were out here with Daniel Nevin, weren’t you?”

“I told you I didn’t know the unfortunate young man. I only learned who he was when he died.”

“That’s bullshit. And you know it.”

“Hunter, don’t forget where you are and who I am. You can’t talk to me that way.”

“You were out here with him on the night of homecoming. Right?”

“You wouldn’t be asking me this question if you didn’t know. A good lawyer never asks a question they don’t know the answer to. I feel like you’re cross-examining me.”

“So you were with Daniel? While he was filming? Even though you said you really didn’t know him.”

Ron lets out a theatrical sigh, lifting his shoulders and then letting them fall. His jacket moves with him. “You caught me. I am guilty of the crime of standing in a large school parking lot generally in the vicinity of a student who was filming the scene. And I’m guilty of not precisely remembering how well I knew a boy who later ended up dead. You got me. Now, if you’ll allow me, I really have to grade these, no doubt, risible poems.”

He starts to walk off. I want to reach out and grab him by the arm. But everywhere I turn, the ice is as thin as tissue paper. School. The police. Chloe’s parents. No more screwups.

So I stop him with my voice.

“The movie he made,” I say. “It tells us all we need to know. It’s rock-solid proof.”

He looks back. I have his attention. “Excuse me?”

“Your car wasn’t here,” I say. “In Daniel’s movie, your car wasn’t here. After Chloe and I drove off, Daniel turned off his camera. But then he turned it back on and filmed your car leaving. After that, he showed this parking spot. And it was empty. You told me you went back into the dance and finished chaperoning after Chloe and I left. But your car was gone. Why?”

Ron stands about fifteen feet away from me. He looks at the school building, almost longingly, as though some reward awaited him inside. But then he turns back to me. “Hunter, some things are just too complex to easily understand. And this is one of them. Why don’t we talk about it another time? You will be calmer, and I’ll be able to speak more freely.”