48Josette had a small bag packed and was waiting in the barn for Julien to return in the truck and pick her up. She made no excuse at all to Maman, even knowing full well that Maman would be driven wild when she discovered that her children were gone—that they had left for good without a word.
Josette hummed to herself, looking forward to the journey. And then, with the force of a thunderous wave slamming down on the beach, she remembered what she had done.
She had killed a man.
Her brain formed the sentence and she knew in her conscious mind that it was true—knew even that it was the reason she was standing in the barn with a small bag at her feet—and yet it seemed absurd and unbelievable. Slowly she remembered what had happened after she had done it.
Julien had been having breakfast
