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
“We met a lady who wants you to do a charity book thing, Dad.”
“Yes.” Emma nodded, putting a slice on her plate. “Clara Jean O’Connor from the community association. They want you to be their featured guest at their literacy fund-raiser, to help get media attention. But you don’t have to do it.”
“Do it, Dad. Get this—you’d be filling in for Jake Gyllenhaal!”
“Impressive.” Ben chewed, thinking and smiling as he said, “If anyone should be on TV, it’s you.”
“Me?” Emma said. “Why me?”
“You’re a hero. You saved that boy. How’s he doing, by the way?”
“He’s been released from the hospital. He’s home with his family, who have invited me to visit him.” She took a small bite of pizza. “But I don’t want to be on TV.”
“It would be fun.”
“No, that’s not for me. You’re the celeb in this house.”
“Tell you what. Tell Clara Jean O’Connor that I’ll do it but it’s a family deal. We’ll all be there to volunteer. It’s a good cause.”
“Yes!” Kayla said. Tug barked and she slipped him a bit of pepperoni as Ben looked at his wife.
“You’re okay with that, Em?”
“Absolutely.” She smiled, shifting the subject. “So how’s work going?”
“My publisher and agent are pushing hard for me to land on a story for the next book.”
“That’s right. You had your call with them. How’d it go?”
“Today they turned up the heat, giving me sixty days to get them an outline. I get it and I don’t blame them for being anxious.”
“So have you got something in mind?”
“I’m looking at a new list of potential cases they sent me. There’re a couple of interesting ones in Europe—one in Sweden involving two doctors that’s pretty gripping, and a gruesome one in Germany. There are a couple in the US and one in Canada.”
“Canada?” Emma said. “What’s the case in Canada?”
“Something about an old murder. I haven’t dug too deeply into it yet. Why do you ask?”
“No reason. I guess I don’t think of Canada as having the type of crimes you’d write about.”
“Tragedies happen anywhere,” Ben said.
“Yes, they do,” she said.
Ben and Kayla glanced at Emma, who smiled at them.
As Ben did most evenings after dinner, he took Tug for a walk.
He went alone, enjoying the fresh air while reflecting on his recent list of cases and Emma’s comment about crime stories in Canada, finding it naive. Given his work, and hers, she would know that acts of evil are not exclusive to any country.
An odd thing to say, he thought, feeling Tug’s leash tighten at the sight of a squirrel.