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Back Angels of Vengeance
Chapters (68)
  1. Blurb
  2. CONTENTS
  3. Dedication
  4. CHARACTER LIST
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
  47. 43
  48. 44
  49. 45
  50. 46
  51. 47
  52. 48
  53. 49
  54. 50
  55. 51
  56. 52
  57. 53
  58. 54
  59. TWO MONTHS LATER
  60. ONE YEAR LATER
  61. TWO YEARS LATER
  62. FOUR YEARS LATER
  63. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  64. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  65. Also by John Birmingham
  66. ALSO BY JOHN BIRMINGHAM
  67. Copyright
  68. Cover

It was upsetting, however, and Cindy seemed to be attuned to her distress. The truck-driving lady suddenly looked older under the harsh, flat light inside the diner. She even reached across and squeezed Sofia’s hand. It was the sort of thing that would usually have caused the teenager to jerk away. She didn’t like people touching her. Yet oddly enough, she sat there, transfixed by Cindy’s warm, blue eyes.

‘Sorry, hon,’ she said. ‘I can be a pushy old hippie sometimes. I didn’t mean to pry. You are obviously carrying a world of hurt. I could see that as soon as I came in. I can also see those assholes Jasper and T Dawg sizing you up. It wouldn’t be the first time. Fuckers . . . Pardon my French.’

She finished the last of her Coke, sucking up a few final drops with a loud slurping sound before wiping her mouth with a napkin.

‘Tell you what, Sofia, I’m really not happy with the idea of you trying to haul ass all the way down to Texas on your own. You can ride with me, if you want. I can see, sitting here across from you, that there’s going to be no telling you otherwise. You won’t be talked out of this, will you?’

Sofia Pieraro shook her head.

Cindy smiled. ‘Too much like me. I can also see you got a few miles on you, kid, but you got some hard road ahead of you, too. And God knows what you intend to do when you get down there. I can’t imagine some fat government pimp in Fort Hood is going to stand for you waltzing into his bordello and carrying off your sister. Is she of age?’

Sofia’s face must have communicated her confusion.

‘I mean, is she over eighteen years old?’

‘Oh no,’ she said. ‘She is only fourteen.’

That seemed to satisfy Cindy French. She nodded once.

‘Okay then. What you need to do when you get there is keep your head down, get your ass in to see the padre at the 58th Street chapel. You tell him your sister is underage and where she’s working. Father Michael will take care of it.’ She paused, as if remembering something important. ‘You are Catholic, aren’t you? I’m sorry if I jumped to conclusions.’

Sofia sketched a tired smile and fluttered one hand at Cindy. ‘I am. We all are. Or were, anyway. I will talk to the priest. Thank you. I . . . I wasn’t sure how I was going to be able to do this. I spoke to the government here, but they didn’t seem to care.’