BooksBarbecue
Back The Neighborhood
Chapters (59)
  1. Part I Reconnaissance
  2. Chapter One
  3. Chapter Two
  4. Chapter Three
  5. Part II Incursion
  6. Chapter Four
  7. Chapter Five
  8. Chapter Six
  9. Chapter Seven
  10. Chapter Eight
  11. Chapter Nine
  12. Chapter Ten
  13. Part III Under Siege
  14. Chapter Eleven
  15. Chapter Twelve
  16. Chapter Thirteen
  17. Part IV Course Correction
  18. Chapter Fourteen
  19. Part V Balance of Power
  20. Chapter Fifteen
  21. Chapter Sixteen
  22. Chapter Seventeen
  23. Chapter Eighteen
  24. Chapter Nineteen
  25. Chapter Twenty
  26. Chapter Twenty-One
  27. Chapter Twenty-Two
  28. Chapter Twenty-Three
  29. Chapter Twenty-Four
  30. Chapter Twenty-Five
  31. Chapter Twenty-Six
  32. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  33. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  34. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  35. Part VI Spy versus Spy
  36. Chapter Thirty
  37. Chapter Thirty-One
  38. Chapter Thirty-Two
  39. Chapter Thirty-Three
  40. Part VII Winds of War and Flame
  41. Chapter Thirty-Four
  42. Chapter Thirty-Five
  43. Chapter Thirty-Six
  44. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  45. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  46. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  47. Chapter Forty
  48. Chapter Forty-One
  49. Part VIII Strong to the Finish
  50. Chapter Forty-Two
  51. Chapter Forty-Three
  52. Part IX Spy Games
  53. Chapter Forty-Four
  54. Chapter Forty-Five
  55. Chapter Forty-Six
  56. Part X What Goes Around
  57. Chapter Forty-Seven
  58. Chapter Forty-Eight
  59. About the Author

He’s big, mean, and fast. Your only chance is the shoulder. Zack lunged forward and shot a straight left toward Griffin’s face. He reflexively raised his hands and winced with the pain from his right shoulder. Zack rapidly switched his feet, placing his right foot forward, and shot a roundhouse kick into the right midsection. The kick was hard, but Zack didn’t feel the ribs crack. Still hurts like a bitch, though, I’m sure. The big man bent to his right, his elbow coming down as if to protect his bruised ribs.

Zack moved closer and bent his knees. He stepped across the front of Griffin, twisted his hips to the left, and unleashed a savage uppercut that caught him squarely under the jaw. The blow would’ve knocked out a mere mortal—hell, it would’ve knocked me out, Zack thought—but Griffin was nearly superhuman, even with a gunshot wound to the shoulder. He fell forward to his knees, his left hand striking the pavement to brace his fall and keep him on his knees. His right arm lay at his side, useless.

Zack moved in and brought his right fist backward in a loop, reversing the punch. He raised himself up as he brought his right hand over the top like a fighter ignoring the referee in order to deliver a finishing blow to a wounded opponent on the canvas. He was so intent on the punch that he didn’t feel the blade until it was already jutting out of his left leg just above his knee.

Sneaky bastard, Zack thought, even as he tried to deliver the knockout blow, but before his fist could connect, his left leg gave out, and he fell forward and off-balance. As if fate were taunting him, he landed in the worst possible position—directly in front of the kneeling and grinning madman.

Zack tried not to panic, but he felt the presence behind him, as if a childhood monster had sprung out of the closet of the boy who believed in him, validating its evil existence. He propped himself up with his left arm and threw a right elbow backward, praying to connect with Griffin’s face. Instead, a strong arm that reeked of copper, wet with blood, snaked around his arm and secured its hand on the back of his head. A second arm crossed in front of his throat and squeezed. He felt the bitter stench of the man breathing on his neck.

“It’s fitting, isn’t it? No matter what happens to me, I still get to win, and I finally get to take your life,” Griffin hissed, and squeezed harder.