Safe Keeping

Safe Keeping
Barbara Taylor Sissel

At the heart of every crime, there's a family…My son is a murderer…. So begins this chilling and emotionally charged mystery from highly acclaimed author Barbara Taylor Sissel.Emily Lebay had always thought of her family as ordinary. Sure, they've endured their share of problems, even a time of great trouble–what family hasn't? But when a woman's body turns up in the dense woods near their home, and Emily's grown son, Tucker, is accused of murder, Emily is forced to confront the unfathomable, and everything she believed about her life is called into question.This isn't the first time Tucker has been targeted by the police; a year ago he was a person of interest when another woman was found dead in the same stretch of woods. Still, neither Emily nor her daughter, Lissa, can reconcile their Tucker with these brutal crimes. Terrified, convinced there's been a tragic mistake, Emily and Lissa set out to learn the truth about Tucker, once and for all. And while his life hangs in the balance, what they discover proves far more shocking than their darkest fears…."A gut-wrenching mystery…enjoyable and insightful." –RT Book Reviews on Evidence of Life

At the heart of every crime, there’s a family…

My son is a murderer.… So begins this chilling and emotionally charged mystery from highly acclaimed author Barbara Taylor Sissel.

Emily Lebay had always thought of her family as ordinary. Sure, they’ve endured their share of problems, even a time of great trouble—what family hasn’t? But when a woman’s body turns up in the dense woods near their home, and Emily’s grown son, Tucker, is accused of murder, Emily is forced to confront the unfathomable, and everything she believed about her life is called into question.

This isn’t the first time Tucker has been targeted by the police; a year ago he was a person of interest when another woman was found dead in the same stretch of woods. Still, neither Emily nor her daughter, Lissa, can reconcile their Tucker with these brutal crimes. Terrified, convinced there’s been a tragic mistake, Emily and Lissa set out to learn the truth about Tucker, once and for all. And while his life hangs in the balance, what they discover proves far more shocking than their darkest fears.…

Also by Barbara Taylor Sissel

EVIDENCE OF LIFE

Safe Keeping

Barbara Taylor Sissel

www.mirabooks.co.uk (http://www.mirabooks.co.uk)

For my sister Susan and my brother John.

And in memory of our parents, gone so soon.

Contents

Chapter 1 (#u326e6792-e546-58f7-9744-65bdffbcab79)

Chapter 2 (#u0ae7501b-0e4f-58f5-bc2e-151fe6d6c0d1)

Chapter 3 (#u7d2cddd4-83bb-5024-b00b-66c3f8d92fa4)

Chapter 4 (#ucbb47b81-3f3e-5f65-8c07-0bd55964c64f)

Chapter 5 (#u04eb2564-6b29-5847-9e01-3dcfdd3c5e1c)

Chapter 6 (#u16f202e9-424a-5414-9e06-8150a9a09dae)

Chapter 7 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 8 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 9 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 10 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 11 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 12 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 13 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 14 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 15 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 16 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 17 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 18 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 19 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 20 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 21 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 22 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 23 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 24 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 25 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 26 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 27 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 28 (#litres_trial_promo)

Reader's Guide (#litres_trial_promo)

Questions for Discussion (#litres_trial_promo)

A Conversation with the Author (#litres_trial_promo)

1

MY SON IS a murderer.

The words hovered in Emily’s mind.

She said them aloud, “My son is a murderer.”

But they sounded no more believable than when they were rattling around in her head. Why did her mind do this? Why did it conjure up the worst of her fears? One that was neither logical nor possible? So far, like Tucker, the girl, Jessica Sweet, was only missing, not dead, and whatever more dire connection might exist between them was a figment of Emily’s overactive imagination, the result of too little sleep and too much worry. It was the uncertainty that was killing her. If only she could know Tucker was safe.