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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

The ad for the sale popped up on Ben Grant’s computer screen triggering memories of his wife.

The deputies investigating the accident had said that Brooke’s tires were worn and the right front had blown when she’d swerved in the rain, likely to miss a raccoon or coyote. She’d lost control; the car had rolled down into a ravine.

Brooke had been on her way to join him and Kayla at their cabin in the San Bernardino Mountains. Two weeks before her crash Brooke thought her tires might need replacing.

“I looked at the wear bars but I’m not sure,” she’d told him. “Taking care of our cars is your job, buddy. Will you check my tires?”

“Consider it done.”

But in the days that followed he was racing to meet the deadline for his new book and she was overseeing an investigative feature at the Orange County Register, where she was a senior editor. They were putting in long hours and looking forward to getting away to their cabin with Kayla for some family time.

He’d forgotten to check Brooke’s tires.

And the next thing he knew two San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Deputies were at the cabin door, telling him his wife had been in an accident and that she didn’t survive.

The aftermath was a surreal whirlwind, Ben crying out, falling to his knees, his ears ringing with Kayla’s shrieks. In the hazy time that followed, it was as if the ground under their feet had given way and they’d plunged into an abyss.

Family and friends supported them. It helped.

Eventually his brain began to function in spurts. He and Kayla became a tight unit of survivors until they got a dog, a golden retriever they named Tug, and slowly they healed together—just the three of them. Then two years after Brooke’s death he’d met Emma. She was like grief-soothing balm, helping him move on to the next chapter of his life.

A collar clinked. Tug ambled into his office, set his chin on Ben’s lap.

Petting the back of Tug’s neck, Ben glanced at the contract next to his keyboard, eyes going to the words Delivery of Manuscript, and the legalese under the heading concerning extensions, failure to deliver and liabilities.

Unease rolled over him.

He had written more than a dozen true-crime books. He wrote his first when he’d covered a sensational murder case while working as a reporter for the Los Angeles Times. That’s where he’d met Brooke, who was also a reporter.