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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

Worst case was Kirby Harwood took another thing from her. Same as he’d taken Ty, same as he’d taken her house. Worst case was she’d lose the only damn thing she had left; same as she’d lost Afia in that terrible valley. Worst case was Jess would let another friend die.

She met Burke’s eyes. “I need to haul ass for Dixie, find that package Ty stole,” she told him. “You stick to the shadows, keep your eyes open, you might just find that dog before Kirby does. Hole her up somewhere safe until I’m home free.”

“And if you don’t make it?” Burke said.

“If I don’t make it?” Jess laughed a little bit, hollow. “Well, shit, I guess that’ll clear up the question of who gets to keep Lucy when it’s all said and done, right?”

Burke looked around again, as if he was expecting Lucy would just come running out of the trees, save them the tough conversation. But Jess knew better. Lucy wasn’t coming back here, she knew. Not on her own.

“You don’t make it,” Burke said finally, turning to face her again. “I take Lucy back to Michigan. And then, what, we all just forget about Harwood? No.…” He shook his head. “I’m not leaving you to finish this thing by yourself.”

Jess stared at him. Hating him. Wishing he’d just shut up and play by her rules. Knowing he was right, that she’d need him for this next part, and hating him all the more for it.

She let out a breath.

“I need to track down some supplies before we get out of here,” she said. “There’s no sense the both of us running errands while the dog’s on the loose. Can you find your own way to the government wharf?”

Burke nodded.

“Thirty minutes, Burke,” she said. “If you can’t find her by then, we’ve just got to hope she found a good place to hide.”

“I’ll find her,” he replied, already turning to go. “See you in thirty.”

“That damn dog is probably going to get us all killed.”

He stopped. Looked back at her, and he was smiling a little bit, wry. “Oh, probably,” he agreed. “But you know that dog would surely die for us, too.” Then he shouldered the shotgun and set off down the road.

Thirty-Eight

Thirty-Eight

Jess drove the Blazer through Deception Cove toward Main Street, her eyes half on the road ahead for any sign of Lucy, half on the rearview in case Kirby or his friends had taken notice. She thought about the dog as she drove, and she felt the dog’s absence like concrete crushing down on her chest, as heavy as the exhaustion that dragged at her eyelids and slowed her thoughts to sludge.