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Back Falling Save as PDF
Chapters (29)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Notice
  3. Epigraph
  4. ONE
  5. TWO
  6. THREE
  7. FOUR
  8. FIVE
  9. SIX
  10. SEVEN
  11. EIGHT
  12. NINE
  13. TEN
  14. ELEVEN
  15. TWELVE
  16. THIRTEEN
  17. FOURTEEN
  18. FIFTEEN
  19. SIXTEEN
  20. SEVENTEEN
  21. EIGHTEEN
  22. NINETEEN
  23. TWENTY
  24. TWENTY-ONE
  25. TWENTY-TWO
  26. TWENTY-THREE
  27. TWENTY-FOUR
  28. ALSO BY CHRISTOPHER PIKE
  29. Copyright Page

She hesitated. “Since that night I left in the car with you. I knew then I couldn’t handle it. I’ve been waiting for an opportunity. When you suggested rock climbing, I felt I had to jump on it.”

“What happened last night had nothing to do with your decision?”

“I would like to say it did.”

“But you wouldn’t want to lie to me?”

“Matt. Don’t make this harder than it has to be.”

He burst out laughing. “I hate to spoil your party, Amy, but this is already pretty fucking hard. How can I make it any worse?”

She stood and wiped at her damp eyes. “There’s nothing to say. I know you’re going to hate me forever. You have every right to. I’ve lied and betrayed you again and again. But I’m not lying to you now when I tell you that I love you.” She turned away. “Take care of yourself, Matt.”

She disappeared. He was alone.

TWENTY-TWO

TWENTY-TWO

As she neared the Acid Man’s apartment, Kelly thought of the line from Dante’s Inferno: “Abandon all hope ye who enter here.” The words were supposed to hang above the gates of hell. Privately, she had always thought the quote silly. Hope seemed to cause most human misery. If hell was devoid of it, so much the better. Yet, as it came time to face her old foe, she found new meaning in the words. She had everything going for her. His brother was dead, his big secret was revealed. The element of surprise was hers. Still, she felt as if she were descending into hell. He brought despair, that man, he was a necromancer.

No ghosts flickered on his windowpanes. Scott would have warned Gene as early as last night that she was coming to the house by the pond. But had Scott called while she was at the house? Somehow she doubted it—he had seldom been out of her sight. Yet Gene would still be waiting for a call from his brother. He would be wondering what had gone wrong. Her element of surprise might already be compromised. For that reason she decided to go in the back way.

One of the windows that overlooked the lush woods was ajar. Putting her gun in her mouth and using a garbage can as a stepladder, she reached up and pulled herself inside. As her feet touched the living room carpet, she half expected to take a bullet in the chest. Quickly she moved the gun into her right hand. Her heart was a hammer—it kept pounding a single note of fear. Dread held her like a claw stretched from an open coffin. Too many times at night she had imagined him in this very apartment.