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“Please, Nick,” she said, her voice tre with tears “Please, don’t”

Nick turned away fro he could do to help her The realization caused an ache deep inside hi why in the hell he did this job There was no success, or da to Chuck unless Chuck killed his wife, and of course, then it would be too late

He stepped over an upended laundry basket and took hold of Chuck’s collar “Come on, Chuck You can sleep it off don ”

He ignored Chuck’s whining and refused to look at Sally again He didn’t need to Sally would be following along behind they to the husband who’d broken her bones, pro to have dinner on the table on time

It didn’t sicken Nick, her behavior Unfortunately, he understood Sally He had been like her in his youth, had followed hisfor scraps of affection, taking whatever affection she would occasionally fling his way

Yes, he understood too hy Sally stayed with Chuck And he knew, too, that it would end badly for both of theodda except to throw Chuck in jail to sleep off his drunk, and wait for the next domestic disturbance call on Old Mill Road

Izzy Delacroix lay curled in a tight little ball on Lurlene’s guest bed The pillow didn’t sht ss that ht Since her ht, not the sheets or the pillows or Izzy’s clothes

Even Miss Jemmie didn’t smell like she was s’posed to Izzy clutched the doll to her chest, stroking her pretty yellow hair with the two fingers she had left on her right hand, her thuer

At first it had sorta scared her, when she’d figured out that she was disappearing She’d started to reach for a crayon, and halfway there, she’d noticed that her pinky finger was sort of blurry and gray The next day it was invisible She had told her daddy and Lurlene, and she could tell by the way they looked at her that it scared them, too And that icky doctor—it had

She stared at the two fingers that reoin’away, Mommy

She waited for an answer, but none caht beside her, and she could talk to her just by thinking the words

She wished she could ht now, but it only seemed to happen at special tiht

She needed to talk to her mommy about what had happened the other day It had been so bad Oneat the pictures in her book, and the next thing she knew, there was a screaood to screaht she was stupid—and she’d tried really, really hard to keep her ht balls and squeezed her eyes shut so hard she’d seen stars in the darkness

She had felt so scared and so lonely she couldn’t breathe right The scream had started as a little yelp that slipped out She had clamped a hand over her mouth but it hadn’t helped

All the kids had stared at her, pointing and laughing