Phoebe Rollins, Tallulah Jones, Magnolia Hill, Jade Williams and Ramona Stanton seem to have it all. But fireworks mask the sound of the gun as it goes off, and the five girls are found, blood puddling on the floor, their lives lost because of the past. What appears to be a simple answer becomes more complex as the girls’ pasts are revisited, friends and family are questioned by impatient det. Aubrey Carmichael and long-suffering det. Ronald Stevens, and evidence is brought forward that points in different directions. Disclaimer: book contains profanity and adult themes. Excerpt Prologue The house was perfect, as were all the places at the Hamptons in summer. Calling it a house was an understatement, as the construction was two stories tall, stretched over eight thousand square feet, had six bedrooms, six bathrooms, a powder room, included an outdoor swimming pool, a Jacuzzi, a tennis court and a garden. The traditional grey and white mansion had a gambrel roof, and the estate was kept private from neighboring houses and the street by mature trees and bushes. There was a garage that followed the same style set next to it with enough space for six cars. The ground floor included a fully equipped, impeccable kitchen, a dining-room that could easily accommodate twenty guests, a comfortable living-room, two bedrooms with en suite bathrooms and a theater room where the Jones watched movies on theater seats. Plus the powder room. The top floor had four bedrooms with their respective en suite bathrooms, a medium-sized gym and a study. One girl was just behind the back entrance, where she’d let someone in. Another girl was in the five-feet-wide hallway that ran from the back door to the kitchen. Two girls were there, one behind the counter, the other next to the open fridge. The fifth girl was beneath the threshold that connected the kitchen to the dining-room, as she’d been making a run for her life when she’d gotten shot in the back. The shots and the screams had been muffled by the fireworks that had lit up the sky and had boomed all around, celebrations of Independence Day. Crimson puddles spread under them with every passing second. The fridge beeped, but no one closed it. Cell phones buzzed but weren’t answered. The back door closed as the last girl exhaled for the last time.