Chapters (68)
- Cover
- Dedication
- NOW
- One
- BEFORE
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- NOW
- Twenty-One
- BEFORE
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- NOW
- Thirty-Nine
- BEFORE
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- NOW
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- AFTER
- Fifty-Six
- Acknowledgements
- About the Author
‘Look, we both know she was a little messed up. Doesn’t mean she was losing her mind, or whatever you think it was.’
‘I wasn’t suggesting that,’ Mark said, standing up, as Stephanie’s voice began to rise. He heard movement behind him, but didn’t turn. ‘I’m just asking because I need to know everything.’
‘I don’t know anything about that.’
‘So, you hadn’t heard of her talking to people in strange ways, or anything of that sort?’
Stephanie shook her head, but Mark could feel something unsaid in the air between them. He hesitated, wondering how to approach this now. ‘If Emily was doing something out of the ordinary, it might be helpful to know now. While we’re still looking for her.’
‘There’s nothing…’
‘Anything, no matter how small, it might be important.’
‘Who told you?’
Mark turned to see Julie Burns standing in the kitchen doorway, staring at him with bloodshot eyes that probably hadn’t been closed in a day or more. He kept himself calm and continued. ‘Told me what, Julie?’
‘There’s nothing to say. She’s missing and needs to be found.This has nothing to do with anything.’
‘It’s just that we’ve had some reports about possible strange events Emily might have been involved in recently.’
Julie shook her head. ‘Whatever it is, it’s got nothing to do with what’s happened now. She… she was just messing around, that’s all.’
‘How?’
‘There’s nothing. Who told you this?’
Mark opened his mouth to answer, then closed it to consider his words more carefully. ‘What was Emily doing?’
‘It was all just pranks, she told me,’ Julie said, waving her hands as if none of it mattered. ‘Nothing important. It was just silly stuff, that’s all. You know what teenagers are like.’
‘What kind of pranks, Julie?’
There was a huff, hands went to her hips. ‘I don’t really know.’
‘I was told about something that happened while she was in town. Approaching people there and asking personal questions.’
‘I don’t know…’
‘Mum, how many times were there?’
Mark kept his eyes on Julie, even as Stephanie moved away from the countertop and towards her mother.
‘She said it was just some pranks that she was doing with people in college,’ Julie said finally, leaning one shoulder against the doorway. ‘It’s got nothing to do with her going missing.’
‘Unless this is a prank too,’ Stephanie said, before Mark had a chance to.
‘Julie,’ Mark began, then stopped himself, finding the right words. ‘Emily hasn’t been in college this term. At all. She hasn’t attended since last June.’
‘It can’t have been that long…’