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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 know that about Lee. I know that the case that almost undid her haunts her. She won’t fail twice. I want her to catch Sophie’s killer so everyone can move on. It hangs over me. It hangs over everyone. I consider my next text very, very carefully. I don’t want to send the wrong message. I don’t want to scare her off. I want her to know that I am the grown-up version of the boy who found her that day under the branches of the plum tree. That I haven’t morphed into something vile and hideous in the years since Albert Hodge took her. That maybe there was a purpose for our being reunited after all these years.

I start typing.

I’m up at the cabin. Brought Sophie’s ashes to spread. Not sure I really want to do it alone.

She’s typing. I watch the dots bounce on my phone.

She pushes “Send” and I read: I don’t know.

I write back without hesitation: That’s okay. I can do it alone.

I know Lee. I know why she went into police work. She wants to be a help to people. She’s not motivated by revenge. She will never forget what I mean to her, and I can count on that no matter what anyone—including Frank Flynn, Carrie LaCroix, and Zach Montrose—has to say.

A second later, the response I hoped for: I’m coming. I can be there tomorrow. Late in the day.

I write: Perfect.

CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE

CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE

LEE

I’m still holding the phone in my palm after texting with Adam when Sarah Leonard from the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab texts me to call her.

Finally! Got a hit on the Warner case.

Sarah and I were working the Rinehart case when it unspooled into a disaster. We were both new in our jobs at the time and took the brunt of the blame for the botched case. None of it was really Sarah’s fault. The officers responding had contaminated the scene, which was a gift to the killer. With the DNA compromised before it got to the lab, there was nothing she could do. I made mistakes too. I can’t say that I didn’t.

Social media had a field day, of course. That we were two young women in a mostly male-dominated field was red meat for those who’d rather have us serving coffee than warrants.

“I hope you’re sitting down,” Sarah says when she answers my call.

“With the shoes I stupidly wore today, you bet I am. What do you have?”

“Got a hit, and it’s not James Coyle.”

“Are you serious?”

“As a heart attack.”

That’s her favorite phrase. Everything Sarah does is as serious as a heart attack.

She goes one more. “The DNA Dr. Collier collected from the victim belonged to Connor Justin Moss.”

I’m stunned.