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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

Then the bus rounded a corner and drove past the old Whitmer compound, now put up for sale, and continued down the highway into Deception Cove proper. And Mason stared out the window and wondered how he was ever going to forget this place, and then the gas station went by, and Hank Moss’s motel, and parked out front was the Chevy Blazer Jess had purchased from Hank’s cousin. Somehow she’d beaten the bus here, though Mason couldn’t see her anywhere.

Still, he knew she’d sped home on purpose, knew she’d parked in his line of sight just to tease him, give him one last painful thought to mull over in his mind. And then the motel was gone too, and the Blazer gone with it, and shortly after, the town faded into the forest and it was highway again, nothing but highway and the odd dirt road disappearing into the woods. Nothing but the apparitions of old houses, torn, ragged nets, someone’s beached troller: the ghosts of Deception Cove come to watch him go.

Hold fast to love, Mason thought. Hold fast. “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.”

And before he knew what he was doing, he was standing up, walking down the aisle of the empty bus to the front, where the driver sat listening to Springsteen, watching the two-lane macadam unfurl ahead.

He was the same driver who had taken Mason into Seattle the night Cole Sweeney ran him out of town. He recognized Mason in the rearview mirror, eyed him, suspicious, and Mason met his eyes, sheepish, and then he took the plunge.

“I’m real sorry,” he told the driver. “But I need you to let me out here.”

Acknowledgments

First and foremost, thanks to RainCoast Dog Rescue Society for bringing the real Lucy into my life. Jesse Adams and Brielle Turpin found Lucy in a California kill shelter with only days left to live, and they scooped her up and brought her to Canada, and I’ll always be grateful for it. RainCoast rescues and rehomes dogs from all over the world, and their work is in every sense a labor of love. Visit them at raincoastdogrescue.com to learn more (and donate!).

Thanks to my agent, Stacia Decker, who earned her commission on this book by including cute pictures of the real-life Lucy in her pitch letters to publishers, and who landed us a wonderful home at Mulholland Books.

Thanks to my editor, Emily Giglierano, for coaxing this book from its rough beginnings to the polished product you’re holding in your hands, and for doing it with humor, irreverence, and an astute editorial eye. I look forward to plotting out many more Lucy, Jess, and Mason adventures together!