Twisted Fate (26 page)
Authors: Norah Olson
Tags: #Juvenile Fiction, #Social Themes, #Death & Dying, #Family, #Siblings, #Mysteries & Detective Stories
When I got back to the pier, their waterlogged forms still bobbed in the waves and I was wracked with guilt. I had made sure Ally’s life would speak for itself. But she was still gone.
It didn’t seem possible. I’d tried to save her, and now she was floating below me in the harbor she’d loved, beside the boy she never should have loved. I couldn’t let her drift anymore. I dove into the icy waves to drag her out, pull her up the ladder, to feel her hand in mine one last time. And I rocked in the waves, swimming with her head against my chest, clinging to my sister’s body as if it were my own.
W
e still don’t know exactly what happened. It seemed they fell in together. Or might have been attacked by a third party, who we haven’t yet found. Both of their faces were smashed. One from a flat, blunt object, the other from the pier. They died maybe ten minutes apart.
The strangest part was the boy’s home.
His bedroom was covered with puddles of ocean water, his computer equipment partly wrecked, all his files destroyed, sometime after the accident. His car seat was soaking wet, but the car was still parked where he left it by the pier. And no fingerprints anywhere. Not one.
We questioned Becky and Declan, but they hadn’t seen Phil Tate’s daughter in over a week before it happened. She’d been staying home. We talked to the parents and they said the same. The girl seemed preoccupied but fine.
We don’t know what we are looking at here. We don’t
know if this is a murder or a double suicide or a jealous fight that got out of hand. There are only two bodies. Two kids that lived next door to each other.
We do know that Graham Copeland found trouble wherever he went and that this time trouble found him.
Rockland Mourns the Loss of National Merit Scholar, Avid Sailor
Allyson Sydney Tate (1998–2015)
Allyson Sydney Tate died last week in a marina accident. “Tate,” as she was known to her friends, family, and teachers, was to be the valedictorian of her class. She worked for a year at the Pine Grove Inn, sailed with her father, skateboarded, and sold muffins at fund-raisers for the Rockland Historical Society. She won several science fairs for Rockland High School, but most people remember Sydney for her exuberant spirit, quick wit, keen ability to debate, and her love of skateboarding. She could always be seen doing tricks at the skate park on a board she built herself. Sydney was known for her independence, her stylish flair, and her love for punk-rock music. Her dream was to go to Stanford with her friend, class salutatorian Declan Wells, and study chemistry. Calling hours are Tuesday 6–8 p.m. at Shady Point Methodist Church. In lieu of flowers donations can be made to the Tony Hawk Foundation, which builds skate parks in urban areas and helps keep neglected kids out of trouble.
I
am extremely grateful to my agent Rebecca Friedman for her friendship, intelligence, and insight. She has made this book possible. My editor, Claudia Gable, is a superhero. Her integrity, creativity, and intellect have helped guide this book from idea to reality and I’m lucky to have the opportunity to work with her. I’m also tremendously thankful to Katherine Tegen for her genius and vision; so proud to be a part of her list. Melissa Miller, Alexandra Arnold, and the whole team at Katherine Tegen Books are talented and dedicated people. What a pleasure it is to write among such company.
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NORAH OLSON
is a former journalist who covered criminal cases for a regional New York newspaper and received a prestigious fellowship for her work. She was educated in New England and lives in Manhattan.
Twisted Fate
is her first novel for young adults.
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Cover design by Heather Daugherty
Katherine Tegen Books is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
TWISTED FATE
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Olson, Norah.
Twisted fate : a novel / by Norah Olson. — First edition.
pages cm
Summary: Told from separate viewpoints, unfolds how sisters Sydney and Ally Tate’s relationship changes as they get involved with their new neighbor, Graham, an artist with a videocamera who has a mysterious—and dangerous—past.