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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

She had to stop drinking, I realized. She had to stop, or else she really would flip out – say something, do something she’d regret.

But as we entered the next room, my worries about Vera were momentarily pushed aside.

My heart stopped. And time, once again, stood still.

Sam was there, in the corner. He wore a denim shirt, perhaps the same one he’d had on when he’d spilled wine on us, and his gray-brown hair gleamed in the muted bar lights.

Staring at her – at me – drinking a beer like nothing in the world was the matter.

The man who had been in my house just last night.

The man who killed John.

Penguin walking logo

FORTY-TWO

‘We have to go,’ I said, but Vera grabbed my hand, jerking me closer to her.

‘No, we don’t.’

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sam sip his beer and walk off, disappearing into the next room.

‘See?’ Vera said bitterly. ‘It’s fine.’

‘It’s not fine,’ I said, my pulse ratcheting up as I imagined Sam, only a room away, how his hands had been on my things, on my knife. ‘He was in my house. Jesus, Vera. He killed John. Don’t you even care?’

She took another sip, her lips purpling. They looked ravenous, a vampire’s, having just sucked blood. ‘You really think he’s going to attack me in the middle of a crowded bar? You said you’d be here for me.’

My fear and guilt and heartache morphed into anger, raging like that river John was supposed to have drowned in. ‘I am here for you. I’m always here for you.’

She raised an eyebrow. ‘Are you? Because however much you supposedly cared about John, it wasn’t enough for you to actually trust him. You’re just as bad as everyone else, you know. Believing whatever people tell you.’

‘Vera, stop,’ I said. The world felt suddenly shaky, like a tower of blocks – pull the wrong one, and it all comes tumbling down. Jenga!

I could feel Sam somewhere nearby, just waiting for this moment, when all our defenses were down, to finish us off.

Vera took a gulp of wine. ‘I’m not stupid, I know the truth,’ she said. My heart beat faster as the corner of her mouth twisted into an awful smile. ‘I know that you loved him, Lucy. You wanted him to be a bad guy, so you could have him.’