Three Days Missing

by Kimberly Belle

  “Because Sammy apologized. Because he came here and confessed what he did.”

  “So?”

  So, indeed.

  The thing is, I may never understand why Andrew did what he did. Why he snapped, the faulty reasoning that propelled his fist into my face, just like I may never understand Sammy—and maybe that’s okay. Maybe the goal here shouldn’t be to understand but to let go. Of all my old resentments, of my residual anger, of the bitterness and endless questioning why. The compass. The bullying. The fists and the fury. Just let it all go.

  Stop tugging.

  “So Ethan is home,” I say. “And that’s all that matters.”

  ETHAN

  If I’m as smart as everybody says, then how come there are some things I’ll never understand? Like how a knife against your neck can feel cold and hot at the same time. Like how somebody can be so nice to a dog but so ugly and mean to a person, a kid. Like why, of all the people in the world, it had to be Sammy who saved me. As long as I live, I don’t think I’ll ever understand that one.

  Mom doesn’t know half of what he’s done to me. The names and the shoving and the torture. All those times he spit in my food or cornered me in the bathroom. There are some things I’ll never say. Some things I’d rather forget.

  Like his face when Charlie dragged me into the woods. He saw her knife in my side and her hand on my mouth, and he just stood there. He squeezed his eyes shut and pretended not to see. I knew Sammy hated me, but I didn’t know he hated me that much.

  All those clues I left in the woods? They weren’t for Lucas to find, hours and hours later. They were for Miss Emma and Mr. Fischer and the police, who I thought would be right behind me. Behind us. I kept waiting for someone to catch up, but nobody ever did.

  And then he comes to the hospital with his lame apologies and excuses. The compass and those dumb balloons. Sammy says I make him feel stupid, but maybe I’m the stupid one. He came here looking for forgiveness, and I let Mom give it to him. Even though I could tell she didn’t want to. Even though anybody could see he didn’t deserve it.

  Especially Sammy. He knew what he did. That’s why he cried so hard. Buckets and buckets of tears. They were real, and they were awesome.

  Who’s the crybaby now?

  * * * * *

  Acknowledgments

  As always, I must start with my literary agent, Nikki Terpilowski. Sometimes a story comes out in something close to its final form, and sometimes it needs more work. Nikki put in endless hours reading countless drafts, and she never lost sight of the tale I was trying to tell. Thank you for all your hard work and, whenever I couldn’t see the forest for the trees, for pointing me the way. This book is better because of you.

  At Park Row, a village. To Liz Stein, my editor, who showed me how to take a good story and make it even better. To Natalie Hallak, who stepped in in the ninth inning and hit it out of the park. To Emer Flounders, my publicist, and to all the talented folks working behind the scenes at Park Row Books. I’m honored by your faith in me and thrilled to be part of the Park Row family. Thank you will never be enough.

  To Laura Drake, critique partner extraordinaire, and my parents, Bob and Diane Maleski. Thanks for suffering through early drafts and still finding encouraging words to keep me going. To my writing BFFs Marina Adair and Joan Swan for all the encouragement, plotting sessions, cocktails and laughs. Where are we going next? To Diana Orgain, who suggested Ethan’s MacGyver trick and helped me figure out what that might look like. Writing is a lonely endeavor, but you guys help keep me sane.

  To Gabriela Maleski, my niece and real-life child genius who inspired Ethan’s smarts. Your love of books makes me happier than you will ever know.

  To Nicolien Eckelboom, who paid good money for the dubious honor of having her name in one of my books, and to de Molenwiek, the Dutch school in Atlanta on the receiving end of Nicolien’s generous contribution. De Molenwiek’s teachers and board members are some of the hardest working, most dedicated folks I’ve ever met, and I can’t think of a better beneficiary.

  Every girl needs a girl squad, and I am beyond grateful for mine. Elizabeth Baxendale, Christy Brown, Lisa Camp and Raquel Souza, thanks for all the dinners and the trips and the laughs. Y’all complete me. Nancy Davis, Marquette Dreesch, Angelique Kilkelly, Jen Robinson, Amanda Sapra and Tracy Willoughby, thanks for being good listeners, steady shoulders to cry on and the very best cheerleaders a girl could ask for. Our get-togethers are my favorite day of the month.

  And my forever thanks to Ewoud, Evan and Isabella. Jullie hebben mijn hart.

  Questions for Discussion

  Kat and Stef come from very different walks of life, made even more apparent when their paths cross in a shocking way. Did you sympathize with one mother more than the other? How did those feelings change as the story progressed? Do you think they could be friends under other circumstances?

  As a single parent, Kat struggles to balance her personal and professional lives, and feels like she’s failing her son. Are her feelings grounded, considering what she’s been through? Are there ways she could better balance work and home? Do you think many single parents feel this way?

  In contrast, Stef seems to have the perfect life: money, prominence in the community, a popular son and a loving husband. Do you think she’s really happy? Are there parts of her life that don’t seem genuine to you? What do you think the future holds for Kat and Stef?

  The final straw for Kat’s marriage was the very public attack in a CVS parking lot. How do you think this changed Kat’s view of divorce, and of herself as a victim of domestic abuse? Why did she choose to stay with him until that point? How does her story impact your view of domestic abuse?

  Kat has a hard time finding forgiveness for Andrew, especially because he’s never asked for it. Does he deserve her forgiveness, and does a person have to apologize in order to be forgiven? What are some ways you’ve been able to let go of anger toward someone who has not expressed regret?

