Die Again: A Rizzoli And Isles Novel Part 32

"Yes," I whisper as I caress the smiling face in the photo. "And I will."

CHRISTOPHER WILL BE WAITING FOR ME AT THE AIRPORT. VIOLET WILL be there too, almost certainly holding a big bouquet of flowers. I'll be swept into their arms and then we'll drive home to Touws River, where there'll be a welcome-home party this evening. Chris has already warned me about it, because he knows I don't like surprises, nor do I much like parties. But I feel it's finally time to celebrate, because I am reclaiming my life. I'm rejoining the world.

I'm told that half the town will be there because everyone's curious. Until they saw the story on the news, few of them had any idea of my past, or why I've been such a recluse. I could never risk the exposure before. Now they all know, and I'm the town's new celebrity, the ordinary mum who went to America and defeated a serial killer.

"It'll be utter madness here," Chris told me during our phone call just before I boarded the plane. "The newspaper keeps calling, and the TV station. I've told them to leave us alone, but you need to be ready for this."

In half an hour, my plane will touch down. These final moments of the flight will be my last chance at solitude. As we start our descent toward Cape Town, I take out the photograph one last time.

Six years have pa.s.sed since I last saw him. Every year I grow older, but Johnny never will. He will always stand straight and tall, the gra.s.s waving at his feet, the sunlight reflected in his smile. I think about all the things that could have been if things had turned out differently. Would we now be married and blissful in our rustic hut in the bush? Would our children have his wheat-colored hair, and grow up running barefoot and free? I will never know, because the real Johnny lies somewhere in the Delta, his bones crumbling into the soil, his atoms forever bound to the land he loved. The land he'll always belong to. All I own are my memories of him, and these I'll guard as my secret. They belong to no one but me.

The plane touches down and rolls to the gate. Outside, the sky is a brilliant blue, and I know the air will be soft with the scent of flowers and the sea. I slip Johnny's photo back into the envelope and tuck it inside my purse. Out of sight, but never forgotten.

I rise to my feet. It's time to go back to my family.

To Levina.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

I will never forget the thrill of my first glimpse of a leopard in the wild. For that treasured memory, I thank the wonderful staff at the Ulusaba Safari Lodge in Sabi Sands. I owe special thanks to ranger Greg Posthumus and tracker Dan Ndubane for introducing me to the beauty of the African bush-and for keeping my husband alive.

I owe a huge debt of grat.i.tude to my literary agent, Meg Ruley, who has been my stalwart friend and ally through the years, and to my editors, Linda Marrow (US) and Sarah Adams (UK), for their invaluable help in making this book shine.

Most of all I thank my husband, Jacob, for sharing this journey. The adventure continues.

BY TESS GERRITSEN.

RIZZOLI & ISLES NOVELS.

The Surgeon.

The Apprentice.

The Sinner

Body Double.

Vanish

The Mephisto Club

The Keepsake.

Ice Cold

The Silent Girl

Rizzoli & Isles: Last to Die

Rizzoli & Isles: Die Again.

OTHER NOVELS.

Girl Missing.

Harvest

Life Support.

Bloodstream

Gravity

The Bone Garden.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR.

TESS GERRITSEN is a physician and an internationally bestselling author. She gained nationwide acclaim for her first novel of suspense, the New York Times bestseller Harvest. She is also the author of the bestsellers Rizzoli & Isles: Last to Die, The Silent Girl, Ice Cold, The Keepsake, The Bone Garden, The Mephisto Club, Vanish, Body Double, The Sinner, The Apprentice, The Surgeon, Life Support, Bloodstream, and Gravity. Tess Gerritsen lives in Maine.

www.tessgerritsen.com.

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