Chapters (57)
- Cover
- Dedication
- Foreword
- 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
- Praise for Linwood Barclay
- Also by Linwood Barclay
- About the Publisher
“Okay,” Sandra said, her voice very quiet. “You think there’s a chance?”
Joe shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ll keep trying. Thing is, there’s so much else going on—” at which point he grabbed his cell phone off the desk and waved it in the air “—that I’m needed in a hundred other places right now.” His face went grim. “Something huge went down at the ferry terminal. Help was coming but the Arrivals launched an attack.”
Sandra sighed, bit her lip. “Katie and Archie are out there somewhere. I’ve got to find them. You do what you can here. I’m going. That bike in the hall. Is it yours?”
“For now. You’re not going out there.”
“I am. I’m going home.”
“I told you, the kids weren’t—”
“When they show up—and they will show up—I’m going to be there.”
He nodded his understanding.
“I’ve still got Lisa Carver’s phone. Anything happens, call me,” she said, moving for the door.
“Got it.” He waited a second, then said, “Hey.”
She stopped.
“I love you,” he said.
Sandra did her best to crack a smile and slipped out of the room.
Thirty-Nine
Why couldn’t she say it? Why couldn’t she tell him she loved him, too? Would it have killed her to say those three words?
Joe thought about how that woman had no idea of the lengths he’d gone to, the risks he’d taken, to make a life for them. Not just for the two of them, but for her children, as well.
No fucking idea at all.
And he’d done those things because he loved her. He loved her so much.
But oh no, saying it back to him, that was too hard.
Okay, okay, maybe his timing was off. She was thinking about her kids. Understandable. She had other things on her mind.
But when this was over, when the dust settled, he was sure she’d see him in a positive light. This crisis, as bad as it was, was an opportunity. It was a chance for her to see him in a leadership role. A heroic role. He really was Chief Brody, but instead of saving Amity from a big fish, he was saving Garrett Island from a thousand murderous cars.
Admittedly, there was one major difference. Chief Brody had not invited that shark into the waters off Amity’s beaches. Chief Brody did not create the crisis.