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Prologue
“We have new neighbors moving in next door, Sawyer. I hope they’re not assholes like the last ones,” Lennox says, staring out our front room window while peeking through the curtain. He’s not the least bit inconspicuous, but I doubt he cares.
“Our luck they will be,” I mutter, lifting my head from my textbook. I have a test tomorrow in math, and it is a massive exam. Frankly, I love the subject, but it doesn’t matter because my teacher is a dick, and no student could do enough in his class to prove they’re smart. He’ll explore new ways to fail you. I won’t let the bastard get me.
“Yeah, and you’ll get another scar to match the one on your hairline.” I glare at my twin brother and then return to my work.
“Whatever.” I’m not in the mood for Lennox’s shit. We are nearly identical twins and naturally close, but I’m having a bad day between this test and the idea of new neighbors.
“I should have broken his jaw,” he grumbles, playing back the moment in his head like he always does the second he mentions the incident. We are as much alike as we are different. I’m the passive one, and Lennox would knock your teeth out if given the chance.
“Then we would have gotten in trouble with Dad,” I remind him. For parents who fight all the time, they have an issue with us fighting.
“Always the sensible one,” he chuckles. We’re fourteen and living in a modest house on the south side of Chicago. The shithead thug who just got out of juvie finally moved. Now, we have new neighbors to annoy the hell out of us regularly.
He laughs, and I look up to see him wave. “Well, well, well. It doesn’t look like we’ll have any trouble with this one.”
“Why?” I set my textbook down and walked toward the window.
“She’s a little girl.”
“Oh, yeah?” I open the curtain enough to look.
“Yeah.”
“She’s a few years younger than us.” She stops on the stoop, turning to meet our probing gaze, and her lips part. Something sweet in her expression surprises me, so I quickly step back.
“Okay. I have work to do and don’t have time to focus on little kids.” My chest is pounding. She’s probably only nine or ten. Not even close to our age. It’s not like I’m aroused by her or anything, but my chest is pounding fast, like when I won an award for excellence in mathematics.
I sit back down and do my best to forget our little neighbor.
The next day, we step outside on our way to school and see the little one with someone who must be her mother. “Good morning,” I greet them.
“Good morning,” the mother says, but the young girl blushes and ducks her head.
Lennox steps past me, smiling brightly, turning on the charm as he always does to win the respect of adults. I frankly just want to go to school so I can deal with this test. “I’m Lennox, and this guy is my twin brother, Sawyer.”
“I’m Sandra Krieger, and this sweet little girl is my daughter, Jillian.” She smiles shyly our way, doing her best to hide behind her mother, but her eyes meet mine.
Strangely bothered by the timid little girl, I clear my throat and say, “Well, have a good day. We’ll be late to school if we don’t get going.”
I’m not exactly sure why, but there’s just this urge to ensure she’s safe. “Be careful,” I tell Jillian.
****
It’s been about a week since the new neighbors moved in, and my parents are inside fighting again, so we’re doing our homework on the stoop when little miss Jilly Bean gets home. She looks up at us as she walks past our house.
“Hey, kiddo, you coming home alone?” Lennox asks, setting his books on the brick ledge.
“Yeah, my parents are at work.”
I stand up and bark out, “Don’t tell people that. Quickly now, get inside and lock the door.” I shake my head. She scurries inside, looking a bit more nervous than she did a moment before. A part of me feels guilty for scaring her, but it’s for the best.
“Wow, are you trying to frighten the girl?” He whacks my arm with the back of his hand.
I return the favor. “What if we weren’t stand-up guys, Nox?” I tell him. “Everyday, girls her age go fucking missing. She could easily be snatched up while walking home from school. Isn’t her dad a cop?”
“Yeah.”
