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Grace Montgomery pulled to the side of the narrow country road and stared at the rarown up Even in the heavy, blanketlike darkness of a Mississippi su eerily overhead, she could see that her older brother kept the place in good repair

But that was all sleight of hand, wasn’t it? Things weren’t really what they seemed They never had been That was the problem—why she’d promised herself she wouldn’t come back here

The yellow light glea to bed, probably at the saht Grace couldn’t understand how he could live alone out here How he could eat, sleep and work the farm—only forty paces away from where they’d hidden their stepfather’s body

The warning chinition sounded as she got out of her small BMW She hadn’t planned to venture onto the property But now that she was here, she had to see for herself that even after so ive them away

Her cotton skirt swayed gently against her calves as she walked down the long drive There was no wind, no sound except the cicadas and frogs, and the crunch of her sandals on gravel If she’d forgotten anything, it was the quiet in this part of the state and how brightly the stars could shine away from the city

She pictured herself as a young girl, sleeping on the front laith her younger sister, Molly, and her older stepsister, Madeline Those were special tiazed up at the black velvet sky to find all those twinkling stars staring right back at thes to come They’d all been so innocent then When Madeline was around, Grace had had nothing to fear But Madeline couldn’t stick by Grace’s side every minute She hadn’t even realized she should She still didn’t knohat it was like for Grace back then She’d been at a friend’s house the night everything rong

Despite the humidity, Grace shivered as she ca the weeping s and poplars She hated everything associated with the old building It was there she’d cleaned out the stall of the horse her stepfather wouldn’t let anyone but hiht with the e out her eyes It was there, in the front corner of the building, that the reverend had kept a small office where he retired to write his Sunday sermons—and to delve into that locked file drawer

The sht it all back too vividly, causing her to break out in a cold sweat Curving her fingernails into her palirl, she ihts away froet

But she certainly hadn’t forgotten yet Despite her best efforts, she couldn’t help wondering if that stifling room was still untouched Except for what the reverend had kept in his file drawer, the office had been left intact, as if he ht someday reappear and want to use it HerShe’d drilled it into all of them, except Madeline of course, that they must continue to refer to the reverend in the present tense Folks in toere already suspicious enough

Stillwater’s residents had long hteen years had passed since the reverend’s sudden disappearance Surely after so much time Clay could dismantle that damn office…

A deep voice came suddenly out of the dark “Get the hell off my property or I’ll shoot”

Grace whirled to see a man at least six foot four inches tall, so solidly built he could have beenonly a few feet away It was her brother, and he had a rifle trained on her

For the briefest of moments, Grace wished he’d shoot