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Chapters (48)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Notice
  3. Dedication
  4. Acknowledgments
  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. Chapter Thirty-six
  42. Chapter Thirty-seven
  43. Chapter Thirty-eight
  44. Chapter Thirty-nine
  45. Also by Allison Brennan
  46. Praise for these other novels by New York Times bestselling author Allison Brennan
  47. About the Author
  48. Newsletter Sign-up

Carl had said they must have left without him or the timeline was off and the Young family didn’t remember exactly when the kid left. Which was possible. But still, it would have been really close. Based on the timeline and the facts that they knew about when the girls left school, the family had about an hour from when they would have been home after school to when they’d have to leave to reach the border. And to leave a kid behind?

He didn’t see it. Garrett’s daughter was the world to him. She was the bright spot when everything else was shit. If he was in trouble, he would do everything to protect her—and maybe that’s what the mother was doing. Protecting the kid because she knew that she was in danger.

But what about the girls? Why had they come home? Why had the older girl called the younger girl out of volleyball practice? Did the parents ask her to … or did they have another reason?

And then what about the boy? His body hadn’t been found with the others, or anywhere else. Garrett got a copy of the search and rescue report and the cadaver dogs hadn’t found anything near the burial site or the house or between the Albright house and the Young house. They searched the open fields where the kids were known to play, and nothing.

But what was really bugging Garrett was Frank Pollero. Garrett hadn’t interviewed him that day. He’d been dealing with his bitch of an ex-wife and Carl had gone there and reviewed the security footage. And Carl had come back and said that Denise Albright had changed the accounts, then embezzled the money electronically the same day.

“Frank said she was fine, acting normal, came in and flirted, and he didn’t even think to call Kiefer because Albright is a regular customer.”

Garrett stared at the still shot. He recognized Kitty Fitzpatrick. Hell, he’d known Kitty most of his life. Why hadn’t he seen this before?

The thing was, Carl knew Kitty as well. He should be able to look at the picture and tell that it was Kitty. It was a crappy picture and all, and yeah, her general appearance matched Denise Albright’s, so it was no surprise the feds thought it was Denise, but anyone who knew Kitty would know this was Kitty. Including Carl and Frank.

Garrett called the sheriff. “Hank, we need to meet. Not tomorrow, now. Can I come over?”

He was piling everything into his car when lights shined down his driveway. They went off, and Carl got out of his personal truck.

“Hey, thought you might be up for a drink.”

“Sorry, can’t.”

“Where are you going?”

“Food. I have nothing here.”

“At ten at night?”

“What’s with the third degree?”

“You took all the files from the station.”

“So?”