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
She caught her breath.
Why’s he back so soon? What did he discover? Things are moving so fast—I’ve got to tell him the truth.
Emma texted Ben telling him they were at the cabin and to meet them there.
I want to talk, too. There are so many things I need to tell you.
After sending the message, Emma’s tension melted ever so slightly as she put the groceries away.
The cabin could stand a good cleaning, she thought, finding a measure of comfort in the mundane notion because it indicated that with chaos whipping around her, she felt safe here.
Even though Rita Purvis’s murder loomed large and Emma’s world was spinning out of control, she believed with all her heart that after she confessed her life to Ben and Kayla, there’d be hope.
After twenty years, I knew this time would come. I could feel it haunting me. Only now I’ll put it all to rest. I’ll show my journal to Ben and Kayla. I’ll tell them everything. I know he loves me for who I am not what I was. I did everything I could to protect them. I’ll survive this. I’ll rise from the ashes like I did before.
She would trust in love.
Emma took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, puzzling at why Kayla had not come in with more groceries.
Going to the window and looking out, Emma’s jaw dropped at what she saw.
For a millisecond she thought the woman hugging Kayla was a fan of Ben’s from the town or a resort. Determined fans of famous people always find their private property. It had happened to movie and rock stars, and a lot of writers, like J. D. Salinger and Stephen King.
But in the next half second, Emma’s heart stopped.
Kayla was struggling against the woman’s stranglehold—like the kind Emma had seen in prison.
A knife at Kayla’s face glinted in the sun.
Emma flew out the door. “Let her go!”
“Stop!” the woman said. “Or I’ll cut her.”
Processing the scene, the familiar voice, registering a face from Eternity she could never forget.
Nikki.
Glaring at Emma, Nikki said, “Hello, sister.”
In a heartbeat Emma rocketed back to that night in the house on Old Pioneer Road to the horror of what really happened all those years ago, all of it replaying in half a second…