I look into his eyes, wishing I were a good enough communicator to put everything I’m feeling at this moment into words. “I think that depends on us.”

His gaze searches mine. “You were right when you told me I’ve been holding back. I haven’t been able to let them go. Nancy and the girls. All this time, I’ve been looking back instead of forward. I’m sorry for that.”

“They’ll always be in your heart.”

He nods. “I want you to know, I choose you. Not them. Not the past. You.”

The words make me unbearably happy. “You know, Tomasetti, there might just be hope for us yet.”

“I’m counting on it,” he says.

Raising my hands, I set my palms on either side of his face and pull his mouth to mine. “Me, too,” I whisper. “Me, too.”

ALSO BY LINDA CASTILLO

Her Last Breath

Gone Missing

Breaking Silence

Pray for Silence

Sworn to Silence

About the Author

Linda Castillo is the New York Times bestselling author of the Kate Burkholder novels, including Sworn to Silence, which was recently adapted into a Lifetime Original Movie titled An Amish Murder, starring Neve Campbell as Kate Burkholder. Castillo is the recipient of numerous industry awards, including the Daphne du Maurier Award of Excellence and the HOLT Medallion, and she received a nomination for the RITA. In addition to writing, Castillo’s other passion is horses. She lives in Texas with her husband and is currently at work on her next novel.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

THE DEAD WILL TELL. Copyright © 2014 by Linda Castillo. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

www.minotaurbooks.com

Cover design by David Baldeosingh Rotstein

Cover photograph © Debra Vanderlaan/Celebrate Life Gallery/www.celebratelifegallery.com

eBooks may be purchased for business or promotional use. For information on bulk purchases, please contact Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department by writing to [email protected].

The Library of Congress cataloged the print edition as follows:

Castillo, Linda.

       The dead will tell: a Kate Burkholder novel / Linda Castillo.

             p. cm.

       ISBN 978-1-250-02957-7 (hardcover)

       ISBN 978-1-250-02956-0 (e-book)

   1.  Women police chiefs—Fiction.   2.  Amish—Fiction.   3.  Murder—Investigation—Fiction.   I.  Title.

       PS3603.A8758D43 2014

       813'.6—dc23

2014008870

e-ISBN 9781250029560

First Edition: July 2014