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
More rustling.
She clasped the door handle, turned it, thrust the door open.
The rustling became loud flapping as a crow flew off from its perch on the exterior windowsill.
Sighing with relief, Emma was now certain the cabin was secure and returned to the front.
“Let’s get those groceries in first and see if anything spoiled overnight,” she called to Kayla in the car. “There’s stuff we need to get into the fridge. Can you bring the bags to the kitchen and I’ll put things away?”
“All right.”
Kayla opened the tailgate, hauled the first two bags to the kitchen counter.
“Once we take care of everything, we’ll try to call your dad, if you like, okay?”
“Okay. I know service is spotty here. They were supposed to install more cell towers.”
Kayla returned to the SUV and was reaching into the back when she heard an engine and turned.
A car pulled up next to the SUV.
Kayla blinked. A woman was alone at the wheel. She didn’t recognize her.
“I’m sorry,” the woman said, holding up a folded map, “but I’m lost and my phone’s dead. Can you help me?”
The woman seemed friendly, but for her eyes. Kayla thought they looked a bit off. Her pupils were like big black holes. Maybe she had a condition, or was on medication, and that’s why she was lost.
The woman got out, looked around. “You have a lovely place here.”
“Thanks…”
The woman placed her map on the hood of her car so they could lean over it.
“My first time here,” the woman said. “It’s gorgeous.”
“Yes.” Kayla leaned over the map with the woman next to her. “What’re you looking for?”
“The truth.”
“What?”
The woman slid her arm around Kayla’s neck, locking her in a grip, crushing her windpipe, raising a knife to her face.
Eighty-Four
San Bernardino County, California
Present day
At that moment, Torrie Tullock, the lone survivor of her family’s murder, was four miles from the Grants’ cabin.
Driving alone in her rented Ford sedan, glancing at the car’s erratic navigation system, and her handwritten notes on the console, she realized she’d overshot her destination.
The property she was looking for had a “bear-shaped” rock formation near its entrance along the highway.
Torrie stopped, made a three-point turn and resumed driving in the opposite direction, watching the shoulder for the landmark. Her calm demeanor did not betray what was boiling inside.
For much of her life, her anger over her family’s murder had grown, building with volcanic force until it became a part of her identity. The people who killed her mother, her father, her sister and her brother had not paid enough for what they did. No, instead, they were given a gift, the gift of new lives.