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 got into her SUV and drove far down the street, disappearing into a driveway bordered with a hedge that concealed her. She got out and from that distance she saw Marisa walking toward her town house with her dog, talking on her phone while looking up and down the street.
Emma would wait this out.
Some fifteen minutes later, Emma saw Marisa get into her green car and pull away.
She began following her, careful to keep her distance as Marisa drove down Williams Street, then headed east on McFadden Avenue.
She went about three or four blocks to Pasadena Avenue coming to an intersection where the light had gone yellow. Fearing Marisa would speed through it, Emma accelerated only to find that Marisa had stopped and the van she had kept between them changed lanes, leaving Emma’s SUV directly behind Marisa.
No.
Waiting for the light to change, or the intersection to clear, Emma saw Marisa look in her rearview mirror, saw Marisa hold her gaze, then turn around in her seat.
It was clear. She knew Emma was following her.
Marisa sped down Pasadena, turned right on Sycamore, racing along the on-ramp merging into the lanes of traffic going north on the 55.
I can’t lose her. She could be heading to the answers I need.
Emma got onto the 55, keeping her eyes on the Ford but it pulled farther and farther away.
Traffic was heavy and Marisa kept changing lanes. Emma feared she would lose her at the upcoming exchange—not sure if Marisa would continue on 55 or take the Santa Ana Freeway.
Marisa was really moving and at the last minute had taken the Santa Ana Freeway, constantly changing lanes, cutting people off, accelerating and putting vehicles between her and Emma. For miles Marisa drove as if panicked, weaving dangerously from one lane to another. Horns honked, brake lights came on. But Marisa gained speed and distance, to the point where Emma could barely see her.
Then traffic began to congest as they came upon a construction zone with reduced lanes and options to detour.
Emma slammed her palms on the wheel and cursed. She had lost Marisa completely. Frustrated, she took an exit and headed back to Cielo Valle.
Twenty-Two
Eternity, Manitoba
2000
Lou Sloan’s unmarked Silver Nissan Rogue tottered and swayed along the rutted, unpaved section of road near the railway yards where Janie and Marlene Klassyn lived.
Bill Jurek surveyed the street’s tired frame houses, punctuated by vacant lots, looking at the low-rise apartments with blistered paint and missing shingles.
“It’s a rough side of town,” he said.
“I see that.” Sloan touched a finger to her nose as the SUV lurched. “I can smell it, too.”
“The slaughterhouse is just down there. A major employer,” Jurek said.