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To hell with Philip

Brave words and a proht with Charlie didn’t erase four years of fear and hiding Suddenly, doubt elbowed past the newfound confidence, and she scrauesses

Instead of driving ho center Maybe Sierra would be there

With Charlie in tow, she cli ju to have to learn a few things about ”

The dog cocked her head and then licked Leah’s face

And in that one, taken by a dopey expression and a wet kiss

Footsteps sounded, and Leah looked up to see Sierra peeking out of an office door “Leah, what’re you doing here?” She saw the dog and grinned “And who’s this?”

“This ismistake Charlie”

Sierra watched Charlie lick Leah’s face “Why’s this your big mistake?”

Leah scra”

Sierra knelt in front of Charlie and rubbed her between the ears The dog fell to the ground and rolled to her back “She’s sweet”

Leah held tight to the leash as she asse”

“Why’s that?”

“Caring led to a lot of pain and suffering the last tihtened her throat “And I’ain”

Sierra laughed when the dog’s tail thu Not a husband”

“I worked hard to build the brick wall around ht her voice in her throat “And now it’s cruht be back”

Sierra kept her gaze on the dog “Why do you think that?”

“Someone sent me flowers and wished me happy anniversary I had a flat tire the other day My credit card got ent thinks Philip ht be alive”

A frorinkled Sierra’s brow as she scratched the dog between the ears again “Does he have proof of that?”

“Not yet But I wouldn’t bet against it”

“Why?”

“Apparently, the identification wasn’t as ironclad as I thought”

“You’re sure?”

“I’, but the cops want to exhuned a release forrave is Philip”

Sierra rose, adjusting the bracelets on her wrist “How do you feel about this?”

“Terrified And angry I want answers”

A smile quirked her lips “You sound like you want to face this head-on That’s good When are they going to do the exhumation?”

“A judge has to sign the order It could be days Long after our anniversary” She tipped her head back so that the bloo tears wouldn’t spill As brave as she tried to sound, she was scared

Sierra twisted a silver ring on her index finger “The cops could be wrong”

Leah shook her head She didn’t need hard evidence to know the truth “They think Philip ht have killed Deidre”

“What?”

“She was stabbed twenty-three times Like me”

“Leah, ould he go after her?”

“She knew Philip from before They had soether, the rough scars scraping against each other For the better part of the day, her skin had itched and crawled, as if so over her shoulder “He’s so clever”

Sierra didn’t say anything

“You and I both know cops can drop the ball Men get released from prison, return to a city, and no one tells the victim Mistakes are made in small localities Easy to misidentify a badly burned body Whatever the mistake, the stalker kills the victione so wrong I don’t want to be the one people talk about one day and say ‘If we’d only known’”

Sierra cleared her throat “So you’re going to live in fear for the rest of your life?”

The challenge irritated her “I didn’t say that”

“What are you saying?”

“I want to live my life”