The Girl Who Survived Quotes
"You’re a smart girl. That’s what all the teachers say, right? That you’re way ahead of kids your age?"
"Just come with me and don’t say a word! I mean it, Kara. There are bad people here. They cannot find you."
"I love you, Kara-Bear. ... I’ll come get you. I promise."
"Don’t say a word, Kara-Bear. Keep quiet. You hear me? I’m serious."
"She doesn’t leave room for any other emotions, chases them away, guards her position in a person’s heart feverishly."
"Stubborn as a mule, and determined. Let me tell you, Kara, don't try to talk her out of anything. It's a waste of breath."
"Mama had never liked 'Uncle' Roger, Faiza's boyfriend."
"I tried to tell her about Roger, but would she listen? Hell no."
"Why do you think I’ve been trying to reach you? Why didn’t you pick up?"
"She never got over the ultra-glam of the eighties."
"She’d have curly hair to her shoulders, out-there bangs, and jean jackets with huge shoulder pads."
"You probably would have been the first to know if you’d taken the time to pick up the damned phone."
"Now wasn’t the time to dwell on it. Not with her brother out of stir."
"She said it distastefully, as if the words were bitter."
"You never have, but I’m serious here. Okay? Despite the fact that he’s out due to a police screwup, Jonas McIntyre is an insane killer."
"Jonas was out of prison! But Kara answered. 'Working.'"
"Nothing in life is fair," his mother had reminded him.
"His wounds looked like they came from the same weapon, and all the victims’ blood was found on the blade, even Jonas’s."
"You are not a victim. You survived. Remember. You are not a victim."
"Pull yourself together. For the love of God, Kara, pull yourself together."
"No interview. Not with Wesley Tate or any one of the dozens of others who were calling."
"The press and public are going to demand that we find another killer."
"I’ve already asked for another look at the DNA."
"I don’t feel comfortable talking to you about...you know, about it, what happened."
"I kinda knew that. But we have a deal, my dear husband and me. He doesn’t interfere in my business and I do the same."
"I’m telling you, he doesn’t take care of himself."
"Irregular how? In the phone records, bank statements? Computer records? Emails?"
"You want justice for your father. That’s normal."
"Take care of yourself. Revenge or obsession, or whatever you want to call it, can eat you alive. Don’t let it."
"Her heart knocked frantically against her rib cage, her lungs tight."
"Stop it. Get a grip. It’s all real. Deal with it, Kara."
"I didn’t kill him," Jonas said from the back seat. "That’s what you’re thinking, isn’t it?"
"The truth of the matter was that Connell was intrigued. Mystified."
"Trying not to freak out, Kara kept one eye on the road, the other on Jonas, lurking in the seat behind her."
"It’s a good thing Dr. Ortega ordered you to be disconnected."
"When it rains, it pours, ya know, and when it snows? It’s only worse."
"For the first time that day, Thomas allowed himself a smile. If only on the inside."
"Kara eased into the hospital room and found her brother lying faceup on the bed, his eyes at half-mast, bandages over one side of his head, bruises showing beneath both eyes."
"She took stock of the tubes and wires, the pallor of his skin, the bandages and dull sheen in his eyes, and heard the steady beep of the heart monitor. 'I don’t think I can do that.' She inched nearer the bed. 'You need to get well. Heal.'"
"His gaze locked with hers for an instant. She saw the anger etched in the set of his jaw, silently arguing with her."
"Kara didn’t wait. Knew she didn’t have much time."
"A soft ding announced the arrival of the elevator car. Thank God!"
"Heart drumming, Kara avoided eye contact with the guard as he shepherded their group through the open door to the exterior."
"A blast of bitter air slapped her cheeks, but she kept walking."
"Television news crews had set up in the perimeter of the hospital, several white vans emblazoned with logos from stations in Washington and Oregon were parked, and she spied a couple of freelancers who worked for rival papers trying to gain entrance and getting nowhere with the security guard."
"As she stepped outside, a blast of bitter air slapped her cheeks, but she kept walking along a concrete path where snow had been trampled."
"Just her, walking swiftly, her boots clicking unevenly on the packed snow of the sidewalk."
"A milestone. The 'anniversary' of the McIntyre Massacre."
