BooksBarbecue
Back Look Both Ways
Chapters (57)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Foreword
  4. Prologue
  5. One
  6. Two
  7. Three
  8. Four
  9. Five
  10. Six
  11. Seven
  12. Eight
  13. Nine
  14. Ten
  15. Eleven
  16. Twelve
  17. Thirteen
  18. Fourteen
  19. Fifteen
  20. Sixteen
  21. Seventeen
  22. Eighteen
  23. Nineteen
  24. Twenty
  25. Twenty-One
  26. Twenty-Two
  27. Twenty-Three
  28. Twenty-Four
  29. Twenty-Five
  30. Twenty-Six
  31. Twenty-Seven
  32. Twenty-Eight
  33. Twenty-Nine
  34. Thirty
  35. Thirty-One
  36. Thirty-Two
  37. Thirty-Three
  38. Thirty-Four
  39. Thirty-Five
  40. Thirty-Six
  41. Thirty-Seven
  42. Thirty-Eight
  43. Thirty-Nine
  44. Forty
  45. Forty-One
  46. Forty-Two
  47. Forty-Three
  48. Forty-Four
  49. Forty-Five
  50. Forty-Six
  51. Forty-Seven
  52. Forty-Eight
  53. Forty-Nine
  54. Fifty
  55. Praise for Linwood Barclay
  56. Also by Linwood Barclay
  57. About the Publisher

“In fact,” Kyle had said, “while we’re on the topic of Ms. Montrose . . . It struck my investigator as quite the coincidence that you should end up with the woman to whom you had to deliver such devastating news. He’s good at spotting those kinds of connections. Has what you’d call a suspicious mind.”

“It’s not that big an island,” Joe had responded. “We all kind of know each other, even if it’s just to say hello. Her husband had an accident. I went to the scene, then notified the family. There’s nothing funny about it.”

“Of course. I’m sure that’s all there was to it. But the timing is a bit curious.”

“The timing?” Joe had said.

Kyle had said nothing more. He simply smiled.

Jesus, the smile on that arrogant fucker’s face.

When it had looked as though it was only the stalking incidents Kyle knew about, Joe’d thought maybe he could ride it out. Call Kyle’s bluff. Let him blab about what Joe had done before returning to the island. There’d always been the chance it could come out, anyway. Joe would admit his mistakes, make the case that he’d been doing a good job as chief. Do his best to persuade Sandra that he wasn’t that kind of man anymore.

On top of that, he’d do the right thing and arrest Brandon Kyle. Trying to bribe an officer of the law. Corporate espionage. Sabotage. Joe would have to consult with the prosecuting attorney to figure out what the actual charges should be.

But when Joe saw that smile, he knew Kyle had an ace card he’d not yet played.

“Of course, I wouldn’t expect you to do all this just to protect your reputation,” Kyle had said. “I am more than prepared to compensate you.”

Money.

If Joe did this man’s bidding, there’d be more than enough cash to find a first-class home for his mother. A place where she could be happy, Joe told himself. He’d have to do plenty of rationalizing to ease his conscience, but sometimes you did what you had to do.

Like killing Albert Ruskin.

There was no going back now.

Forty

His eyes still stung like a son of a bitch.

Brandon Kyle kept blinking, trying to create tears that would wash out whatever traces of window cleaner were still in his eyes. What he needed was to rinse them thoroughly, but the woods he now found himself wandering in didn’t have a fridge stocked with bottles of Evian.