Summary

In the Prologue, 19-year-old Brooke Nolan sat in the courthouse waiting room with her mother and other family members. She thought it was mildly funny that under the circumstances she had organic chemistry notecards in her pocket and was thinking about chemical reactions. She and the others waited for Heather, Brooke’s victim advocate, to fill them in on what was happening. Brooke thought that the people who saw her in court did not properly guess her age and incorrectly assumed she was there for a custody hearing.

In Chapter 1, six-year-old Brooke was impressed by how much longer her brother Adam, who was a year older than her, could hold his breath. When Brooke pointed out to her father, David, what was happening, he ran to Adam and managed to resuscitate him. Brooke was proud of her dad for having saved Adam...