  When Sammy is caught in a lie, he points to his father’s campaign promises, saying, “Dad does it. He said he’d get more trains for the city even though there wasn’t any money. He lies all the time.” Even unintentionally, was Sam teaching his son to lie? What kinds of parenting mistakes do you think Sam and Stef made, and how should they go about correcting them?

  After the attack, Kat takes out a restraining order against her husband, but she struggles with coparenting when physical and phone contact is forbidden. Is coparenting with an abusive ex possible? What would you do if you were in Kat’s shoes?

  Besides Sammy, who were the bullies in this story? What do you think will become of them? What kinds of people do you think Sammy and Ethan will grow up to be?

  A compass plays a recurring role in this story. Discuss its significance and why you think the author decided to use it as a motif. Were you surprised when it reappeared at the end?

  Speaking of the ending, did you anticipate this one? Knowing who the kidnapper is now, discuss the clues that the author left for the reader along the way. Was Ethan right to keep his secret? Did keeping silent give him the revenge he was looking for?

  A Conversation with Kimberly Belle

  Three Days Missing tells the story of a child who is kidnapped during a school camping trip and the two mothers who must race against the clock in a desperate search for the truth. What was your inspiration for the story? Did the novel end up the way you first imagined it or did it evolve along the way?

  I was working on another story when the idea for Three Days Missing began whispering in my ear. I have no idea where it came from—sometimes inspiration appears when you least expect it—but I’ve learned that when a story won’t let you go, it’s one that needs to be written. I ended up shelving the other story and began writing Three Days Missing. Like most of my stories, this one changed and evolved as I
was writing it, but ultimately it ended up the way I originally imagined it: two very different women are thrust into a shared circumstance that gives them new understanding of each other as well as of themselves.

  You bring the reader deeply into the minds of two very different women: Kat and Stef. How did you go about developing their characters? Was there a perspective you enjoyed writing more than the other?

  When I began writing Three Days Missing, I think I underestimated how difficult it would be to write a novel from two very different perspectives. This one was essentially two separate stories that crossed paths throughout the book and then converged at the very end, and though I love reading those kinds of books, I had never tried my hand at it. It took me almost twice as long as my other books to write, mostly because I took a lot of wrong turns along the way. Most of those wrong turns had to do with plot, but a lot of them had to do with Stef, too. She went through multiple transformations before I got her the way I wanted her—affluent but not arrogant, celebrated but not conceited. I wanted her to come across as very different than the image she projects to the outside world. She didn’t loosen up for me until the last few drafts, and then I ended up really rooting for her.

  What was your toughest challenge writing Three Days Missing? Your greatest pleasure?

  Merging the two stories in a way that made sense was definitely the toughest challenge. There were so many hurdles I didn’t consider when I started writing them. Two very different voices. Cramming two tales into the same amount of words I usually use for one. A main character (Ethan) who appeared only in the first and last chapters, but who insisted on the last word. I ended up writing one story at a time, then threading them together at the end. You have to really know your story to do this, and know where it’s going. It was way harder than I thought it would be...which, strangely enough, was also my greatest pleasure. There is no better feeling than that light bulb moment when you figure out the best way to tell your story.

  Can you describe your writing process? Do you write scenes consecutively or jump around? Do you have a schedule or routine? A lucky charm?

  I am very structured when it comes to writing, and I treat it like the full-time job it is. I have a lovely office where I never, ever sit, preferring to move around the house with my laptop instead. I choose a writing spot depending on my mood and the weather—outside on the back porch is where I usually end up. I usually aim for a thousand or so words a day, which isn’t a huge amount, though typically most of those words are keepers. I tend to lose steam around three or four o’clock, and then I spend the rest of the day catching up on emails and social media. Two things are a constant in my writing day: scented candles or air diffusers, and yoga. If I’m ever stuck in a scene, I wring my body into a pretzel or stand on my head for a while, and voila! The plot knots unravel.

  Do you read other fiction while working on a book or do you find it distracting? Is there a book or author that inspires you the most?

  I read almost as much as I write, usually plowing through two to three books a month. My favorite genre is suspense, but I try to stay away from it when I’m writing so another story doesn’t sneak into my plot. I read a lot of women’s fiction and historical and romance instead, and I usually have more than one book going at the same time. As for favorite authors, there are so many! Harlan Coben’s stories always amaze me, as do Karin Slaughter’s and Tana French’s. I will read anything Jonathan Tropper writes; his stories are laugh-out-loud funny. I could go on and on; you can find more of my favorite books and authors on my Goodreads page.

  What would you like readers to take away from the story?

  Clearly, I had something to say about domestic violence, especially the way outsiders view it. There’s always a tinge of schadenfreude in the way people talk about the victims, in whispers and with wide eyes. But I think the bigger point I was trying to make is that you never know what’s going on in another person’s life. What happens in their home, behind their closed doors. From the outside, Stef seems like she has it all—money, power, prestige, a stable and loving family—but just because she doesn’t air her dirty laundry doesn’t mean she has none. Which woman had it better, really? That’s the question I hope readers asked themselves at the end.

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  ISBN: 9781489266798

  TITLE: THREE DAYS MISSING

  First Australian Publication 2018

  Copyright © 2018 Kimberle S. Belle Books, LLC

  All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises (Australia) Pty Ltd, Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street, Sydney, N.S.W., Australia 2000.

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