I swallowed hard as I thought of Emily’s Barbie Dreamhouse and the tableau of two dead children and their dog. I knew it was Mavis’s daughter trying to communicate with her, warn her that Mavis was back. “I hope not, but I’m scared. Now do you believe that this is something supernatural?”

“Demonic,” Jess added quickly. “We need to use the Ouija board to talk to Mavis. Amelia already told Emily that more people are going to die.”

The color drained from Melissa’s face as she crossed her arms over her stomach. She started to turn away, toward the car.

I reached my hand out to stop her. “Please, Melissa. I’m going to do it anyway, because it’s the only idea I have left. But I want you to be there. Remember the bracelets Liz gave us before all this started? ‘Stronger with You,’ ” I said.

She took in a deep breath before she lowered her sunglasses. “Everything inside me is saying no, but I’ll do it. For you guys, and for Liz.”

CHAPTER
25

The parking lot of Stoughton Lake Forest Preserve was nearly empty when I pulled in for the phone interview for the social worker position at Monarch Hospice. I arrived twenty minutes before the scheduled call, earbuds next to me. I knew there was no way I could take the call at home and not be interrupted, so Mark had offered to work from home for the morning.

As the minutes ticked on toward the scheduled interview, my anxiety grew exponentially worse. I reviewed my notes and tried to stay calm. Yet I still jumped when my phone buzzed.

“This is Amy,” I said at the same time that my Apple Watch chose to activate and answer the call, resulting in an echo.

“Amy Foster?” Dale Keane, the hiring manager, said.

“Yes, yes,” I said, reaching down and yanking my watch off. “So sorry.” Not the way I wanted to start the call.

“No problem at all. Thanks for taking the time to speak with me about the social worker position here at Monarch. I would love it if you would tell me a little about yourself. I have your résumé here, but I’d appreciate it if you went through it.” I heard rustling in the background, and it sounded like he muted his side of the call.

My nerves began to spark. “Well, I graduated with my MSW . . .” I detailed my experience, ending with when I left the workforce after my children were born.