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Chapters (77)
  1. Cover
  2. Title
  3. Also by Silas House
  4. Dedication
  5. Epigraph
  6. Contents
  7. Part One
  8. 1
  9. 2
  10. 3
  11. 4
  12. 5
  13. 6
  14. 7
  15. 8
  16. 9
  17. 10
  18. 11
  19. 12
  20. 13
  21. 14
  22. 15
  23. 16
  24. 17
  25. 18
  26. Part Two
  27. 1
  28. 2
  29. 3
  30. 4
  31. 5
  32. 6
  33. 7
  34. 8
  35. 9
  36. 10
  37. Part Three
  38. 1
  39. 2
  40. 3
  41. 4
  42. 5
  43. 6
  44. 7
  45. 8
  46. 9
  47. 10
  48. 11
  49. 12
  50. 13
  51. 14
  52. 15
  53. 16
  54. 17
  55. 18
  56. 19
  57. 20
  58. 21
  59. 22
  60. 23
  61. 24
  62. 25
  63. 26
  64. 27
  65. 28
  66. 29
  67. 30
  68. 31
  69. Part Four
  70. 1
  71. 2
  72. 3
  73. Epilogue: The Everything
  74. Acknowledgments
  75. About the Author
  76. About Algonquin
  77. Copyright

According to the alert, Sharp left Cumberland Valley in the early morning hours of June 7 in a midnight-blue 2012 Jeep Wrangler with Tennessee license plate 4S47EY. Justin Sharp is described as very small for his age. He is about 4'2" and weighs about 56 pounds. He has dark brown hair, green eyes and freckles. Asher Sharp is described as dark-haired with green eyes, 5'11", weighing about 165 pounds. He is considered armed and dangerous . . .

Almost all of the articles had a snippet of the video where Asher fell apart in front of the church but they showed only the worst part, where he broke down. Asher had watched only a couple before realizing they would all show the same section, the part that made him look crazy.

And they linked to a short piece of the voice mail Justin had left his mother. All they played was him whispering “I’m with Dad.” They left out all the rest, where he promised her they were okay and said that Asher would take good care of him.

One of the news stations had a video of Lydia, standing out in front of their house. So strange to see his own yard, the one he had mowed hundreds of times, the house he had built standing behind her looking just as it always had. Somehow he had thought everything might have changed in his absence.

“Asher,” Lydia said, looking right into the camera, “if you’re watching this, I’m begging you: please bring Justin back to us. Please don’t hurt him.” Then she started crying and the newswoman took the microphone away from her, looking very compassionate.

Anger had flared in Asher’s chest. She knew he would never, ever hurt Justin. He could only imagine how this would play for people who didn’t know her, or him. They’d think Asher was a monster.

Still, there was a new kind of sorrow in her face. He was tempted to call her, just to let her know Justin was alright. Bell’s phone was right there beside the keyboard. But the thing was, she always blamed everybody else, never took responsibility for her own part in things.

In the post office, Justin is standing there looking up at him with those big eyes and his small nose and mouth, waiting, and it is all Asher’s fault. There is a dripping rectangle across the wet window, a collection of words wiped from existence with one motion of his hand.

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