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Chapters (98)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise for
  3. Also by David Bell
  4. Dedication
  5. Epigraph
  6. PART I
  7. CHAPTER ONE
  8. CHAPTER TWO
  9. CHAPTER THREE
  10. CHAPTER FOUR
  11. CHAPTER FIVE
  12. CHAPTER SIX
  13. CHAPTER SEVEN
  14. CHAPTER EIGHT
  15. CHAPTER NINE
  16. CHAPTER TEN
  17. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  18. CHAPTER TWELVE
  19. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  20. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  21. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  22. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  23. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  24. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  25. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  34. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  35. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  38. PART II
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  44. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  45. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  46. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  47. CHAPTER FORTY
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  49. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  53. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  54. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  55. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  56. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  57. CHAPTER FIFTY
  58. CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
  59. CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
  60. CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
  61. CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
  62. CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
  63. CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
  64. PART III
  65. CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
  66. CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
  67. CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
  68. CHAPTER SIXTY
  69. CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE
  70. CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO
  71. CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE
  72. CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR
  73. CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE
  74. CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX
  75. CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN
  76. CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT
  77. CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE
  78. CHAPTER SEVENTY
  79. CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE
  80. CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWO
  81. CHAPTER SEVENTY-THREE
  82. CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR
  83. CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE
  84. CHAPTER SEVENTY-SIX
  85. PART IV
  86. CHAPTER SEVENTY-SEVEN
  87. CHAPTER SEVENTY-EIGHT
  88. CHAPTER SEVENTY-NINE
  89. CHAPTER EIGHTY
  90. CHAPTER EIGHTY-ONE
  91. CHAPTER EIGHTY-TWO
  92. CHAPTER EIGHTY-THREE
  93. CHAPTER EIGHTY-FOUR
  94. EPILOGUE
  95. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  96. Readers Guide
  97. About the Author
  98. What’s next onyour reading list?

She stuffs the hat and gloves into her coat pockets. She comes toward me, and I stand up, keeping my hand near my pants pocket. And the knife.

But she goes past me, over to the counter, and takes the bottle of Rowan’s. She pulls the cork and tilts the bottle, guzzling a more-than-healthy shot. She brings the bottle down but doesn’t put it on the counter. She holds on to it.

“Good-bye, Connor.”

I start to say good-bye, and I feel a twinge of relief passing through me. Madeline is turned to the side, half of her body obscured from my sight.

I can see only one of her hands, the one closest to me.

The one not holding the bottle.

Like a dancer, she spins toward me, and I see the bottle arcing toward the side of my head as she turns.

I duck. I lift my arm.

But none of it is fast enough, and I don’t even feel the pain of the blow as the darkness descends. I realize I’m fading as I hit the floor, as I hear Grendel scampering into the kitchen, barking and barking. . . .

PART II

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

REBECCA

PRESENT

Rebecca makes it to class right at the wire.

She hates to be tardy, but she woke up late this morning, reluctant to emerge from beneath the warmth of the covers, leave the house, and trudge the three blocks in the freezing air to reach the bus stop.

But she did it.

Except then the bus arrived late, and by the time it dropped her off near Goodlaw, she was way behind and ran through the wide first-floor hallway, dodging around her fellow students, the cleaning people, and the professors to make it to class on time. Dr. Nye hated it when students came late. Some of them strolled in almost ten minutes after class started, and when they did, he always sighed, acting like they’d done him a grievous injury.

Rebecca makes it on time every day. And she wants to keep that streak intact. With Nye eventually reading her thesis and deciding if she could graduate with honors or not, she didn’t want to risk irritating him.