Ben’s debut was a national bestseller. It became a TV series. His subsequent books were also worldwide bestsellers, translated into thirty-two languages. Some became movies. He married Brooke and left reporting to write full-time. Brooke took a buyout from the Times, and they moved to Orange County. After she had Kayla, she got back into the business, becoming an editor at the Register.

But in the years after her death, Ben had not delivered a new book. He hadn’t even started one. In fact, he hadn’t even found the right case to write about while his publisher had granted him extension after extension.

“They’ve been compassionate but I’ll give it to you straight, Benjamin,” his agent, Roz Rose, had said on the phone from New York. “If we don’t give them something soon, they can legally demand you repay them every cent of advance money. Ben, losing Brooke was hard, but you’ve got Emma and you’ve moved on, so…”

Tug’s collar jingled as Ben stroked his neck.

In the wake of Brooke’s death Ben’s concern for Kayla never abated. She’d lost her mother at one of the most critical times in a young girl’s life, her adolescence. The loss was a cruel and merciless severing from which Ben feared Kayla might not recover.

Look at how she’s still struggling to accept Emma.

Ben had met Emma at a book conference in Pasadena. Normally private, he’d become more reclusive after Brooke’s death but because he’d known the organizers, he agreed to go. Emma stood in line at his book signing, telling him, “I love your books. You have a deep understanding for everyone touched by the crime—even the killers.”

Her observation stuck with him because it was true. Later, he saw her sitting alone and invited her for coffee. He’d learned that she’d studied sociology and psychology before getting a master’s degree and becoming a school counselor. She’d grown up far from California—“Oh, I lived here and there.” She told him how she had known tragedy in her life and how she had found meaning in his books.

“They’re operatic because of their scope, their consequence,” she said. “Your writing reaches a part of me.”

Ben was intrigued, captivated. With Emma he’d found the light he’d been searching for. It was behind Emma’s eyes, mingled with vulnerability. Somehow being with her felt right. It was as if she could show him the way out of his darkness. After talking for nearly an hour, he asked to see her again. They began dating and a year later, they were married.