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Back Confess to Me Save as PDF
Chapters (87)
  1. Cover
  2. Also by Sharon Doering
  3. Title Page
  4. Dedication
  5. Prologue
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. 29
  35. 30
  36. 31
  37. 32
  38. 33
  39. 34
  40. 35
  41. 36
  42. 37
  43. 38
  44. 39
  45. 40
  46. 41
  47. 42
  48. 43
  49. 44
  50. 45
  51. 46
  52. 47
  53. 48
  54. 49
  55. 50
  56. 51
  57. 52
  58. 53
  59. 54
  60. 55
  61. 56
  62. 57
  63. 58
  64. 59
  65. 60
  66. 61
  67. 62
  68. 63
  69. 64
  70. 65
  71. 66
  72. 67
  73. 68
  74. 69
  75. 70
  76. 71
  77. 72
  78. 73
  79. 74
  80. 75
  81. 76
  82. 77
  83. 78
  84. 79
  85. Author’s Note
  86. Acknowledgements
  87. About the Author

She sighed. “Right. Yeah, yeah. I was getting over a drug thing, making peace, all that crap. How is your mom?”

“She was murdered. Robbery gone wrong.” There was no point in sharing Holly’s theory and making Claire feel like she shouldered some of the blame.

“Oh, man, that sucks. I’m sorry. That’s awful.” She dug her hands into her pockets, bit her lip, and glanced down the hall.

“I’m not here to, well, I don’t want to stress you out. Your letter, I read it, it was kind.”

She nodded, a worried look on her face, maybe scratching at her brain to connect her letter to my mom’s murder. She’d said so herself in her letter, that her reaching out to my mom was an invitation to trouble.

“You mentioned videos?” I said, my voice rising because even though I drove five hours to get here, I was still questioning this.

“Yeah, yeah. I have copies of my dad’s videotapes on a thumb drive. I stole them actually. I copied them when I was an undergrad, when I finally realized my dad had done bad things. My parents were out at this hospital thing, this black-tie event.” She raised her eyebrows, getting a kick out of this story. “I rigged a setup, copied them to a hard drive. It was kind of hilarious.” She shifted and puffed up her cheeks. “I should have given them to your mom earlier. I meant to, actually, but, I… well, I was unsure of myself, and then college was rough, and I had this on and off drug thing.”

She looked down at her shoes, bit her lip again. “I haven’t talked to my parents for over a decade. I’m not excusing what my dad did, but he would not do well outside his Hunther bubble. I didn’t want him to go to prison, you know?”

Prison. Jesus. What did he do?

“No. I don’t know. I didn’t even know me and my mom lived with you until a few days ago.”

“Oh, oh,” she said, considering all the things she’d said, maybe regretting them. “Oh, God. I don’t know where to even start.”

“What about the videos. Can I see the videos?”

“Right. Why don’t you give me your address, I’ll mail you a drive.”

“I am kind of anxious about this. I don’t mind waiting until you’ve finished work, if that’s OK with you.”

“Oh, OK. I have something to wrap up. If you can wait thirty minutes, you can follow me to my place. Or, well, it might take an hour.” A switch had flipped. She went from helpful and nostalgic to suspicious. She did not want to deal with this right now.

“I can wait. I’m gonna get a coffee while you finish up. Give me your number so we don’t lose each other.”

“Huh?”