One of Us Is Back

CHAPTER THREE


Nate
Wednesday, June 24
 
The digital billboard at the edge of Clarendon Street has had the same ad for as long as I remember a dancing energy drink so the fact that it s changed catches my attention while I m stopped on my motorcycle at a red light.

TIME FOR A NEW GAME, BAYVIEW.

Those are the only words, red against a stark white background. They fade off the screen and I wait, mildly intrigued despite myself, to see what s next. Then the ad copy cycles back to TIME FOR A NEW GAME, BAYVIEW once again. So much for building suspense. Or letting people know what the hell you re promoting. A-plus job, advertisers.

The light changes and I roar through it, following the familiar route to the Bayview Country Club. For a lot of people, summertime in Bayview means beaches, barbecues, and one-upping one another on social media with their no-filter vacation pictures. For me, it means a second job.

Construction work by day, serving drinks to Bayview s McMansion crowd at night, then trying to sleep for a few hours in a house filled with five other people who have nothing to do except throw parties they keep trying to drag me to.

Living the dream.

I pull into the parking lot and settle my bike between two freshly painted white lines, then take out my phone to check the time. There s a new text waiting for me a picture of Bronwyn and Stan, my bearded dragon, sitting side by side on an oversized rock in Bronwyn s garden. Now that she s home from Yale for the summer, she s decided that Stan needs, as she puts it, more exercise and mental stimulation. So, some days when she s done with her internship, she picks him up, brings him to her house, and hangs out with him in the backyard. As far as I can tell Stan isn t moving any more than he usually does on these field trips, but he does seem to like having a new rock to sit on.

I grin, my mood instantly lifted. My girl s back in town for the next two

Karen M. McManus is a #1 New York Times and internationally bestselling author of young adult thrillers. Her books include the One of Us Is Lying series, which has been turned into a television show on Peacock, as well as the standalone novels Two Can Keep a Secret, The Cousins, You’ll Be the Death of Me, and Nothing More to Tell. Karen’s critically acclaimed, award-winning work has been translated into more than forty-two languages.

 "Bombshell reveals unfurl alongside reflections on honesty, empathy, and cycles of violence, resulting in a soulful, high-stakes thrill ride." Publishers Weekly, starred review

McManus keeps the cinematic plotting tight with plenty of twists, red herrings, and long-buried secrets as she entwines the mysteries from the first two books Another solid thriller from a master of the genre. Booklist

"A satisfying and hopeful closer in a masterful trilogy." Kirkus Reviews

McManus fans are sure to delight in the ending, even if they wish more books were forthcoming. School Library Journal