BooksBarbecue
Back Lying Next to Me Save as PDF
Chapters (87)
  1. TITLE PAGE
  2. COPYRIGHT
  3. DEDICATION
  4. CONTENTS
  5. START READING
  6. CHAPTER ONE
  7. CHAPTER TWO
  8. CHAPTER THREE
  9. CHAPTER FOUR
  10. CHAPTER FIVE
  11. CHAPTER SIX
  12. CHAPTER SEVEN
  13. CHAPTER EIGHT
  14. CHAPTER NINE
  15. CHAPTER TEN
  16. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  17. CHAPTER TWELVE
  18. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  19. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  20. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  21. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  22. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  23. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  24. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  25. CHAPTER TWENTY
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  34. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  35. CHAPTER THIRTY
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  44. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  45. CHAPTER FORTY
  46. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  47. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  49. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  53. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  54. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  55. CHAPTER FIFTY
  56. CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
  57. CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
  58. CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
  59. CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
  60. CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
  61. CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
  62. CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
  63. CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
  64. CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
  65. CHAPTER SIXTY
  66. CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE
  67. CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO
  68. CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE
  69. CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR
  70. CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE
  71. CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX
  72. CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN
  73. CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT
  74. CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE
  75. CHAPTER SEVENTY
  76. CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE
  77. CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWO
  78. CHAPTER SEVENTY-THREE
  79. CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR
  80. CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE
  81. CHAPTER SEVENTY-SIX
  82. CHAPTER SEVENTY-SEVEN
  83. CHAPTER SEVENTY-EIGHT
  84. CHAPTER SEVENTY-NINE
  85. CHAPTER EIGHTY
  86. EPILOGUE
  87. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

I hold the phone away from my ear, letting Frank rant into the open air. His words going out into space. That makes me smile, big-time. Teeny-tiny Frank’s voice ricocheting around various planets, with no one to hear any of it.

After nearly a minute, I press my phone back to my ear. He’s still going strong. In fact, very strong.

“You fucking asshole,” he spits into the phone. “You don’t even know what kind of a war you’ve started, do you?”

I move the phone away from my ear again. I see a man waiting for an Uber and I feel like offering a ride so he and I can have a good laugh when and if Frank ever shuts the hell up.

“Frank,” I cut in, “you are really irritating me right now. This call is about done.”

“I called you,” he says. “I decide when it’s over.”

That’s a good one, I think. Like Sophie’s dad has some magical power that can force someone—other than poor old doormat Helen—to listen to his unremitting rants.

“I need to go, Frank,” I say, without waiting for a response. I’m just plowing on. “Thanks for the call. Give Helen my love. How she puts up with you, I’ll never know.”

With that, I turn off my ex-father-in-law. Click, and he’s gone.

I consider blocking him from my contacts list, but he’ll find a way to wriggle into my life and blame me. Annoy me. He has no idea how much I loved his daughter and how much she despised him. How much I hate him too. People believe what they want to believe. My mom always said that. My mom was one very smart woman.

I’m about to set the phone down when I see I have a voice mail. Turns out it’s from Lee. I can’t say why, but seeing this snuffs out the little high I’d been riding after hanging up on Frank.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

CONNOR

“You had quite an ordeal,” Micah tells me when I let myself in the back door of the restaurant early Wednesday afternoon. He’s in the big walk-in pantry going over inventory before dinner service.

“It was all right,” I say, taking off my jacket and looking over the night’s fresh sheet. “The scallops always go fast,” I say.

Micah doesn’t care about shellfish at the moment.

“An abduction and murder,” he goes on, pulling me into the nightmare of my three-day vacation. “That’s got to make for a memorable Memorial weekend.”

My chest constricts, but I stay silent. How the hell would he know anything about it?

“The woman from Mount Baker,” he carries on. “Happened up in Lilliwaup, where you said you were going. KING had a copter out. And there was your car!”