P R M N E W S 1 6 8

I stared through the front window at Mr. Foster. For years, I had known him as the helpful retired officer who collected packages when neighbors traveled, watched children cross the …

For several seconds, I couldn’t breathe. Emily stood between Mark and Foster in the photograph. Her wrists were tied. Her face was bruised. And behind her, Dad’s red workshop door …

“STOP!” Officer Ramirez’s voice ripped through the cemetery. Mr. Foster ran. Not toward the gate. Toward the trees behind the old burial section. The metal box slammed against his leg …

The first vehicle slammed into the police cruiser hard enough to shove it sideways. Glass exploded. Officers shouted. Emily and I dropped behind the stone monument as headlights swept across …

I didn’t sleep after that phone call. I sat on my sister’s couch with the lights off, staring at the black screen of my phone. The message kept repeating in …

I didn’t move. Charles’s footsteps stopped at the bottom of the stairs. “Audrey?” His voice was calm. Too calm. I pressed myself against the wall beside the storage room door …

For several seconds, nobody moved. Wesley looked at the officer like he had spoken in another language. “What did you say?” The officer repeated it. “A woman upstairs says she’s …

I couldn’t breathe. Three months ago. Nolan had told me he found a hole in his bedroom wall. I remembered exactly where I had been standing when he said it. …