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Back Lost Hills Save as PDF
Chapters (49)
  1. TITLE PAGE
  2. COPYRIGHT PAGE
  3. DEDICATION
  4. Contents
  5. CHAPTER ONE
  6. CHAPTER TWO
  7. CHAPTER THREE
  8. CHAPTER FOUR
  9. CHAPTER FIVE
  10. CHAPTER SIX
  11. CHAPTER SEVEN
  12. CHAPTER EIGHT
  13. CHAPTER NINE
  14. CHAPTER TEN
  15. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  16. CHAPTER TWELVE
  17. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  18. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  19. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  20. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  21. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  22. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  23. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  24. CHAPTER TWENTY
  25. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  34. CHAPTER THIRTY
  35. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  44. CHAPTER FORTY
  45. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  46. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  47. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  48. Author’s Note and Acknowledgments
  49. About the Author

Eve arrived at the station, coming to a tire-squealing stop, just as an LASD chopper was landing on the helipad. It was the sheriff. She ran into the station, pretending not to hear him shout her name over the whirring of the chopper blades.

She went straight to the squad room, rushed past Duncan, and ripped the crime scene photos that she needed from the dry-erase board, gathered them under her arm, then turned to face her confused partner.

“Where are we meeting?” she demanded, breathing hard.

“In the captain’s office,” Duncan said.

“Let’s go.”

She hurried down the hall, throwing open the captain’s door without knocking, to find Moffett and Lansing standing there. Both men were furious. Lansing immediately confronted her.

“What’s so Goddamn important that I had to drop everything to get here?” He pointed out the captain’s window. “There’s a firestorm raging behind us. Three thousand acres have gone up in flames in the lasts few hours and we’re evacuating hundreds of homes. If the fire meets up with the Stevenson blaze, which is rampaging into Simi Valley now towards the Pacific, we could have one of the worst fires in state history. What do you have to tell us that’s a bigger emergency than that?”

“We screwed up the triple murder investigation, sir,” she said. “We got it wrong.”

“Are you saying Lionel Coyle didn’t butcher those people?”

“That’s the one thing we got right,” she said.

“Then why the hell are we here?”

“Because there’s still a chance that we can save Caitlin Kenworth’s life.”

CHAPTER FORTY

CHAPTER FORTY

The three men stared at her like she’d gone insane. She was expecting that reaction. It was Moffett who spoke first, in a slow, patronizing tone that was filled with disdain.

“I don’t see how we can save her,” he said. “She’s already been killed and hacked into pieces.”

“She’s alive,” Eve insisted. “At least she was on Wednesday and I’m hoping she still is today. Coyle took her. This triple murder was actually a child abduction. It was all along. That’s what we missed.”

Duncan sat down. “I’m confused.”

“Join the damn club,” Lansing said, taking a seat as well. “Make it fast, Ronin. Every minute we sit here another five acres goes up in flames.”

“I’m well aware of that,” Eve said. “It’s why we have to act fast.”

“The blood evidence is conclusive,” Moffett said. “Three people were killed.”

“That’s true,” Eve said. “I’m not disputing that.”

Moffett took a seat behind his desk, leaving only Eve standing.

“If Caitlin is still alive,” Duncan said, “then who is the third person who got killed in Tanya’s house?”