The 8th Confession (27 page)
She'd ducked under his arm, run past "the witch" and down the hallway to the master-bedroom suite. And there, where they slept together, she'd slipped the krait under the covers of the bed where it was dark and snug, just what that snake would love. And she thought she was leaving the krait so that his
wife
would die—but she knew that her daddy slept in that bed, too.
He found her in the master bathroom. He banged on the door.
"Hurry up!" he'd shouted.
It was the last thing he'd said to her. She came out of the bathroom and ran out of the house and sat for hours on the curb.
She'd cried when he died.
And everything changed after that. But she wasn't sorry. She'd stood up for herself, and now life was good again. All of her needs were being met. And she was the baddest, most important citizen in this place. She was respected here. She was respected.
"You okay in there, Norma?" the guard asked, coming to let Norma and Bernie out for their hour in the yard, keys clanging, making that comforting sound.
"I'm just fine," said Norma Johnson, giving the guard a rare smile. "Never better."
O
UR GREAT THANKS to these top professionals who shared with us their valuable time and expertise during the writing of this book: Captain Richard Conklin, Dr. Humphrey Germaniuk, Chuck Hanni, Mickey Sherman, Philip R. Hoffman, Dr. Michelle Koo, Dr. Maria Paige, Tim Hettrich, and Rebecca DiLiberto.
Our special thanks to Maryellen Dankenbrink for her bus rap, to Chris Cooper, to Narayan Radhakrishnan, and to two first-class team players, Lynn Colomello and Mary Jordan.
J
AMES PATTERSON is one of the bestselling writers of all time, with more than 160 million copies of his books sold worldwide. He is the author of the two most popular detective series of the past decade, featuring Alex Cross and the Women's Murder Club. He has won an Edgar Award—the mystery world's highest honor—and his novels
Kiss the Girls
and
Along Came a Spider
were made into feature films. His lifelong work to promote books and reading is reflected in his new Web site, ReadKiddoRead.com, which helps parents, grandparents, teachers, and librarians find the very best children's books for their kids. He lives in Florida.
M
AXINE PAETRO is a novelist and journalist. She lives with her husband in New York.
FEATURING ALEX CROSS
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Double Cross
Cross
Mary, Mary
London Bridges
The Big Bad Wolf
Four Blind Mice
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Pop Goes the Weasel
Cat & Mouse
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Kiss the Girls
Along Came a Spider
THE WOMEN'S MURDER CLUB
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7th Heaven
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The 5th Horseman
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1st to Die
FEATURING MICHAEL BENNETT
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Step on a Crack
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