Fool Me Once

Eddie told me once that he sometimes felt as though death was a part of Maya, that death followed her. It’s an odd way of putting it. But I think I get it. After what happened in Iraq, Maya couldn’t silence the voices. Death had stayed with her. She tried to rush forward, but Death would tap her on the shoulder. It wouldn’t leave. I think maybe Maya saw that. I think, more than anything else, she wanted to make sure death didn’t follow Lily.

Maya didn’t leave a letter for Lily to open at a certain age or anything like that. She hadn’t told Eddie how to raise her or why she had chosen him. She just knew. She knew that he would be the right choice. And he was. Years ago, Eddie asked me for my take on what to tell Lily about her biological parents and when. Neither of us had a clue. Maya often said that kids didn’t come with instruction manuals. She had left it up to us. She trusted that we would do what was best for Lily when the time came.

Eventually, when Lily was old enough to understand, we told her.

The ugly truth, we decided, was better than the fanciful lie.

Dean Vanech, Lily’s husband, bounces into the room and kisses his wife.

“Hey, Shane.”

“Congrats, Dean.”

“Thanks.”

Dean is military. I bet Maya would like that. The happy couple sit on the bed and marvel at their child the way new parents are supposed to. I look back at Eddie. He has tears in his eyes. I nod.

“Grandpa,” I say to him.

Eddie can’t answer. He deserves this moment. He gave Lily a good childhood, and I’m grateful. I will always be there for him. I will always be there for Daniel and Alexa. I will always be there for Lily.

Maya knew that, of course.

“Shane?”

“Yes, Lily.”

“Would you like to hold her?”

“I don’t know. I’m kind of clumsy.”

Lily won’t have any of that. “You’ll do just fine.”

Bossing me around. Like her mother.

I come to the bed and she hands me the baby, making sure to put the tiny head in the crook of my arm. I stare down at her in something approaching awe.

“We named her Maya,” Lily says.

I nod now because I can’t speak.

Maya-my Maya, the old Maya-and I saw a lot of people die. We used to talk about how dead was dead. That was it, Maya used to say. You die. It’s over. But right now, I’m not sure. Right now, I look down and I think maybe Maya and I got that one wrong.

She’s here. I know it.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author (that would be me) wishes to thank the following: Rick Friedman, Linda Fairstein, Kevin Marcy, Pete Miscia, Air Force Lieutenant Colonel T. Mark McCurley, Diane Discepolo, Rick Kronberg, Ben Sevier, Christine Ball, Jamie Knapp, Carrie Swetonic, Stephanie Kelly, Selina Walker, Lisa Erbach Vance, Eliane Benisti, and Françoise Triffaux. I’m sure they made mistakes, but let’s go easy on them.

The author (still me) also wants to acknowledge Marian Barford, Tom Douglass, Eileen Finn, Heather Howell, Fred Katen, Roger Kierce, Neil Kornfeld, Melissa Lee, Mary McLeod, Julian Rubinstein, Corey Rudzinski, Kitty Shum, and Dr. Christopher Swain. These people (or their loved ones) made generous contributions to charities of my choosing in return for having their names appear in the novel. If you’d like to participate in the future, visit HarlanCoben.com or email [email protected] for details.

Finally, I am ridiculously proud to be a USO tour veteran. Several humble servicemen and servicewomen spoke freely on the condition that I not list their names here, but they did ask me to acknowledge their many brave fellow vets (and their families) who still suffer psychological injuries from volunteering to be part of a military that’s been at war for more than a decade.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Harlan Coben is the internationally bestselling author of more than twenty previous novels, including the #1 New York Times bestsellers The Stranger, Missing You, Six Years, Stay Close, Live Wire, Caught, Long Lost, and Hold Tight, as well as the Myron Bolitar series and, more recently, a series aimed at young adults featuring Myron’s nephew, Mickey Bolitar. The winner of the Edgar, Shamus, and Anthony Awards, he lives in New Jersey.

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