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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

The last thing Mason had expected to see when he reached the isthmus was two of Harwood’s boys pointing guns at each other, but when he’d made his move on Dale Whitmer, he’d realized a little late that it wasn’t Jess Winslow the deputy was trying to preach to. It was the new guy, the other guy, and Whitmer had him in a hell of a bind.

By that time it was too late to change strategy. Mason followed Whitmer’s voice and figured he had to act fast, spotted a faded orange fishing slicker through the woods and knew it had to be his man. He came in hot, stopped as close as he dared, aimed the shotgun through the trees and prayed, and pulled the trigger.

Whitmer went down, dropped his pistol, and focused on trying to keep his guts in his stomach, but Mason figured out pretty quick he had other problems to deal with. He stepped out into the clearing toward Whitmer and caught movement to his left, turned with the shotgun just in time to see the new guy coming up from the ground with that M4 in his hands.

What the what?

Mason let off another blast from the shotgun, missed the new guy but sure taught that tree, and then the new guy was firing back, and Mason was ducking away and searching for cover.

Damn it, this idea had gone ugly, and it’d gotten there real fast.

*  *  *

Joy let off a burst and watched Mason Burke fall back. He stayed low, found cover behind a massive fallen spruce, breathed in the moss and the smell of gunpowder as he searched the forest through his scope for any sign of the murderer.

Dale Whitmer was still crying out like a gutshot man ought to. But if Mason Burke was hit, he wasn’t making any noise about it. Joy scanned the forest, but the forest was thick. Burke had dropped away, out of sight, and he could be dead, or he could be playing possum.

One thing he wasn’t doing was shooting. Joy thanked his stars the murderer wasn’t much of a shot; at that range, with the shotgun, any half-competent gunman would have blown his head clean off. As it was, Joy imagined it was a small miracle the murderer had managed to hit Dale Whitmer. He’d at least solved that problem, anyway.

Now let me properly express my gratitude, Mr. Burke.

Burke wasn’t coming. Joy realized he would have to hunt the murderer. He wished he had something for the pain in his shoulder; his left arm was going numb, but that fall to the ground had still hurt like fire.

Be a man.