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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

With the house on fire, Pilford and the old man were likely to come charging out at any moment. But from which door? There was already fire trailing across the one they’d used to go inside. The glass doors that led to the deck were on the bay side, and it looked as though this other guy, who appeared to be carrying a rifle, was waiting for Pilford to come out that way.

So he could shoot him.

“No!” Cory said aloud. “It’s not right.”

But what was he to do? If he wanted to shoot Pilford himself, he was going to have to shoot this—this interloper—first. Which meant that now he would have to shoot three people instead of two.

He began to hyperventilate.

How dare this person steal his thunder? How dare he go after the glory that Cory had worked so hard to achieve?

The fire was spreading quickly. Lights that had been on in the beach house now were off. Cory could see the man on the boardwalk aiming the rifle at the building. Pilford and the old dude were probably making their escape onto the deck now.

But the man did not shoot.

Suddenly, the back door opened. Cory could make out the man and the kid. The man had something in his hand—a fire extinguisher!—and he put out enough of the flames to allow them to exit the house.

Maybe this was his chance.

But then Pilford disappeared from view, and his babysitter was seeking cover behind the Honda. The man on the boardwalk was heading this way, and—

Shots!

What the hell was going on?

Cory moved deeper into the bushes on the other side of North Shore Boulevard. He could not believe what he was seeing. The man who’d been on the boardwalk going down, the older guy getting the drop on him.

Where was Jeremy? Where had he gone?

He hadn’t come this way. He must have run to one of the neighboring beach houses to hide.

Should he go look for him? Cory wondered. Or was he taking a risk even being here? What with that fire starting to consume the beach house, and now gunfire, it was only a matter of time before emergency vehicles started descending on this scene like flies on shit.

Cory didn’t just have to get away from this beach house, he had to get out of here completely. And that meant hightailing it back to his cabin, getting in his van and getting the fuck out of here.

Just one small problem there.

Dolly’s friend.

He couldn’t leave her in the cabin. He might still need her for leverage. Even if he got away from Cape Cod without attracting attention, they were still going to be looking for him in connection with everything else.