Excerpt: Lily

Part III of monthly, subscriber-only excerpts.

This is the third in a series of excerpts from our novel, published monthly for paid subscribers. The rest can be found here. Please note that we endeavor to avoid spoilers and preserve the mystery. Thank you for reading, and subscribing.

This week we go back in time to see Mickey as a little girl and witness a pivotal moment in her past: the disappearance of a friend.

January 3, 2000, 7 AM

Mickey was at the breakfast table, pouring milk over her cereal, when everything in her life changed.

There was nothing to telegraph the event. Her brother sat beside her, poking at a banana he couldn’t seem to decide if he wanted to eat. Her mother puttered at the kitchen counter, tidying up and monologuing a stream of consciousness chatter meant to keep everyone motivated and on track. Her father, sitting across from her at the table, was obscured from the eyebrows down by the morning paper, as per usual.

But what was unusual was the headline on the paper. The huge font was transected by a sunbeam firing in through the kitchen window, like a flaming arrow. The words struck her deep in the chest: “Local Girl Missing Since New Year’s Day: Police Seek Public Help”