Off You Go Read Free

minutes.”
     
     

CHAPTER 3
     
    Though it was Dewey’s least favorite part,
he discussed the monetary details with Faye. Since he’d been kicked
out, he’d given nearly every dime he made to Erica, intent on
making sure his family was taken care of. It was never enough.
    As a dental assistant, Erica had always made
better money than Dewey, but he still wanted to contribute. He had
always spoiled his girls and wanted to continue doing so—which
seemed absurd, considering he’d drunk his way into doing the
opposite. Before he’d lost control, he’d been working at a plant
nursery and singing in a local bluegrass band called The Carolina
Lonely. Both had fired him the same month Erica had booted him. Now
he was making a living off his vegetables and this little
problem-solving business, which was finally starting to bear
fruit.
    Dewey gave a number, and Faye didn’t even
bother haggling. Dewey could only imagine how much the Callahans
were worth.
    “ Let’s back up now,” Dewey
said. “Tell me about your daughter.” He’d found it best not to get
too specific at first. Let her tell the story.
    Her words came out in sadness, the length of
some of the syllables pushing the story toward melodrama, though it
most certainly was not. “Gina was twenty-eight, God rest her soul.
She graduated from the College of Charleston five years ago, which
was the extended program, as Hammond calls it. She took her sweet
time graduating. I’m terrified that our spoiling her finally got
the best of her. I have to blame myself. We never taught her how to
fight. She didn’t bother looking for a job after school, and the
way Hammond continued to throw money at her, I don’t think she had
any intentions of ever worrying about it.” Faye raised her hands
and made a push motion. “But I don’t mean to take anything away
from her. She was a good girl, deep down. And she did have some
drive. She loved working out…running, going to the gym and the
rock-climbing wall. She took really good care of herself. But we
just made it too easy for her. Her skin wasn’t thick enough.”
    Faye reached into her purse and handed Dewey
a photo. He studied it. Gina was sitting at a picnic table waving
back at the camera with a smile that couldn’t have been brighter.
She had long red hair pulled into a ponytail, and tiny freckles
dotted her cheeks. She was a stunning young woman—not exactly the
“girl” that Faye kept referring to. Dewey figured a
twenty-eight-year-old was as woman as you could get.
    “ I took this last week.
Two days before. The red hair is her father’s. Now, does this look
like a girl who would jump off a bridge two days later?”
    Dewey shook his head, but
he was thinking how wrong she could be. People who kill themselves
aren’t always holding up signs that say Suicidal.
    A woodpecker started going at one of the
pine trees. Faye seemed not to notice.
    Faye continued. “Now, she had seen her fair
share of psychiatrists, and she’d been on and off every medicine
behind the counter. I think that’s one of the main reasons the
police ruled it a suicide so quickly. But she was doing
better.”
    “ Hold on…now you’re
starting to sound like you don’t think she committed suicide. With
all due respect, you don’t think I’m going to find your daughter
alive, do you?”
    “ Of course
not.”
    “ And you don’t think I’m
going to find that she was murdered, do you?”
    “ I’m not sure. I don’t
think so.”
    “ Fair enough. Long as you
aren’t thinking I’m a miracle worker. I am definitely
not.”
    “ No, I’m not expecting
miracles. I’m simply saying that they ruled it a suicide within
twenty-four hours, and it’s because she had tendencies.”
    “ Depression?”
    “ Sure. When she felt good,
she was on top of the world. When she was down, though, she could
be the devil. These mood swings could last months. Not bi-polar.
She just had waves of good and bad. Needless to say, she wasn’t the
easiest