Dismantled
Authors: Jennifer McMahon
Tags: #Mystery, #Suspense, #Adult, #Young Adult, #Thriller
A Novel
For Michael, who knows how to take things apart
“DISMANTLEMENT EQUALS FREEDOM.”
WHEN TESS’S WATER BROKE, she was staring into the long-forgotten…
To Understand the Nature of a Thing, it Must be Taken Apart
THE MOOSE, OR RATHER, the left eye, ear, antlers, and…
“LOOK, DADDY, I’M A frog!"
HER RHYTHM IS OFF. Her concentration, gone. Spencer is dead.
THEY’RE ON THEIR WAY home from the supermarket, Henry at…
WHAT IS A GHOST? Danner says it’s not always the…
TESS HAS WORKED LATE into the night to finish the…
LAST SPRING, JUST DAYS after Henry moved into the barn,…
We Oppose Technology, Hierarchy, Rules and Laws, and All Forms of Government
IT’S A FORTY-MINUTE DRIVE from Henry’s office to Alden. Route…
DON’T GO OUT OF sight. Stay where I can see…
“YOU’RE LATE,” TESS ANNOUNCES when he walks in the door.
DRIVING HOME FROM HER appointment with Julia, owner of the…
“DID YOU GIVE THIS to her?”
TESS’S HAND IS TREMBLING so hard she can’t get the…
THEY SIT IN THE kitchen drinking the coffee Henry made…
HENRY LEFT THE KITCHEN to go work on his canoe.
HENRY FINDS A ROLL of black plastic, cuts off a…
SHE PICKS UP THE phone after the first ring.
EMMA OPENS HER EYES. Danner is standing above her, holding…
DRIVING OUT TO THE lake, Henry remembers helping Suz stretch…
TWO A.M. EMMA’S ASLEEP, her belly full of cocoa. Henry’s…
HENRY STAGGERS DOWN THE path. Trips on tree roots. He…
THIS IS HOW IT began. A series of seemingly random…
SHE LOWERED THE RAZOR blade, traced the surface of her…
“WHERE THE HELL HAVE you been?”
The Universe Was Created Inchaos, and the Only True Creative Force is Chaos
“DADDY!” EMMA CRIES WHEN he enters the kitchen the next…
“I’M GOING OUT TO the garden,” she tells her dad.
AFTER TESS LEFT THIS morning, Henry found the Swedish vodka…
“DO YOU MIND IF I smoke?”
DRIFTING IN AND OUT. Clouds in the sky. Clouds in…
PASSION?
HENRY DOES NOT NEED stitches. Winnie was able to revive…
THERE WAS A FACE down there at the bottom of…
“IT LOOKS WORSE THAN it is,” Henry promises.
WINNIE’S NEARLY TO THE cabin when she realizes she left…
TESS CAN STILL TASTE the sweet floral smoke of Claire…
IT’S NEARLY MIDNIGHT. THE main house is dark and Henry’s…
SHE’S COLD. SCARED. EMMA’S been watching her father’s barn all…
TESS HEARS HENRY DRIVE off, and slips out of the…
HENRY TAKES A STEP toward her, staggers a little. He’s…
“I WAS ABOUT TO call the police,” Tess says as…
Dismantlement is an Act of Compassion as Well as an Act of Revolution
SUZ IS KISSING HER.
HE’S SWIMMING OUT TO the center of the lake, his…
“IT MAY BE TIME to call off Operation Reunite,” Mel…
CLAIRE HAS LOADED HER mesh shoulder bag with sourdough bread,…
“IT LOOKS LIKE THE same wig,” Henry tells her. He…
“I’VE NEVER TOLD ANYONE this before,” Tess says, her face…
“I DON’T BELIEVE THIS,” Tess says. “Twice in one week…
SHE BOBS AND WEAVES. Practices her footwork. Side step, side…
“I’M SORRY ABOUT THE window,” Emma whispers into the phone.
TESS IS STANDING IN line at the supermarket, casting an…
July 14—Cabin by the lake
TESS WAKES UP DISORIENTED and in complete darkness. She’s naked.
HENRY FREEZES IN THE doorway of Emma’s room. Emma and…
“I’M NOT SURE THEY liked you,” Emma whispers, curling up…
“WHERE THE HELL DID she get that wig?” Tess asks.
July 21—Cabin by the lake
TWO A.M. AND TESS lies in bed, tossing and turning,…
THE CLOCK ON THE dashboard says 10:21 A.M. as Winnie…
“WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR hand?” Erin LaBlanc asks. Vanessa Sanchez…
“WHAT WAS SPENCER’S ROLE in the group?” Bill asks.
HE’S FINGERING THE THICK shards of broken lightbulb on the…
EMMA IS ON HER hands and knees, dabbing a Q-tip…
TESS ISN’T SURE THE Volvo will make it up the…
“WHAT?” MEL SNAPS INTO the phone.
June 17—Cabin by the lake
NEARLY MIDNIGHT. TESS HAS worked out, showered, watched the evening…
THE HOUSE IS TOO quiet. He settles in on the…
“TELL ME YOUR BIGGEST secret,” Claire says. “The one thing…
HE WAKES UP GASPING, drenched in sweat, his heart thudding…
Dismantlement = Freedom
HENRY GLANCES OUT THE window toward the Blazer as he…
EMMA HAS MADE A sculpture of herself this time, a…
RUNNING LATE, HENRY HEADS for his workshop to grab the…
WINNIE’S SITTING AT THE table in the cabin, wearing the…
PARKED ON THE BEACH, Henry stares out at the water…
EMMA CRAWLS OUT FROM under the tarp, lowers herself over…
PUSHING OFF IS EASIER than he thought it would be.
THERE WAS A LOUD rapping at the cabin door, and…
WHEN TESS WAKES UP, the first thing she thinks is…
“SUZ?” HE’S SQUINTING AT her, not quite believing. This isn’t…
EMMA’S MOVING FAST THROUGH the water, her cadence perfect. She’s…
WHEN SUZ DIVES OFF the front, it makes the canoe…
“I WAS SO CLOSE to piecing everything together,” Bill Lunde…
Look in the Mirror to See What You Saw
HENRY’S ON THE FLOOR of his workshop, amid the sawdust…
TESS’S EYES ARE MOVING from wall to canvas as she…
WINNIE ROLLS OVER. THE train is rattling along on its…
IN ORDER TO TRULY understand something, you have to take…
