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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

‘This way,’ Vera said, Officer Parker’s flashlight like a beacon.

There they were, the abandoned backpack and water bottle, just as we’d left them. Parker squatted down, then stood. From a duffel bag, she retrieved a camera, about the size of John’s, and snapped a series of photos. Then she tucked it away and pulled out a large brown paper evidence bag and a pair of tongs like a giant tweezers. She expertly maneuvered John’s water bottle into the sack, then folded the top and placed it inside her duffel.

Her flashlight found the footprints and the disturbed rocks – still there, the rain not strong enough to fully wash them away. She turned to me. ‘This is where he fell?’

‘From what I could see, yes.’

She retrieved her camera, knelt carefully, and took more photos, then stood. ‘Can you tell me exactly what happened?’

Breath short, pulse elevated, I pointed to the edge of the clearing. ‘I was a little bit behind John, and just as I stepped into the clearing, I heard him scream and saw him slip and fall off the edge here.’

A hit of nausea, a tickle in my throat. ‘And then Vera found me, and we looked over the edge, but we didn’t see him. We couldn’t see him.’

‘How long were you standing there before Ms Abernathy arrived?’ Parker asked.

I shrugged. ‘A minute or so,’ I said. ‘I called for her, but I’m not sure if she heard me. I don’t know, it’s hard to say.’

‘Probably a few minutes,’ Vera added. ‘It took me a while to catch up to her. I didn’t know – I heard yelling, but I couldn’t make out what she was saying over the wind. God, I couldn’t have imagined –’ She looked away.

With her flashlight, Parker scanned the area, but when she didn’t see anything else, she grabbed John’s backpack and her duffel, her expression matter-of-fact. ‘All right. Let’s get down there.’

Vera and I piled back into the UTV. It revved to life, grumbling, and we made our way, not back toward the parking lot, but down a different path, toward the river.

Where both Vera and I knew John wouldn’t be.

Penguin walking logo

TWENTY

I had made it. That’s what I thought when I woke the next morning. I had made it another night in my little cottage, another night without Davis finding me. If all went according to plan, I only had one or two more nights to go.

I called Vera, but she didn’t answer. So I walked over, only to find no one was home, and a horrible thought struck me – what if she had gone, too? What if the two of them were out there, in the wilderness somewhere? What if they’d used me and left me behind, tiring of my company before our family had a chance to start anew?