Count All Her Bones

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Count All Her Bones Page 15

by April Henry


  “Can you use your cane in the snow?” Griffin asked.

  “Only a couple of times, before I got Phantom. I don’t like it. Normally, I can tell what things are just by the sound they make when my cane touches them, but in the snow, everything sounds the same. If you don’t pay attention, it’s super easy to get lost. And you have to be careful not to get the tip of the cane stuck.” She squeezed his arm. “Good thing I’ve got you to guide me.”

  Griffin squeezed back. “You’re welcome.” Then he sighed. “Too bad I’m going to have to go pretty soon if I want to make my bus.” He was scheduled to work the afternoon shift at the Nike outlet, catering to last-minute Christmas shoppers.

  “I can’t wait until April,” Cheyenne said. That was the month when the self-driving cars were scheduled to go into production. She was seventh in line. “Then I’ll be able to drive you home. Or let the car drive both of us.”

  She heard the smile in Griffin’s voice. “And the nice thing about the car is that you won’t have to worry about keeping your eyes on the road and your hands on the wheel.”

  “Hmm,” she teased, “why do you say that like it’s a good thing?”

  He stopped walking and pulled her close. She let herself be gathered into his arms, but didn’t kiss him. “Can my dad and Danielle see us?” she asked.

  Griffin shifted. “I can see the living room windows from here, but I can’t see them.” Still, he released her.

  The air changed, becoming closer. Then, with the lightest of touches, flakes began to land on Cheyenne’s cheeks and forehead. She tilted her head and stuck out her tongue until she felt one land, a faint, soft cold that disappeared even as she felt it.

  “I wish it snowed more often,” Griffin said. “I like how it makes everything clean and new and soft.”

  “When I was a kid, it felt magical to step on fresh snow,” Cheyenne said. “Like you were an explorer stepping into another country.”

  “I feel like that with you all the time,” Griffin said softly. “Like I’m someplace completely familiar and yet totally new. All at the same time.”

  Without a word, Cheyenne slipped into his arms. She no longer cared if anyone was watching. Griffin’s mouth was warm, and under his lips, she felt herself melting.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  When I wrote Girl, Stolen in 2008, I never intended to write a sequel. Never say never, because a great idea might just come along.

  The research for this book was fascinating. In the intervening years, a lot of technology has been developed (especially for the smartphone) that can help people who are blind.

  Richard Turner, MSW, training center director for the Oregon Commission for the Blind, showed me several cool apps and gadgets and patiently answered my many questions. He put me in touch with his co-worker Angel Hale, director of vocational rehabilitation services, who shared with me all kinds of tricks she uses to keep herself and her house looking good. She even recommended the brand of eye shadow I now use! And Kody Keplinger, author of The Duff and Run, helped me understand more about what it’s like to have a guide dog.

  When it comes to self-defense for the blind, I’d like to thank Sensei Stan Miller for letting me observe the Sightless Self-Defense class, which he developed. Stephen Nicholls, the director of 1Touch, a London-based self-defense program for the blind, and Miranda Brown, its executive administrative assistant, actually managed to meet with me in Portland. They even fine-tuned and then acted out a climactic scene for me in the lobby of a DoubleTree Hotel (to the amusement of passersby).

  I would also like to thank the many martial arts instructors I have had over the years: Sifu Kevin Warren, a black belt in kajukenbo; Sifu Wally Jones, a black belt in kung fu and a blue belt in Brazilian jujitsu; Coach Chris Bauer, a brown belt in Brazilian jujitsu; and Professor Bill Bradley, a black belt in Brazilian jujitsu.

  Jaydra Perfetti, a brown belt in kung fu, let me borrow her first name and her badass spirit. And Kevin Reeve from onPoint Tactical taught me how to get out of handcuffs, duct tape, zip ties, and rope, as well as how to pick locks, steal cars, and other tricks every mystery writer should know.

