HIS NEIGHBOR WOULDN’T STOP REPORTING THE SOUND OF A GIRL CRYING INSIDE HIS HOUSE—THEN HE HID BENEATH HIS DAUGHTER’S BED AND HEARD HER PLEAD FOR SOMEONE TO SPARE HER

That was the mistake.

Veronica had gone to school with her, spoken privately to Madison’s mother, and afterward everything got worse. Madison suddenly knew things only Veronica knew. That Lucia still cried about her mother. That Thomas worked long hours. That Lucia felt guilty for not liking Veronica. That she had once written in a journal, “Sometimes I wish Dad had never remarried.”

Veronica used that sentence like a knife.

“She said if you found out,” Lucia whispered, “you’d hate me.”