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
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eISBN 9781627795920
First hardcover edition 2017
eBook edition May 2017