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Chapters (33)
  1. Title Page
  2. Praise
  3. Praise
  4. Copyright Page
  5. Dedication
  6. Acknowledgements
  7. NEW ORLEANS, 1849
  8. MICHAELS MURDER TRIAL NEARS END OF TESTIMONY
  9. Chapter Two
  10. Chapter Three
  11. Chapter Four
  12. ARREST IMMINENT!
  13. Chapter Six
  14. Chapter Seven
  15. Chapter Eight
  16. Chapter Nine
  17. Chapter Ten
  18. Chapter Eleven
  19. Chapter Twelve
  20. DONOVAN WITNESS DEAD!
  21. Chapter Fourteen
  22. Chapter Fifteen
  23. JURY SET TO DELIBERATE IN THIROUX TRIAL!
  24. Chapter Seventeen
  25. Chapter Eighteen
  26. Chapter Nineteen
  27. Chapter Twenty
  28. Chapter Twenty-one
  29. Chapter Twenty-two
  30. Chapter Twenty-three
  31. Chapter Twenty-four
  32. Chapter Twenty-five
  33. Teaser chapter

She felt a stab of humiliation. Of course it was. As was what she had done on the couch in front of him the night before.

Alex reached out and flicked the label of the absinthe bottle. “I didn’t know Gabriel was back on this shit. Interesting.” He pulled the attached card out to read it. “ ‘In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.’ That’s not a very sexy label for alcohol. It doesn’t make me want to drink a drop. And it’s wrong. Sins are never forgiven, and never forgotten.”

Giving her a smile and a wave, he headed toward the door. “Have a good one, Sara.”

Then he was gone and Sara was left wondering what the hell had just happened.

And with the knowledge that she knew much less about Gabriel than she had thought she did.

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

From the Court Records of
the Willful Murder Trial of Anne Donovan,
State of Louisiana v. Jonathon Thiroux
January 14, 1850

ATTORNEY FOR THE DEFENSE, MR. SWIFT: Mr. Thiroux, describe to us what the room surrounding Miss Donovan looked like when you regained consciousness and discovered her dead.

MR. THIROUX: It was hot in the room and there was a sweet, sickly odor. It was dark, except for moonlight. Anne was lying on the sheet. She must have remade the bed with the intention of going to sleep because I had actually taken the sheet off earlier.

MR. SWIFT: Why did you do that?

MR. THIROUX: It was tattered.

MR. SWIFT: Tattered?

MR. THIROUX: Yes. She had hosted a visitor in her room prior to my arrival and I was offended by the evidence of that.

MR. SWIFT: So there was another man specifically in Anne Donovan’s room before you arrived?

MR. THIROUX: Actually, he was still there when I arrived. I informed Madame Conti that he needed to vacate Miss Donovan’s room as I had an understanding with her that Anne would always be available to me.

MR. SWIFT: So you were paying a retainer for her services?

MR. THIROUX: Yes.

MR. SWIFT: So it was unusual to see another man in her room?

MR. THIROUX: Yes, very. In the nine months I had been seeing Anne, I had never encountered another man in her room.

MR. SWIFT: Can you describe this man?

MR. THIROUX: I did not get a very good look at him, as his back was to me, and I left the room immediately. But he was dark-haired, with what appeared to be an olive complexion. I can get no more specific than that.

MR. SWIFT: But Madame Conti saw him in Miss Donovan’s room?

MR. THIROUX: Yes. As stated, I demanded she force him to leave, which she did. I heard her offering him three girls for the price of one as compensation for his inconvenience.

MR. SWIFT: Did she refer to him by name?

MR. THIROUX: No, she did not.