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
“The Tullocks. Mostly at night before I fall asleep, they come to me. Pleading. The boy and the girl are the worst, screaming and screaming. Anything like that happen to you?”
Lucy’s face hardened, and she said, “Shut up with that. You gotta let it go.”
“Let it go? Look at how we’ve lived, how much we’ve paid.”
“We were kids.”
“That’s right. We all come from the same place. We all hurt the same. And we all know what really happened. Our pact was broken.”
Rita stared hard at Lucy, then said: “It was a long time ago.”
“And how long do we have to keep paying? We can’t go on living like this, waiting to die. It’s been twenty years—the anniversary is coming. We’ve suffered long enough. I’ve got a plan for all of us to set things right.”
Lucy took up the ring and thrust it toward Rita’s face.
“We’re sisters,” Lucy said. “We’re bonded by blood. We made a pact!”
Rita stared at her, thinking. “How’re you going to make things right?”
“We’ll start by confronting her.”
“Why?”
“There needs to be a reckoning with the truth.”
“We all know the truth, Lucy. I’m not going with you.”
“You’d prefer to die here on food stamps while cleaning toilets?”
Lucy reached into her bag and set down a slender brick of cash, held together with rubber bands.
Rita’s eyes widened a little, then Lucy put it back in her bag.
“You’ll get it and more when we see her. I’ve got a plan and I need you to make it work, to do what we need to do.”
“And what’s that?”
“You’ll find out when we get there.”
Rita’s mind churned for several long, life-defining seconds.
She looked at Lucy, then took up the ring, slid it on her finger. She stared at it—at all it signified—then looked at Lucy. “All right, sister.”
Fifty-Five
Cielo Valle, Orange County, California
Present day
It was all coming together.
The keyboard clicked softly as Ben finished the outline for his new book. Running about ten pages, it flowed nicely.
He was ready for Emma to read it.
As a fan, she had read all of his books. She knew his work, understood what he was trying to do. She was smart, sensitive, and he trusted her judgment. But lately, she seemed preoccupied. There was that incident the other day with that guy in the park, which reminded Ben. Before he’d washed Del Brockway’s plate number from his palm, he’d written it down.
The guy was odd. I still need to check him out at some point.
He looked at the time.
Tug padded in and Ben rubbed his head.