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Back The Sorority Murder Save as PDF
Chapters (61)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise
  3. Dedication
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Three
  7. Four
  8. Five
  9. From the Missing Journal of Candace Swain
  10. Six
  11. Seven
  12. Eight
  13. Nine
  14. Ten
  15. Eleven
  16. Twelve
  17. From the Missing Journal of Candace Swain
  18. Thirteen
  19. Fourteen
  20. Fifteen
  21. From the Missing Journal of Candace Swain
  22. Sixteen
  23. Seventeen
  24. Eighteen
  25. Nineteen
  26. Twenty
  27. Twenty-One
  28. From the Missing Journal of Candace Swain
  29. Twenty-Two
  30. Twenty-Three
  31. Twenty-Four
  32. Twenty-Five
  33. Twenty-Six
  34. Twenty-Seven
  35. Twenty-Eight
  36. Twenty-Nine
  37. Thirty
  38. Thirty-One
  39. Thirty-Two
  40. Thirty-Three
  41. Thirty-Four
  42. From the Missing Journal of Candace Swain
  43. Thirty-Five
  44. Thirty-Six
  45. Thirty-Seven
  46. Thirty-Eight
  47. From the Journal of Candace Swain
  48. Thirty-Nine
  49. Forty
  50. Forty-One
  51. Forty-Two
  52. Forty-Three
  53. Forty-Four
  54. Forty-Five
  55. Forty-Six
  56. Forty-Seven
  57. Letter Found in the Journal of Candace Swain
  58. Forty-Eight
  59. Acknowledgments
  60. Booklist
  61. Excerpt

“One of the Sigma Rho sorority girls is in the hospital, in a coma, found unconscious last night. She was the disguised voice on the podcast. I’m worried about her safety.”

“I’ll talk to the hospital, get security on the door, at least for twenty-four hours. Is that good?”

“Yes, thank you.” She ended the call.

Ten minutes later, as Regan was looking through the Payson history books, Lucas texted her.

I found it.

The three of them met back in the study room. Lucas had found Candace’s journal in the middle of a hollowed-out book about Fanny Durack, the first female Olympic swimming champion.

Heads together, they read through the journal, and Regan immediately identified the tipping point. It started with Lucas, but it ended with indifference.

From the Journal of Candace Swain

From the Journal of Candace Swain

Kim and Taylor were laughing Friday night.

Kim is doing great. She has an amazing new job as media rep for a pharmaceutical company. Taylor always admired her. And all I could think about was that Adele wanted a future, too. That she wanted to be a nurse and help people. And she was dead. And her family hurt. And they should know the truth.

I thought about how I would feel if it were Chrissy. If she disappeared and I didn’t know what had happened to her. I don’t think I could function. I would demand that someone do something. I would search everywhere for her. I wouldn’t rest until I knew the truth. But if Chrissy were Adele? No one would find her body. And that was it. I would be lost. Broken. And at that moment, I knew what I had to do.

I went to Kim and Taylor and told them we had to tell the truth. We had to at least tell Adele’s family. If they didn’t want to go to the police, maybe an anonymous letter—tell them where she was buried. Kim said no, but then we talked, and she said she would consider it if we went to a lawyer first, to protect us. I didn’t care about that! But I wanted Kim on my side, so I agreed. Taylor wanted none of it, and then Rachel came over and Taylor told her everything we’d discussed. Rachel was livid, told us we would be in serious trouble but she would be the one in jail. And if we wanted her in prison, go ahead.

Then Kim faltered. We had to remain silent. No anonymous letter, no going to the police, no anything. It had been an accident, she didn’t want anyone to get in trouble, or worse.

I’d once admired Kim. I’d once loved Taylor like a sister. And they both turned on me, because of Rachel. For the first time I saw Rachel’s true face.