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Back Parting Shot Save as PDF
Chapters (68)
  1. Dedication
  2. Title Page
  3. Contents
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Three
  7. Four
  8. Five
  9. Six
  10. Seven
  11. Eight
  12. Nine
  13. Ten
  14. Eleven
  15. Thirteen
  16. Fourteen
  17. Fifteen
  18. Sixteen
  19. Seventeen
  20. Eighteen
  21. Nineteen
  22. Twenty
  23. Twenty-One
  24. Twenty-Two
  25. Twenty-Three
  26. Twenty-Four
  27. Twenty-Five
  28. Twenty-Six
  29. Twenty-Seven
  30. Twenty-Eight
  31. Twenty-Nine
  32. Thirty
  33. Thirty-One
  34. Thirty-Two
  35. Thirty-Three
  36. Thirty-Four
  37. Thirty-Five
  38. Thirty-Six
  39. Thirty-Seven
  40. Thirty-Eight
  41. Thirty-Nine
  42. Forty
  43. Forty-One
  44. Forty-Two
  45. Forty-Three
  46. Forty-Four
  47. Forty-Five
  48. Forty-Six
  49. Forty-Seven
  50. Forty-Eight
  51. Forty-Nine
  52. Fifty
  53. Fifty-One
  54. Fifty-Two
  55. Fifty-Three
  56. Fifty-Four
  57. Fifty-Five
  58. Fifty-Six
  59. Fifty-Seven
  60. Fifty-Eight
  61. Fifty-Nine
  62. Sixty
  63. Sixty-One
  64. Sixty-Two
  65. Sixty-Three
  66. Sixty-Four
  67. Sixty-Five
  68. Copyright

“You were at the party. Do you remember seeing Charlene? Was she drinking, too?”

“I just . . . I just don’t remember. I remember Alicia—that’s her mother—being there, and her husband, too.”

“The thing is, if Galen was dumb enough to leave that key in the car, even after the first time Jeremy tried to start it up, then anyone could have taken it. And whoever that was probably knows how Jeremy ended up behind the wheel.”

“Honestly, I don’t know what to do with this speculation. I don’t know whether to tell Gloria. I think it would send her into a tailspin or something. But do you think, I mean, do you think there might be grounds for an appeal? That we could get this whole thing opened up again?”

“Did you ask Finch that question?”

“In a manner of speaking. But he said we as much as acknowledged Jeremy did it when we went with the defense that he didn’t understand the consequences of his actions. So we wouldn’t have much chance taking another run at it.”

“He’s the lawyer,” I said. “He knows this stuff better than I do.” I didn’t know if it was my place to say what I was going to say next, but what the hell. “I’m not sure Finch is acting in Jeremy’s best interests. Maybe you need to find him a different lawyer.”

Nothing at the other end of the call.

“Bob?” I said.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m here. God, what a fucking mess. Look, I want to talk to you more about this, at least before taking it to Gloria. Where are you?”

“Like you said, we’re on the road.” For all I knew, someone might be listening in to Bob’s call, and I didn’t want to give our location away. “But we might be back soon. Why don’t we give it another day? Maybe we’ll be back in Promise Falls by then.”

“Okay, sure, that . . . that sounds good,” Bob said. “What’s Jeremy say about all this?”

“He’s either entirely baffled or doing a good job pretending to be. But Bob, something is not right about this.”

“I agree,” he said. “Well . . . keep in touch.”

“Sure thing.”

Bob ended the call.

When I went back out to the deck, Jeremy asked, “Who was that?”

“Bob.”

“You tell him your nutso theory?”

“What’s to tell? Like you said, you must be the first person in history who mastered the art of shifting while impaired.”

Jeremy nodded. “It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

Forty-Four

FORTY-FOUR

ALBERT quickly wheeled his car into the driveway, bringing the nose to within an inch of the garage. It was a separate building at the back of the lot, large enough to hold two cars, with two doors.