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
They were there for money, looked everywhere and couldn’t find any. This was a mistake… Janie saying, ‘We need to leave now!’ Nikki refusing, continuing to look. They didn’t hear the car, the door. Suddenly the Tullocks were home. No time to leave… Nikki saying, ‘Roy’s got guns!’ Nikki and Marie got knives… Connie saw them, said: ‘Why’re you here? What’re you doing?’ Then Connie, that stuck-up pretentious bitch let them know how much she loathed people like them and shouted: ‘Why are you here? What are you pieces of filthy trash doing in my house?’ And it was like she’d detonated a bomb, an explosion of white-hot fury illuminated everything the Tullocks had and everything they were against every anguish, abuse and heartbreak the girls had suffered in their young lives. A wild, growling animal jumped Roy from behind. It was Nikki, her knife flashing, cutting his throat, blood spraying… Connie screaming, Janie screaming, trying to stop her, too late… Marie and Nikki attacking Connie, Janie trying to save her, gripping wrists in a wild, furious fight to stop the knife, but the knife winning…blade flashing, slashing, plunging, blood spurting…the knives rising and descending, tearing and ripping. Stop! Stop! Connie screaming, her children screaming… Nikki and Marie chasing Neal and Linda up the stairs and Janie sobbing, ‘Stop! Stop!’ Running after them into the bedroom, Neal and Linda hiding in the closet, holding each other, screaming, crying… Janie trying to stop Marie and Nikki stabbing and stabbing…the children’s eyes…blood everywhere… Nikki writing in blood on the walls like a serial killer…the pact…sisters…we did this together…no one tells… EVER!
And in a heartbeat the face from that night had returned and was now going to kill her stepdaughter.
Eighty-Seven
San Bernardino County, California
Present day
As he drove, Ben glanced at his ringing phone secure in its holder in the console. The number was a 204 area code. Manitoba? Using his app for his voice-activated hands-free option, he answered.
“Ben, this is Ed Tracy in Winnipeg.” The lawyer for one of the girls. “Have you got a minute?”
“Actually it’s not a good time, Ed. Can I call you back?”
“We should do this now… Doctor says my time’s coming. Pretty soon lawyer-client privilege won’t matter, so you can use this in your book after I’m gone.”
Ben considered pulling over but kept driving. He activated the record function on his phone. “Ed, I’m sorry to hear that. Please, go ahead.”
“One of the girls didn’t kill anybody.”
“Say that again.”
“One of the girls is innocent of killing anyone.”
“Innocent? But—”