His brow furrows. His mouth tightens. “Just promise me that if anything like this ever happens again, you’ll call the police.”
“I promise.”
He nods, like that is that. “I can’t lose you, Selah. I won’t.”
He’s afraid.
I understand why.
He doesn’t want to lose me like he lost her.
My mother.
Alive.
At least, she was.
I can’t stop seeing it—the empty rowboat spinning across the pond. The tentacles lashing through the air. Snatching up Brady. Snatching up Caleb. Their bodies pulled under. Is this what happened to her?
Dad gives his throat a gruff clear, then sets his hands on the armrests of his chair. “I suppose I should go get Jude.”
“He’s here?”
“That boy wasn’t leaving for nothing.” He pushes himself to standing and kisses my forehead. “I love you, Selah. More than anything.”
“I love you, too, Dad.”
57
AFTERMATH
For a few hours, the world stays small. White walls. Beeping monitors. A kind nurse. A matter-of-fact doctor. My worried father. And Jude beside my bed, his hand never leaving mine. By the time the sun comes out, however, the whole country has turned its head.
In the days that follow, a media frenzy like no other descends upon our town. When you consider the pieces involved, of course it does. A teen rescue mission. The return of missing victims. A misidentified body. A deranged suspect connected to a thirty-year-old cold case.
The story is larger than life.
And that’s without the supernatural parts.
Police interviews feel more like interrogations.
Officer Jake is furious.
We were foolhardy and reckless, everyone agrees.
But in the end, we brought the missing home.
Minus a few.
Lawyers are involved. Social workers, trauma counselors, and victim advocates, too. Reporters are ravenous. Some of them, downright aggressive. Pour on the podcasters and the true crime junkies, and Foggy Hollow becomes a veritable windstorm of controversy, speculation, and breaking headlines.
Teen Heroes Discover Missing Classmates Before Authorities
From Missing Person to Suspect: Cold Case Takes Stunning Turn
Declared Dead, Found Alive: Ivy Winslow’s Case Raises Troubling Questions
A watered-down version of the truth emerges.
