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Chapters (54)
  1. Cover
  2. Title
  3. Chapter One
  4. Chapter Two
  5. Chapter Three
  6. Incident One
  7. Chapter Four
  8. Chapter Five
  9. Chapter Six
  10. Chapter Seven
  11. Chapter Eight
  12. Incident Two
  13. Chapter Nine
  14. Incident Three
  15. Chapter Ten
  16. Chapter Eleven
  17. Chapter Twelve
  18. Chapter Thirteen
  19. Chapter Fourteen
  20. Incident Four
  21. Chapter Fifteen
  22. Chapter Sixteen
  23. Chapter Seventeen
  24. Chapter Eighteen
  25. Chapter Nineteen
  26. Chapter Twenty
  27. Chapter Twenty-one
  28. Chapter Twenty-two
  29. Chapter Twenty-three
  30. Chapter Twenty-four
  31. Chapter Twenty-five
  32. Chapter Twenty-six
  33. Chapter Twenty-seven
  34. Chapter Twenty-eight
  35. Chapter Twenty-nine
  36. Chapter Thirty
  37. Chapter Thirty-one
  38. Chapter Thirty-two
  39. Chapter Thirty-three
  40. Incident Five
  41. Chapter Thirty-four
  42. Chapter Thirty-five
  43. Chapter Thirty-six
  44. Chapter Thirty-seven
  45. Chapter Thirty-eight
  46. Chapter Thirty-nine
  47. Chapter Forty
  48. Chapter Forty-one
  49. Chapter Forty-two
  50. Chapter Forty-three
  51. Chapter Forty-four
  52. Acknowledgments
  53. Special Thanks
  54. About the Author

She realized she was looking at a playhouse hidden behind the corn, a little princess house with miniature glass windows and heart-shaped shutters. She started to crawl for it, moving slowly, and eased her head and shoulders inside, curling her legs and feet in behind. The kid had furnished the place with some good blankets and pillows—Mom would probably have a cow when she found out—and Velvet wrapped herself up and sat next to the window, looking out at the guy in the garage.

He’d put down his firewood, and was looking toward the wall where Agent James waited. She watched him pop the door on the Mercedes and get something out of the glove compartment.

He picked up his firewood, walked to the back door, and slammed it shut behind him. Through the glass door, Velvet saw him say something to the dark-haired woman at the table, whose face went blank and then tight with fear. She got up and left the room.

She hadn’t seen him move, but all of a sudden Agent Dimples was standing there in the corn rows, scuffing a shoe in the outline where Velvet had pressed her face in the dirt. She wiped at the grit on her cheeks and pulled the blanket over her head as he looked at the playhouse. Dark. Her sweat smelled like Scotch, she couldn’t get her breath, was he coming? Was he right there, looking at her, aiming the gun—

She screamed when she heard the shots, two quick loud explosions, and waited for the pain.

When she stripped the blanket off her head and pushed her hair back, she saw Agent Dimples face down in the dirt, blood spreading black under him. The rich guy stood in the doorway, holding onto it with one hand, like his knees weren’t quite ready to do the job. Behind him, the kids were screaming, Mom was running and grabbing and hugging.

The rich guy had a gun in his hand. Velvet watched it fall from his hand and bounce on the steps. It spun to a stop a couple of feet away, shiny as a roach.

The guy sat down and started to cry, big gulping gasps of air she felt all the way across the yard. While his head was down, while the kids were screaming, she clambered out of the blankets and snaked out of the playhouse, ran to the gate, and pushed it open enough to wiggle through.

Sirens wailed in the distance. She ran.

Incident Five

DALLAS, TEXAS

Spontaneous Human Combustion (SHC)

Minnie Abramson woke up crying.