Kyra said, "I've been wondering how to tell you."

Matt and Olivia stayed still as a stone.

"You didn't break the pact, Olivia," Kyra said. "Sister Mary Rose did."

"I don't understand," Olivia said.

"See, I always knew I was adopted," Kyra said.

Olivia put her hand to her mouth. "Oh, my God…"

"And once I started looking into it, I found out pretty fast that my birth mother had been murdered."

A sound escaped Olivia's mouth. Matt sat stunned.

Olivia, he thought. She was from Idaho. And Kyra… she lived in one of those Midwestern "I" states…

"But I wanted to learn more about it. So I tracked down the policeman who investigated the death."

"Max Darrow," Matt said.

Kyra nodded. "I told him who I was. He seemed to genuinely want to help. He took all the information- where I was born, the doctor, all that. He gave me Kimmy Dale's address. I visited her."

"Wait," Matt said, "I thought Kimmy said-"

Kyra looked at him, but Matt stopped himself. The answer was obvious. Darrow had been controlling things again by keeping Kimmy in the dark. Why let her know that there really was a daughter in the picture? Maybe Kimmy, already emotionally unhinged, would swing the other way if she knew that the girl who visited her really was Candi's flesh and blood.

"I'm sorry," Matt said. "Go on."

Kyra slowly turned back to Olivia. "So I visited Kimmy's trailer. She was so nice. And talking to her just made me want to find out more about you. I wanted to… I know how this will sound, but I wanted to find your killer. So I kept digging. I kept asking around. And then I got a call from Sister Mary Rose."

"How…?"

"She was trying to help some of her old girls, I think. Make amends. She heard what I was up to. So she called me."

"She told you I was still alive?"

"Yes. I mean, it was a total shock. I thought you'd been murdered. And then Sister Mary Rose tells me if I do what she says, I might be able to find you. But we had to play it safe, she said. I didn't want to put you in danger or anything. I just wanted… I just wanted a chance to get to know you."

Matt looked at Marsha. "You knew?"

"Not until yesterday. Kyra told me."

"How did you happen to live here?"

"That was part luck," Kyra said. "I wanted to find a way to get close to you. Sister Mary Rose was going to try to get me hired at DataBetter. But then we heard Marsha needed a live-in helper. So Sister Mary Rose called someone at St. Philomena's. She gave them my name."

Matt remembered now that Marsha had met Kyra through her church. A nun would have that kind of pull- who would question that kind of recommendation?

"I wanted to tell you," Kyra said, her eyes only on Olivia. "I was just looking for the right time. But then Sister Mary Rose called. Like you said. Three weeks ago. She said it was still too soon- that I shouldn't say anything until she contacted me again. I was scared, but I trusted her. So I listened. I didn't even know she'd been killed. And then the other night, when you both came here so late- I was going to tell you anyway. That's why I came back in from the garage. But Matt was running out."

Olivia stood, opened her mouth, closed it, tried again. "So you… you're my…?"

"Daughter. Yes."

Olivia took a tentative step toward Kyra. She reached out with one hand. Then, thinking better of it, she dropped it back to her side.

"Are you okay, Kyra?" Olivia asked.

Kyra smiled, a smile so heartbreakingly close to her mother's Matt wondered how he'd missed it before. "I'm fine," she said.

"Are you happy?"

"I am, yes."

Olivia said nothing. Kyra took another step.

"I'm fine, really."

And then Olivia started to cry.

Matt looked away. This wasn't about him. He heard the sobs and the shushing sounds of two people trying to comfort each other. He thought about the miles, the pain, the prison, the abuse, the years, and what Olivia had said about this life, this simple life, being worth fighting for.

Epilogue

YOUR NAME IS MATT HUNTER.

A year has passed.

Lance Banner has apologized to you. For several months Lance remains wary, but then one day, at a neighborhood barbecue, he asks you to be his assistant basketball coach. Your nephew, Paul, Lance reminds you with a slap on the back, is on the team too. So what do you say?

You say yes.

You bought the house in Livingston, after all. You work out of it now, consulting on legal matters for Carter Sturgis. Ike Kier is by far your biggest client. He pays you well.

All charges against Cingle Shaker were dropped. Cingle has opened her own private investigation agency called Cingler Service. Ike Kier and Carter Sturgis throw all the business they can her way. She has three investigators working for her now.

Your sister-in-law, Marsha, is now serious with a man named Ed Essey. Ed works in manufacturing. You really don't understand what he does. They plan on marrying soon. He seems nice, this Ed guy. You try to like him, but you can't. He loves Marsha though. He will take care of her. He will probably be the only father Paul and Ethan will remember. They'll be too young to remember Bernie. Maybe that's how it should be, but it kills you. You will always try to be a presence in their lives, but you will become simply an uncle. Paul and Ethan will run to Ed first.

Last time you were in the house, you looked for the picture of Bernie on the refrigerator. It was still there, but it's buried under more recent photographs and report cards and artwork.

You never hear from Sonya or Clark McGrath again.

Their son, Stephen, still visits you sometimes. Not as much as he used to. And sometimes you're even glad to see him.

After you close on the new house, Loren Muse comes over. The two of you sit in the backyard with Corona beers.

"Back in Livingston," she says.

"Yep."

"Happy?"

"Towns don't make you happy, Loren."

She nods.

There is still something hanging over your head. "What's going to happen to Olivia?" you ask.

Loren reaches into her pocket and pulls out an envelope. "Nothing."

"What's that?"

"A letter from Sister Mary Rose née Emma Lemay. Mother Katherine gave it to me."

You sit up. She hands it to you. You start to read it.

"Emma Lemay put it all on herself," Loren tells you. "She and she alone killed Clyde Rangor. She and she alone hid his body. She and she alone lied to the authorities about the identity of the murder victim. She claimed Candace Potter didn't know anything about it. There's more, but that's the gist."

"You think that will wash?"

Loren shrugs. "Who's to say otherwise?"

"Thank you," you say.

Loren nods. She puts down her beer and sits up. "Now, you want to tell me about those phone records, Matt?"

"No."

"You think I don't know who Darrow spoke to in Westport, Connecticut."

"Doesn't matter. You can't prove anything."

"You don't know that. McGrath probably sent him money. There could be a trail."

"Let it go, Loren."

"Wanting revenge is not a defense."

"Let it go."

She picks the beer back up. "I don't need your approval."

"True."

Loren looks off. "If Kyra had just told Olivia the truth in the beginning-"

"They'd probably all be dead."

"What makes you say that?"

"Emma Lemay's phone call. She told Kyra to stay silent. And I think she had a good reason."

"That being?"

"I think Emma- or Sister Mary Rose- knew that they were getting close."

"You saying Lemay took the hit for all of them?"

You shrug. You wonder how they found Lemay and Lemay alone. You wonder why Lemay, if she suspected something, didn't run. You wonder how she stood up to their torture and never gave Olivia away. Maybe Lemay figured one last sacrifice would end it. She wouldn't have known they'd post something about the adoption. She probably figured that she was the only link. And if that link was permanently broken- especially by force- there'd be no way to find Olivia.