Rock-a-Bye Bones
Page 29
“I almost didn’t. I came close to killing a man in cold blood.” This was going to eat at me for a long time to come.
“Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.”
“Is that an Aunt Loulane saying?”
Jitty laughed. “No, I heard that on Johnny Carson, back in the day. I’m not sure where he got it.”
“I can’t believe you’re quoting Carson.”
She lifted her head and listened. “There’s joy in Dahlia House today. Your mama and daddy are happy. I want you to know that. Now get up to the house and tend your company like you were taught.”
“I wish you could eat with us, Jitty.”
“Girl, I don’t need food. If I ate like you, I wouldn’t have a figure at all.”
She was a devil, but I loved her. “Happy Thanksgiving, Jitty.”
“And the same to you.”
The barn door cracked open and a shaft of pale gold light revealed only emptiness. Jitty had skedaddled. “Are you coming up to the house?” Tinkie asked.
“The horses have finished eating. I’m ready.”
We linked arms and walked through the golden morning light toward the house that I loved and the friends that I cherished.
ALSO BY CAROLYN HAINES
SARAH BOOTH DELANEY MYSTERIES
Bone to Be Wild
Booty Bones
Smarty Bones
Bonefire of the Vanities
Bones of a Feather
Bone Appétit
Greedy Bones
Wishbones
Ham Bones
Bones to Pick
Hallowed Bones
Crossed Bones
Splintered Bones
Buried Bones
Them Bones
NOVELS
Revenant
Fever Moon
Penumbra
Judas Burning
Touched
Summer of the Redeemers
Summer of Fear
NONFICTION
My Mother’s Witness: The Peggy Morgan Story
AS R. B. CHESTERTON
The Darkling
The Seeker
About the Author
CAROLYN HAINES is the author of the Sarah Booth Delaney Mysteries. She is the recipient of both the Harper Lee Distinguished Writing Award and the Richard Wright Award for Literary Excellence. Born and raised in Mississippi, she now lives in Semmes, Alabama, on a farm with more dogs, cats, and horses than she can possibly keep track of. You can sign up for email updates here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Also by Carolyn Haines
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
ROCK-A-BYE BONES. Copyright © 2016 by Carolyn Haines. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.minotaurbooks.com
Cover design by David Baldeosingh Rotstein
Cover illustration by Hiro Kimura
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Names: Haines, Carolyn, author.
Title: Rock-a-bye bones / Carolyn Haines.
Description: First edition. | New York: Minotaur Books, 2016. | Series: A Sarah Booth Delaney mystery; 16 | “A Thomas Dunne book.”
Identifiers: LCCN 2015050063 | ISBN 9781250085160 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781250085184 (e-book)
Subjects: LCSH: Delaney, Sarah Booth (Fictitious character)—Fiction. | Women private investigators—Mississippi—Fiction. | Abandoned children—Fiction. | BISAC: FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Women Sleuths. | GSAFD: Mystery fiction.
Classification: LCC PS3558.A329 R63 2016 | DDC 813/.54—dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015050063
e-ISBN 9781250085184
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First Edition: May 2016