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Back The Copycat Save as PDF
Chapters (68)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Epigraph
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Chapter One
  7. Three
  8. Four
  9. Five
  10. Six
  11. Chapter Two
  12. Seven
  13. Eight
  14. Nine
  15. Chapter Three
  16. Ten
  17. Eleven
  18. Chapter Four
  19. Twelve
  20. Thirteen
  21. Fourteen
  22. Chapter Five
  23. Fifteen
  24. Sixteen
  25. Chapter Six
  26. Seventeen
  27. Eighteen
  28. Nineteen
  29. Chapter Seven
  30. Twenty
  31. Twenty-One
  32. Twenty-Two
  33. Chapter Eight
  34. Twenty-Three
  35. Twenty-Four
  36. Twenty-Five
  37. Chapter Nine
  38. Twenty-Six
  39. Twenty-Seven
  40. Chapter Ten
  41. Twenty-Eight
  42. Twenty-Nine
  43. Thirty
  44. Thirty-One
  45. Chapter Eleven
  46. Thirty-Two
  47. Thirty-Three
  48. Thirty-Four
  49. Thirty-Five
  50. Chapter Twelve
  51. Thirty-Six
  52. Thirty-Seven
  53. Thirty-Eight
  54. Chapter Thirteen
  55. Thirty-Nine
  56. Forty
  57. Forty-One
  58. Forty-Two
  59. Chapter Fourteen
  60. Forty-Three
  61. Forty-Four
  62. Forty-Five
  63. Forty-Six
  64. Forty-Seven
  65. Chapter Fifteen
  66. The Following Summer
  67. About the Author
  68. About the Publisher

The beach was eerily quiet, with only the odd slosh as a wave crested against the rocky shore. Far away, Ali could see the flickering lights of the freighters anchored offshore. Murray, Cassie, and Emily pulled out their cell phones and cast light into the endless darkness. Ali stumbled behind them, straining to try and find the seal. Was Teddy still here? He had to be.

“I think it’s gone,” Emily moaned.

“Keep looking,” begged Ali. It wouldn’t be fair if she’d finally figured out that the seal was Teddy, only to discover it had gone back to the bay.

They trudged on. Minutes passed, and Ali became increasingly despondent. She’d failed.

And then: “Look up toward the grass!” shouted Cassie.

The other two lights turned in the direction where Cassie pointed.

They’d found the seal.

Forty-Seven

When Ali was little, the game she hated most in the world was hide-and-seek. It didn’t matter if she was the hider or the seeker; they were equally terror inducing. If you were the hider, you were forced to huddle in tight, dark spaces, holding your breath until someone pounced on you. If you were the seeker, you had to look in nooks and crannies that a person had no business looking in. Either way, you were going to be scared. Now, as they picked their way across the slippery rocks toward the sick seal who might or might not be Teddy, she had the uncomfortable sensation that she was about to get a nasty scare.

“It looks worse than it did a couple of days ago,” said Emily when they reached the seal.

Emily was right. It lay on its side, panting, each breath a strangled rattle. Its patchy coat was now mostly bald and covered in nasty red welts. Emily pulled the blanket from around her shoulders and draped it over the seal.

“Do we really think this is Alfie’s dad?” Murray asked, leaning over to look at the seal.

“I think we’re too late,” Ali said in despair.

Cassie squatted down and reached out to pet the seal’s head.

“The marine biologist told us not to touch them,” warned Emily.

Cassie looked down at the sick seal. “I’ll take my chances,” she said, and began to stroke its head. The seal didn’t react. “You don’t know that it’s too late, Ali. You have to try.”

Murray moved aside, and Ali crouched down and looked into the seal’s eyes. “Shine the light on just me and the seal, okay, Murray?”

Murray adjusted the phone so that only Ali and the seal were in the small circle of light.