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Back The Sorority Murder
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

Regan spared a brief glance toward where she’d parked, up the mountainside, but didn’t see another vehicle or hear a helicopter.

“Nicole knows nothing.”

“She knows that you’re the one who told her not to tell the police she’d seen Candace on campus. And she was the witness who said she saw Joseph Abernathy hopping onto a train. But you and I both know she didn’t see anything like that.”

“Then she lied to the police.”

“My guess is that you said you saw him. Maybe she did see something, because the homeless had an encampment down there. But you are manipulative and smart, Rachel. You could have easily convinced her that she did see Abernathy, maybe even said you saw him, too, but you were too close to Candace, or maybe by that time you were already involved with Young and it would create a conflict. You needed him in charge of the case so you would know what was going on, to ensure that you were in the clear.”

“I love Steven. And you messed it all up.”

“I don’t think you’re capable of loving anyone but yourself, Rachel. People are tools for you to use. You seduced Steven to get close to the case, make sure you weren’t implicated. You befriend the sorority girls because you miss college life. I saw your office. The pictures of you. Not one picture of you with anyone outside of the sorority or cheerleading. You miss your youth. You’re my age, Rachel. We’re thirty-five. I’ll be thirty-six in September and it doesn’t bother me. My guess is every year you see your youth getting farther away. You never grew up. You wish you were in college again, so you made your career at a college.”

The wind was howling through the trees, which might mask the sound of approaching police. Regan inched forward at the same pace Rachel was inching toward the mine.

“You’re sick,” Rachel said to Regan.

She laughed. “Me? You have a knife on a kid and I’m sick? You poisoned Nicole. All because she figured out that you were using her.”

“I am going to reclaim my life.”

“You can’t. You’re wanted for murder. If the warrant hasn’t already been issued, it will be by the end of the day. The police are on their way. I’m just waiting for them to get here.”

She wished they would drive faster. Was she the only one with a lead foot?

Rachel scowled. She was now only ten feet from the slight rise that led to the mine. It was mostly boarded up, but from this angle it was clear that one of the boards was loose.