Elizabeth Heiter | When the End Is Really the Beginning

“Guilty.” That’s the opening to my short story, The Second Shot, part of the anthology BETRAYED, releasing in ebook next week. My heroine, seventeen-year-old Regan Adderly, has just been found guilty of murdering her abusive father. But it’s really the end. Or is it?

From this scene, the story travels backward through four days of the trial, from
the perspectives of others who were connected to the crime: the cop who arrested
Regan on the night of the murder; Regan’s dependent, drug-addicted mother; her
desperate little brother; and her conniving older boyfriend. It ends a year
earlier, back in Regan’s perspective, with the actual crime. Along the way, the
story weaves through the hours and leading up to the shooting, and asks the
question: who fired the shot that killed Maxwell Adderly?

With most mysteries, part of the joy is following alongside the protagonist,
trying to figure out who did it, how and why – and then catch them. It was a lot
of fun to turn this idea on its head, beginning with the guilty party already
caught and tried, and then leading readers on a journey to determine if the
verdict was right – and deserved.

Besides the fun (and challenge) of writing this story backward, I’m thrilled
that it’s part of a larger anthology focusing on crime survivors. Betrayed
contains twenty-one crime thrillers (including a bonus novella from New York
Times bestseller Allison Brennan) that ask: What happens when the person you
trust the most betrays you? All the proceeds from the anthology will go toward
organizations that support survivors of domestic violence.

You can learn more about BETRAYED here.