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Back Black Rock Bay Save as PDF
Chapters (42)
  1. TITLE PAGE
  2. COPYRIGHT
  3. DEDICATION
  4. CONTENTS
  5. PROLOGUE
  6. CHAPTER ONE
  7. CHAPTER TWO
  8. CHAPTER THREE
  9. CHAPTER FOUR
  10. CHAPTER FIVE
  11. CHAPTER SIX
  12. CHAPTER SEVEN
  13. CHAPTER EIGHT
  14. CHAPTER NINE
  15. CHAPTER TEN
  16. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  17. CHAPTER TWELVE
  18. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  19. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  20. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  21. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  22. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  23. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  24. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  25. CHAPTER TWENTY
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  34. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  35. CHAPTER THIRTY
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  41. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  42. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

There was a beat of silence, and Izzy leaned forward, her body recognizing the confused silence from Ellen before her mind processed that she should be braced for a kick.

“Lacey Bell,” Ellen said slowly, as if their ignorance was somehow a trick.

Izzy stepped forward, unable to stop herself. “What did Cash say to that? When Jimmy told him to ask Lacey.”

Ellen’s eyes swung between them, before landing on Izzy. “Said it was a sore subject with her. Didn’t want to bring it up. Tragic history and all.” There was something about the way she said it that hinted at animosity rather than sympathy.

“You’re not friends with her, I take it,” Izzy guessed.

“Define ‘friends.’” Ellen pushed off the wall. She was done.

“That’s a no.”

“That’s a your time’s up, Detectives,” Ellen said with an authority that was at odds with the abused, frightened persona she’d adopted during most of the interview. There were complexities there, maybe a hardness they might be foolish to discount. “You can take anything else up with my lawyer. Cash Bishop. Think you might know him already.”

She was good enough to know not to wait for a response to that perfect parting line.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

MIA

Mia watched the door slam shut as she bounced a little on her toes to restore feeling.

Ellen’s perfume still lingered, but underneath it was something acidic. Something that smelled like fear.

“Scared,” Izzy muttered beneath her breath.

“Very,” Mia agreed. But there was more to it than that.

Did you kill them? No one had ever asked her that before. Straight-out like that.

Mia blinked and swayed, the world going a little hazy. It was happening with more frequency these days, where she seemed to disconnect with reality for a heartbeat.

She still hadn’t eaten today, hadn’t slept last night. The insomnia was an old companion, almost comforting in its familiarity. Days and nights and eternities were lived in those hours, those hated hours where mindless infomercials and empty streets became her only friends.

Even when her limbs ached, a deep and restless throb, her mind three paces behind, tripping over nonexistent cracks because of exhaustion, her body would fight sleep. If she lay down on the bed, anxiety would slip into her veins and she’d be worse off for even trying. Sometimes the only rest she got was when she dozed off in a chair or at her desk, desperately clinging to consciousness. Her body liked a good fight. Her body liked winning.

At one time in her life, it had nearly driven her mad. Now she was used to it. The not eating was new, though. She tried to pinpoint when it had started, and her stubborn mind supplied a time window around the same week she’d first seen Robert Twist lurking in the shadows outside the office.