by A. J. Banner
She nods, her breathing fast and shallow. She lets go of my hand and crosses her arms over her belly, rocking back and forth. “I went down to the beach,” she whispers. “It was early, not even sunrise. It was cold and windy. And dark. I took a flashlight.”
My insides are peeling away. “Why didn’t you say anything? Why didn’t you—?”
“I found her,” she says, her face contorting in anguish. “She was on the beach, just . . . lying there.”
The walls undulate now. I can’t breathe. “But you didn’t call 911. You didn’t tell anyone. Why not? Why didn’t you?” My voice rises.
“I thought Keith had pushed her. I was sure he had. He was so angry that Lauren knew. I thought he was losing his mind.”
I stand, nausea surging up through my throat. “You should have woken us. You should have called 911. You should have.”
She looks up at me in abject misery. “I thought it must have been an accident. Keith must have argued with her, and she fell. I didn’t want him to go to prison. But I should have tried to help her. I know that now.”
Her words hammer at me; the room blurs. “What do you mean, you should have tried to help her?” I’m shouting, shaking Hedra’s shoulders. Her head flops back and forth like a ragdoll, like she doesn’t care. I feel someone pulling me away from her, and I hear Winnifred’s voice yelling, “Stop, stop it! Calm down. The police will be here in a minute.”
I whip my cell phone from my coat pocket, but my hands are shaking so much, I can hardly tap in the detective’s number. As I wait for him to answer, Hedra gets up and backs away from me, stumbling a little, holding up her hands to ward me off. “It wasn’t my fault. I didn’t do anything to her. I found her like that.”
“Like what?” I shout. The detective’s phone is ringing, ringing.
“She was barely alive,” Hedra says, breaking into sobs. “By the time I pulled out my phone, she wasn’t breathing anymore. I swear, she was already dead.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Deepest thank-you to my brilliant editor, Danielle Marshall; my amazing agent, Paige Wheeler; her associate, Ana-Maria Bonner, and their interns; my hardworking author relations manager, Gabriella T. Dumpit; fabulous copyeditor, Rebecca Friedman; wonderful production manager, Nicole Pomeroy; astute proofreaders, Callie Stoker-Graham and Marcus Trower; and the entire Lake Union Publishing team for being awesome in every way. Heartfelt appreciation to the fabulous Tara Parsons, who guided me and believed in me. I’m indebted to my colleagues, experts, and brainstorming crew: Rich Penner, Susan Wiggs, Kate Breslin, Anita LaRae, Christa LaRae, Cynthia Putman Tveit, Patricia Stricklin, Dianne Gardner, Lois Faye Dyer, Sheila Roberts, Elsa Watson, Michael Donnelly, Sherill Leonardi, Elizabeth Wrenn, and Randall Platt. Special thank-you to Glenn Kerns, Leigh Hearon, Anne Clermont, James Hankins, and Yolanda Sibley at Avanti. I’m grateful for keen editorial feedback from Kelli Martin and Shannon O’Neill and to Jennifer Brasch, MD, for information about medications. Special thank-you to Janine Donoho for your perceptive feedback on the manuscript when I asked you to read it in only a few days. Last but never least, I’m deeply appreciative to my readers. You’re the reason I write novels. You make this all worthwhile.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Photo © 2015 Carol Ann Morris
Born in India and raised in North America, A. J. Banner received degrees from the University of California, Berkeley. Her previous novels of psychological suspense include The Good Neighbor and The Twilight Wife, a USA Today bestseller. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and six rescued cats. Visit www.ajbanner.com.
