Page 1 of Under the Bed

PROLOGUE

SHILOH

ELEVEN YEARS AGO

They’re about to take him away. About to rip him from my life.

My tummy aches. I think I might be sick.

Worse than that.

I might never see him again.

Kaleb Leo Blackwood.

My best friend.

My stepbrother.

It’s my fault he’s here in the first place. In this courtroom. Sitting at the defendant’s table, as Daddy called it.

It’s my fault his days as a free boy are over.

My bones shake. A sob threatens to rip from me. I bite the inside of my cheek to hold it in.

I have to be brave.

I’m all I’ve got now.

Sure, I have one living parent, my dad. A stepmom. Our staff. We all live together in our mansion in Medina, Washington. Not here, in Seattle, where the court is.

In the city where Kaleb killed two kids.

I think I have a couple of friends other than that. The rest of the sixth graders I go to school with don’t talk to me.

People. They’re just people who are physically close to me. They don’t care about me.

Only Kaleb does. He’s been the one to show me what it feels like to be truly cared for over the past five months.

No more of his friendship. His comforting silence. His kindness.

My fault. Those were my tears that slipped out, and he saw them.

Shiloh, who did this to you?

He wouldn’t let me go until I told him what happened.

The memory of his voice is clear in my ears. As loud as the guilt that suffocates me. It hurts everywhere, knowing it’s my fault.

I should’ve kept my mouth shut.

If I had, we wouldn’t be here waiting for them to declare him criminally insane. Without a trial. Without a jury.

Criminally insane.

Because of my father. He called everyone he knew to make sure everything would be wrapped up quickly.

No press coverage, do you hear me? I’ll sue and ruin any news outlet that dares tarnish my name.

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