Chapters (61)
- Cover
- Praise
- Dedication
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- From the Missing Journal of Candace Swain
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- From the Missing Journal of Candace Swain
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- From the Missing Journal of Candace Swain
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- From the Missing Journal of Candace Swain
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- From the Missing Journal of Candace Swain
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- From the Journal of Candace Swain
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Letter Found in the Journal of Candace Swain
- Forty-Eight
- Acknowledgments
- Booklist
- Excerpt
But her guilt would be gone. Even if she was sent to prison, the truth would set her free. It had to. She’d beg for forgiveness and take whatever punishment the system meted out because she deserved it. She didn’t want to go to jail, but if that was the result, she would take it.
Candace wouldn’t be alone. Taylor had finally agreed to join her. Candace had been alone in her grief and guilt for so long, that having someone by her side gave her hope that they would, eventually, get through this. Together.
That meant the world to her.
Once upon a time, they’d been best friends. She and Taylor had met the first day of college in a biology class and became immediate friends. They rushed Sigma Rho together, ate lunch together most every day, went on double dates. With Taylor, she had another sister. She missed her real sister, Chrissy, but with Taylor she wasn’t so homesick and miserable.
The choices they’d each made that first year had, ultimately, torn them apart. But now, maybe, from the ashes of their lives, they could reclaim the friendship they’d once had. They would endure this together. United.
Candace had been waiting at the aquatic center for an hour. She’d slipped in right before closing, hidden in the locker room, and when everyone had left, texted Taylor where she was.
It had taken her time to drive down the winding mountain highway from Payson, then return the truck she’d taken. She felt bad about it, but she didn’t want to get anyone else involved with the mess she’d helped create. She’d filled it up with gas with the remainder of the cash she had, and she’d explain to Willa when she had a chance.
Because maybe—maybe—she wouldn’t be arrested. Maybe she could ask for mercy or community service. All she really wanted was to give Adele’s parents the truth.
Candace sat on the bleachers running alongside the pool. Her eyes had become adjusted to the near-dark security lighting under the bleacher stairs and over each door casting odd shadows everywhere. The water was still, the Olympic-size pool ominous even with waterproof lights under the cement lip.
Candace had propped the side door of the locker room open with a small block. They’d done the same thing many times over the years, when the sorority wanted to have a midnight swim party. Totally against the rules, but so much fun. There were security cameras on the outside of the building, but not in the locker room or inside, so the sorority took advantage of that once a year.