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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

There was a slight upturn at the corner of Rachel’s mouth, etching her laugh lines deeper, wrinkling her foundation. As if she were proud she’d gone so long without being discovered.

‘You had a key, didn’t you? You had a copy you never gave back.’

‘Jennifer was supposed to send the guy over to change the locks the day I was meant to move out, but when he didn’t show up’ – she shrugged – ‘I didn’t tell her. Honestly, I expected her to take care of it. Maybe she just forgot. A lot was going on with her during that time. Her daughter, you know.’

‘But … but why?’

Rachel’s hand twisted, the edge of the knife catching the light. Dusty whined again. ‘I missed Vera, that was all. It wasn’t a crime to go by your house occasionally, to keep tabs on her new best friend, the one who conveniently comes along after I’ve been shut out. I didn’t like you, but still, I never expected to find you and John like that, curtains open for everyone to see.’

‘No,’ I said. ‘I told you, it wasn’t like that.’

‘That’s not what it looked like to me.’

I shook my head, trying desperately to understand. If Rachel had been coming into my house, that meant, it meant that …

‘You took my knife,’ I said. ‘You took that photo of me, so it would look like …’ I gasped. ‘You took everything.’

Rachel tilted her head to the side. ‘Lot of fucking good it did me.’

No no no. This couldn’t be.

‘It would have all worked perfectly if you hadn’t ruined it,’ Rachel said.

I took quick breaths, trying to understand, trying to get a grasp on the truth, but it felt like it was all suddenly slipping away. I chanced a look at Dusty, huddled by my feet, his tail down. Then I looked back at Rachel. Was it possible? Had it really been her all along?

‘Vera had the knife,’ I said. ‘It was right there, in her things. She was going to frame me. She had an insurance policy. She had, she had …’ My voice faltered, temporarily stunned by disbelief. ‘It had to be her.’

‘I gave her the knife, told her I found it when Maggie and I went over to get Dusty when you were in the hospital. I wanted her to see for herself just what kind of a friend you were.’ Rachel’s face went red. ‘But now I know that she never even believed me. She was always trusting the wrong people. John. You.’

‘It wasn’t like that,’ I said again. ‘I loved her. I never meant to –’