That's Not My Name

by Megan Lally

“My teenage daughter is missing. I can’t reach her on the phone; I’ve been driving around for hours trying to find her. I think I have to file a missing person’s report.”

Life really goes to shit when everyone thinks you killed your girlfriend.

“Do me a favor—don’t talk to me again without my dads or my lawyer. If I’m your last real suspect, act like it. Talking to a minor without a guardian or legal representation is illegal, right? Then again, you’ve never been good at your job before, so why start now?”

“You know, something about you looks so familiar. I can’t put my finger on it.”

Max leans over from the driver’s seat. “Get in, losers, we’re going sleuthing.”

What if he’s not my dad? What if I’m not Mary? What if that’s not my name?

Oh sure. Ditch school, impersonate a police station secretary, ambush a witness, get kicked out of a diner, steal security footage, cause an old lady emotional distress, and stay out all night—that’s all on the up-and-up, but sleeping in the same bed as a boy is where she finds an uncrossable line.

“Mrs. Hooper?” I whisper. He looks up at me, eyes wide. “You know her?” “No. But the guy upstairs killed her husband.”

The man who killed so many helpless girls was bested by a seventeen-year-old nationally ranked softball star in his own house.