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Eleven years ago, eight-year-old Ivy Anderson-Wright vanished from Seaside, a town now infamous for her abduction. Her family paid three ransoms, but Ivy was never found. Now, as the summer season approaches, she's back. But the girl who returns is not the princess everyone remembers. Emma, Ivy's childhood best friend, finds herself at the heart of a mystery that could shatter Seaside's carefully constructed reality and force her to confront her own buried past. Can Emma uncover the truth behind Ivy's disappearance and return, or will Seaside's dark secrets claim another victim?

The mid-May sun beat down on Seaside, a familiar heat that clung to my skin and made my t-shirt damp. It was a Thursday, and the town, though stirring with the promise of summer, remained mostly quiet. Only the year-round mainstays like Anderson's Market and the Sheriff's Station were open, serving the few locals who endured the winter.

I rode my bike down the empty boardwalk, relishing the mild ocean breeze. Every year, this time brought a knot of dread and anticipation to my stomach – the quiet before the storm of tourists. I hated it, and loved it, this town that knew no in-between.

Sleigh bells jingled as I pushed open the Sheriff's Station door, their year-round presence a quirky joke of Beth's. The station was empty, as usual, save for the layers of dust on the deputy desks. I dropped my backpack, a familiar ritual, and headed for Sheriff Platt's office.

Beth shrieked, jumping up from the Sheriff's couch, her black hair a sexy, messy knot. "Emma!" she laughed, recovering. "Didn't hear you come in. You scared me half to the grave."

"The bells don't work if the TV's too loud," I countered, leaning into the room where rotating fans only seemed to stir the warm air. "Post office still open?"

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Secrets Small Town Mystery Coming of Age Trauma