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9bdc3ff
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He grinned. "It's cheaper than that"
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Karin Slaughter |
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1e243c4
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Claire had never thought of herself as an expert in male behavior, but Paul had a point, and not just about men. People did not change their basic, core personalities. Their values tended to stay the same. Their personal demeanors. Their world outlook and political beliefs. One need only go to a high school reunion to verify the theory.
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Karin Slaughter |
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705c39d
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Third domino: Statistically, rapists didn't just rape once. If they got away with it, they generally kept raping. Even if they didn't get away with it, the recidivism rate was so high that they might as well put a revolving door on every prison.
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Karin Slaughter |
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0665d01
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Lydia asked, "Do you have a problem with drugs and alcohol?" Claire struggled to return the glass to the floor. "Yes. The problem is that I don't like them very much."
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Karin Slaughter |
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a652652
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The Peeping Tom's name was Gerald Scott. His son is your baby sister's new boyfriend.
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Karin Slaughter |
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d117d6c
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Claire looked at the anniversary painting again. She thought about Paul as a child. She'd seen pictures--his winsome, toothy grin; the way his ears poked out from his giant head when he was six and seven; the way everything started to catch up when puberty hit. He wasn't dashing or flashy, but he was handsome, once she'd talked him into wearing contacts and buying nice suits. And he was funny. And he was charming. And he was so damn smart t..
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Karin Slaughter |
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037f159
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Claire shook her head. She was scared that he wasn't taking her seriously. She was also scared that he was. They were down the rabbit hole now. There was no turning back.
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Karin Slaughter |
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70cc639
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The lust and fucking like rabbits and letting your life fall to shit so you can be around him - that's passion. It's borderline obsession. And it always burns itself out.
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Karin Slaughter |
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5fc3aee
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The fingerprinting was nothing like on TV. Instead of ink, Claire had to press her fingers onto a filthy glass plate so the swirls could be digitized into a computer. Her swirls, apparently, were very faint. It took several tries.
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Karin Slaughter |
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5360d02
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Press evenly," the praying mantis said, chewing off the wings of a fly."
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Karin Slaughter |
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c338304
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Claire's mug shot was taken against a white background with a ruler that was clearly off by an inch. She wondered aloud why she wasn't asked to hold a sign with her name and inmate number. "Photoshop template," the praying mantis said in a bored tone that indicated the question was not a new one."
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Karin Slaughter |
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d55f5ae
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This was the beginning of something that might lead to everything or nothing at all. To
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Karin Slaughter |
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e5e9e9d
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He was safe because she would never really give all of herself to him." "I"
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Karin Slaughter |
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9bbb388
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So." Penelope slapped her hands on her thighs as she turned back to Lydia. "I was wondering if you could help me out." "Oka-a-ay." Lydia drew out the word to convey her great trepidation. This was how Penelope sucked you in. She didn't tell you to do things; she told you that she needed your help."
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Karin Slaughter |
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b691742
|
Well." Lydia took a deep breath as she prepared to sing the hokey pokey of her life story, where she put the truth in, pulled a lie out, added an embellishment, and shook it all about."
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Karin Slaughter |
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905ea36
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Lydia wondered how long it would take for Penelope to tell the other Mothers about the tragic death of Lloyd Delgado. Her father always said that the price for hearing gossip was having someone else gossip about you. She wished that he were still alive so she could tell him about the Mothers. He would've wet himself with laughter.
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Karin Slaughter |
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c37d270
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if you lie with enough conviction, you can usually fool yourself.
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Karin Slaughter |
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22c0940
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I want you to know that this is what happens when you meet the person you are supposed to spend the rest of your life with: that restless feeling dissolves like butter. I
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Karin Slaughter |
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adb0e94
|
And then she got older, and . . ." Lydia shook her head. "Having a teenager is like having a really, really shitty roommate. They eat all your food and steal your clothes and take money out of your purse and borrow your car without asking." She put her hand over her heart. "But they soften you in ways you can't imagine. It's so unexpected. They just smooth out your hard lines. They make you into this better version of yourself that you neve..
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Karin Slaughter |
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63d9d7e
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The office looked the same as it had been the day before. Claire sat down at the desk. She hesitated as she reached out to tap the keyboard. This was a red pill/blue pill moment. Did she really want to know if there were more files? Paul was dead now. What was the point?
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Karin Slaughter |
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970c560
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He would never challenge her or scare her or infuriate her or stir up any of those fiery emotions that made it worthwhile to put up with a man's bullshit. "Why"
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Karin Slaughter |
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36fbba9
|
He is a man who is comfortable airing his opinions, and confident that every single word that comes out of his mouth is not just correct, but fascinating. He has money, which is evident from the car he drives and the clothes he wears, but there is nothing moneyed about his attitude. His arrogance comes from his intelligence, not from his wallet. And it must be said that he is clearly a brilliant young man. His ability to at least sound info..
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Karin Slaughter |
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7a8550f
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Trust me, sweetheart, there is a reason centuries of fathers have fought brutal wars to protect the concept
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Karin Slaughter |
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02ed804
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Carver is a charming man with a soft voice that makes you believe he is always confiding in you. He is courteous and attentive, which I wonder about, because is this his natural disposition, or has he read too many novels about Hannibal Lecter?
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Karin Slaughter |
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f31952b
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She said, "Where is Lydia?" "I'm calling you from a comsat phone with a scrambler. Do you know what that is?" "Why the fuck would I know what that is?" "Comsat is an abbreviation for a series of communication satellites," he explained, his voice maddeningly pedantic. "The phone relays calls through geostationary satellites instead of land-based cell towers. The scrambler masks the number and location, which means this call can't be traced, ..
