The first book in the Costas Sisters series, 2004

To Janelle Denison and Shannon Short for being my daily support group, best friends, and therapists all in one!

To Julie Leto, whose complicated mind gives me a plot in every book I write and whose friendship is invaluable.

To the Plotmonkeys-Janelle Denison, Julie Leto, and Leslie Kelly-without our Orlando trip, this book wouldn’t have been written! We really need to do this again.

And to Lynda Sue Cooper, my special “cop” friend, and to Kathy Attalla, my first critique partner and close friend, whose knowledge in all areas far surpasses mine. THANK YOU for your help!

If walls could talk, the stories they’d tell. Especially these walls, Ariana Costas thought as she glanced at the rows and rows of pictures leading down the stairs of her family home. A true documentary of insanity if there ever was one-the infamous “wall of shame,” as Ariana liked to call it-that portrayed her relatives at their conniving best.

Judging by the commotion she heard from the kitchen, her family was up to their usual tricks. Her heart skipped a beat as she realized that, sadly, nothing had changed in the five years she’d been gone. Apparently not even a missing daughter could deter them from their routine. Pulling her black suit jacket around her like armor, Ariana stepped inside the kitchen and into the fray.

Her mother’s sister, who technically lived next door though you’d never know it with the amount of time she spent here, sat with the phone book, calling people at random.