  Gabe Nelson, a reporter for Automotive News, helped me speculate about the future of self-driving cars. Prosecutor Paul Parisi answered questions about how a prosecutor would prepare witnesses for an upcoming trial. Former cop and author Robin Burcell advised me in many ways large and small. Joe Collins, a paramedic and firefighter, assisted me in setting my own fictional fire. Pathologist Judy Melinek, MD, who is also the author of Working Stiff, answered my questions about gunshot wounds.

  I’m the luckiest girl in the world, because this is my twenty-first book with my agent, Wendy Schmalz, and my seventh with editor Christy Ottaviano, whose voice I now sometimes hear in my head when I’m writing. Jessica Anderson helps keep the wheels on the bus. April Ward designs my amazing covers. Molly Brouillette can coordinate events across a half dozen states and then offer a shoulder to cry on when a crucial flight is canceled. Other wonderful folks at Henry Holt include Lucy Del Priore, Katie Halata, Melissa Croce, Jennifer Healey, Allison Verost, and Mark Von Bargen.

  OTHER MYSTERIES BY APRIL HENRY

  Girl, Stolen

  The Night She Disappeared

  The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die

  The Girl I Used to Be

  THE POINT LAST SEEN SERIES

  The Body in the Woods

  Blood Will Tell

  HONORS FOR APRIL HENRY

  ALA Best Books for Young Adults

  ALA Quick Picks for Young Adults

  Barnes & Noble Top Teen Pick

  Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award Winner

  Missouri Truman Readers Award Winner

  Texas Library Association Tayshas Selection

  New York Charlotte Award Winner

  One Book for Nebraska Teens

  Golden Sower Honor Book

  Oregon Book Award

  South Dakota YA Reading Program Winner

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  April Henry is the New York Times–bestselling author of many acclaimed mysteries for adults and young adults, including the YA novels Girl, Stolen; The Night She Disappeared; The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die; The Girl I Used to Be; and The Body in the Woods and Blood Will Tell, the first two books in the Point Last Seen series. She lives in Oregon.

  Visit her online at aprilhenrymysteries.com, or sign up for email updates here.

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  CONTENTS

  Title Page

  Copyright Notice

  Dedication

  Epigraph

  Chapter 1. The Terror, the Bravery

  Chapter 2. Plan B

  Chapter 3. You’ve Grown

  Chapter 4. Supposed to Be the Victim

  Chapter 5. Building the Girl Piece by Piece

  Chapter 6. Fly Under the Radar

  Chapter 7. Such a Final Word

  Chapter 8. One Chance

  Chapter 9. Physical Problems with Physical Solutions

  Chapter 10. Shut Up for Good

  Chapter 11. Any Stranger

  Chapter 12. 3-D World

  Chapter 13. Just Do It

  Chapter 14. Strangers’ Bones

  Chapter 15. Here and Gone

  Chapter 16. You Know What to Do

  Chapter 17. Impossible

  Chapter 18. The Only Thing That Matters

  Chapter 19. Another Victim

  Chapter 20. Run Away Screaming

  Chapter 21. Make a Killing

  Chapter 22. Let’s See Just How Loud You Can Scream

  Chapter 23. Jumble of Anger and Disappointment

&nbs
p; Chapter 24. You Have to Get Your Hands Dirty

  Chapter 25. Count All Her Bones

  Chapter 26. Careful What You Ask For

  Chapter 27. Too Late for You

  Chapter 28. Plead, Pray, Moan, and Sometimes Scream

  Chapter 29. Into the Inferno

  Chapter 30. Can’t Die Like This

  Chapter 31. Blood Everywhere

  Chapter 32. All Alone

  Chapter 33. More Than Scars

  Chapter 34. Never Wavering

  Chapter 35. Beautiful

  Chapter 36. With You

  Acknowledgments

  Also by April Henry

  Honors for April Henry

  About the Author

  Copyright

  Copyright © 2017 by April Henry

  Henry Holt and Company, Publishers since 1866

  Henry Holt® is a registered trademark of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC.

  175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010

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  All rights reserved.

  The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition.

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  eISBN 9781627795920

  First hardcover edition 2017

  eBook edition May 2017

 

 

 


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