Chapter 1
PROLOGUE
TWEET FROM @LILREEDER (Lily Reed)
July 23, 2021 @ 11:25 PM
I am SO excited to announce the release date for ‘Booker Lane.’ January 8, 2022. Hope you’re ready...and I’ll be doing an in-person book signing at the BN on 9th!
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TWEET FROM @LILREEDER (Lily Reed)
August 8, 2021 @ 8:05 AM
‘Booker Lane.’ 5 months from today. Who’s excited? I might piss myself I’m so ready for you all to find out what happens to Nellie and Hannah. #bookerlane
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TWEET FROM @LILREEDER (Lily Reed)
September 8, 2021 @ 3:34 PM
I’m teasing a new excerpt from #bookerlane tonight at 9 PM EST. Who’s tuning in?!
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TWEET FROM @LILREEDER (Lily Reed)
October 8, 2021 @ 7:52 PM
3 months and counting. Who’s ready to find out if Nellie survived? Or if Hannah knew the captor? #bookerlane
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TWEET FROM @LILREEDER (Lily Reed)
November 8, 2021 @ 8:37 PM
2 months... #bookerlane
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TWEET FROM @LILREEDER (Lily Reed)
December 9, 2021 @ 7:01 AM
Less than a month now. Who’s coming to the book signing on January 8?! BN on 9th, and I’ll start singing at 10 AM. #bookerlane
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TWEET FROM @LILREEDER (Lily Reed)
December 9, 2021 @ 7:05 AM
I will start SIGNING, not singing, at 10 AM. Trust me, no one wants to hear me sing. #bookerlane
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TWEET FROM @LILREEDER (Lily Reed)
January 7, 2022 @ 8:01 AM
TOMORROW!! #bookerlane is out everywhere at 8 AM tomorrow morning. If you’re in the NYC area, feel free to stop by the BN on 9th at 10 AM to get a signed copy from yours truly ❤️
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TWEET FROM @LILREEDER (Lily Reed)
January 8, 2022 @ 6:39 AM
Today’s the day... #bookerlane 📚❤️
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TEXT MESSAGES
Tiff:Are you almost here? We need to set up for the signing--people are already lined up around the building.
Lily: Be there in 3. Traffic.
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TWEET FROM @TIFFREADSBOOKS (Tiffani Rosswell)
January 8, 2022 @ 11:25 PM
NYPD has officially declared @lilreeder a missing person. Please, if anyone knows anything, help us find her.
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CHAPTER ONE
DAY OF BOOKER LANE RELEASE
SATURDAY, JANUARY 8, 2022
11:49 PM
NYPD Interview Transcript
Tiffani Rosswell: She texted me this morning, Lily texted me this morning. She was three minutes away.
Officer Decker: Ma’am, you’re going to have to wait to talk to us until you’ve calmed down a bit.
Detective Lin: Hi, Ms. Rosswell. I want you to tell me what happened, in order, from yesterday morning through right now. Can you do that?
Rosswell: Yes.
><
1 DAY BEFORE BOOKER LANE RELEASE
FRIDAY, JANUARY 7, 2022
8:04 AM
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TWEET FROM @AUTHORLILYREED (Lily Reed Updates)
January 7, 2022 @ 8:00 AM
TOMORROW’S THE DAY!! #bookerlane hits shelves tomorrow morning and all the preorders will be sent out ASAP. 📚❤️ #lilyreed
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“You know that you don’t have to be tweeting about this constantly, right? I hired Rosalie for a reason.”
“And she’s doing a phenomenal job,” Lily’s voice came through the other end of the phone, “but I’m excited about this, Tiff. I want to make sure everyone knows about it.”
Tiffani sighed half-heartedly.
“I know. I’m excited for you, Lil. It’s gonna be big.”
“That’s an understatement.” Lily laughed, “Have you seen my social media activity over the past few months? My likes and retweets are going up like crazy. Who would’ve thought that social media would be the way to market my books?”
Everyone who isn’t living in the Stone Age,Tiffani thought.
“Did you see Rosalie’s tweet from the author account this morning?” Tiffani asked, “It’s doing well, numbers-wise.”
“Author account? I’m the author.”
Tiffani laughed.
“Yeah, I know that. We set up a ‘Lily Reed Updates’ account for Rosalie to tweet from.”
Lily was silent for a moment, and Tiffani worried that she was upset. She could have sworn they all discussed the author account a few weeks previous.
