Chapters (97)
- Cover
- Back Cover Text
- Praise
- Booklist
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- 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
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-One
- Sixty-Two
- Sixty-Three
- Sixty-Four
- Sixty-Five
- Sixty-Six
- Sixty-Seven
- Sixty-Eight
- Sixty-Nine
- Seventy
- Seventy-One
- Seventy-Two
- Seventy-Three
- Seventy-Four
- Seventy-Five
- Seventy-Six
- Seventy-Seven
- Seventy-Eight
- Seventy-Nine
- Eighty
- Eighty-One
- Eighty-Two
- Eighty-Three
- Eighty-Four
- Eighty-Five
- Eighty-Six
- Eighty-Seven
- Eighty-Eight
- Eighty-Nine
- Acknowledgments & A Personal Note
- Excerpt
Some staff said Roy Tullock was not an upstanding man in Eternity but had had affairs that had produced other children and he’d sent Torrie to the Wellness Retreat because she’d discovered the truth.
Lies.
Why did people say things like that?
Torrie hated the gossipers—she reported them and they were reassigned. But Torrie liked her counselors and therapists. They were nice and had helped her to get better. So much better that they said she was well enough to go home just a few weeks before it happened.
I was going to be with them again. I yearned to go home. I was over the moon.
Then.
Torrie tapped out a few commands on her laptop and the TV screen came to life with old news reports.
“…we have breaking news of a multiple homicide in Manitoba…”
Then another news report with aerial footage of her home, over the graphic: Bloodbath in Eternity, Manitoba: Arrests Made in Mass Murder.
More commands on her laptop produced more reports.
The day the killers were set free.
Excerpts of their statements were seared in her soul, leaving her seething.
“I made a stupid mistake.”
Like spilling milk.
“Some people come out of prison hardened… I am now a changed person.”
WTF?
“My mother died while I was in jail. I had no family. I had nobody.”
You had nobody? Are you the victim?
Pursing her lips and entering more commands, Torrie cued up the news report of what her uncle Paul had said that day and absorbed his words, like a soothing prayer.
“What they took from us was too much. It can never be forgotten and will never be forgiven.”
Torrie closed her laptop, switched off the TV and sat in the darkness.
No, it will never be forgotten and it will never be forgiven.
Forty-Eight
New York City, New York
One year ago
Across the country, about the same time Emma had married Ben Grant, Lucy Lavenza stood amid the teetering supply crates and storage shelves in the staff locker room of The Neon Willow Diner.
Fingers working feverishly, she tied her apron, grabbed her order pad, then rushed out toward the dining room.
Diego, one of the owners, stopped her in the hallway.
“What’re you doing here, Lucy? We told you on Monday you were done.”
“Please, Diego, give me one more chance.”
“You’ve had chances. You missed too many shifts or you came in late and under the influence. You’re done.”
“Please, Diego, please. I’m sick.”
Diego looked into her glossy eyes then at the bruises on her jaw and neck, likely the work of her dealer. Her tattoos hid the needle tracks on her arms. Diego had lost a sister to drugs, but for Lucy, he had no sympathy.