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Karin Slaughter |
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bcb8b62
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matter most? This is a universal question, because through the days and weeks and months and years after your disappearance, I understood that I did not cherish you enough. I never told you that I loved you enough. I never held you enough. I never listened to you enough. You
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Karin Slaughter |
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cfef3ef
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The world stops for you when you're pretty. That's why women spend billions on crap for their faces. Their whole life, they're the center of attention. People want to be around them just because they're attractive. Their jokes are funnier. Their lives are better. And then suddenly, they get bags under their eyes or they put on a little weight and no one cares about them anymore. They cease to exist.
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Karin Slaughter |
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5092061
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She took him for granted sometimes. That was the luxury of a long marriage.
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Karin Slaughter |
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02df53c
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And Helen's, too. The last time Lydia had talked to her mother, Helen had said, "Don't make me choose between you and your sister." To which Lydia had responded, "I think you already have."
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Karin Slaughter |
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62554f3
|
Time to wake up." Rick muted the TV when a commercial came on. He slipped on his reading glasses and asked, "What is the groundnut better known as?" Lydia carefully rolled onto her back so the cat wouldn't be disturbed. "The peanut."
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Karin Slaughter |
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9019c73
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Sweetheart, I know you're an adult, but adults are like vampires. The older ones are much more powerful." Claire"
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Karin Slaughter |
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16d39b4
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Nancy's last sentence is on the last page in your file. There is nothing more we know. As the sheriff might say, we don't have anything farther.
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Karin Slaughter |
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2ac6350
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The casket was gunmetal gray with a blanket of white lilies covering the closed lid. The smell of wet earth was pungent as the machine lowered his body into the grave. Claire's knees went weak. Her grandmother stroked her back. Her mother offered her arm. Claire shook her head. She thought of strong things: iron. Steel. Paul. It was not until they were climbing into the back of the black limousine that Claire truly understood that she would..
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Karin Slaughter |
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41b1caf
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She had felt this intense disembodiment for the last four days, really from the moment the Snake Man had told them to turn around. And then the police, the undertaker, asking if she wanted to see the body one last time and Claire blanching at the word body and sobbing like a child because she had spent every single second since they had taken Paul from her arms trying to remove the image of her lifeless, murdered husband from her mind.
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Karin Slaughter |
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7eb0bab
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Lydia stared into the darkness of the trunk as she listened to the hum of wheels on the road. She had already run through all the things you were supposed to do if you ever got locked inside a trunk. Obviously, Paul had run through them, too. There were steel plates bolted to the back of the taillights so Lydia couldn't punch them open and stick out her hand to wave down passing motorists. The emergency release latch had been disabled. Ther..
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Karin Slaughter |
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6012e9c
|
You were wrong," she told Paul, because he had been a pedantic asshole who thought he was right about everything. "You said I would be dead in a gutter by now. You said I was worthless. You said that no one would believe me because I didn't matter."
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Karin Slaughter |
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9e0b8a7
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Coach Henley gave his whistle two short blasts to get the team moving. The Westerly Women ambled over and formed a half circle. The Mothers stamped their feet on the bleachers, trying to build excitement for a game that would unfold with the same painful drama as a mime's funeral. The opposing team hadn't even bothered to warm up. Their shortest player was six feet tall
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Karin Slaughter |
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21afa60
|
Coach Henley gave his whistle two short blasts to get the team moving. The Westerly Women ambled over and formed a half circle. The Mothers stamped their feet on the bleachers, trying to build excitement for a game that would unfold with the same painful drama as a mime's funeral. The opposing team hadn't even bothered to warm up. Their shortest player was six feet tall and had hands the size of dinner plates.
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Karin Slaughter |
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58f2349
|
Paul still had feelings for Claire--at least inasmuch as he was capable of feeling anything. He had put the pillow under her head. He'd slid her wedding ring back on her finger. He had taken off her shoes. He had charged the Tesla. All of these things had taken time, which meant that Paul placed importance on them. Instead of rushing Lydia out the door, he had risked exposure by taking care of Claire.
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Karin Slaughter |
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b8281d3
|
His voice had changed again. He liked this. He liked seeing her squirm. He was absorbing her fear like a succubus. Lydia heard an echo of the last words Paul Scott had ever spoken to her: Tell me you want this.
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Karin Slaughter |
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960efb4
|
As I expected, Paul immediately apologized for not asking me whether or not he could date Claire. He is nothing if not a good mimic of appropriate behaviors. Had we been in person rather than on the telephone, I am certain he would've dropped to bended knee as he asked for my permission. But he wasn't, so it was his voice that conveyed the respect and feeling. Conveyed.
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Karin Slaughter |
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205316c
|
As your mother has said, Paul could be a belt in a doughnut factory, he is so good at sticky, emotional conveyances.
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Karin Slaughter |
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76a5260
|
So far, she had nothing but fear and the nauseating sensation that the hour would pass and she would be just as helpless as when she'd first left the Fuller house. The same problems that had plagued her before were on an endless loop that took up every conscious thought. Her mother: persistently unavailable. Huckleberry: worthless. Jacob Mayhew: probably working for the congressman. Fred Nolan: ditto, or maybe he had his own agenda. Congres..
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Karin Slaughter |
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aa47844
|
Then I ask myself what would happen if that grimy metal mesh were taken away. What would a man like Ben Carver do to me if there were no guards posted, no barrier between us? Would he explicate Spenser's Faerie Queene or would he cut me open and sample a sliver of my pancreas?
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Karin Slaughter |