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
Calculating the time difference in California, he estimated that Kayla and Emma should’ve finished at school.
As he lined up to board, he scrolled through contacts for Kayla’s friends. He had their numbers as part of the deal when Kayla had gone to parties or concerts.
He found the number for Cheyenne Brady. Hi Cheyenne, it’s Kayla’s dad. Is she with you? Trying to reach her. Can you tell her to call me? Not serious, just need to talk to her. Thanks.
He sent a similar message to Regan Peters.
Staring at his phone as he inched closer to the gate, Ben was getting his passport and boarding pass ready when his phone vibrated.
Hi Mr. Grant. I saw K getting a ride home after school with her stepmom.
Cheyenne ended the text with a smile emoji.
Ben texted his thanks.
His phone vibrated again with another message, this one from Regan:
She got a ride after school with Mrs. G. Trying to reach Kayla too—maybe her phone’s off, or died.
“Boarding pass and ID, sir?”
Ben looked up at the agent, then gave him his passport and pass.
Seventy-Nine
Manitoba and California
Present day
On the plane, Ben connected his phone and charger cable to the outlet at his seat.
Once the jet leveled off, a flight attendant confirmed that access to Wi-Fi was available for purchase on the flight. Ben couldn’t make or receive phone calls but he could send and receive texts and emails. During the flight Ben resumed trying to reach Kayla and Emma.
No responses.
What’s going on with them?
Wishing the jet would go faster, he turned to his window, gazing through the clouds at the patchwork of fields below as the sun neared the horizon. The flight’s duration was over five hours. The woman beside him in the aisle seat with white hair, in her late seventies, was sound asleep.
Ben lowered his tray, opened his laptop and angled it so she couldn’t see. Contending with the knot in his stomach, he began reading his research notes and reviewing all the photos he’d taken in Eternity.
The Tullock home, the cemetery. The unspeakable horror of it all. The homes of The Skull Sisters.
Where my wife was raised.
Everything took on new meaning now. His pulse racing, he reached for his phone. Still nothing.
How could I have been so stupid? So blind. Kayla had locked onto all the signals: Emma’s reluctance to discuss her past. But everything in Emma’s history that I looked at checked out. I didn’t dig deeper because I had no reason to suspect her. But Kayla picked up on something. There was Emma’s aversion to being on TV, her reaction when she learned I was doing a book on the Eternity murders.
On her case.
Kayla said she’d discovered something private that Emma had written about her life. What was it?