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Back One White Lie
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

You have a visitor,’ the nurse said as she took away my cereal the next morning, a flavorless bran thing that looked far too much like Dusty’s kibble for my liking.

I could barely manage a nod before I saw his face in the door.

McKnight raised his eyebrows. ‘Up for company?’

My heartbeat quickened. Why had he come to the hospital? Did he finally have what he needed to arrest me? Was this it? Had he not taken what I’d said about Sam Alby seriously at all?

McKnight didn’t wait for my answer. He took a seat next to my bed. ‘I wanted to talk to you about what happened the night of your accident. I suppose I wanted to hear from you how everything went down.’

Went down.

My heart continued to race, but now for a different reason. Vera and I had had a fight, nothing more. What else had happened, after I left her? What if she hadn’t found a cab after all? What if something horrible – god – why was he here? I hadn’t even considered it, but now the thought slapped at me.

‘Is Vera okay? Is she hurt?’

‘Miss King,’ he said, resting his hand on the bed rail. ‘You can rest assured that Ms Abernathy is safe, but I still need to hear from you what happened. Fill in a few gaps for me.’

I didn’t know what he was up to, what was going on, but at the same time, my body was tired, my neck ached. I didn’t have any energy left to fight him. I wasn’t sure it would be good for me if I did.

‘What do you remember about the night of November ninth?’ he asked.

I took a deep breath. That night had been terrible, but I hadn’t done anything to make my situation with McKnight worse – I only had to tell the truth. ‘Vera came over. I was really shaken up from what had happened the night before, and we were hanging out, having dinner, and then – then she wanted to go out.’

McKnight nodded. ‘Go on.’

I swallowed. ‘We got in her car and headed to Platform – the bar, you know. I really didn’t want to go, because she’d told me Sam Alby was a regular there, but she said it was the only one open and she was tired of avoiding places due to the rumors. At the bar, she started ordering these extra-tall glasses of wine. I wasn’t drinking much, but she was. It’s like everything had finally gotten to her. She just wanted to forget it all.’

McKnight nodded.

‘You know this?’ I asked.

‘Yes,’ he said. ‘Witnesses have confirmed that Ms Abernathy was inebriated. Including the woman who agreed to give her a ride home. A Woodstock resident, used to know Mr Nolan. They were the ones who found the car. Who found you.’