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  The creak of a door causes us both to look toward the bedroom. A bleary-eyed Mason stares quizzically at the knife in Judith’s hand. “Grandma?” he asks in a little whisper.

  * * *

  At the police station I sit in an interview room across from Joe. “What I don’t understand is why she removed Marissa’s shoes and coat.”

  “We haven’t formally interviewed her yet. She’s asked for a lawyer,” Joe explains, “but I think she wanted everyone to believe that Marissa was killed somewhere else and transported to the park and laid in front of the statue. No one would think such a frail woman could kill someone and then carry the body somewhere else. Because Marissa had her hood up, the blood collected there. All Judith had to do was remove the shoes and coat and leave her in front of the statue.”

  “You know, I thought Judith might be crazy, but now I don’t know. Judith was so angry with Marissa for being a bad mother she murdered her, then tried to put the blame on an innocent teenage boy. That doesn’t sound so crazy. It sounds evil.”

  “Plus,” Joe adds, “she had to leave Mason at the scene, otherwise we’d have known that Judith was already in Cedar City when the murder occurred. She made the anonymous call to 911 and then when she was sure that Mason was safe, she showed up at the police department saying her daughter was missing.” We both sit in silence, contemplating what Judith had done, had almost gotten away with.

  “You’re lucky that Judith didn’t kill you,” Joe says with sudden fervor. “You should never have gone over there.”

  “I only wanted to talk to Judith, talk to Mason one more time before they left town. I would never have figured it out if I hadn’t seen Judith’s boots in the garbage. I knew they couldn’t have been Marissa’s. Mason was so drugged up from the cough medicine Marissa gave him—the only real clue that he was able to give us was about a pair of black boots.” I shake my head sadly. “Before Judith was taken away by the police, she begged me to never tell Mason that she was the one who killed his mother.”

  “What did you say?”

  “She was hysterical. I lied and told her that no one would ever tell Mason the truth about what really happened.” Shakily I get to my feet. “All the lies, they never seem to stop.”

  “Will you tell Mason then?”

  “If he asks, of course I’ll tell him the truth.” I look questioningly at Joe. “Wouldn’t you?”

  “I honestly don’t know,” Joe admits. “He’s so little. Would he understand anyway?”

  We both are silent for a moment with our own thoughts. As much as I would like to protect the children I work with from the truth, I learned very early on that lies, big or little, eventually destroy, or at the very least, erode their faith in the world.

  “What happens to Mason now?” Joe finally asks.

  “We’ll search for next of kin, but for now he’ll stay with Martha Renner in foster care.”

  “Jonah Sharpe all over again,” Joe says. “And we still don’t know who killed Nell or Devin Fallon.”

  “Jonah still hasn’t shown up?” I ask sadly, knowing that Joe would have told me if he had been found.

  “No.” Joe shakes his head and stands up. “Not yet. Ellen, you need to get home and get some rest. You’ve had a terrible day.” Impulsively, Joe gives me a brief, tight hug. “Glad you’re okay.”

  The soft snow that had been falling earlier has transformed into tiny, hard pellets that strike angrily at my face. Just as I climb into my van, my cell phone buzzes. It’s Adam. “Guess what?” he says excitedly.

  “What?” I ask wearily.

  “I canceled practice because of the snow. I’ll pick up the kids from school and grab a pizza.”

  I start the van and drive toward home, to my husband and children. “That sounds perfect,” I say with a smile.

  * * * * *

  About the Author

  Heather Gudenkauf is the author of the New York Times bestselling novels One Breath Away, These Things Hidden and The Weight of Silence, which sold more than half a million copies and spent twenty-one weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. She lives in Iowa with her family.

  “Deeply moving and exquisitely lyrical, this is a powerhouse of a novel.”

  —Tess Gerritsen, New York Times bestselling author, on The Weight of Silence

  If you loved Little Lies by New York Times bestselling author Heather Gudenkauf, be sure to also catch the powerful and emotionally charged Little Mercies (July 2014)—a tale about motherhood and justice, and the tenuous grasp we have on the things we love the most.

  Available in ebook format.

  Don’t miss these other compelling and moving tales from Heather Gudenkauf. Available today in ebook format:

  The Weight of Silence

  These Things Hidden

  One Breath Away

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  ISBN-13: 9781459256170

  LITTLE LIES

  Copyright © 2014 by Heather Gudenkauf

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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

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