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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

I dropped my voice even lower. “Can’t discuss now. In person.”

“Shit.” Another pause. “Ten. Usual place.”

And where was that?

“Ten’s good,” I said. “But not the usual place. Think it’s being watched.”

“What?” His voice went up. “Why? What’s going on?”

“Told you, can’t now. Tomorrow, ten, take a booth at the back of Kelly’s.”

“What the hell is Kelly’s?”

“Diner, Promise Falls.”

“Why the hell do I have to go up there?”

“Just be there. End booth, by the door to the kitchen.”

There was another pause. Had he figured it out? Did he know I wasn’t Kiln? I could feel blood pulsing in my temple.

“You there?” I asked.

Another three seconds passed before he answered. “Fine, I’ll be there.”

He ended the call. I closed my eyes, kept playing his voice back in my head, wondering if I’d heard it before.

Maybe. Then again, maybe not.

When I opened my eyes, I saw a woman running up the road toward me. She was waving her arms frantically. She had what looked like short lengths of rope trailing from her wrists.

She screamed: “Help me! Help me!”

As I ran toward her, I thought that Cape Cod was perhaps not the idyllic vacation spot I’d been hearing about all these years.

Sixty

SIXTY

GLORIA Pilford rolled over in bed and saw Bob sitting there, hunched over, his back to her. A sliver of light sneaking from the hallway of Madeline Plimpton’s house through the slightly opened doorway was enough to cast shadows.

Bob extended an arm and put his cell phone on the bedside table.

“What’s going on?” Gloria asked. “Is something going on?”

“No,” Bob said. “Go back to sleep.”

“What time is it?”

“Around one,” he said.

“I think I only just got to sleep,” she said. “I was awake for the longest time.” She sat up. “Who were you talking to?”

“Nobody.”

“You were on the phone. I heard you whispering. Were you on the phone?”

Bob turned and looked at her sharply. “For Christ’s sake, just go back to sleep.”

Gloria shifted her body toward the headboard so she could prop herself up against it. “I want to know what’s going on.”

“Nothing!”

Bob stood and walked across the room to the door and disappeared into the hallway. Gloria threw back the covers, grabbed a housecoat that had been draped over a chair, threw it around herself and went in pursuit.

She spotted Bob descending the stairs. When he reached the bottom, he turned in the direction of the kitchen.

“Wait,” she said, scurrying down the steps in her bare feet. “Talk to me.”