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
Emma had spent most of her life looking over her shoulder because of who she used to be. She glanced around, taking in the gorgeous home she shared with Ben and Kayla, amazed that she lived like this here in California. When she looked back on her life, where she came from, what she came from, she couldn’t believe how it all got so messed up and how she worked so hard to bury that life to find the love and trust she never knew growing up.
Emma knew how fortunate she was that Ben and Kayla had opened their lives to her at a time when they were both—and still were—grieving. She ached to help them, sensing that they needed her as much as she needed them. It had not been easy. But now, if her past were to be exhumed, it would destroy Ben and Kayla, and everything that Emma had worked to build with them. In the end, it would destroy Emma, too. She did believe that Ben, on some level, would understand, if one day she felt she could tell them the truth. But for now she needed to protect them from it.
I’ve survived this long and, so help me God, I’ll get through this.
Tired from their day in the sun, everyone in the house had retreated to their own space. Kayla was in her room. Ben had worked in his office, then went to the living room to watch a game. Emma was alone with her laptop at the kitchen table, the lights dimmed, dealing with her uneasiness.
Double-checking to ensure she was alone, she launched a search. In seconds, something surfaced. Something new.
A headline on the site of a major newspaper in Canada over what looked like an opinion piece.
Anniversary of the Eternity Murders Nears
Where Are The Killers Now?
Emma gasped and her heart beat faster. As she read, her mind raced back to the note, the woman and the floral shirt man. Maybe they’re reporters?
But the judges and the lawyers guaranteed me that no one outside the system would ever, could ever, know who I used to be. They guaranteed it. Yes, she expected people would write about the case, even after all these years.
But God, somebody knows! “What’s that you’re reading?”
Emma jumped.
Kayla stood over her shoulder, a fruit cup in her hand.
“You startled me. Goodness…” Emma smiled, casually turning and blocking her laptop. “Oh, nothing, just some history I was looking up for my job, a paper on juvenile justice.” She shifted the subject. “I was thinking you and I could go out for dinner and shopping one day after school this week?”
“Sure, that would be fun.”
For a moment, Kayla’s eyes lingered on Emma’s laptop as she closed it. Then they met Emma’s.