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differently and tightened all the same. How could I have lied to the one person who loved me unconditionally?
    “I’m so sorry, Dad,” I said through my tears.
    He pulled away and studied me, pressing his hands against the sides of my head. “There’s no way you started the fire. I didn’t believe it. Is that what kept you away?”
    “No.”
    “Then why?”
    “I—I—” I stuttered.
    “Was someone threatening you? There was this witness who saw you, but I knew there had to be a good reason why they couldn’t find your documents.”
    “It’s ‘cause I didn’t go, Daddy,” I said through sniffles.
    He stopped for a second. His disappointed look zinged into me, making my heart squeeze.
    “Where’d you go?”
    “I…” I couldn’t tell him.
    “They were getting ready to elope,” Mom interrupted.
    “Cantaloupe? What does that have to do with anything?” Gran asked from across the room.
    Mom growled. “No, Mom… ugh. Don’t you have your hearing aid in?” She turned to Dad. “When I see Jack and Maggie, they are going to get an earful…” Mom’s glare swung to me. “You’re pregnant, aren’t you?”
    “What? No.” I pinched my eyes shut to think. “It’s just… with the fire… Fin had to leave again, and I couldn’t be without him. He was the one that saved my life when I fell into the lake. We have a special bond, one that I can’t explain. He understands me. And I love him. Lying was just… easier.”
    “You lied?” Dad gave me a despondent look, confusion covering his face. Then he looked down at my beaded dress. “What are you wearing?”
    Fin quickly sang for him to ignore my attire. Dad’s eyes glazed over, driving a dagger into my subconscious. I couldn’t keep doing this, especially to him.
    “Forget it.” I jumped up and stormed out of the room, running upstairs.
    I went to my room and slammed the door. A row of cards blew off my desk and hit the floor. My gaze panned to the dresser. Cards and flowers, some new and the others wilted and drooping in their vases, covered the top.
    I sucked in a strangled gasp, then caught a glimpse of something shiny outside. Mylar balloons were tethered to a sign nailed to our tree in the yard and flapped in the wind. Stuffed animals and candles crowded the trunk underneath. I leaned against the window, legs weak. Reality sunk in.
    I was missing.

FOUR – FIN – May 15 – 4:20 p.m.
    “Stay here,” I sang to her parents, then followed Ash upstairs.
    Only one door was shut, so I approached slowly.
    “Ash?” I knocked, then turned the knob.
    She sat curled up on the bench seat under the window, fingers pressed to the glass. “They think I’m missing.”
    “Who does?”
    “Everyone.”
    I walked closer and placed my hands on her shoulders.
    She yanked away, popping to her feet. “No.”
    “Ash?” I stepped backward.
    “Your Uncle Alaster did this. He needs to pay.” Her voice was shaking.
    “I know. And he will—” I started.
    “No, I’m serious. You find him and make him pay.” Her voice deepened. “Not only for this, but for what he almost did to me.” She lifted her hand to show the scars on her ring and pinkie fingers. “He’s a monster and he forced me into a life I wasn’t prepared for. This is his fault.”
    “I promise you, if it takes my entire life to find him, he’ll pay.”
    She blinked at me, then swallowed. “We need to fix this because I’m not disappearing from my parents’ lives again. I mean… I know I’m not their biological daughter, but to them I am. So… I want to make them happy.”
    “Okay,” I agreed. “Let’s go downstairs and I’ll ask for your hand in marriage right now. Weddings make everyone happy.”
    Her mouth opened, then shut, her eyes wide.
    “Or not,” I added, unsure how to fix this.
    “I just…” she sniffled. “This isn’t how I’d imagined it to go.”
    I nodded, not quite understanding, wishing she’d give me a little more go to on. “How did you