Girls Like Us Quotes
"We did, too. Except for a small handful of weddings, I haven’t stepped inside a church since I left the island ten years ago."
"The burial is, I believe, what my father would have wanted. Short and sweet. No standing on ceremony."
"Dad had his own code. I learned early not to second-guess it. At least, not out loud."
"Dad used to say that there was no better training ground for a cop than the Third Precinct."
"He’d be quiet all night and then pipe up with one perfect, cutting remark."
"The house has about as much charm and space as an RV."
"The cry of a seagull rouses me. My eyes open."
"I can fit most of what I own in a single large duffel bag."
"I pour myself a stiff glass of Dad’s Macallan and retire to the porch with a wool blanket."
"Maybe there’s no point in painting walls and putting in new screens when, more likely than not, a buyer will tear it down."
"It’s not like I have anything else going on."
"Nothing bad ever happens to girls from Gin Lane, I guess."
"Long Island has always been a breeding ground for men who hunt women."
"Everything’s different when it involves family."
"You do understand that most girls don’t choose that life, right?"
"My father instructed me to ignore them. I did, on what felt like an eternal walk from our doorway to the SCPD cruiser that was waiting for us at the curb."
"Even though he admitted to her, in an interview years after his sentencing, that he had, in fact, murdered my mother, Sean Gilroy became a touchstone for Marshall."
"Her chin lifts, her eyes narrow in recognition."
"You okay?" Lee asks. He puts his hand gently on my back. I flinch at his touch, and he takes the hint."
"I don’t particularly want to advertise my whereabouts to Dmitry Novak and his cohort, nor do I feel like opening myself up to subpoenas from DAs and defense attorneys, if and when a suspect is taken into custody."
"My uncertainty about what happened that night—and about the weight Dorsey gave to my testimony—has always eaten away at me."
"A cairn," I murmur, turning my head to examine it closer."
"The eyes," Lee groans. "God, that freaks me out."
"In my experience, you could tell almost as much about a person by the way they died as anything else."
"The scent of human decay is something you never really get used to."
"I have a friend from the Bureau. Sarah Patel. She works out of Miami. She’s the head of a human trafficking task force."
"Grace had to wrestle it out of the dog’s mouth. When I got here, she was hysterical."
"I wasn’t sure which kind of marriage was worse."
"My father’s ire was reserved for her and her alone."
"Our house was stripped clean of her existence, except for the urn with her ashes in the closet."
"My mother simply evaporated, as though she’d never lived there at all."
"Maybe it happened in the weeks before his death; maybe he’d been living like this for the last ten years."
"My father was a marine. A cop. The kind of man who woke up every day at five a.m. to go for a run."
"The thought fills me with a hard, uncomfortable sadness."
"My father is dead, and I’m the sole beneficiary and the executor of his will."
"Last night, as I drank my fifth and final scotch of the evening, I sat in front of the fire and debated tossing the card with the contact information for Justin Moran into the flames."
"It’s going to be a long day, possibly even a long week, filled with dead bodies and mystery."
"I hardly spend what I make, and Dad left me plenty, between his life insurance policy and the house."
"If it feels easy, it’s probably time for a vacation."
"The idea of going to the same building every single day of the week, parking my car in the same space, riding the elevator with the same people, and ordering the same lunch from the building cafeteria makes my skin crawl."
"You don’t shoot someone in the head unless you are in close enough range to do so effectively."
"Why take the time to hack someone up, only to bury them in a neatly wrapped package in a shallow grave in a reasonably well-trafficked public park?"
"That doesn’t make sense. Who willingly allows themselves to be bound hand and foot?"
"A cairn... It helps hikers find their way. It means we’re almost there."
"It’s better to end it for them, he said, quickly and cleanly. The humane thing to do."
"You secure the branches first to make it easier to wrap up."
"It’s called a priest. He’d strike the fish hard on the skull, just behind the eyes, killing them instantly or at least rendering them unconscious."
"Dad had a small club designed for the job, called a priest."
"The ladies loved him. He was a good-looking guy, Nell. And the cop thing, some women like that."
"We’re waiting on a warrant. But let’s keep our eyes and ears open. Remember, Morales could’ve had a partner here."
"Dad and Dorsey were both avid hunters. They enjoyed the sport of it, the thrill of the hunt, the victory of the catch."
"The possibility eats at me. Maybe he killed them and then killed himself."
"A retired cop, Hank is big and bearded, with flaming red hair and full-sleeve tattoos. He’s hard to miss."
"Predicted rainfall. Wind speeds. Beach closures."
"He wasn’t drinking. I mean, nothing more than a Coke."
"Quitting was never just about the drinking; it was about what the drinking covered up."
"If they’d locked him up last summer, that girl might still be alive."
"The only thing out of the ordinary was the apartment in Riverhead, paid for out of a separate account."
"I’m not sure I can give you that information."
"The truth often lies in what is not said, rather than in what is."
"The wind howls and rocks the body of the truck."
"The electricity still isn’t on, so I lie down in front of the fire."
"Everything you say to me will be between us."
"Look at you," he says, pushing himself up to stand. He opens his arms and wraps me up, holding me for an extra second or two. "It’s real good to see you."
"This a bad time?" "No. I was going to call you today. Follow me. I want to show you something."
"I want to talk straight to you, Nell." "I’d appreciate it."
"Brakes usually fail when there’s rust from poor maintenance. Now, you and I both know your dad. He kept his bikes in pristine condition."
"Any idea who would do a thing like this?" he asks. "I have a few ideas."
"Listen. Whoever did this to your dad’s bike meant business, so be careful. Watch your back. I don’t want to see you getting hurt."
"Be careful. Gio’s got a temper. He’s not someone you want to piss off."
"Their heads swivel as I enter. Dorsey and DaSilva. They stand to greet me."
"Are you gonna be okay? Maybe you should call one of your dad’s buddies from the force."
"If Dad killed those girls, then it’s not right for me to keep that account. I do have some standards, you know?"
"You’re out of your fucking mind. Martin Flynn was a good man and a good cop. One of the best."
"You remind me so much of Marty." "People keep telling me that. It’s probably not a good thing."
"You just needed Nell to come in and get the job done."
"I’ll be fine. You go. Call me when we’re ready to roll."
"Be safe, Nell. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you. I’ve lost enough people I care about."
"It’s mostly golden now, the color of wheat. The birds are gone. In the mornings, there is frost on the sawgrass."
"No need. She’s coming back to Suffolk County in the next day or so to give her deposition. She’s been really helpful with the investigation."
"Even getting into a car sends my heart racing. I’ve made do by biking across the bridge to the grocery store every few days, returning with supplies in my backpack."
"I do have closure. I know what kind of a man he was, at least. I know that he died trying to protect those girls."
"You’re going to be okay," she says, her voice rife with alarm. "Help’s on its way."
"I’m not. I would’ve liked her to stand trial."
"It’s the reason I stay," she says, and stands up to give me a hug. "I’d love to see you again. Let’s stay in touch."
"I’ve always wanted to meet you," she says, after a minute. "I asked Marty, but he didn’t want to upset you."
"I brought some pastries from the diner across the street."
"It is beautiful here, especially at this time of year. The gentle browns and grays of the earth meld into the gray expanse of water."
"I will never know if Sean Gilroy killed my mother; but I believe he did and that is enough for me to move on."