BooksBarbecue
Back Deception Cove
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

He called out to her and she stiffened, and he thought he’d spooked her again, but then she turned and saw it was him and her tail wagged and her ears relaxed, and she looked east again toward Main Street and then back at Mason, and then, cautiously, took a step in his direction.

Mason met her in the middle of the street. Took the lead from the ground behind her and wrapped it around his knuckles, scratched Lucy behind the ears and leaned down and let her lick his face, and he could feel her relief in the way she nuzzled against him, and he wondered if she could feel how he was relieved too.

And it was about that moment that Mason’s focus expanded, and he became aware of the glare of the headlights and the roar of a Detroit motor as someone in a big black SUV bore down fast on them from the direction of Shelby Walker’s place, to the west.

*  *  *

Joy pressed hard on the accelerator, closing the distance between his Suburban and the widow’s friend and her dog. He’d let the dog lead him, and now Joy would reap the reward. He would use the ex-convict to lead him to the widow, and the widow would lead him to Okafor’s missing product. Joy was certain he could convince both parties to cooperate.

But first he had to relieve the ex-convict of his shotgun. And perhaps the use of his legs.

Joy sped his vehicle toward man and dog, washing the criminal in the bright white of his high beams. The criminal had been fumbling with the dog’s leash, but now he reached for the shotgun, swinging it toward the Suburban as the Suburban ate road. Joy didn’t waver. The Suburban would hit before the man could take aim. It would run the man over, maim him, kill the dog. Joy would interview the man as he lay bleeding in the street. Then he would kill him.

The man didn’t have time to mount a credible defense. Joy kept his foot planted. Smiled as man and dog disappeared beneath the nose of the vehicle, and waited to hear their bodies break beneath his wheels.

*  *  *

There was no time for the shotgun. Mason grabbed Lucy, shoved her away from the truck, and then leapt clear himself, dodging the wheels but clipping his knee on the bumper, bouncing off hard and skidding across gritty asphalt.