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
It doesn’t make sense. Murdered? Daniel?
“I’ll talk to our lawyer,” Dad says. “And she will be there when anyone talks to my son. I’ll bring Hunter to the station myself. I’ll have him there as soon as the lawyer is able to meet us.”
“Ten minutes,” Haley says. “I’ll wait outside, and you better have him outside and be driving him to the station in ten minutes. And I’m going to follow you. If it’s more than ten minutes, I’m coming back in here with the handcuffs. And backup.” He moves toward the front door but keeps his eyes on us. “Think about what I said, Hunter,” he says. “The sooner you tell the truth, the—”
“Out,” Dad says, pointing the way.
Haley opens the door and leaves without another word.
Dad has his phone out as soon as the door shuts. He walks down the hall toward his study, leaving me alone at the table. I gulp more water.
“Hunter?”
It’s Olivia. She’s in her bathrobe, and her hair is wet. “What the hell is going on?” she asks. “What’s that cop talking about? Did they find Chloe?”
I tell her about Daniel, and her mouth falls open like someone unhinged it.
She leans down and puts her arms around me, and I feel her cold, wet hair against my cheeks and face. “First Chloe,” she says. “Now Daniel. What the fuck is going on around here, Hunter? What’s happening?”
I hang on to her longer than I have since Mom died. Even then, I don’t know if I held her as tight as I do now.
“I don’t know. I really don’t. But I’m scared, Livvy. I’m really, really scared.”
Video #2
It’s late. Everyone’s asleep.
I take Olivia’s advice and sit in front of my bookshelf. It feels phony, like I’m auditioning to be the host of a show Dad would watch on PBS. But I stay there. I adjust the angle of the phone, up and then down. I looked pasty in the last video. I wonder if shooting myself from above will make a difference—if it will magically add color to my cheeks.
“Hi, again,” I say as I start recording. “This is Hunter Gifford. And I’m back in my house. For now. By the time you see this—and I know a pretty decent number of you watched my last video—you’ll already know that someone has died here in Bentley. Daniel Nevin. Daniel was my best friend when we were growing up. We played football together. And video games. And we made movies that were a lot better than these videos I’ve been making. If Daniel were still here, I’d ask him to help.”