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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

It has been a long day. The longest, really. The morgue. The encounter with the Flynns. The confrontation with Jim Coyle. The nonsense with Facebooker Sheila. The call just now. I’m feeling the pressure—my own, and others’. I can’t let this be another Cathy Rinehart case. I know that when I go to sleep, I’ll be thinking of her and how we’ve let her down by letting her killer escape justice. It happens. Maybe more often than I know.

I run the shower to make sure that the chemical smell of the morgue no longer clings to my hair and skin. I step inside and let the water pour over me. As I turn my wrist, I see the tiny hairpin-shaped scar that is the sole physical reminder of my own victimhood. It makes an appearance about this time every year as the sun slightly tans my freckled skin to reveal the thin, white tracing.

Whenever I see it, I turn away.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

LEE

“You know you shouldn’t work this case, Lee.”

Zach Montrose is standing in the doorway to my office. I know what he knows the second those words come from his nicotine-stained lips, but I don’t admit it. I think that I can work this case. I am indebted to Adam, of course. But it’s more than that. I owe Sophie and every other girl or woman who is abducted a shot at justice. It never leaves my mind that I am the lucky one.

Personal connections are strong and powerful motivators, not distractions. That’s what this is about. I see that by the look on his face.

I think of doing an end run and bringing up his medical appointment for early stages of Parkinson’s, but I don’t. He hasn’t told me directly. A new girl in HR did. I don’t want to burn her.

More than anything, I don’t want to hurt him.

“Why didn’t you tell me that Adam Warner was the one who found you?” he asks in a tone that’s decidedly more disappointed than angry.

I probably should have told him. It came to me the second I knew that it was Adam’s wife who had vanished. It’s just that it’s something I don’t like to revisit in any way, shape, or form.

Montrose slides into a chair next to my desk. He’s wearing a chambray shirt and faded Wranglers. Ordinarily I’d tease him about his sartorial selection. How he looks like a blueberry Popsicle. It’s our little game. Not today, however. Not in the moment where he’s come to me with something that I should have already confided.

“How did you find out?” I ask, directly peering into his eyes.

“Ran into Belinda Stephens at Safeway,” he tells me. “She should have been a cop instead of a librarian.”