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Chapters (73)
  1. Goodbye to the Dead
  2. Also By Brian Freeman
  3. Title
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. Epigraph
  7. CONTENTS
  8. PROLOGUE
  9. THEN
  10. 1
  11. 2
  12. 3
  13. 4
  14. 5
  15. 6
  16. 7
  17. 8
  18. 9
  19. 10
  20. 11
  21. 12
  22. 13
  23. 14
  24. 15
  25. 16
  26. 17
  27. 18
  28. 19
  29. 20
  30. 21
  31. 22
  32. 23
  33. 24
  34. 25
  35. 26
  36. 27
  37. 28
  38. 29
  39. 30
  40. 31
  41. 32
  42. 33
  43. 34
  44. 35
  45. NOW
  46. 36
  47. 37
  48. 38
  49. 39
  50. 40
  51. 41
  52. 42
  53. 43
  54. 44
  55. 45
  56. 46
  57. 47
  58. 48
  59. 49
  60. 50
  61. 51
  62. 52
  63. 53
  64. 54
  65. 55
  66. 56
  67. 57
  68. 58
  69. 59
  70. 60
  71. 61
  72. FROM THE AUTHOR
  73. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

‘Well, I’ll talk to Janine, and I’ll be back in touch. I promise.’ Then he added, somewhat more kindly: ‘Listen, Howard. Take my advice. People are different in prison than they are in the real world. The two have very little in common. You need to be aware of that.’

‘Just call me back!’

‘Of course. I will.’

Howard spun around in his chair and slammed down the phone. He was disgusted. After all Howard had done on her case, Janine’s lawyer had humiliated him again. As if he were nothing but a groupie. Well, Gale would find out the truth soon. He’d talk to Janine, and Janine would set him straight.

‘You bastard. You worthless bastard.’

Howard looked up and jumped. Carol was there.

‘I didn’t see you . . .’ he began, but his words drifted away. Sweat made a film on his skin. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘You’re leaving me,’ she said. ‘For her.’

She didn’t phrase it like a question. She didn’t beg him to change his mind.

He could barely look at his wife’s face, but when he did, he saw that her familiar eyes had turned dead. There were no tears. They’d been through tears many times, her crying at night, him pretending to comfort her. There wasn’t even any anger left. She didn’t yell at him. Or curse. They’d been through that, too. She simply stared at him with fish-blank eyes. Her arms hung at her sides. Every emotion, every feeling, had burned down to gray ash.

‘I can’t believe you did this to me,’ Carol murmured.

‘This was never about you. It was about me.’

‘Remember that when you see her tomorrow,’ his wife said.

50

50

‘So,’ Maggie said.

‘So,’ Serena replied.

The two of them sat at an upstairs table at Dunn Bros on London Road. The coffee shop was styled like a modern log cabin. Serena sipped a cup of black decaf from a ceramic mug. Maggie drank a caramel frappe and wiped the foam on her upper lip with her tongue. She had a blueberry scone, too.

Serena didn’t know how Maggie could eat the way she did and stay stick-skinny. If Serena made a daily stop for breakfast at McDonald’s or the Duluth Grill, she’d be ordering her jeans in plus sizes.

They’d already scouted several Duluth landmarks, hunting for Curt Dickes, the low-level con artist who’d fenced Janine’s black pearl ring. So far, they hadn’t located his Duluth ghost walk for gullible tourists. After they checked the empty parking lot at the Glensheen Estate – no sign of Curt – they stopped for coffee on the way back to downtown.