“I don’t have your damn phone,” TJ said. “I got the one Ladarius gave me.”

“Bullshit.”

But some thought made Chastity freeze up, standing there cold in the living room, until she ran into Graham’s bedroom. TJ followed as she watched the girl tear into her purse and her bag, tossing her clothes and personal shit all over the floor. “Damn it,” she said. “Damn it. I must’ve dropped it.”

“Where?”

“You know damn well where,” Chastity said.

“What?” Graham said. “What? What’s the big deal? Girls. Girls. Chill the fuck out.”

“This crazy little bitch shot a trucker,” Chastity said, crossing her arms over her chest. “And now the police will blame me. What the hell have you done?”

*   *   *

Quinn waited for Holly Harkins in the meeting room at the sheriff’s office. She’d bonded out two days before, after he’d brought her back to Tibbehah County. Her parents cooperating fully, not pressing charges on the stolen van, but she’d still have to answer to the folks in Hot Springs about that big house they broke into. She walked into the room alone and Quinn asked her to take a seat.

“I appreciate you coming over,” Quinn said. “I told your folks I talked to the DA over in Hot Springs. I let him know it was your decision to cut loose from TJ and Ladarius. Also let him know you’d been a big help to me. Helped me get in touch with TJ.”

“Yes, sir,” Holly said.

Quinn joined her at the big oval table where he conducted most of his morning meetings with his deputies. No matter how many times they’d gotten the room straight, it always went back to cluttered storage. Boxes of reports and files stacked against the wall, folded parcels of new uniforms and orange jumpsuits for the prisoners. Quinn hated being in the middle of all that chaos but had cleared a nice spot for him and Holly.

“Did you talk to TJ?” Holly asked.

“I did,” Quinn said. “But I need you to do it again. She got into some bad trouble in Shreveport. A man got killed and things have gotten a whole lot worse.”

“More serious than killing her mother and kidnapping?” Holly said. “That was bullshit anyway. That’s why I left. Little Miss Chastity Bloodgood just couldn’t stand that she wasn’t the star of the show. What happened? Did Ladarius shoot someone?”

“Nope,” Quinn said. “Ladarius got picked up the day before in Texarkana. He was trying to steal a car and some dogs got to him.”

“Dogs?”

“Nearly bled out before they got him to the hospital,” Quinn said. “Now I’m worried about TJ. And I’m worried about John Wesley. TJ brought a lot of this on herself. But her little brother’s only nine years old.”