Daughter of Mine

by Megan Miranda

“Miles,”

Water hunter

Amber

A water hunter

How well had I known Nicholas Pritchard? He was Dad’s partner up until the day he’d died by suicide.

And suddenly I wondered: Was someone investigating him before his death? Did someone know what he was hiding?

Maybe Nicholas was actually investigating Holt

Falkner kid?”

Max Falkner, missing teenagee

The strain between Caden and Jamie. Rumors of an affair had made

Caden and Felicity possibly having an affair?

Wrong. Everything here was wrong. Caden was lying to me, and Skyler knew something too. Everyone was keeping secrets here.

It was the first car pulled from the lake.

Uh oh

A collection of 9-volt batteries was scattered along the bottom of the garbage bin. As if someone had been inside the house last night and removed them while we slept.

Spooky

Our spot. She had to mean the Barrel. The overlook.

He obliged, his features slowly coming into focus. Cropped hair, squared jaw. He looked so young. I recognized him as one of the officers who had worked with Serena. The name on the upper left side of his chest read C. Melvin.

I don’t know who to trust, Hazel—

I wonder what you told my dad to get him to leave you the house.

“Jesus, Hazel. He means Gage.” And when I didn’t respond, she added: “Little Holt? He looks just like your father.”

And then I realized, Little Holt had taken Sonny’s license away. Gage, not Caden.

“I have…” she began. She tucked the pen and notebook away. “Pete Henderson has a little place there. He lets us all use it. Maybe he told your mother about it once.”

Maybe Pete Henderson helped Libby escape

Thinking how closely we were molded by the people who had come before us. Forging ourselves forward either in their path—or in resistance to it instead.

A bracelet with a teddy bear charm.

I believed these were some of the pieces of jewelry that once belonged to Audrey Holt. Pieces that hadn’t been taken after all.

It felt like the truth was trying to finally break free, on its own. Rising from the water, clawing out from the dirt.

It was Pete Henderson, his hat pulled low, squinting against the morning glare off the water. A fisherman, the news had said.

Hmmmm he knows more than he is telling

He had been my father’s partner before Nicholas Pritchard moved to town. In the Audrey years. What were the chances he would be the one to find that car? What were the chances, now, that he would talk to me too?

Pete

“He’s my godfather, did you know that?” Serena asked.

Pete

There was no one here I could trust. Who would choose the truth over our fathers and brothers and friends. A legacy, bestowed on us.

Heath Varino’s

Jamie's father

I hope one day you can forgive me for this. We have to go. It’s not safe for us here. Pack light. Bring only what you need. I’ll be back for you tonight. We’re being watched. Don’t tell.

From Jamie or Libby?

I didn’t understand how there could be two letters. One for me. One for Skyler.

They had the same idiosyncrasies. The same spacing. The same emphatic line under the words, even, in a way that felt almost eerie.

I wonder if Jamie found it from Holt's house the day before she disappeared

It wasn’t Skyler’s mother who had planned to come back. It was mine.

I pushed back from the screen, my heart pounding. The dark pants, the dark shirt. Something hanging from a belt. My best guess: a police uniform.

“My father,” he began, voice breaking on the word. “I think he was investigating yours,” he said, not looking at me.

“The dead,” he said, “they’re as much a part of this world as the living. They’re not something to be afraid of.”

“Oh, and Hazel,” he said, pausing. “We don’t bring phones out there.”

Um red flag

I was right. Pete had found that car on purpose. Reported it after my father’s death. Set everything in motion. I thought back to the voicemail he’d left. I’m sorry, old friend—

“Well, I’d think they’d have to,” Pete finally said. “They were in the back seat.”

What?!

But I hadn’t been there Monday night. I’d been home in Charlotte, and had carefully locked up behind me when I left. Now I was remembering that feeling when I came back on Tuesday. The dirt in the hall. The dripping faucet.

Because he was. According to the will, he needed it. Everything here was mine. They had hoped to clean it out without my oversight. Hoped I wouldn’t notice, until it was too late. Even Roy had shown up that day, in on the plan.

Why was it here? A small case of jewelry, in the crawl space. A gun, in the garage. Pieces of evidence, spread hidden around the house. Everything’s in the house.

Check basement. Check garage. Check crawl space.

All these sons, covering up for the sins of their fathers. Keeping their secrets, without even asking for the truth. All these things they didn’t truly want to know. Daughters, though. Daughters are different. I picked up the hammer and swung.

There was only one person I knew that my mother had feared. The eye of the lion, visible from the back of his shirt. The tremble of her voice in the middle of the night was something I could still remember, as she scooped me out of bed.

Joe Lyons?

Alberto Flores

He is the one invovled, he is the bad guy

Alberto Flores had told his daughter to stop.

Now I stared at Roy, wondering if he knew how dark my father’s secrets truly were.

Actually I think it was Roy and everyone is covering for him

Carly,”

Anna

Lady who works at motel

But I’d had the wrong Holt all along.

“Then don’t,” I said, my voice wavering. “What do you want, Roy?”

He let out a bark of laughter. “A real shame about that one. She was my most consistent customer.” I was a step behind, even now. Piecing together what he was confessing. The call to her dealer—the man suddenly standing in my kitchen, with a gun.

I could see him clearly then, the puppet master behind the scenes. Manipulating us, playing my brothers and me against one another. An evil lurking in this family. In this town.