Catch up on the previous chapters here Gran was generally a practical person, but she agreed to come along with Nell all the same when she went to the cemetery. Nell didn’t think Gran had been back since the funeral, either to place flowers or to make sure the graves were kept tidy. “They’re gone,” she’d told Nell gruffly once. “They don’t know if you’re there or not.”

Catch up on the previous chapters here It was weird to Nell that Owen’s absence was strange. He’d spent Saturday with Kent, but then yesterday he’d left early so he could head home and … well. Nell didn’t really know what. Deal with Donna, maybe. Try to explain to her, not for the first time, why Kent and Nell couldn’t be Mart and Ellie again, or maybe clarify to her why it wouldn’t be smart for them to come back just yet, even for a visit.

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Catch up on the previous chapters here Part Seven: Release Day Art looked around when he came in, but the tables were empty. “Nothing?” he asked, almost incredulously. Nell shrugged. “What did you expect?” “Him to fold like wet cardboard.” He came around the counter and went right to the espresso machine. “The guy who played a long game and wrote an entire freaking novel?”

Catch up on the previous chapters here Ben’s lawyer took off his glasses—rimless, quite thin, possibly worn only for theatrics such as this—and took his time polishing them. Seriously, they didn’t merit all this attention. The flourish with the polishing cloth, the continued circular motions, the squint as he held them up to the light … pointless. Clearly the man needed a prop so he could do his thinking, and Ben didn’t feel all that reassured by a lawyer who needed props.

Catch up on the previous chapters here Part Six: Rhymes of Yesterday The number of times they asked Ben if he understood was insulting. Yes, he understood his rights as they read them to him. Yes, he understood that they wanted him to tell them everything. Yes, he understood that they were accusing him of more than the attack on Hillier, which they were hinting was a murder, but they could lie.

Catch up on the previous chapters here Nell was almost asleep on the couch in front of the television, head on Kent’s shoulder, when she sat up suddenly. “Oh my God.” “Nell?” That wasn’t just curiosity. Kent’s voice was overloaded with concern. “No, I …” She pressed her fingertips to her temples like her skull needed the extra force to keep her brain from exploding it into shards.

Catch up on the previous chapters here Nell groaned when the bell jingled shortly after Kent and Owen left, Kent to go to work and Owen to follow him and maybe sit in a slightly more comfortable chair for a while. “I really don’t want to see you,” she told Adam. “If it makes you feel any better, I don’t really want to be here.” He came up to the counter instead of taking a seat.

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Catch up on the previous chapters here Nell had work in the morning. Bentley Beckett was identified and in custody, and neither she nor Kent had gotten much sleep the night before, but her alarm still went off, and she dragged herself out of bed and into the shower, and dressed the same as she always had here, and got herself on the bus just in time.

Catch up on the previous chapters here Nell left them in the living room and went back to their bedroom to try to make a call of her own. Gran didn’t answer numbers she didn’t know, and she didn’t always listen to her messages, either. Sometimes she just let the machine fill up and ignored it a while so you couldn’t leave one even if you wanted to.

Catch up on the previous chapters here They had the spare bedroom, but it was turned into an office, so there was no space for a spare bed. Owen drove them back to their apartment anyway, because Nell didn’t think they’d be able to separate him from Kent for a while yet. The last time father and son had seen each other, Kent’s hair was short, his face clean-shaven, and his skin free of tattoos.

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