BooksBarbecue
Back Straight Shot Save as PDF
Chapters (70)
  1. Dedication
  2. Chapter One
  3. Chapter Two
  4. Chapter Three
  5. Chapter Four
  6. Chapter Five
  7. Chapter Six
  8. Chapter Seven
  9. Chapter Eight
  10. Chapter Nine
  11. Chapter Ten
  12. Chapter Eleven
  13. Chapter Twelve
  14. Chapter Thirteen
  15. Chapter Fourteen
  16. Chapter Fifteen
  17. Chapter Sixteen
  18. Chapter Seventeen
  19. Chapter Eighteen
  20. Chapter Nineteen
  21. Chapter Twenty
  22. Chapter Twenty-One
  23. Chapter Twenty-Two
  24. Chapter Twenty-Three
  25. Chapter Twenty-Four
  26. Chapter Twenty-Five
  27. Chapter Twenty-Six
  28. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  29. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  30. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  31. Chapter Thirty
  32. Chapter Thirty-One
  33. Chapter Thirty-Two
  34. Chapter Thirty-Three
  35. Chapter Thirty-Four
  36. Chapter Thirty-Five
  37. Chapter Thirty-Six
  38. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  39. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  40. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  41. Chapter Forty
  42. Chapter Forty-One
  43. Chapter Forty-Two
  44. Chapter Forty-Three
  45. Chapter Forty-Four
  46. Chapter Forty-Five
  47. Chapter Forty-Six
  48. Chapter Forty-Seven
  49. Chapter Forty-Eight
  50. Chapter Forty-Nine
  51. Chapter Fifty
  52. Chapter Fifty-One
  53. Chapter Fifty-Two
  54. Chapter Fifty-Three
  55. Chapter Fifty-Four
  56. Chapter Fifty-Five
  57. Chapter Fifty-Six
  58. Chapter Fifty-Seven
  59. Chapter Fifty-Eight
  60. Chapter Fifty-Nine
  61. Chapter Sixty
  62. Chapter Sixty-One
  63. Chapter Sixty-Two
  64. Chapter Sixty-Three
  65. Chapter Sixty-Four
  66. An Extract from Breacher
  67. Chapter One
  68. Also by Jack Lively
  69. GET A FREE NOVELLA
  70. Enjoy this book?

Off the church square, I turned into a series of narrow, crowded streets. The old town. Shoppers jostled in line for the butcher or the baker. The scent of fresh bread and coffee had settled. I squeezed through a knot of people outside the bakery and felt a push from behind. Turned to look. It was the second guy, with the leather jacket and the wet-looking side part. I could smell the stuff in his hair.

So these clowns had waited for me. I had to give them points for persistence. But, what made them think I was a good mark?

Up ahead on the left was a little side-street entrance, even narrower than the one I was on. I looked to the right, across the street. A new guy. Same age as rat-face, similar style. The local young thug look, but this time with longer hair in a ponytail and a manicured stubble beard. These guys were easy to spot because the rest of the crowd was older and dressed conservatively. The ponytail guy was dressed in a track suit like the rat-faced guy from the train platform.

So now there were three. The first guy with the rat-face and Adidas stripe shaved into his head, leather jacket side-part from the park, and ponytail with the facial hair.

Their plan was simple.

Leather jacket side-part was pushing up behind me so I’d move forward, out of the bakery crowd. The new guy with the ponytail was there to push me left, into the side street. I figured rat-face would be waiting there. So that was their plan. They would pen me in and try to rob me. I thought, welcome to France.

I stopped abruptly and let leather jacket side-part guy walk into me belly-first. I felt him grab my shirt above the waist. Which was a mistake, because I used his grab to pull him closer than he wanted. I stomped on his foot with my left heel and crushed his instep. The guy grunted, surprised. The stomp made him lean forward and I whipped my right arm back and nailed him in the nuts with the heel of my hand. I pulled away from his grab and felt the back of my shirt tear as he bent over and fell.

Which pissed me off somewhat. The shirt was new.