Lucinda and I had joined a support group, meeting weekly with a group of heartbroken parents who had lost children to every calamity imaginable, fully aware that we were every parent’s worst nightmare. But we were also proof that there was life afterward, diminished though it might have been. We survived week to week, helping each other through, bound together by our love for our children, who would always live in our hearts.
Senator Ricks had left the presidential race and resigned from Congress, and it was only a matter of time until he was indicted. FBI Special Agent Matt Reilly had gone to prison for twenty years, having pled guilty to his role in the conspiracy. Dom and I talked it over sometimes, and I was letting go of my anger at the system. I knew that nothing would bring back my baby girl, and Allison would never again kick a soccer ball between Scylla and Charybdis.
“What do you think, honey?” I asked Lucinda. “You like the tree where it is?”
“Yes, it looks good.” Lucinda smiled softly, her eyes glistening. She had on a yellow dress for our little ceremony.
“So do I.” Ethan nodded, straightening. Back in school with his friends, he had gained weight, and the therapy had done him good. It had done all of us good, and we went faithfully every week.
“Then we’re ready for the tag. You want to hang it?” I met Lucinda’s pained gaze, feeling our shared grief, but also the warmth of our bond. We had grown closer over the past year, and I had learned that forgiveness had a power of its own.
“No, you hang it.” Lucinda took my hand and put the tag inside.
“Okay.” I went to the tree, knelt down, and hung it on the matching holder. The silver tag was shaped like a Great Blue Heron, custom-made for the memorial, and it gleamed in the sunshine. I read the beautiful inscription, which we had written together:
We will always love you, Allison
Soar high, sweet girl
My eyes filled with tears, and I felt myself surrender a sob, then another, and soon I was crying in earnest.
Lucinda and Ethan came to my sides, lifting me to my feet and holding me close, and it struck me that we would always do that for each other, lift each other up and hold each other close. That’s what a family was for, even when the worst thing possible happens.
We were a family, still.
The four of us.
Forever.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My first thanks go to you, my readers. So many of you have followed and supported me as I expand the type of book I write, and I feel so grateful to each and every one of you. So you get my first thanks, always.
What Happened to the Bennetts required research outside my expertise, so thank you to those experts who helped me, named below. And, of course, if there are any mistakes in this novel, they’re on me.
Thank you, dear John Colasante, friend, chef, and court reporter extraordinaire, and my friend Raymond Carr, who retired from the FBI after a stellar career. Thanks to my pal legal eagle Nicholas Casenta, Esq., Chief Deputy District Attorney of the Chester County District Attorney’s Office. Thank you to Lieutenant Robert P. Klinger, of the Willistown Police Department. Deepest thanks to Susan Kehoe, my dear friend and proprietor of the wonderful independent bookstore Browseabout Books in Rehoboth Beach, who helped me with details of the Delaware beaches and kept me supplied with great books about the region. Thanks to my gal-pal photographer April Narby for her help, and a big hug to Annabelle Rinda, who helped so much, too.
Thank you to the great Ivan Held, publisher of G. P. Putnam’s Sons, who inspires and supports me at every step. Thank you to the wonderful Sally Kim and to my genius editor Mark Tavani, who guided and improved this manuscript so much.
Thanks to Alexis Welby and Katie Grinch for all of their hard work in publicity. Thanks to Ashley McClay, Emily Mlynek, and Nishtha Patel, the goddesses who come up with new ideas for marketing. Thanks to Anthony Ramondo and Christopher Lin for their sensational work on this cover, and thanks to audiobook mavens Karen Dziekonski and Scott Sherratt. Lots of gratitude and love to everyone at Putnam, who works so hard on my books!
Thanks and love to my terrific agent Robert Gottlieb of Trident Media Group. Robert is absolutely dedicated to my career, in addition to being a wonderful human being. Thank you to his colleague Erica Silverman, who has worked to make progress in Hollywood. Much gratitude to Nora Rawn in Foreign Rights and to Nicole Robson in Digital Media, who has been absolutely essential on marketing. Lastly, thanks to Aurora Fernandez, Andrew Jason Jacono, and Sarah McEachern for their hard work on behalf of my books.
Finally, thank you so much to the team at my company, Smart Blonde LLC. （Yes, that’s the real name. LLC LOL.） My bestie/assistant Laura Leonard supports me every day, and I love her and can’t thank her enough. Thanks and love to Nan Daley and Katie Rinda, who help with research, marketing, and every other kind of support.
Thanks and love to my bestie Franca Palumbo for her love and support, and, finally, big thanks and even bigger love to my amazing daughter Francesca Serritella, a novelist in her own right. Everything changed for me the day Francesca was born, in ways too numerous and wonderful to recount here. She’s truly a gift, graced with intelligence, a kind heart, and a generous soul. I’ve been writing about family all my life, because that’s what matters most to me. That’s her.
Love you, honey, and deepest thanks.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lisa Scottoline is the New York Times–bestselling and Edgar Award–winning author of thirty-three novels. She has thirty million copies of her books in print in the United States and has been published in thirty-five countries. Scottoline also writes a weekly column with her daughter, novelist Francesca Serritella, for The Philadelphia Inquirer, which has been adapted into a series of memoirs. She lives in the Philadelphia area with an array of disobedient pets.