Chapters (78)
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Prologue
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-One
- Sixty-Two
- Sixty-Three
- Sixty-Four
- Sixty-Five
- Sixty-Six
- Sixty-Seven
- Sixty-Eight
- Acknowledgments
- Discover More
- About the Author
- Also by Owen Laukkanen
Right now nothing needed handling, nothing but self-care and sleep. And Jess was a lot better at planning and shooting than she was at taking care of her messed-up mental health.
She could close her eyes, sure, snuggle into Ty’s old sleeping bag, and feel the boat gently rock on its anchor. She could try to pace her breathing, try to think about nothing. She could practice mindfulness the way her old shrink had recommended. It didn’t matter, not really. All it took was one little hint, one reminder, and then her mind was gone again, chasing its own tail into a whirlpool of dark thoughts and violent memories. No matter how hard she tried to fight it, that whirlpool dragged her down, pulled her under, choked off her air.
And when it spat her out again, she was back in the valley. Back there with Afia on that final, bloody day.
It was three days after the ambush before Afia reappeared outside the barbed wire, staggering up the road to the OP, blind in one eye and nearly blind in the other, covered in so much blood it was impossible to tell where it all was coming from. Her face was bruised almost black; she cradled her left arm. She was crying, or trying to; no sound came from her lips. Jess had heard shouts from the guys at the gate, yelling at Afia, telling her to stop, stop, or they’d have to shoot. Jess had come forward to see what the commotion was about, ready to back up her guys, then saw Afia and blacked out and started running, fought her way past the guards at the gate and out through the barbed wire, everyone yelling behind her, ducking for cover, thinking those Haji bastards had strapped a bomb on Afia, sent her back to the OP for one big fuck-you.
At that point Jess didn’t care; Haji could blow them both up, for all it mattered. This was her friend, and yet it wasn’t. They’d robbed her of something before giving her back.
As Jess ran closer, she could see the stump where Afia’s left hand used to be, cradled in the crook of her right arm like that baby. She could see Afia’s knees give out, watched her fall to the road, and then she heard the shot ring out from across the valley, and Afia pitched forward.
There was no bomb. The fuck-you was personal; they’d sent her back to the OP to show off what they’d done to her, cut her down before she could get to the wire, some Haji sniper lodged somewhere in the forest on the east side of the valley. He’d probably been watching the whole time, just waiting for Afia to get close to the OP to make the kill really hurt. She’d never stood a chance.