“Well, if the numbers are doing well, then that’s great.” Lily finally said, causing Tiffani to breathe a silent sigh of relief.
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TWEET FROM @AUTHORLILYREED (Lily Reed Updates)
January 7, 2022 @ 3:26 PM
The official #bookerlane presale numbers are in...and it’s well over 10,000. You all are so wonderful and Lily is so grateful to all of her fans. 🤍🥰 #lilyreed
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4:07 PM
“Is there anything better than this?”
“No,” Lily shook her head and stared out the window of her new house, “I really don’t think there is.”
The two women watched a light snow fall onto Lily’s backyard, dusting everything it touched with a light, translucent layer of white. They sipped their hot chocolate and hummed along to the Christmas music playing softly from the stereo—Lily refused to stop listening to Christmas music until January was over. Tiffani had stopped being bothered by it years ago.
The sun was starting to set, and the trees behind Lily’s home let just a little bit of the orange light peek through. It was faint, covered by the snow-filled clouds, but it was still there.
“You know, this is what we always dreamed of,” Lily whispered, “this life. The two of us, conquering the world. Being successful. Together.”
Tiffani smiled lightly and took another sip of her drink.
“I know,” she replied, “sometimes I still don’t believe it’s real.”
“Maybe it isn’t.” Lily shrugged, her gaze still aimed out the window, “Maybe this is a dream, and one day, we’ll both wake up and realize that we’re still twelve years old and living in those townhomes on Booker Lane.”
Tiffani looked at Lily, eyebrows raised.
“You haven’t brought up the real Booker Lane in years. I was surprised you named the book what you did.”
Lily’s eyes darkened for the briefest moment; so brief, that Tiffani thought she may have imagined it.
“I don’t like to live in the past.” She said after taking two long sips of her drink, “This book is my way of writing Booker Lane out of my life for good. It lives in the book now. It doesn’t live in my reality.”
><
Officer Decker: Booker Lane had a significance to Ms. Reed’s real life?
Tiffani Rosswell: Lily and I grew up on Booker Lane. We met when we were twelve and my family moved into the townhome next to hers. She had lived there her whole life.
Detective Lin: Why did Ms. Reed have an aversion to her childhood street?
Rosswell: I don’t know. Lily just doesn’t like to talk about it.
Decker: Have you seen these tweets, Ms. Rosswell?
Rosswell: No. What are they?
Decker: Have a read, and then let me know what you think of them.
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TWEET FROM @LAURB9026 (Lauren Bates)
January 8, 2022
am I the only one thinking that this whole #lilyreedismissing thing is just some major promo for booker lane?? timing seems wayyyy too convenient
--> REPLY FROM @USER8972645
January 8, 2022
I was just talking about this, ngl. ur telling me she writes a book about missing people and then just happens to go missing the day her book drops? nah
--> REPLY FROM @LILYREEDBOOKS (Lily Reed Fans)
January 8, 2022
I don’t think she would do that. even her bff/agent doesn’t seem to know where she is
--> REPLY FROM @AUTHORHLP (H.L. Print)
January 8, 2022
@lilyreedbooks agreed. if tiff doesn’t know where she is, then something’s up
--> REPLY FROM @PATRICKB67 (Pat Bentley)
January 8, 2022
I already ordered my copy like last month, so I guess I’m reading it whether she’s actually missing or not
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Tiffani Rosswell: She would never fake this. Lily wouldn’t stage something this extreme just to sell a few more books. We knew the book was going to do well already; it had over ten thousand presale orders before this morning. She didn’t need to pull any stunts to help it.
Bartholomew (Barry) Thomas: I don’t want to sound difficult, but I would appreciate it if we definitively denied that rumor. I don’t want that to cause any investigators to not take Lily’s disappearance seriously.
Detective Lin: I’ll see what we can do. You may have your phone back, Ms. Rosswell.
Thomas: Come on, Tiff. I’ll drive you home.
End of Tiffani Rosswell Interview 1.
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Hilarie Print: Any news on Lily? I can’t believe this happened
Eric (Publishing House): Call me when you get a second
Danielle (Publishing House): We need to talk about this little stunt of Lily’s
Carey Reed: Has Lily contacted you? Is she missing? Can you call me?
212-555-0926: Hello Ms. Rosswell, this is Cory Weeks from Channel 5. Are you able to come on our morning show Monday morning? We’d love to chat.
