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Back The Shameless
Chapters (43)
  1. BY ACE ATKINS
  2. Dedication
  3. CONTENTS
  4. Epigraph
  5. Episode 1: Brandon
  6. ONE
  7. TWO
  8. THREE
  9. Episode 2: The Big Woods
  10. FOUR
  11. FIVE
  12. SIX
  13. Episode 3: The Search Party
  14. SEVEN
  15. EIGHT
  16. NINE
  17. TEN
  18. Episode 4: The Teacher
  19. ELEVEN
  20. TWELVE
  21. THIRTEEN
  22. FOURTEEN
  23. Episode 5: The Sheriff
  24. FIFTEEN
  25. SIXTEEN
  26. SEVENTEEN
  27. EIGHTEEN
  28. Episode 6: Quinn Colson
  29. NINETEEN
  30. TWENTY
  31. TWENTY-ONE
  32. TWENTY-TWO
  33. Episode 7: Maggie
  34. TWENTY-THREE
  35. TWENTY-FOUR
  36. TWENTY-FIVE
  37. Episode 8: The Witness
  38. TWENTY-SIX
  39. TWENTY-SEVEN
  40. TWENTY-EIGHT
  41. TWENTY-NINE
  42. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  43. What’s next onyour reading list?

“I will warn you, Quinn,” Mr. Phillips said. “I said some horrible things about your uncle and Deputy Royce. I told them all about those first days after Brandon disappeared and the way they treated me. Even though they’re both dead now, I still don’t know if I forgive them.”

“They had no right,” Quinn said. “I’m sorry.”

“Brandon did not kill himself,” Mr. Phillips said, still holding on to Quinn’s hand. “I know it like I know my own name. Maybe Ansley Cuthbert can help you. Lord, I hope so. Funny how the mind works. I recall how she and Brandon came to class one day, hand in hand. She had this little silver necklace. A locket? Or maybe a heart? She kept on playing with it, running the chain through her fingers. You could tell how much it meant to her. I think they were very much in love.”

Quinn picked up the box and tucked it under his arm. Tashi stood and looked up at Quinn. “We found her,” Tashi said. “And spoke to her. But since then it looks like she left Memphis.”

“I just pray she doesn’t head back to Tibbehah County,” Mr. Phillips said, walking them both toward the door. “No offense, Quinn, but I can’t imagine why anyone would stick around there. I did a long time for family, history and all. Why’d you come back?”

“That’s a long story, Mr. Phillips,” Quinn said. “I guess I got offered a job.”

“Town sheriff,” Mr. Phillips said. “What did I say? John Ford. Have you seen My Darling Clementine?”

“Maybe a hundred times.”

“I knew you had,” Mr. Phillips said, opening the front door, afternoon light spilling into the entryway. The welcome mat read GOD BLESS THIS HOME. “It’s good to see you, Quinn. Keep up the good fight. You are absolutely nothing like your uncle. He kept a boot on each side of the times, straddling Southern history. So many people down there don’t want to see anything change, only looking backward to what we’ve been. Or an idea of what they thought we’d been. Gone with the Wind? Lovely Technicolor and costumes and all, but an absolute steaming bucket of ahistorical crap. Keep moving ahead, both of you. Mississippi needs you. God love you for answering the damn call.”

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