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
“Scott planned to tell me someday when everything calmed down. When Chloe was presumed dead. But he couldn’t wait once Hartman got arrested. You see, Scott was afraid Hartman would identify his car and then it would all come out. That’s why he tore out the pages of the journal that mentioned Hartman. If people saw those, they might put it together that Scott went after him the night of homecoming. But he couldn’t bear to get rid of the whole journal. Not when Chloe was gone. We wanted to cling to anything that belonged to her. And Scott wanted me to hear it from him and not the police. That’s why he told me earlier today.” She closes her eyes for a moment and takes a deep breath. “Let me tell you boys something. I was angry. Very, very angry. This is my child we’re talking about. My only child.”
“We hear you,” Mike says.
“And it’s been very hard for me to learn what happened. To accept Scott’s role in it. I came very close to calling the police myself. And he knows it. In fact, he told me I could if I wanted to.” She sniffles. “But I’ve had to accept it. And understand. He’s my husband. He’s my life, too. It was an accident. Just an accident. We’ve got a long road to travel together. But I couldn’t lose everything. Not my husband on top of my daughter. Do you know how much worse it is for Scott? He has to live with what he did to Chloe for the rest of his life. Causing her death was an accident. And he also has to live with what he did to that boy who made the movie.”
“Why did he do that?” I say, my words just above a whisper. “Why would he hurt Daniel? That movie pointed the finger at Ron. Not Scott.”
“Scott knew that if the police talked to Ron, they’d find out there was another car,” Laura says. “That boy, Daniel, kept calling here, trying to interview us. He wouldn’t stop looking, and it would eventually lead to Scott. So Scott had to silence him.”
“He needs to go to prison for all of this,” I say.
“This has been worse than prison, knowing he caused his daughter’s death.”
“Where is Chloe? Where’s her body?”
“We’ll take Chloe with us,” she says. Her eyes dart to the corner of the garage. “Don’t worry. We’re a family. We’ll always be together, like we are now.”
My eyes follow Laura’s to the rectangular object I’d seen earlier. I can hear it humming. One of those giant freezers.
“Oh, God,” I say.