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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

Whitmer climbed in behind the wheel, fired the truck up. Put her in reverse and backed down the driveway toward the highway. He’d almost made blacktop when something crossed his rearview, a vehicle headed east, away from Neah Bay.

“Damn it.” Whitmer stopped the truck, climbed out with his rifle, ran for the road. It was another SUV, he saw, a black Chevy Blazer. He couldn’t see inside, but when he walked out to the center line, he caught a glimpse through the rear window, saw one head sticking up and it belonged to the driver. No one else in the vehicle. Couldn’t be them.

His heart revving to redline in his chest, Whitmer returned to the Ram. Shifted back into reverse, eased it onto the highway, and left it parked perpendicular to the flow of traffic, blocking the eastbound lane. Then he climbed out of the truck again, taking his rifle with him. Circled around to the passenger side and leaned against the door, looking westbound up the highway, rifle at the ready.

Flag ’em and search ’em.

So be it.

Twenty-Seven

Twenty-Seven

Jess peered up from the floor of the Blazer. “Did we make it?”

Burke’s mouth was a thin line as he drove. He glanced in the rearview. “Not sure yet,” he said. “That old boy was out there when we passed, and he had a pretty big rifle in his hands when he came to take a look at us.”

“I guess I’ll stay down a little longer, then,” Jess said, pulling Lucy closer.

Burke said, “I think that’d be wise.”

Jess stayed on the floor, her arms around the dog, as Burke navigated the road into Deception Cove and out the other side. Lucy wasn’t much for car rides; she panted nonstop, drooled a small lake, and licked Jess’s face obsessively whenever she made the tactical error of coming within range.

“It’s okay, girl,” Jess told her. “We’re almost through, I promise.”

Lucy licked at her face again, regarded her with worried eyes, clearly unconvinced.

Finally Jess felt the Blazer slow, though she could see only treetops from her vantage point. The road got rough; she could hear gravel pinging the underside of the truck, and she surmised that Burke had found the forestry main line. He stopped the truck.

“Should be all clear now,” he said.

She sat up, the muscles in her legs protesting. Leaned forward and pushed the passenger seat up, released the door, and managed to slip out to fresh air without tripping on the seat belt and falling on her face. She stretched, breathed in deep, the damp, loamy smell of the rain forest, the sun, actual sun, on her face.

Then she came around the front of the Blazer to Burke’s side. “Okay, out,” she told him. “It’s my turn to drive.”

He frowned but said nothing.