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
I must’ve lost it on the trail—and Rita’s ring… I still have it. It’s evidence.
Rubbing her forehead, she paced again when her phone vibrated and chimed with a new email. Emma didn’t recognize the address.
The subject said: LIFE & DEATH
She read the first part of the message:
Look at this and where it’s going. Soon the whole world will know the truth about what YOU AND RITA did and what you are! LYING BETRAYERS!
A video was embedded.
Emma’s shaking fingers hovered over her keyboard as she considered whether it was safe to play it, ultimately deciding she couldn’t afford not to.
It showed Rita Purvis and Emma in the Trader Joe’s parking lot. It pulled tight on Rita’s upset face, then tight on Emma’s face. The clip of their exchange had no sound. It lasted twenty seconds.
The rest of the email continued beneath the video.
Rita Mae Purvis was last seen arguing with Emma Grant in the parking lot of a Trader Joe’s in Cielo Valle, Orange County.
Under it was a tower of email addresses for the Orange County Sheriff, and several news outlets.
The email signed off with: Your lying life is over!
Seventy-Six
Eternity, Manitoba
Present day
“The number you have reached has been changed, is disconnected, or is not in service. If you feel you have reached this recording in error—”
That was as far as Ben got with Lucy Lavenza in New York.
It had been the same for Rita Mae Purvis in Texas and Vanessa Prather in Maryland.
He tapped his phone to his chin.
One step forward and two steps back.
But he’d made progress with the names today.
And all in good time, thanks to Tessa.
Leaning against his rental car and staring at the duplex where one of the Skull Sisters had lived, Ben thought the smell of the slaughterhouse was not so bad now.
Unless I’m getting used to it.
Taking it all in while listening to the clunking of the railyards, there was no question this was a rough part of Eternity to grow up in.
Four doors down, Ben saw two people working in the flower beds in front of their small house.
He headed toward them.
The woman was in a sundress, wearing a floppy straw hat. The man wore a Panama hat. Both were on their knees, weeding.
“Excuse me,” Ben said.
They turned to Ben. He figured them to be in their late fifties, maybe early sixties.
“Sorry to trouble you, but I’m researching local history for a book. Have you lived in this neighborhood for very long?”
The couple exchanged glances, then the man nodded.
“Did you know the people who lived in that duplex?” Ben pointed to the place. “The one four doors down?”
The man nodded but the woman shook her head, admonishing him.