that was their mother.
“What’s taking your sister so long?”
Samantha leaned back in the chair and looked down the hall. All five doors were still closed. “Maybe she flushed herself down the toilet.”
“There’s a plunger in one of those boxes.”
The phone rang, a distinct jangling of a bell inside the old-fashioned rotary telephone on the wall. They’d had a cordless phone in the red-brick house, and an answering machine to screen all the calls that came in. The first time Samantha had ever heard the word “fuck” was on the answering machine. She was with her friend Gail from across the street. The phone was ringing as they walked through the front door, but Samantha had been too late to answer, so the machine had done the honors.
“Rusty Quinn, I will fuck you up, son. Do you hear me? I will fucking kill you, and rape your wife, and skin your daughters like I’m dressing a fucking deer, you fucking bleeding heart piece of shit.”
The phone rang a fourth time. Then a fifth.
“Sam.” Gamma’s tone was stern. “Don’t let Charlie answer that.”
Samantha stood from the table, leaving unsaid the “what about me?” She picked up the receiver and pressed it to her ear. Automatically, her chin tucked in, her jaw set, waiting for a punch. “Hello?”
“Hey there, Sammy-Sam. Lemme speak to your mama.”
“Daddy.” Samantha sighed out his name. And then she saw Gamma give a tight shake of her head. “She just went upstairs to take a bath.” Samantha realized too late that this was the same excuse she had given hours ago. “Do you want me to have her call you?”
Rusty said, “I feel our Gamma has been overly attentive to hygiene lately.”
“You mean since the house burned down?” The words slipped out before Samantha could catch them. The insurance agent at Pikeville Fire and Casualty wasn’t the only person who blamed Rusty Quinn for the fire.
Rusty chuckled. “Well, I appreciate you holding that back as long as you did.” His lighter clicked into the phone. Apparently, her father had forgotten about swearing on a stack of Bibles that he would quit smoking. “Now, listen, hon, tell Gamma when she gets out of the tub that I’m gonna have the sheriff send a car over.”
“The sheriff?” Samantha tried to convey her panic to Gamma, but her mother kept her back turned. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong, sugar. It’s just that they never caught that bad old fella who burned down the house, and today, another innocent man has gone free, and some people don’t like that, either.”
“You mean the man who raped that girl who killed herself?”
“The only people who know what happened to that girl are her, whoever committed the crime, and the Lord God in heaven. I don’t presume to be any of these people and I don’t opine that you should, either.”
Samantha hated when her father put on his country-lawyer-making-a-closing-argument voice. “Daddy, she hanged herself in a barn. That’s a proven fact.”
“Why is my life is riddled with contrary females?” Rusty put his hand over the phone and spoke to someone else. Samantha could hear a woman’s husky laugh. Lenore, her father’s secretary. Gamma had never liked her.
“All right now.” Rusty was back on the line. “You still there, honey?”
“Where else would I be?”
Gamma said, “Hang up the phone.”
“Baby.” Rusty blew out some smoke. “Tell me what you need me to do to make this better and I will do it immediately.”
An old lawyer’s trick; make the other person solve the problem. “Daddy, I—”
Gamma slammed her fingers down on the hook, ending the call.
“Mama, we were talking.”
Gamma’s fingers stayed hooked on the phone. Instead of explaining herself, she said, “Consider the etymology of the phrase ‘hang up the phone.’” She pulled the receiver from Samantha’s hand and hung it on the hook. “So, ‘pick up the phone’ even ‘off the hook,’ start to make sense. And of course you know the hook is a lever that, when depressed, opens up the circuit, indicating a call can be received.”
“The sheriff’s sending a car,” Samantha said. “Or, I mean, Daddy’s going to ask him to.”
Gamma looked skeptical. The sheriff was no fan of the Quinns. “You need to wash your hands for dinner.”
Samantha knew that there was no sense in trying to force further conversation. Not unless she wanted her mother to find a screwdriver and open the phone to explain the circuitry, which had happened with countless small appliances in the past. Gamma was the only mother on the block
The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 1 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 2 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 3 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 4 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 5 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 6 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 7 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 8 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 9 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 10 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 11 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 12 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 13 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 14 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 15 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 16 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 17 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 18 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 19 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 20 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 21 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 22 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 23 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 24 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 25 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 26 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 27 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 28 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 29 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 30 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 31 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 32 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 33 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 34 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 35 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 36 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 37 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 38 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 39 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 40 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 41 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 42 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 43 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 44 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 45 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 46 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 47 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 48 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 49 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 50 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 51 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 52 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 53 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 54 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 55 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 56 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 57 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 58 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 59 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 60 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 61 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 62 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 63 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 64 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 65 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 66 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 67 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 68 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 69 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 70 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 71 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 72 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 73 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 74 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 75 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 76 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 77 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 78 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 79 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 80 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 81 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 82 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 83 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 84 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 85 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 86 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 87 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 88 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 89 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 90 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 91 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 92 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 93 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 94 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 95 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 96 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 97 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 98 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 99 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 100 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 101 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 102 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 103 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 104 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 105 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 106 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 107 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 108 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 109 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 110 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 111 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 112 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 113 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 114 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 115 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 116 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 117 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 118 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 119 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 120 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 121 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 122 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 123 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 124 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 125 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 126 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 127 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 128 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 129 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 130 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 131 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 132 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 133 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 134 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 135 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 136 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 137 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 138 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 139 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 140 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 141 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 142 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 143 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 144 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 145 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 146 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 147 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 148 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 149 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 150 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 151 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 152 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 153 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 154 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 155 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 156 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 157 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 158 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 159 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 160 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 161 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 162 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 163 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 164 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 165 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 166 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 167 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 168 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 169 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 170 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 171 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 172 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 173 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 174 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 175 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 176 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 177 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 178 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 179 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 180 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 181 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 182 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 183 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 184 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 185 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 186 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 187 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 188 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 189 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 190 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 191 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 192 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 193 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 194 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 195 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 196 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 197 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 198 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 199 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 200 The Good Daughter (The Good Daughter #1) - Karin Slaughter - Page 201