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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

The information, as false as it was, didn’t seem to surprise the truck driver. ‘Well, there’s a news flash,’ she replied. ‘I’m sorry you had to waste your time barking up that tree. But I know from having to haul freight from Corpus Christi to Seattle that Blackstone and Kipper’s people don’t get along. The number of times I had to fill out one form for Texas and then exactly the same form for Seattle a-ways down the road . . . I tell you. If they’re not going to help, then I don’t see why the government can’t just get out of the way of people and let them get on with rebuilding their lives.’

It didn’t seem to be the sort of statement that required an answer, so Sofia kept her mouth shut. She had told so many lies in the last few minutes, she feared she’d begin to trip over them if she said any more. Cindy picked up the cheque that the waitress had left, squinted at it suspiciously, before pulling a couple of newbies out of her pocket and weighing them down on top of the bill with a salt shaker.

‘Come on,’ she said. ‘There’s a few of us meeting up. We’re going to convoy down past Tulsa on I-35. It’s always safer when you can ride along with someone.’

Throwing a filthy look in the direction of Jasper and T Dawg as she followed Cindy out of the diner, Sofia could only agree.

19

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI

Cindy French’s semitrailer was pulled up a short walk away from the diner, in the parking bay of the Flying J truckstop. The rig was enormous and blue, matching her eyes. Indeed, Cindy was a study in blues: denim jeans, a blue hoodie under her Eddie Bauer blue winter coat, and a royal blue knitted scarf. Her outfit was topped off by a strange animal-like white hat, with cartoon eyes and tails that dropped down to her collar. Sofia couldn’t decide if the hat was a rat, a cat or some sort of bunny rabbit. In a crowd of fat, male truckers, Cindy French stood out. Short as she was, just the way she carried herself gave off a strong impression that it would be unwise to cross her. The .45 on her hip further reinforced that, for anyone fool enough to make rash judgments based on her size and gender alone.

She was smirking as she took in Sofia’s reaction to her striking fashion statement. Especially the hat. A cartoon puppy hat, Sofia decided.

‘Yeah, I get a lot of looks,’ Cindy admitted, as her breath jetted out in thick white clouds.