A local woman missing- Mary Kubica

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We get inside. Bea turns on the car. She turns on the radio. We’resinging. I feel happy, drunk. Bea spins the car down the parkinggarage ramp and out onto the street.They say most accidents happen within five miles of a person’shome.I never see it coming.
KATE11 YEARS BEFOREMayThree things happen in the coming days. A paternity test,administered by the police with Jason’s permission, reveals thatJason Tebow is not the father of baby Grace. The news stuns bothBea and me. As it turns out, monogamy was neither Jason’s norShelby’s cup of tea.A day later, a nurse from Dr. Feingold’s office calls with the news:the blood test results came back. “I’m sorry, honey,” she says overthe phone, “but it’s not good news. You’re not pregnant.” I pretend tobe sad as I mutter my thanks and hang up the phone.The search for Meredith and Delilah continues and then stalls.Josh’s grassroots effort waxes and then wanes as people start tolose hope. They give up. Their lives move on while Josh’s,Meredith’s and Delilah’s don’t. For a while, the police augment thesearch with dogs and divers, searching the woods and the river forMeredith and Delilah. The state police become involved; soon after,Meredith and Delilah become national news. Still, they’re not found.The weather doesn’t help. Almost every day the search is called offbecause of unsafe river conditions and the threat of more rain.And then one morning, I wake up to the ping of my phone, anincoming message on the group chat. When I look, there on myphone is a photo of the back end of a car and, on it, a close-up of alicense plate number.I’m still out of focus from sleep. It takes me a moment to processwhat I’m looking at. When I do, I see that the photo is of Meredith’slicense plate. It’s Meredith’s car.I sit suddenly upright in bed. I shout for Bea but she’s outside inher studio working again. Over the next few seconds, the group chatbecomes a flurry of activity. Meredith’s car has been spotted by a
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Praise forLocal Woman Missing“I
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Local Woman MissingMary Kubica
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Mary Kubica is the New York Times b
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LeoKateMeredithLeoMeredithKateMered
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PROLOGUE11 Years BeforeThere’s a
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thinking about his car, how warm it
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DELILAHNOWI hear footsteps. They mo
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my belly got to be so bad that I ha
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I do know for sure that there are s
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There ain’t much to work with in
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we ever want to get out of this pla
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when we don’t come, she says, “
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That lady hasn’t fed us since tha
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I bring the candy bar to my mouth.
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I call to Gus to hurry up. I don’
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direction so that soon I’m all tu
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back into the blackness of the shed
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I curl more tightly into my pill bu
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There’s a house outside. It’s b
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through a forest. Like the cornstal
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I shake my head. I don’t know not
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KATE11 YEARS BEFOREMayThere’s a k
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I pull open the door and the wind r
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life, a sense of purpose during tho
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down. In the city, raw sewage is le
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Maybe this was one of those times.
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disappears into the kitchen to keep
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I glance down at the phone in my ha
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think of anything I’ve done to up
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LEONOWTo be straight, I never thoug
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KATE11 YEARS BEFOREMayBea is in bed
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police, and became common knowledge
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me. But now I’m grateful for the
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moon is nearly full, giving off add
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Dad doesn’t know it but I’ve re
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It’s a media circus when we get h
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argument I want to have. I love the
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KATE11 YEARS BEFOREMayThe next morn
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long and straight because somehow,
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LEONOWThat first night in our house
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MEREDITH11 YEARS BEFOREMarchI’ve
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I feel somewhat guilty for unloadin
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yesterday was the first time Meredi
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One by one people get in their cars
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puddles; Bea and I part ways and st
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“I’m so worried,” Cassandra s
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was looking at was human—that the
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and to the front door. She knocks o
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“That’s lovely,” I say.Bea as
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A body has been found.
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The coffee shop is new to me. It ha
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pay much attention to me that night
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An image of her husband forms: cyni
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the door. Other officers are inside
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The midwife replies, “Yes, of cou
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Later, early in the evening, we wat
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impression of a small castle. As lo
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Dad asks if you want him to tuck yo
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That’s when Mom turned the knife
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I write back, All first-time mother
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would be angry if the police showed
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Dad tells her, “I should have cal
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recollection I’d been hoping for.
