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Chapters (49)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Epigraph
  4. Prologue
  5. 1Saturday, June 12, 6:32 p.m.Fifteen Years Later
  6. 2Saturday, June 12, 10:45 p.m.
  7. 3Saturday, June 12, 10:45 p.m.
  8. 4Monday, June 14, 7:20 p.m.Two Days Later
  9. 5Wednesday, June 16, 10:40 a.m.Two Days Later
  10. 6Wednesday, June 16, 12:10 p.m.
  11. 7Wednesday, June 16, 12:25 p.m.
  12. 8Wednesday, June 16, 1:28 p.m.
  13. 9Saturday, June 19, 9:12 a.m.Three Days Later
  14. 10Saturday, June 19, 8:10 p.m.
  15. 11Sunday, June 20, 10:12 a.m.
  16. 12Monday, June 21, 8:52 a.m.
  17. 13Monday, June 21, 11:15 a.m.
  18. 14Monday, June 21, 1:18 p.m.
  19. 15Monday, June 21, 5:38 p.m.
  20. 16Monday, June 21, 7:20 p.m.
  21. 17Monday, June 21, 7:30 p.m.
  22. 18Monday, June 21, 8:20 p.m.
  23. 19Tuesday, June 22, 10:22 a.m.
  24. 20Tuesday, June 22, 10:52 a.m.
  25. 21Tuesday, June 22, 1:08 p.m.
  26. 22Tuesday, June 22, 1:19 p.m.
  27. 23Tuesday, June 22, 1:47 p.m.
  28. 24Tuesday, June 22, 2:40 p.m.
  29. 25Tuesday, June 22, 3:12 p.m.
  30. 26Tuesday, June 22, 3:40 p.m.
  31. 27Tuesday, June 22, 3:58 p.m.
  32. 28Tuesday, June 22, 4:31 p.m.
  33. 29Tuesday, June 22, 6:10 p.m.
  34. 30Tuesday, June 22, 8:05 p.m.
  35. 31Wednesday, June 23, 9:32 a.m.
  36. 32Wednesday, June 23, 10:15 a.m.
  37. 33Wednesday, June 23, 12:45 p.m.
  38. 34Wednesday, June 23, 1:05 p.m.
  39. 35Wednesday, June 23, 4:12 p.m.
  40. 36Wednesday, June 23, 7:24 p.m.
  41. 37Friday, June 25, 7:17 p.m.
  42. 38Tuesday, June 29, 11:49 a.m.
  43. 39Tuesday, June 29, 1:10 p.m.
  44. 40Tuesday, June 29, 1:28 p.m.
  45. 41Thursday, July 22, 1:07 p.m.
  46. Acknowledgments
  47. About the Author
  48. Also by Alafair Burke
  49. About the Publisher

“Jesus. I think I’m going to puke.” He walked to the kitchen, turned on the faucet, and splashed water on his face.

“Okay, you’re scaring me right now.” She grabbed his arm and led him to the sofa, where he took a seat. “Jess, talk to me. What’s going on?”

He pressed his face into his hands. “Why do you have to be a fucking cop? Fuck!”

“Stop it. I’m your sister first and foremost. If I have to hand in my badge and go back to beauty pageants to pay the bills, I will. Tell me what’s happening here.”

He lifted his face and, for the first time since he’d seen Hope Miller’s picture, made eye contact with her. “You’re thirty-four. That’s some pageant.”

His grin brought a moment of relief, but she flipped him off with both fingers anyway. “Fuck you twice. Now are you going to tell me what’s going on, or do I need to get my handcuffs and beat it out of you?”

He made his way to the refrigerator for a bottle of Rolling Rock, taking a long draw before returning to the sofa.

“You’ve got to promise me I can trust you.”

“Say that again, and I’m going to—”

“I can’t, Ellie. It’s not fair. You’ve got everything going right now. I don’t want to pull you into my shit.”

“It’s about to be our shit, okay? What is happening?”

“I was at Richard Mullaney’s house the night he died.”

“Do you remember TC Atkinson?” Jess asked, handing her two shot glasses. After slamming the rest of his beer, he had retrieved a bottle of Four Roses bourbon from the top of the refrigerator.

Ellie was about to say no but then paused. “Is that the girl I called Woodstock?”

“Oh wow, I totally forgot about that.”

“She reeked of pot and patchouli oil and thought she was Stevie Nicks. What were you thinking?”

“I was twenty-two, and she was a wild woman. What do you think I was thinking?”

“So what were you doing at that house, Jess?”

“TC and I were chilling, and then she told me that this girl she worked with was a babysitter and that the family was out of town for the weekend, so we had a place to hang out for the night. You know . . . to party.”

“And it was Melanie Locke’s house?”