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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

Jessie swore as easily as breathing. Regan had never heard her parents utter a bad word, but Jessie had littered shit and fuck and damn into her speech from the day Regan had first met her in middle school. Jessie, born on the Navajo reservation to a Navajo father and white mother, had moved to Flagstaff with her mom when her parents divorced. Those teenage years had been difficult for Jessie, and she had her own way of coping with it.

She’d run away from home several times. She lived with her father for six months in eighth grade, then realized why her mother divorced him: he was sweet as molasses when he was sober, unpredictable and violent when he was drunk. In high school, she’d once dyed her long black hair bright pink. She later admitted that had been stupid. In college, she cut it off at her ears to get rid of the remnants of pink. Now, she wore it medium-length, which she usually pulled back into a ponytail.

“You look soft,” Jessie said. “Are you sure you’re going to be able to do this one? It’s the most difficult trail in Sedona.”

Her comment didn’t deserve a response, so Regan ignored it. “I wanted to pick your brain. Do you remember three years ago a sorority girl, Candace Swain, who was found dead at Hope Centennial Golf Course? In the lake.”

“Yep.”

“You answered quickly.”

“I listen to podcasts in my truck. You know how much I can’t stand driving, and that seems to be half my job now. I found the one about her death. The Sorority Murder. Kid from the college. I didn’t think you’d have the patience to sit still and listen to anything.”

“I spoke at the Criminology and Criminal Justice school yesterday, and Lucas Vega, the host, asked to interview me.”

“No shit. You doing it?”

She nodded. “The case is intriguing, and I think I can help. I’m just concerned about the directions of his questions, so I need to lay down some ground rules. I’m very private.”

“Ya think?” Jessie snorted.

The server returned with their food: three eggs over easy, bacon and toast for Regan, a loaded omelet for Jessie. She refilled their coffees and walked away.

“Do you remember the murder?” Regan asked as they ate.

“Sure, it was on my radar—FPD issued a BOLO for Candace Swain, missing person, so it was posted on our board and in my truck. Also a BOLO for some homeless guy, Abernathy—the Vega kid mentioned him. So you’re going on the podcast to help? Share your expertise?”