The Missing Ones

by Edwin Hill

  He kisses her, a hand groping at her breast. He squeezes a nipple. And she remembers, another time, another place, a Fourth of July celebration, another child in danger. She remembers covering her hair with a cap. “Oliver,” she’d said, crouching and holding out a hand.

  “Who are you?” he asked.

  “A gorilla.” She puffed out her cheeks and scratched her armpit. “Or a spider.” She walked her hand up his neck. “I can be whatever you want.”

  And he took that hand in his, as they walked away from the crowds, toward another life.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  I originally set this story on the very real Monhegan Island off the coast of Maine, but as I drafted, I realized I needed to change some details about the landscape of the actual island, and I needed to borrow the police force from Peaks Island in Casco Bay. So I created the fictional Finisterre. Still, anyone who has lived on or visited Monhegan will recognize many of the details from this beautiful and special place.

  In researching this story, I relied on several resources, including The Lobster Chronicles: Life on a Very Small Island, by Linda Greenlaw and Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic, by Sam Quinones. I am also forever indebted to Bruce Robert Coffin, former Portland detective and current author, for helping me refine the details in the novel around police investigations. If you like expertly plotted procedurals, check out his fantastic Detective Byron series (brucerobertcoffin.com). Also, thank you to the many, many people who answered a desperate Facebook plea about the differences between three-and four-year-old children, including Mara, Traci, Jennifer, Beth, Dave, and Matt. You’ll see some of your stories in Kate, Oliver, and Ethan. As always, any and all errors are my own.

  To my fantastic agent, Robert Guinsler, thank you for your friendship and for making so many things possible. I am eternally grateful to Ellen Thibault for burning the midnight oil as deadlines approached. I couldn’t have finished this novel without your kind guidance and support.

  And to the incredible team at Kensington, starting with editor extraordinaire John Scognamiglio; the publicity team of Vida Engstrand, Lulu Martinez, and Lauren Jerningan; and Steve Zacharius, Lynn Cully, Lou Mal-cangi, Tracy Marx, Robin Cook, and everyone else behind the scenes, I couldn’t ask for a better publishing team.

  I’ve had the privilege of getting to know so many generous people in the writing community. Thank you to Maggie Barbieri, Mario Giordano, John Keyse-Walker, Bracken MacLeod, Carla Neggers, Hank Phillippi Ryan, Joanna Schaffhausen, and Jessica Treadway for taking the time to read and comment on a manuscript by a very unproven writer. And thank you to Shawn Reilly Simmons for being kind enough to say hello.

  To Betty and Jack and the rest of my family, thank you for your continued love and support. And to Michael and Edith Ann, thank you for sticking with me though this journey. It wouldn’t happen without you. For real.

  To anyone who took a chance on this book, thank you a million times over. Please be in touch: edwin-hill.com. This book, the whole series, really, is about the power of friendship. I am forever thankful for the many people I’ve called friends over the years. I dedicate this book to Jennifer Gormley. What a gift it was to call each other friends for over thirty years. I miss you.