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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

‘Oh, shut up,’ Rachel snapped, lifting the knife so it hovered in front of her hip. ‘You can fool the police, maybe you could even fool Vera, but you can’t fool me. She deserved better than either of you. She was my best friend. She pulled me out of the worst time of my life, got me through my divorce, but when I tried to comfort her about her own shitty husband, she still chose him, the guy screwing around with a teenager, over me. And after all that, he still couldn’t stop. John had to have you, too. Neither of you gave a shit about her. I’m the only one who ever looked out for her. I’m the only one who ever loved her.’

‘That’s not true. I loved Vera. More than anything.’

‘Way to show it,’ Rachel spit, lifting the knife even higher.

Fear etched its way through me as I stared at this woman.

It had been Rachel. Always Rachel. Never Vera. Always Rachel.

My heart pounded. What had I done? What the fuck had I done?

My stomach churned. I didn’t want it to be true. But I knew, all the same, that it was.

The knife glinted in the light, twisting in her hand. I had to keep her talking. I had to buy myself time. ‘But how did you … how did you actually kill him?’ I asked. ‘How did you know where he’d be?’

‘You think they never made their Van Gogh joke with me around?’ Rachel said. ‘When I saw the three of you head out together in John’s truck, I had this feeling. I drove to the hike, saw his truck there, waited in the parking lot. When the police cars came, it was obvious what you were up to. I headed to their cabin, which was conveniently unlocked, and waited for him to arrive. I knew Vera would never believe me, no matter how much proof I gave her. She was lovesick for John. I knew she’d never let him go, never let me take care of her, be the friend that she needed, unless he was actually dead.’

Rachel laughed bitterly. ‘You should have seen the look on his face when he walked in and found me, when I stabbed him before he could so much as ask me what I was doing there. He never expected all his lies to catch up with him. He was so surprised, so tired from hiking off the trail for however many miles, he could hardly even fight back.’

My heart ached, and grief flooded my body. So that was it – those were John’s last moments. Death at the hands of a former friend.

It was gruesome. Pointless. Unthinkable.