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Back Black Ambrosia Save as PDF
Chapters (46)
  1. CoverImage
  2. Introduction by Grady Hendrix
  3. Acknowledgments
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  29. 26
  30. 27
  31. 28
  32. 29
  33. 30
  34. 31
  35. 32
  36. 33
  37. 34
  38. 35
  39. 36
  40. 37
  41. 38
  42. 39
  43. 40
  44. 41
  45. About the Author
  46. About the Cover

I tucked the towel around the man’s neck, just above the beaver collar on his coat, like a muffler. I feinted at the dog one more time, clapping my hands to chase him off, and then I walked back home to Lewis’s little house, where I showered and fell into bed, wondering at the pleasure of the kill, wondering who it was I was trying to please.

“I was pretty keyed up that night. I’d been sitting all day long with Julie, while she cried and rubbed that diamond on her finger, and also, I was anticipating the hunt that night. I was pretty tense.

“Angelina was pretty young, too, when you think about it. She was only about . . . well, I don’t know, but she was young. Just a kid, actually. If I hadn’t been so keyed up, I probably would have noticed that and cut her a little slack. But I didn’t. I didn’t.

“So we argued. It’s hard to say exactly what it was we were arguing about, but she ended up jumping out of the truck and taking off down the street. I tried to stop her, but she’s pretty stubborn. I can get that stubborn, so I knew when to give up. There wouldn’t be any changing her mind.

“See, this is where I have trouble. Sometimes you find orphaned pups—foxes, coyotes—and they make good pets, because they’re young enough. But there comes a time in the life of a wild pup when it’s too old to tame, and trying to keep it is just a waste. I keep thinking that maybe if I hadn’t let her go . . . she was still so young . . . Then again, maybe it was my instincts that told me she was already past that point.

“That was the last I saw of her for a long time. Things got pretty busy around town, I hardly had time to think about her, although she was never out of my thoughts. I even drove by that house a couple of times. Anyway, I was helping out the sheriff, doing a little footwork for him on the case, and that’s when, you know, when I got the word about the towel, Jesus, the towel, and then I knew. I couldn’t believe it, that’s why I didn’t tell anybody else. But I knew. That’s when I seriously started trying to find her. It took a long time. But I found her.”

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