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Back The Short Drop Save as PDF
Chapters (61)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Page
  3. Dedication
  4. CONTENTS
  5. START READING
  6. PART ONE
  7. CHAPTER ONE
  8. CHAPTER TWO
  9. CHAPTER THREE
  10. CHAPTER FOUR
  11. CHAPTER FIVE
  12. CHAPTER SIX
  13. CHAPTER SEVEN
  14. CHAPTER EIGHT
  15. CHAPTER NINE
  16. CHAPTER TEN
  17. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  18. CHAPTER TWELVE
  19. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  20. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  21. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  22. PART TWO
  23. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  24. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  25. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  26. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  34. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  35. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  36. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  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 THREE
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  53. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  54. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  55. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  56. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  57. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  58. CHAPTER FIFTY
  59. EPILOGUE
  60. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  61. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

They set a time and place to meet. He thanked her and hung up. That had gone better than he could reasonably have hoped. He tried Jenn’s number, but it went straight to voice mail. He contemplated leaving a message, but he couldn’t be sure her phone hadn’t been taken. Instead, he hung up and pulled the SIM card and shattered his phone against the side of the gas station. If it hadn’t been compromised already, it soon would be.

Anyway, there wasn’t anybody left for him to call.

He walked back around to the SUV, calculating how long a drive it was to Charlottesville. He could get away with driving at night, but come dawn the bullet holes in the car would lead to unpleasant questions. The passenger door stood open; Billy was gone. Bloody footprints crossed the parking lot and disappeared at the edge of the broad field that backed the gas station. After ten yards he lost the trail. He called out to Billy in the dark. Not even the wind answered.

Gibson studied the horizon to the north but realized he couldn’t be sure which direction Billy had gone. He searched the field in the dark, yelling Billy’s name to the uncaring night.

He went back to the Cherokee. There comes a point when every man must choose his own way. Billy had made his choice, and Gibson hoped he could live with it.

His was Charlottesville.

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

When daylight came, Gibson pulled off at a motel that advertised “Clean Rooms” on a hand-painted sign. He parked in the back, away from the main road, and got a room. He paid cash for two nights, even though he only intended to be there until that evening. He put his clothes in the tub to soak the blood out of them and took a shower, stomping his clothes like an old-fashioned wine press until blood leaked out of them, swirling down the drain. He stood under the scalding water until his skin was pink like a newborn’s.

He slept hard. When the need to urinate woke him, he hung his clothes to dry on the shower bar. When he woke for good, it was late afternoon. It felt like he’d been asleep for a five count, not ten hours. He took another shower to wash the sleep off and put his clothes back on. It was an improvement, but you could still see the bloodstains. He turned his shirt inside out. That helped some. Now he just looked like an idiot.