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Back Their Last Secret Save as PDF
Chapters (97)
  1. Cover
  2. Back Cover Text
  3. Praise
  4. Booklist
  5. Dedication
  6. Epigraph
  7. One
  8. Two
  9. Three
  10. Four
  11. Five
  12. Six
  13. Seven
  14. Eight
  15. Nine
  16. Ten
  17. Eleven
  18. Twelve
  19. Thirteen
  20. Fourteen
  21. Fifteen
  22. Sixteen
  23. Seventeen
  24. Eighteen
  25. Nineteen
  26. Twenty
  27. Twenty-One
  28. Twenty-Two
  29. Twenty-Three
  30. Twenty-Four
  31. Twenty-Five
  32. Twenty-Six
  33. Twenty-Seven
  34. Twenty-Eight
  35. Twenty-Nine
  36. Thirty
  37. Thirty-One
  38. Thirty-Two
  39. Thirty-Three
  40. Thirty-Four
  41. Thirty-Five
  42. Thirty-Six
  43. Thirty-Seven
  44. Thirty-Eight
  45. Thirty-Nine
  46. Forty
  47. Forty-One
  48. Forty-Two
  49. Forty-Three
  50. Forty-Four
  51. Forty-Five
  52. Forty-Six
  53. Forty-Seven
  54. Forty-Eight
  55. Forty-Nine
  56. Fifty
  57. Fifty-One
  58. Fifty-Two
  59. Fifty-Three
  60. Fifty-Four
  61. Fifty-Five
  62. Fifty-Six
  63. Fifty-Seven
  64. Fifty-Eight
  65. Fifty-Nine
  66. Sixty
  67. Sixty-One
  68. Sixty-Two
  69. Sixty-Three
  70. Sixty-Four
  71. Sixty-Five
  72. Sixty-Six
  73. Sixty-Seven
  74. Sixty-Eight
  75. Sixty-Nine
  76. Seventy
  77. Seventy-One
  78. Seventy-Two
  79. Seventy-Three
  80. Seventy-Four
  81. Seventy-Five
  82. Seventy-Six
  83. Seventy-Seven
  84. Seventy-Eight
  85. Seventy-Nine
  86. Eighty
  87. Eighty-One
  88. Eighty-Two
  89. Eighty-Three
  90. Eighty-Four
  91. Eighty-Five
  92. Eighty-Six
  93. Eighty-Seven
  94. Eighty-Eight
  95. Eighty-Nine
  96. Acknowledgments & A Personal Note
  97. Excerpt

First the threatening note, then Marisa Joyce Narmore’s death, even Kayla asking more questions about her life, and now this—

Stay in control, she told her reflection. You can survive this if you stay in control!

Emma composed herself and rejoined Ben and Kayla.

“Look, if you’re not feeling well we can go home.” Ben touched her shoulder.

“Sure,” Kayla said. “We’ll get it to go.”

Emma waved away their concerns while sipping water.

“I think it was a combination of swallowing the wrong way and nervousness from being on TV.”

Ben and Kayla studied Emma for a few seconds—stopping when the food arrived.

“All right, as long as you’re okay,” Ben said.

“I’m fine and so glad you’re going to start a new book,” Emma lied.

For the rest of their evening her ears throbbed with a clear, shrill alarm. Her heart thudded against her chest.

I’ve got to do something. Maybe I can stop him from writing the book, nudge him in a different direction? But even if I can’t do that, he still may never learn the truth because my identity was sealed by the court. Let’s see how this plays out. I can survive this if I stay in control.

Thirty-Seven

Manitoba
2000

The taxi traveled through the northeast corner of Brandon to its destination: The Brandon Correctional Centre.

Marlene Klassyn paid the fare with a modest tip, reported at the desk, was checked by security, then taken to the visiting room and directed to one of the booths, where she waited on her side of the glass for her daughter.

Minutes later amid electric buzzing and metal clanking, Janie appeared in a prison jumpsuit and took her place. Her hair, longer and stringy, didn’t detract from her eyes with those upswept corners, her high cheeks speckled with acne, her beauty. They each reached for the telephone handsets.

“How’re you doing?” her mother asked.

“Look where I am. How do you think I’m doing?”

Janie took stock of her mother—her skin and eyes looked yellowish and she’d lost weight.

“You look sick. Are you drinking more? You didn’t have to come.”

“I wanted to see you.”

“Here I am. How did you get here?”

“Bus then a cab. I had to sell the car.”

“Why?”

“To pay for the move.”

“You moved?”

“Yes, I would’ve visited you sooner but I had to move. They fired me at the club for obvious reasons.”

“Where did you move to?”

Blinking back tears, Marlene said: “I got a room above Harry Hoyt’s Bar.”

“That bar? The bar of the intoxicated conception?”