Contents (85)
- Contents
- Part I
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Part II
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Part III
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-One
- Sixty-Two
- Sixty-Three
- Sixty-Four
- Sixty-Five
- Sixty-Six
- Sixty-Seven
- Sixty-Eight
- Sixty-Nine
- Seventy
- Seventy-One
- Seventy-Two
- One
- Two
- Reading Group Guide
- A Conversation with the Author
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
“Agents for what?”
He shrugs. “A new life.”
Sixty-One
My father walks over to the bookshelves, pulls out a volume that sits at eye level. A hardcover of Gone with the Wind. He opens it and removes three slips of paper, looks at them, puts two slips back, then shelves the book.
“I’ve had these numbers for twenty-two years and pay annual retainers to keep them active. There was always something…comforting about knowing I could up and disappear without a trace if I wanted. A complete sense of freedom.” He turns, walks over, stands eye to eye with me. “Funny thing is, whenever I think there might be a need to use these numbers, I don’t want to go anywhere. I always want to stay and fight whatever threat I’m facing.”
He hands me the slip of paper. There’s a phone number typed on it. Long number, international. Above the number is a single word, written in my father’s hand.
Rosie.
“If you stay and everything comes out,” I say, “you’ll go to prison.”
He smiles, such a rare and unsettling thing. “No, no. I won’t be going to prison. Even if I get arrested, I can afford a lawyer who will get me out on bail. I’ll put a gun in my mouth long before I do any jail time. Maybe in my favorite chair.”
My father isn’t prone to hyperbole. I believe everything he’s telling me, and I can’t find the empathy to argue against his plan.
“And who knows?” he continues. “Maybe I’ll use my phone number. Maybe I’ll end up running after all.”
I shake the slip of paper. “So you expect me to call this number and disappear?”
He nods. “I do. You and Max. I have no actual idea what happens when you call, but whoever answers that phone will tell you everything you need to do. Their job is to make sure your history as Rose Yates will end, and no one will ever find you unless you want them to. You’ll be set up with enough money to be comfortable for at least twenty years, if you’re sensible about it.”
“I don’t want to disappear,” I say. “And I don’t even have a phone to call with if I wanted to.”
“Get a burner phone,” he says. “Then make the call.”
“But I didn’t do anything wrong.”
He sees right through my naivete. “We’ve all done something wrong.”
“I didn’t kill Caleb. And Cora…that was self-defense. That’s not how I wanted that to end.” I believe my words, so why does it feel like I’m lying?
“I know. But there are other wrongs. There’s Riley.”
He catches my gaze, daring me to look away. I don’t. What does he see? Guilt or innocence? The truth or obfuscation?
He doesn’t even bother to wait for an answer. “I suppose only you know the truth about your husband. Still, Rosie, you stayed silent about a lot of things, and that’s conspiracy. With the storm that’s going to be coming over your sister’s disappearance, I imagine it’s only a matter of time before all your excuses add up to jack shit in the eyes of the law.”