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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

The man looked plenty messed up himself. He’d been shot in the shoulder, that Mason already knew, but there were two or three fresh holes in the side of his jacket, and he was fighting to stand upright just as much as Mason was. The man’s dark eyes were ashen; he breathed ragged through his mouth. But he still carried that M4, and he still scanned the trees like he was hunting to kill.

The men saw each other at about the same time. For a long moment neither did anything, and time seemed to slow to an endless, surreal pause.

Then the other man raised his rifle, and the world moved in fast-forward. Mason swung up with the shotgun and pulled on the trigger, and both guns let off simultaneously. The other man staggered backward. Mason slumped to the ground. The forest went quiet again.

Sixty-Three

Sixty-Three

He’d wanted to play football. He’d wanted to raise a family. He’d wanted to move out of Deception Cove with Terri-Lee and live the kind of life they were meant for, the all-state-quarterback and head-cheerleader life, the sweethearts-in-the-city life, a beautiful, successful life. He’d wanted to be envied by every sad, failed motherfucker who stayed stuck in Deception Cove, nothing to live for but reality TV.

He’d wanted Ateke Okafor to make him rich. He’d wanted Kirk Wheeler to retire and make him sheriff.

He’d wanted Ty Winslow to not fuck with his package. He’d wanted Jess Winslow to do the same.

He’d wanted Mason Burke to mind his own business and fuck back off to wherever he’d come from.

He wanted his package. He wanted Joy to go home. He didn’t want Bryce Whitmer and Dale Whitmer and Cole Sweeney to be dead. He didn’t want to leave this island in handcuffs.

Hell, Kirby Harwood just wanted to go home to Terri-Lee and forget this had ever happened. Sell the house for whatever they could get, the truck and what was left of the boat, too, resign his position and catch a bus somewhere else, forget about Deception Cove and every miserable person in it.

He wanted this to end. But it hadn’t ended. And deep down Harwood knew it wasn’t ever going to end, not the way he wanted.

Harwood didn’t want to be here, but here he was, and he took out his anger and his frustration and, damn it, his fear on Jess Winslow beneath him, beating her blindly as she fought to get free, as she grabbed weakly for his hands and his throat.

She couldn’t escape. She couldn’t fight back. No matter what she did, Harwood knew he was going to kill her before he stood again.

Some marine you turned out to be, Jess.