“Look, sweetie,” she said, “if you want to stay in Eagle Rock forever, answering phones at the local newspaper and popping out babies for the first guy who showed an interest, that’s your call. It’s not for me. There’s nothing keeping me here anymore.”

“What about the people who care about you?” Darla shot back. She was shouting now, black mascara tears streaking her flushed cheeks. “Do we count for nothing?”

“Darla, keep your goddamn voice down,” Eleanor hissed, glancing at the ceiling. “Alicia is asleep upstairs.”

“What about Robbie?” Darla demanded. “What’s he saying about all of this? I take it he’s being left behind too? Dumped like a piece of trash?”

“He doesn’t know, and he ain’t gonna know. Not until we’re gone.” She gave Darla a hard look. “And he still ain’t gonna know. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Darla shook her head and snatched up her purse from the couch. “I can’t do this. I’m going to meet Hank.”

“Good luck with that.” Eleanor snorted. “He’s probably already picked up someone else for the night.”

The slap caught her by surprise. Hard and sharp. Eleanor held her hand to the spot on her cheek where it smarted. She stared at Darla, her mouth open. The other woman stood over her, spit foaming in the corners of her mouth, her lips stained pink by the wine.

“You’re a nasty, selfish piece of work, Eleanor Lavelle. You think you’re too good for Robbie? For me? The truth is you’re not good enough for either of us. We both deserve better.”

Darla strode toward the front door and threw it open.

“Don’t bother coming back,” Eleanor yelled after her.

Darla glanced over her shoulder. “The way you fuck around with people, Eleanor? One day someone is gonna make you pay for it. Then you’ll be sorry.”

19 JESSICA

19

JESSICA

Tony Shaw had been shy and awkward and gentle, a man of few words who preferred to express himself through his photography rather than conversation. He appreciated art and books, and he enjoyed watching old movies with his daughter on a Friday night.

He was also a murder suspect.

For twenty-five years, he had been a wanted man. Evading the detectives who hunted him, haunting their sleepless nights, taunting them with his absence, leaving them feeling impotent due to their inability to track him down.

For twenty-five years, Jessica’s father had been a key player in one of LA’s most notorious unsolved crimes, and she’d never had any idea.

Some private investigator.