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gray. Her eyes are gray. She has de
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He says reluctantly, “They found
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It’s as if Josh can read my mind.
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“What do you think, then,” he a
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quickly than most.“Thanks,” he
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play with Delilah. She makes fun of
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her face for signs of bruising. The
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I ask again. “Did he hurt you?”
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This is what you told the police: y
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MEREDITH11 YEARS BEFOREMarchDinner
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remember, Leo, how this happened?
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KATE11 YEARS BEFOREMayThe next morn
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MEREDITH11 YEARS BEFOREAprilOver th
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The kids and I still stand outside,
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Bea stops me there. She takes charg
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KATE11 YEARS BEFOREMayDr. Feingold
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knot. We picked them out together,
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“Yes, sir,” I say, shifting my
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“She had a baby recently. It was
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I’m flat on my back. I can’t se
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MEREDITH11 YEARS BEFOREAprilShelby
Page 171 and 172: Within an hour a nurse comes in to
Page 173 and 174: “Of course,” I say.“I think S
Page 175 and 176: What his patients like about Dr. Fe
Page 177 and 178: the next contraction, he instructs
Page 179 and 180: I turn on the car and begin to driv
Page 181 and 182: Bea takes a cursory glance in the s
Page 183 and 184: go home. I can’t lead this indivi
Page 185 and 186: I spent a lot of time on those miss
Page 187 and 188: MEREDITH11 YEARS BEFOREMayThe Tebow
Page 189 and 190: I should trust him enough to tell h
Page 191 and 192: There’s more urgency about gettin
Page 193 and 194: MEREDITH11 YEARS BEFOREMayI haven
Page 195 and 196: I regret my choice of words immedia
Page 197 and 198: “Cassandra, if Marty is seeing an
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Page 201 and 202: Piper Hanaka is your age. She’s t
Page 203 and 204: KATE11 YEARS BEFOREMayThe rest of t
Page 205 and 206: conversation—spoken in some other
Page 207 and 208: it that left me feeling violated an
Page 209 and 210: Outside the storm rages. It’s mor
Page 211 and 212: to see Bea’s expression, I see he
Page 213 and 214: house, so close to the circuit brea
Page 215 and 216: MEREDITH11 YEARS BEFOREMayI can’t
Page 217 and 218: I won’t tell him now. I don’t w
Page 219 and 220: dancing has made him thirsty. Our d
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Page 225 and 226: parking lot, a 1970s neon sign flas
Page 227 and 228: MEREDITH11 YEARS BEFOREMayMy eyes a
Page 229 and 230: Babies,” I tell her. I’d just g
Page 231 and 232: “I know her, Bea,” I say, and I
Page 233 and 234: We haul Shelby to the back end of t
Page 235 and 236: grimace. The coloration of her skin
Page 237 and 238: trees were here before the homes. T
Page 239 and 240: “It’s not your fault,” Dad sa
Page 241 and 242: MEREDITH11 YEARS BEFOREMayThe next
Page 243 and 244: if I told the truth, it might get b
Page 245 and 246: I obsess over this. I try to replay
Page 247 and 248: LEONOWBefore bed, Dad comes into my
Page 249 and 250: MEREDITH11 YEARS BEFOREMayI can’t
Page 251 and 252: She pauses for effect. “It’s ti
Page 253 and 254: that I shared with Delilah. My mom
Page 255 and 256: MEREDITH11 YEARS BEFOREMay“I have
Page 257 and 258: in the trunk, and whether she was d
Page 259 and 260: But the longer he stares at those p
Page 261 and 262: better than that. You’re never su
Page 263 and 264: MEREDITH11 YEARS BEFOREMayIn the mi
Page 265 and 266: Who would care for her special need
Page 267 and 268: Bea comes fully into the garage.
Page 269 and 270: Another change comes over Bea. She
Page 271 and 272: hands. Her hair spills across her f
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It’s taking a long time for you t
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Bea is in the driver’s seat. Bea
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hers, gathering dollar bills. She l
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vacant or nearly vacant right now,
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friendship has waned over the years
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the building, and it’s upstairs.
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My question goes unanswered.Where a
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to climb, their movements in sync.
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remembers that when Bea came back,
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I hang up before she can say more.
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ISBN-13: 9781488073960Local Woman M
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A local woman missing- Mary Kubica

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