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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

GEORGIA

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

Gibson woke in a twin bed feeling like death’s one-night stand. He went to roll on his side but simply could not. He surrendered and lay still. His body felt like it had been drawn and quartered between a pair of muscle cars. Hendricks appeared with a water bottle and helped him take a few sips. The effort exhausted him, and he slept again.

It took three days before he could swallow any of the baby food Jenn spoon-fed him, and five more before he was able to sit up on his own. When he spoke, his voice came out in a shuddering, painful rasp. Hendricks took to calling him Tom Waits and Gibson to writing things down rather than talking.

On the morning of the eighth day, being alive no longer seemed like the worst idea he’d ever had. He swung his legs off the side of the bed and gathered his strength for the Herculean task of taking a leak. He stood and pushed one leg in front of the other—an old-man shuffle. His reflection in the bathroom mirror stopped him. He was an old man with the damaged face of an unrepentant alcoholic. His ten-day beard couldn’t hide the livid, wrenching bruise that ran across his throat from ear to ear. He ran his finger along it and thought about how close he’d come to dying.

What were they going to do now?

Gibson ran a hot shower and stood under the water a long while. Bear opened her eyes. She was in bed. It was late, and she was watching the light under the door. Watching for shadows. Scarcely breathing.

Gibson tried to shake the image from his head. It drew Bear’s attention, and she looked to him now. Imploring. He wanted to ask her how Lombard had done it. Compelled her silence. But he knew—the awful emotional blackmail that her father must have used to isolate her. Control her.

But you failed, you son of a bitch. You failed. All the time, Bear had been planning her escape with Billy Casper. And then it struck Gibson—there was no Tom B. Bear had invented him. Created a fictional father for her unborn child in case she didn’t get away. A plausible story to explain her pregnancy, to protect the child. Protect her mother. Maybe even to protect her father—so hard to beat loyalty out of children. Taking it all on herself. How could she be that strong?