When he left, she went upstairs and put on her running shoes, her workout clothes. Then she hit the rural road that led away from the house. The air was warm, and the sky clear. It took her a while to find her stride after sitting at her computer all day. But the music pumping in her headphones—Nirvana today, Kurt Cobain’s ghostly voice raw and wild—brought her energy up. She’d gone a mile when her phone pinged. She slowed to check it, in case Will had run into issues at the school.
Instead there was a text from an unfamiliar number. It wasn’t the first time. She hadn’t told anyone, but Pearl reached out to her every few months—usually coinciding with a news cycle that included something about Graham. There was a connection there, something strange but true.
I’ve been thinking of you. I’m happy-ish. Hope you are, too.
Selena never answered. She knew she wasn’t expected to. There wasn’t going to be more to the relationship than there was. Pearl had disappeared completely, gone without a trace. She was a wanted woman, charges pending for fraud, extortion, blackmail. Apparently, the list of people she and Geneva had scammed and conned was long—most of them men, most of those men guilty of something themselves. Selena was supposed to report contact to the police, but she wasn’t going to do that. In her heart, there was a painful kind of gratitude. She’d destroyed Selena’s life. She’d saved Selena’s life. She’d taken something. Given something. It was complicated.
I saw a picture of Graham in the joint. He really looks like shit. What did you ever see in him?
Selena laughed a little; sometimes Pearl was funny. Sometimes her texts sounded sad, lonely. Other times they were inane—a comment on the price of gasoline or some news event. Occasionally, she sounded angry. The day Graham was convicted: I’m glad he got what he deserved. Now you’re free. If she knew about the book Selena was writing, she hadn’t said. Selena imagined that Pearl would have a comment or two about that. But whatever the missive, Pearl always ended her communications the same way, a kind of inside joke.
Selena waited, watching the little gray dots pulse.
It’s Martha, by the way.
From the train.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Every novel is a journey. It starts with a germ, a thought, a moment. And even though the writing of it is a solitary thing, a quiet and daily evolution from idea to finished novel, there’s a whole universe of people who help in all kinds of ways bring it out into the world.
For me, everything begins and ends with my husband, Jeffrey, and our daughter, Ocean. They fill my life with love and laughter and keep me grounded in the things that are important, offering endless support and encouragement. I would be a lesser person and a lesser writer without them.
My agent, Amy Berkower, her assistant, Meridith Viguet, and the stellar team at Writers House offer all manner of support, helping me navigate the big waters of the writing life. I am so grateful for their wisdom, organization, passion and dedication. I feel very fortunate to have such exemplary representation.
My deep and heartfelt thanks to my editor, Erika Imranyi. Her patience, wisdom, intelligence and loving editorial guidance took this book from the best I could make it to the best it could be. I am so grateful for her skills as an editor and her sterling friendship. The rest of the team at Park Row Books—from powerhouse VP of editorial Margaret Marbury to publicist extraordinaire Roxanne Jones to eagle-eyed copy editor Jennifer Stimson—could not be more thoughtful, engaged and dedicated. I am grateful for the vision of the art department, the tireless and often overlooked efforts of the production team and the intrepid spirit of the sales force.
I am blessed with a vast network of family and friends, who tirelessly brag about me and promote my books. My parents, Joseph and Virginia Miscione, and my brother, Joe, are out there endlessly spreading the word and facing books out on shelves across the country. Erin Mitchell is an early reader, voice of reason, champion and wonderful friend. Heather Mikesell has been one of the first readers of almost everything I have written. Nothing feels done until she has read it.
A writer is nothing without her readers. And I am blessed beyond measure to have such a warm, loving and supportive group of family, friends and faithful longtime fans who read, promote and turn up at events locally and around the country. Thank you for showing up, for spreading the word and for reading. It means more than you can know.
This is a work of fiction, but all fiction is rooted in truth, and research is a big part of my process. The Confidence Game by Maria Konnikova brought me deep inside the mind of the con artist. Liespotting: Proven Techniques to Detect Deception by Pamela Meyer, and the author’s fascinating TED Talk, informed my understanding of why and how people lie. That said, all mistakes and liberties taken for the sake of fiction are mine.