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Back Their Last Secret Save as PDF
Chapters (97)
  1. Cover
  2. Back Cover Text
  3. Praise
  4. Booklist
  5. Dedication
  6. Epigraph
  7. One
  8. Two
  9. Three
  10. Four
  11. Five
  12. Six
  13. Seven
  14. Eight
  15. Nine
  16. Ten
  17. Eleven
  18. Twelve
  19. Thirteen
  20. Fourteen
  21. Fifteen
  22. Sixteen
  23. Seventeen
  24. Eighteen
  25. Nineteen
  26. Twenty
  27. Twenty-One
  28. Twenty-Two
  29. Twenty-Three
  30. Twenty-Four
  31. Twenty-Five
  32. Twenty-Six
  33. Twenty-Seven
  34. Twenty-Eight
  35. Twenty-Nine
  36. Thirty
  37. Thirty-One
  38. Thirty-Two
  39. Thirty-Three
  40. Thirty-Four
  41. Thirty-Five
  42. Thirty-Six
  43. Thirty-Seven
  44. Thirty-Eight
  45. Thirty-Nine
  46. Forty
  47. Forty-One
  48. Forty-Two
  49. Forty-Three
  50. Forty-Four
  51. Forty-Five
  52. Forty-Six
  53. Forty-Seven
  54. Forty-Eight
  55. Forty-Nine
  56. Fifty
  57. Fifty-One
  58. Fifty-Two
  59. Fifty-Three
  60. Fifty-Four
  61. Fifty-Five
  62. Fifty-Six
  63. Fifty-Seven
  64. Fifty-Eight
  65. Fifty-Nine
  66. Sixty
  67. Sixty-One
  68. Sixty-Two
  69. Sixty-Three
  70. Sixty-Four
  71. Sixty-Five
  72. Sixty-Six
  73. Sixty-Seven
  74. Sixty-Eight
  75. Sixty-Nine
  76. Seventy
  77. Seventy-One
  78. Seventy-Two
  79. Seventy-Three
  80. Seventy-Four
  81. Seventy-Five
  82. Seventy-Six
  83. Seventy-Seven
  84. Seventy-Eight
  85. Seventy-Nine
  86. Eighty
  87. Eighty-One
  88. Eighty-Two
  89. Eighty-Three
  90. Eighty-Four
  91. Eighty-Five
  92. Eighty-Six
  93. Eighty-Seven
  94. Eighty-Eight
  95. Eighty-Nine
  96. Acknowledgments & A Personal Note
  97. Excerpt

Under the law the girls were to serve six years and in separate federal institutions, in different undisclosed locations. After their prison time, the sentences called for four years of supervised release into different, undisclosed communities. After that, they would be released on their own but were required to report to the court monthly for two years before being completely free.

“I can only pray that by the end of your sentences something salvageable and meaningful evolves in your troubled young hearts. God help you.”

Claiborne tapped the gavel ending the case.

Conversations erupted in the courtroom, with reactions to what most viewed as light sentences. The girls were escorted from the court. Reporters rushed to file stories on the conclusion of the tragedy in Eternity.

Among those in the courtroom was someone very few people knew; an older teen dressed in a dark blazer, her face sober and calm. She sat quietly with her attendant from The New Dawn Sunrise Wellness Retreat.

The teen had watched the proceedings from the first day, eyeing the three people who had annihilated her family, watching, studying and digesting every part wholly and slowly, the way a python devours its prey.

Forty

Orange County, California
Present day

Ben was planning his first trip to Eternity to examine the case.

This can’t be happening, Emma thought.

Why not tell Ben and Kayla everything and put an end to it?

No, no I can’t tell them. The truth will crush them. It will destroy all of our lives. No, I have to protect them. I know Ben loves me and I know he will understand, and I can help Kayla understand the truth of what I did, but in time. Right now I have to survive and I’ll do whatever it takes.

“Emma?”

Someone said her name. Why was someone saying her name?

“Yes,” she said, turning to Val Tyler, a science teacher standing next to her in the staff kitchen.

“Are you done with the milk?”

Emma, standing at the coffee counter, looked at the milk container in her hand.

“Oh yes. Sorry, Val.” Emma passed it to her.

“Are you okay? You look troubled.”

“Just lost in thought.” Emma smiled.

She returned to her office with fifteen minutes until her next appointment. It was enough time. Emma went online researching Marisa’s name for anything new.

She found her obituary.