“Lucy?” he called.
The girl turned.
It wasn’t Lucy. The resemblance was uncanny, but this girl was slightly taller, her posture more guarded, her expression wary. She froze when she saw him, eyes widening. For a long second, they just stared at each other. Then, without a word, she turned and bolted toward the back of the library.
Kevin stumbled after her, his heart pounding, but by the time he reached the door leading to the parking lot, she was gone.
Shaken, he returned to the circulation desk, where Lucy was now holding up a stack of books taller than her arms. “Dad, can I get all of these?” she asked.
Kevin forced a smile, but his mind was elsewhere.
That night, after Lucy went to bed, he sat at the kitchen table with a beer, replaying the scene over and over. It had to be a coincidence. Small towns had lookalikes, right?
Maybe the girl just shared a few features with Lucy. Still, that scar, the same spot where Lucy had cut herself at age four after tripping on the sidewalk. How could that be explained?
He told himself to let it go. But the image haunted him.
Two days later, it happened again.
