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
She shook her head. “Couldn’t risk it in daylight. Harwood and his boys know my truck. They see me lurking around, they’ll either move that dog or they’ll kill her.”
Mason stood. Went to the closet, pulled on his coat. Gathered his duffel bag, his spare clothes and gear.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“There’s no sense waiting,” he said, bending to retie his boots. “Those boys are getting desperate over there.”
She looked at him.
“Are you coming?” he asked. “Because if not, I’m going to need you to draw me a map.”
But she was already on her feet. “Yeah, I’m coming,” she said. “Let’s get this done.”
She’d parked her truck around back of the motel, tucked into the shadows and well out of sight of the road. Her shotgun lay in a soft case behind the passenger seat, a couple of boxes of shells beside. Mason glanced at it as he climbed into the truck, and Jess caught him looking.
“I don’t leave home without it,” she said, turning the key in the ignition. “Not anymore.”
She pulled out onto the highway, and they drove in silence. The highway was empty, the forest looming in beside and above. As the lights of the gas station dwindled in the rearview, the night outside was suddenly very dark.
“How far did Cole take you, when he ran you out?” Jess asked after a while.
“Next town over,” Mason said. “Bought me a ticket to Seattle, told the driver to call the law if I tried to get off before. So I rode that bus to Seattle and caught the next one back.”
“You think about not coming back?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Would’ve been easier.” She kept her eyes on the road, hands at ten and two. Gripped the wheel tight, didn’t look at him. “Unless you’re looking for an excuse to get back at the world, cause some mayhem, go down swinging.”
He didn’t say anything, waited until she’d looked his way.
“You aiming to go back to jail, Burke?” she asked. “Or maybe you just have a death wish, revenge fantasy? Want to kill a few cops on your way out of this world?”
“I want to see that dog safe,” Mason said. “That’s all.”
“Yeah, well.” She slowed the truck. “Just try and remember that some of us have to live in this town when it’s all said and done.”
He started to reply. Jess cut him off with a shake of her head. Pulled the truck off the highway, killed the engine, and pointed out through the windshield.
“Farm’s just through those trees,” she said. “Best if we walk from here.”
Sixteen
Sixteen