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Back One White Lie Save as PDF
Chapters (59)
  1. COVER
  2. About the Author
  3. DEDICATION
  4. ONE
  5. TWO
  6. THREE
  7. FOUR
  8. FIVE
  9. SIX
  10. SEVEN
  11. EIGHT
  12. NINE
  13. TEN
  14. ELEVEN
  15. TWELVE
  16. THIRTEEN
  17. FOURTEEN
  18. FIFTEEN
  19. SIXTEEN
  20. SEVENTEEN
  21. EIGHTEEN
  22. NINETEEN
  23. TWENTY
  24. TWENTY-ONE
  25. TWENTY-TWO
  26. TWENTY-THREE
  27. TWENTY-FOUR
  28. TWENTY-FIVE
  29. TWENTY-SIX
  30. TWENTY-SEVEN
  31. TWENTY-EIGHT
  32. TWENTY-NINE
  33. THIRTY
  34. THIRTY-ONE
  35. THIRTY-TWO
  36. THIRTY-THREE
  37. THIRTY-FOUR
  38. THIRTY-FIVE
  39. THIRTY-SIX
  40. THIRTY-SEVEN
  41. THIRTY-EIGHT
  42. THIRTY-NINE
  43. FORTY
  44. FORTY-ONE
  45. FORTY-TWO
  46. FORTY-THREE
  47. FORTY-FOUR
  48. FORTY-FIVE
  49. FORTY-SIX
  50. FORTY-SEVEN
  51. FORTY-EIGHT
  52. FORTY-NINE
  53. FIFTY
  54. FIFTY-ONE
  55. FIFTY-TWO
  56. FIFTY-THREE
  57. FIFTY-FOUR
  58. Acknowledgments
  59. THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING

‘It can’t be,’ I said desperately. ‘No, you have to be wrong. It … it can’t be him.’

McKnight opened the lapel of his suit, digging in the interior pocket. He came out with a crumpled packet of tissues and tossed it on the table, next to the sugar.

‘It is him, Miss King. Ms Abernathy identified him herself.’

I shook my head harder, as if that could push his words away, as the hopes I’d been clinging to shuddered, their foundations cracking. ‘Oh god, oh god, no. How?’

Parker stole a glance at McKnight, her face paling.

McKnight continued to study me, ignoring my question.

‘No,’ I said again as their silence stretched out, and before I could stop myself, more sobs were racking me, animal sounds. ‘No, you’re wrong.’

This couldn’t be happening again.

I couldn’t lose someone I cared about … again.

I’d lost too much already.

Besides, the plan was good: no way to mess it up; no way for John to die.

No no no no no.

McKnight tapped his foot against the floor. ‘I’m surprised it’s such a shock to you, given that you saw him fall off a cliff. Did you expect him to have survived such an accident?’

I had no words. I could only shake my head, feel the tears swim down my cheeks.

He pushed the tissues toward me, but I wouldn’t touch them. He didn’t care about me or John or Vera or any of us. He only cared about trapping me, making me feel small, tripping me up.

I searched Parker’s face for answers, but she looked down at her hands.

‘You don’t have to answer that,’ McKnight said, as if he were doing me some sort of favor. ‘But the reason why I kept asking about what you saw …’

I paused, wiping at my eyes. Something else was coming, I could see it now. His trump card, the one he’d been holding, waiting to use, the whole time he’d been here. While I was making coffee, breaking a mug, handing him the sugar, he had had this in his head.

‘The thing is, his body didn’t show a single sign of a fall.’ He blinked, once, twice. Parker looked up, her eyes filling with empathy, understanding. You can tell us. Good cop, bad cop.

‘I’d like to know why you lied to us, Miss King.’ McKnight said it so coolly, as if there were an answer I could deliver just like that. ‘You can tell us. Really.’ His head swiveled to Parker, then back to me. ‘We can clear this up right now.’