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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

Laura’s face changes. The look of stunned grief she’s worn for the entire evening slides away, and her features start to harden. Her lips remain tight, and her eyes narrow. She keeps one hand in Scott’s and with the other grabs the microphone, but the way she holds it reminds me of the way someone would take hold of a club just before swinging it at someone’s head.

Gabriela and Olivia shuffle their feet and move closer together. Olivia leans toward me and says, “She looks kind of freaked. Is she okay?”

“I don’t know. I really don’t.”

“Scott’s right,” Laura says. “We do thank you.” Her voice sounds rock steady. Steadier than Scott’s. “And I know you all join us in praying for Chloe. We all miss her and would do anything for her.”

Scattered voices yell their support.

“Yeah.”

“That’s right.”

“Chloe.”

“But, you know, there is one person who doesn’t seem to want to do anything to get Chloe back. There’s one person who won’t cooperate with the police. Who won’t help us at all.”

A murmur ripples through the crowd. Scott shifts his weight from one foot to the other on the stage.

My back stings. Like someone has slipped a long, cold needle between two of my vertebrae.

“And his name is Hunter Gifford,” Laura says.

Heads in the crowd turn, looking around. Trying to spot me. A few nod my way, and I wish for a cloak of invisibility.

Laura goes on. “He says he can’t remember anything from that night. Nothing. And he was the one in the car with her. He turned up at the hospital, and he’s okay, but Chloe is nowhere to be found. And how did he get to the hospital? Who knows? There was no car on the security cameras. I don’t understand that. Do any of you?”

A few people shout back. “No!”

More heads turn toward me, faces finding me in the crowd. People nudge each other and point at me, like I’m a display at the zoo. My cheeks flush like every set of eyes pointed my way is giving off heat. Basher and his friends have all turned my way as well. They glare, and one of them yells, “No!”

“What the hell?” Olivia shouts. She drops Gabriela’s hand and steps forward, like she’s going to break through the crowd, jump up on stage, and take Laura on.

But Dad places a restraining hand on her shoulder. “Easy, Livvy.”

Her face is flushed, too. Gabriela takes her hand again and whispers something I can’t hear.

Chad is shaking his head, telling me to be cool, to not let this get me riled up. Cameron and Hector have their mouths half-open like they can’t believe what’s being said.