"She didn’t feel alone. A chill swept through her and she sensed that someone was watching her, maybe even following her."
"‘Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas!’ in that same robotic voice."
"The now-silent Santa was still inflated, the whir of its pump loud in the night. Something or someone had set off the motion detector."
"Heart pounding, she started running. Faster and faster, her boots sliding a bit, her breathing wild."
"Slap, slap, slap! Her footsteps beat a frantic tattoo only intensified by the pounding of her heart."
"Whether it was her imagination or someone was really after her, she raced toward the final corner silently praying that Tate had waited for her."
"The police should release your cell back to you but like it or not, you’re gonna have to talk to the cops sooner or later and get your stuff back."
"Sure, he could be charming and helpful, and was handsome in that rugged, I-don’t-give-a-damn way, but that wasn’t good enough."
"Just remember: This is our secret. Right? You can’t tell a soul. Not Mama or Daddy, not Jonas, not Donner or Sam or anyone!"
"‘I’m going to marry him,’ Marlie announced, hunching down so that her face was close to Kara’s. ‘I’m going to marry Chad!’"
"But most of all she remembered her brothers, blood-soaked and still, mouths gaping open, eyes fixed as they’d fallen, their bodies splayed garishly over Mama’s Persian carpet."
"Blood-spattered and weak, he’d risen slowly up on an elbow. 'Get help . . . Run!'"
"Don’t go there, Kara. Do not. It’s trouble, pure and simple."
"The bouquet was heady and as she swirled the stem in her fingers, she watched eagerly as the legs of the wine appeared, red drips sliding down the inside of the glass."
"What goes around comes around, even for bitches who break up a family."
"They were good kids, you know. Not like Sam’s boys."
"I don’t care who you are, my client is a patient in this hospital and as such will grant no interviews. Not to the press, not to the police, not to anyone."
"I’m going to give a statement. No questions."
"His health is his primary concern, so until he’s released, he won’t be saying anything more. You’re lucky to have his statement."
"I didn’t have my phone. It was in my Jeep. You know that. You must have it. And my purse."
"I’m not crazy about the fact that Jonas McIntyre is out of prison, you know I’m not, and I feel bad that another man died—was killed—but it’s all in God’s hands now."
"I don't have time for an update now, but tomorrow morning," he said, "I'll want a full report."
"Just not paid a lot of attention to at the time."
"None of us could make out anything intelligible, but the word he kept muttering and gurgling that was in any way intelligible was ‘Simplify.'"
"Then again," she was saying, "it all could be nothing. Just the mutterings of a dying, delusional man."
"She was a free woman, could do what she wanted for the first time in her shitty adult life."
"Sorry, Granny," Brittlynn said, though she wasn't. Not one bit.
"This is the last time," Brittlynn swore, thinking of how many other times Chad Atwater had walked out on her.
"Maybe if I go there—we go there—something will jog my memory, or those blank spaces will be filled."
"It's been twenty years, a lot of time for memories to blur and mingle with emotions."
"The wind was picking up, rattling branches, whispering through the trees."
"Ignoring the irritation, Jonas slid onto the living room floor, just to one side of the grate, and peered around the gloomy interior."
"But most of all, he remembered the sword, how heavy it was. How sharp."
"Now, reliving that rush, Jonas climbed the stairs to the second floor, hurried down the hallway and paused for only a second at the open doorway to his once-upon-a-lifetime-ago bedroom."
"Today, no matter what she had to face, she was finally and forever putting the ghosts of her past to rest."
"Her heart had soared. Hallelujah! Halle-effin-lujah!"
"He wouldn't let me go, not after what I'd seen."
"I made the mistake of getting in my stepbrother's way."
"It was all I could think of at the time. I-I didn't know what to do, but I had to save you."
"Dad completely lost it. Snapped at the sight of Jonas murdering his son."
"The beast was unleashed. Like it was with him all the time. He just kept it tethered."
"Don't ever fall in love, Kara. Look what it did to our family."
"I can't go back. I just can't. I'm not Marlie anymore. She died long ago."
"Life's a crapshoot, son. You never know what the next roll will be."
"I've got a problem with working with her. You see, I've already committed to a book deal."
"We'll get through it together. What did your doctor say?"