Travis


 
 
 
 
 
 
 Copyright © 2021, 2023 by Mia Sheridan
 Cover and internal design © 2023 by Sourcebooks
 Cover design by Eileen Carey/No Fuss Design
 Cover image by NataliAlba/Shutterstock
 Sourcebooks and the colophon are registered trademarks of Sourcebooks. Bloom Books is a trademark of Sourcebooks.
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 The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
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 Published by Bloom Books, an imprint of Sourcebooks
 P.O. Box 4410, Naperville, Illinois 60567-4410
 (630) 961-3900
 sourcebooks.com
 Originally self-published in 2021 by Mia Sheridan.
 Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file with the Library of Congress.
 
 
 Contents
 Front Cover
 Title Page
 Copyright
 Prologue
 Chapter One
 Chapter Two
 Chapter Three
 Chapter Four
 Chapter Five
 Chapter Six
 Chapter Seven
 Chapter Eight
 Chapter Nine
 Chapter Ten
 Chapter Eleven
 Chapter Twelve
 Chapter Thirteen
 Chapter Fourteen
 Chapter Fifteen
 Chapter Sixteen
 Chapter Seventeen
 Chapter Eighteen
 Chapter Nineteen
 Chapter Twenty
 Chapter Twenty-One
 Chapter Twenty-Two
 Chapter Twenty-Three
 Chapter Twenty-Four
 Chapter Twenty-Five
 Chapter Twenty-Six
 Chapter Twenty-Seven
 Chapter Twenty-Eight
 Chapter Twenty-Nine
 Chapter Thirty
 Chapter Thirty-One
 Chapter Thirty-Two
 Chapter Thirty-Three
 Epilogue
 Acknowledgments
 About the Author
 Back Cover
 
 
 To all the readers worldwide who first loved a silent boy and helped give him a voice.
 
 
 Prologue
 Travis
 Seven Years Old
 “Mommy? What’s wrong?” I approached slowly, my heart drumming as I watched my mommy’s back shake. Her head was in her arms on the kitchen table in front of her, her soft sobs muffled.
 But at the sound of my voice, she sat up. Her cheeks were wet with tears, her mouth twisted in what looked more like anger than sadness. My mommy’s face did that a lot. Her eyes said one thing, but the rest of her expression, and even her words, said another. Sometimes my mommy confused me. I didn’t know if I should try to help or run away from her.
 My daddy didn’t confuse me like that. My daddy smiled with his whole face, and when he was sad, I could tell that too.
 My daddy seemed sad a lot. But he loved me and I loved him. He was my hero and someday I was going to be a policeman 
 Chapter One
 Travis
 The lake sparkled beyond the trees as I pushed open my brother’s gate, the squeak from the rusty hinges breaking the silence of the still summer evening. Noise that was quickly and boisterously joined by the front door banging open and my nephews—and several mongrels—rushing from inside, racing up the sloping yard to greet me.
 “Uncle Travis! Uncle Travis!” the boys yelled in unison, their short legs carrying them swiftly uphill, the dogs barking and dancing around, tails wagging in a way that would have let any knife-wielding burglar or serial killer entering the property know they were more than welcome to join the family.
 I laughed as Connor and Charlie reached me, bending and scooping them up, one in each arm. “I have two stomachs!” Connor declared. “My daddy says.”
 “It’s a Hale trait,” I explained. “It’s how we grow big and—”
 “I prolly have three stomachs!” Charlie stated, not to be outdone by his twin.