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Back Parting Shot Save as PDF
Chapters (68)
  1. Dedication
  2. Title Page
  3. Contents
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Three
  7. Four
  8. Five
  9. Six
  10. Seven
  11. Eight
  12. Nine
  13. Ten
  14. Eleven
  15. Thirteen
  16. Fourteen
  17. Fifteen
  18. Sixteen
  19. Seventeen
  20. Eighteen
  21. Nineteen
  22. Twenty
  23. Twenty-One
  24. Twenty-Two
  25. Twenty-Three
  26. Twenty-Four
  27. Twenty-Five
  28. Twenty-Six
  29. Twenty-Seven
  30. Twenty-Eight
  31. Twenty-Nine
  32. Thirty
  33. Thirty-One
  34. Thirty-Two
  35. Thirty-Three
  36. Thirty-Four
  37. Thirty-Five
  38. Thirty-Six
  39. Thirty-Seven
  40. Thirty-Eight
  41. Thirty-Nine
  42. Forty
  43. Forty-One
  44. Forty-Two
  45. Forty-Three
  46. Forty-Four
  47. Forty-Five
  48. Forty-Six
  49. Forty-Seven
  50. Forty-Eight
  51. Forty-Nine
  52. Fifty
  53. Fifty-One
  54. Fifty-Two
  55. Fifty-Three
  56. Fifty-Four
  57. Fifty-Five
  58. Fifty-Six
  59. Fifty-Seven
  60. Fifty-Eight
  61. Fifty-Nine
  62. Sixty
  63. Sixty-One
  64. Sixty-Two
  65. Sixty-Three
  66. Sixty-Four
  67. Sixty-Five
  68. Copyright

But despite that, he hadn’t lost sight of his goal. That was what this had all been about from the very beginning. Making a difference. And he was goddamn well going to do that.

He had a feeling Jeremy Pilford would be his last stand. He’d made a great debut with Craig Pierce, and Pilford would be the closing number. A short but memorable career. Not that he wouldn’t have liked it to be much longer, but once he was done with the Big Baby, it was a safe bet that everyone would know who he was. No more anonymity. No more solitary celebrations.

No longer would it just be his work that was famous. It would be him. Cory had no doubt of that. His exploits would spread far beyond websites like Just Deserts. He’d make the evening news. He’d be on CNN.

The world would know his name.

Did the world know his sister’s name? Did the world know his brother’s name? Fuck, no. They’d gone and devoted their lives to such noble causes, and what did they have to show for it, really?

Losers.

Even his parents, with all their advocacy work over the years, never achieved the kind of fame he was undoubtedly going to earn.

He just wanted to be able to enjoy it. And to enjoy it, he had to stay alive.

That was where Carol Beakman came in.

Cory could imagine any number of scenarios where he might need her. At some point, the police might corner him. Storm a building. Come in with guns blazing. That was how they operated. Shoot first, ask questions later. But they wouldn’t want to do that if he had the woman with him. They’d have to be more careful.

She’d be his lifesaver when the going got tough. And what the hell, if it turned out he didn’t need her, he’d dispose of her.

Like he did with Dolores.

But man, that did hurt. Cory had loved Dolores. Really, really loved her. She was his first real girlfriend, which was saying something for a guy in his thirties. Cory was not exactly the most popular student in high school. (Again, not like his siblings, who were getting laid practically out of kindergarten.) But Dolly and him, they’d really connected. How many girls were willing to come along to watch a dog make Alpo out of somebody? Plus, she was way more than a bystander. She was the one who got Pierce’s attention out back of the pizza place where he worked, which allowed Cory to come up from behind, put the chloroform-soaked rag over his mouth. Dude powered down like a twenty-year-old laptop.