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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

‘I never meant to hurt anyone,’ she said earnestly. ‘I sent you that text, you know. “The truth shall set you free.” I know it’s cheesy, but I needed to make a Gmail that wasn’t in my name.’

Like that, a flash of recognition. Of course it was her. McKnight had said that the text was sent from Sam Alby’s house.

‘I felt so bad for you,’ she went on. ‘I knew you would never hurt him, and I felt like, because of what happened with me, you got mixed up in it.’

‘Thank you, Claire,’ I said. ‘Thank you for telling me that. And thank you for telling me everything. I’m sorry you got so caught up in all this. I’m sorry about your dad, too.’

‘Thanks for listening.’ She paused, eyeing me. ‘I know that … I know that you understand.’

I narrowed my eyes. ‘Understand what?’

Her hand reached for the door but didn’t open it – not yet. ‘My dad, there was this one time he hit my mom – it was just once, but – you know, I heard what you said to your friend, that day in the restaurant. I’m sorry that happened to you. Was is that guy, the guy who came around asking about you?’

‘Yes, it was. It’s all over now, though. He’s not going to hurt me again.’

‘Good. Thank god.’ She sighed. ‘And is that why –?’

I nodded before she could finish.

‘Well, I guess I should get back to work.’

‘Thanks,’ I said. ‘I should get going, too.’

Claire leaned across the console and wrapped me in a hug. ‘Thanks again for listening.’ Then, with hands half shaking from all that she’d just told me, Claire opened the door and walked away.

As soon as she was gone, I took deep breaths – in and out – calming my furiously beating heart. I flicked the radio back on, and two more songs played before I felt okay to pull out of the parking spot and drive down the road.

As I made the turnoff to Rachel’s place, my mind was still reeling. I couldn’t believe it. After everything, this was the truth after all.

It began to snow again, and I parked in front her house, walked around the car, and opened the back door to let Dusty out of his crate.

But as I did, I stopped short. My mail was still there, and during the drive, it had separated, fanning out across the back seat.

There, in the midst of grocery store weeklies and the usual junk mail, was a sheet of white paper.

I leaned forward, Dusty whining, and plucked it from the array.

The words were printed in large, bold type.

THIS ISN’T OVER

Penguin walking logo

FIFTY

‘Get in here – it’s freezing out there.’

I turned and, through lightly falling snowflakes, saw Rachel standing in her doorway, a smile on her face.