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
“I’ll just read you a little excerpt,” Sloan said. “‘The Tullocks think people like us are dirt, they think they’re better than us… Connie’s such a lying, cheating bitch who should just die…that bitch owes me money and Nikki and Marie are going to help me get it…’”
Nikki’s scalp began tingling. Those were Janie’s words, hitting her like a gut punch.
If that’s Janie’s confession, then the cop must have Marie’s in her folder, too. I can’t believe this! Janie and Marie betrayed me. They broke our pact!
Then, as Sloan had done with Marie and Janie, she set down crime scene photos on the table before Nikki until they formed a horseshoe pattern around her, like the onslaught of unyielding, unstoppable forces coming for her.
Nikki’s stomach rose and fell, convulsing with such power she thought it would break through her skin. The room, her world, spinning like the day her father died. All she’d counted on, all she had left in this life had vanished.
We made a pact. We swore we’d never, ever break it. You were my sisters in blood and you betrayed me!
Sloan relayed to Nikki the overwhelming and damning evidence, the fingerprints, the shoe impressions, the message in blood, Nikki’s connections with Marie and Janie and the rings, the photo strips. Sloan said that forensic experts analyzed everything.
“Before I leave, you need to understand something,” Sloan said. “You are charged with four counts of second-degree murder. The case against you is solid. Open and shut. You’ll be going to prison for a long time. And you know what happens in prison to people who have murdered children.”
Nikki shot Sloan a look of unease.
“Things might be easier for you if you cooperate with us. The courts could be lenient. Think about it, Nikki. Think of your mother.”
Nikki saw her mother in her memory of the arrest, rushing from the building to the police car, hysterical, screaming: “It’s all a mistake! Nikki didn’t do anything!”
Sloan continued. “Think of the pain she carries and will forever carry for the things you did on Old Pioneer Road.”
Her mother screamed like that the day they’d learned her dad had died. Then Nikki thought of that night in the Tullock home.
The night of screams.
“Nikki?” Sloan repeated. “Now is the time to help yourself.”
Nikki blinked as if she’d returned from an absence.
“I want a lawyer.”
Thirty-Four
Cielo Valle, Orange County, California
Present day
I should’ve heard something by now.
In line at his local SoCal Seaside Assurance bank to deposit royalty checks from his agents in London and Hamburg, Ben checked his phone, expecting a verdict on the new book. Nothing.
Roz Rose, his primary agent, should’ve had answers by now.