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?

When I got the guy fixed, I went back to the Mercedes for a rag. Nothing in the trunk. I rummaged around under the seats and found one of Simone’s fancy silk Hermes scarves, spilled from her donation bags. While I walked back up, I opened the scarf and looked at it.

The silk was light blue bordered by navy. It felt really soft and at the same time durable, a high quality textile, that’s for sure. There was a complicated design with theatrical masks and gold-colored ancient guitars or lutes. I thought, everyday luxury.

Chapter Twenty

I balled the beautiful scarf up and stuffed it into the guy’s mouth. He tried to spit it out but I punched him in the nose, fracturing it clean at the bridge. He moaned and I pushed the scarf all the way in until he gagged on blood and silk and was forced to try and breathe through the broken nose. He was having some trouble so I leaned in and straightened the fracture.

I said, “Breathe through the nose.” He looked at me wildly with those bright blue eyes, but started passing air through his nostrils. There was a slight whistle around the crushed cartilage but the air passed. “That’s better. Stay calm and relaxed and you’ll be alright. I keep bumping into you and your friends.”

He tried to speak through the scarf in his mouth. I shook my head. “Not yet.”

I searched his jacket pockets and his pants pockets. In his pants there was nothing but loose pocket change and a house key. I made that into a little pile at the base of a tree. In the jacket I found a burner phone. I pocketed the phone. Then I put my knee on the guy’s chest and let the weight come down.

“I’m going to ask you questions. Are you going to talk to me? Just nod or shake your head.” He wasn’t cooperative. Maybe just too damn scared to cooperate. I got down really close to him and said, “I’m not interested in hurting you. Just nod if you understand what I’m saying.”

The guy nodded. I said, “Good. So will you talk to me if I take that thing out of your mouth?” He was blowing air in and out through his nose and moved his head up and down vigorously. I took the scarf out of his mouth. The guy got his breath back and said something extremely rude to me. It was about my mother. I put the scarf back in.