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Back Deception Cove Save as PDF
Chapters (78)
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Epigraph
  6. Prologue
  7. One
  8. Two
  9. Three
  10. Four
  11. Five
  12. Six
  13. Seven
  14. Eight
  15. Nine
  16. Ten
  17. Eleven
  18. Twelve
  19. Thirteen
  20. Fourteen
  21. Fifteen
  22. Sixteen
  23. Seventeen
  24. Eighteen
  25. Nineteen
  26. Twenty
  27. Twenty-One
  28. Twenty-Two
  29. Twenty-Three
  30. Twenty-Four
  31. Twenty-Five
  32. Twenty-Six
  33. Twenty-Seven
  34. Twenty-Eight
  35. Twenty-Nine
  36. Thirty
  37. Thirty-One
  38. Thirty-Two
  39. Thirty-Three
  40. Thirty-Four
  41. Thirty-Five
  42. Thirty-Six
  43. Thirty-Seven
  44. Thirty-Eight
  45. Thirty-Nine
  46. Forty
  47. Forty-One
  48. Forty-Two
  49. Forty-Three
  50. Forty-Four
  51. Forty-Five
  52. Forty-Six
  53. Forty-Seven
  54. Forty-Eight
  55. Forty-Nine
  56. Fifty
  57. Fifty-One
  58. Fifty-Two
  59. Fifty-Three
  60. Fifty-Four
  61. Fifty-Five
  62. Fifty-Six
  63. Fifty-Seven
  64. Fifty-Eight
  65. Fifty-Nine
  66. Sixty
  67. Sixty-One
  68. Sixty-Two
  69. Sixty-Three
  70. Sixty-Four
  71. Sixty-Five
  72. Sixty-Six
  73. Sixty-Seven
  74. Sixty-Eight
  75. Acknowledgments
  76. Discover More
  77. About the Author
  78. Also by Owen Laukkanen

Harwood spat. “It’s not like we were trying to do it,” he said. “We went and saw him down at the wharf one night, me and Dale, figured we’d press the issue. Then he made a try at escaping, but we’d beat him so bad he couldn’t hardly stand up. Fell over the side of the dock and drowned somewhere underneath, and they pulled his body out the next morning.” He shook his head. “Just bad luck, I guess.”

“Perhaps,” Joy said. “Who else knew about your delivery arrangement?”

Harwood and Sweeney looked at each other. Dale Whitmer glowered at Joy from the doorway.

“Well, nobody,” Harwood said. “Just us and Ty Winslow, I guess.”

“False.” Joy set his pistol down on the dining table, hard. The sound reverberated through the house. Joy pushed back his chair and stood, paced the room in front of the men.

“How did the thief know the specifics of your arrangement?” he asked. Raised his hand to quell any response. “Was this Winslow character often privy to your private discussions?”

“No,” Harwood said. “Never. We never much dealt with Ty at all.”

“Then how did he know that night was the night of the drop?” Joy said. “How did he know the signal to alert the man on the freighter? How did he even know you were accepting deliveries? Who else knew about your delivery arrangement, gentlemen?”

Joy’s pistol sat on the table, within arm’s reach of the owner. Harwood couldn’t take his eyes from it. Couldn’t think straight, think fast enough, with that gun staring at him. Couldn’t stop thinking about what it had just done to Bryce Whitmer.

“Shelby.” This was Dale. “Girl who answers the phones at the detachment. She’s always around.”

“No way,” Harwood said. “She’s still a kid, damn it, and she don’t even know Ty Winslow. She wouldn’t do something like that.”

“Was she in your detachment on the night of the failed drop?” Joy asked.

Harwood searched his brain. Tried to remember. Then he did, and he felt it like a punch to the gut. “Yeah, she was,” he said. “She said she had to stay late, do a little tidying up.”

Joy picked up the pistol, tucked it away. “There,” he said. “You see? It’s amazing what we can accomplish when we simply talk a problem over.”

He walked to the front door, looked back at the men.

“I think we need to talk to Shelby,” he said. “Would you agree?”

Thirty-Four

Thirty-Four