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Back This Side of Night Save as PDF
Chapters (110)
  1. Cover
  2. ALSO BY J. TODD SCOTT
  3. Dedication
  4. Epigraph
  5. PROLOGUE
  6. I
  7. II
  8. PART ONE
  9. ONE
  10. TWO
  11. THREE
  12. FOUR
  13. FIVE
  14. SIX
  15. SEVEN
  16. EIGHT
  17. NINE
  18. TEN
  19. ELEVEN
  20. TWELVE
  21. PART TWO
  22. THIRTEEN
  23. FOURTEEN
  24. FIFTEEN
  25. SIXTEEN
  26. SEVENTEEN
  27. EIGHTEEN
  28. NINETEEN
  29. TWENTY
  30. TWENTY-ONE
  31. TWENTY-TWO
  32. TWENTY-THREE
  33. TWENTY-FOUR
  34. TWENTY-FIVE
  35. TWENTY-SIX
  36. TWENTY-SEVEN
  37. TWENTY-EIGHT
  38. TWENTY-NINE
  39. THIRTY
  40. THIRTY-ONE
  41. THIRTY-TWO
  42. THIRTY-THREE
  43. THIRTY-FOUR
  44. THIRTY-FIVE
  45. THIRTY-SIX
  46. THIRTY-SEVEN
  47. THIRTY-EIGHT
  48. THIRTY-NINE
  49. PART THREE
  50. FORTY
  51. FORTY-ONE
  52. FORTY-TWO
  53. FORTY-THREE
  54. FORTY-FOUR
  55. FORTY-FIVE
  56. FORTY-SIX
  57. FORTY-SEVEN
  58. FORTY-EIGHT
  59. FORTY-NINE
  60. FIFTY
  61. FIFTY-ONE
  62. FIFTY-TWO
  63. FIFTY-THREE
  64. FIFTY-FOUR
  65. FIFTY-FIVE
  66. FIFTY-SIX
  67. FIFTY-SEVEN
  68. FIFTY-EIGHT
  69. FIFTY-NINE
  70. SIXTY
  71. SIXTY-ONE
  72. PART FOUR
  73. SIXTY-TWO
  74. SIXTY-THREE
  75. SIXTY-FOUR
  76. SIXTY-FIVE
  77. SIXTY-SIX
  78. SIXTY-SEVEN
  79. SIXTY-EIGHT
  80. SIXTY-NINE
  81. SEVENTY
  82. SEVENTY-ONE
  83. SEVENTY-TWO
  84. SEVENTY-THREE
  85. SEVENTY-FOUR
  86. SEVENTY-FIVE
  87. SEVENTY-SIX
  88. SEVENTY-SEVEN
  89. SEVENTY-EIGHT
  90. SEVENTY-NINE
  91. EIGHTY
  92. EIGHTY-ONE
  93. EIGHTY-TWO
  94. EIGHTY-THREE
  95. EIGHTY-FOUR
  96. EPILOGUE
  97. I
  98. II
  99. III
  100. IV
  101. V
  102. VI
  103. VII
  104. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  105. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  106. Excerpt from LOST RIVER
  107. LITTLE PARIS
  108. DILLON
  109. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  110. What’s next onyour reading list?

Danny slumped in his seat. “Whoever the fuck he is, he didn’t come alone, and they’re both sitting in her apartment right now.”

SEVENTEEN

Juan Abrego watched Zita sleep on the girl America’s couch.

Su sobrina. His niece.

America—a name he did not like—had made sure Zita was comfortable before she’d left. She’d talked to her and helped her wash after days on the move. He had tried to imagine some resemblance in the two girls, something in their eyes or the way they moved; a turn of a head . . . some link between himself and them. Between himself and America. There was nothing, and it was foolish to think there would be. But America had treated Zita as her hermanita all the same. Smiling at her, saying over and over again, Tu eres muy, muy bonita . . . una princesa.

That had been a distraction, so Zita would not notice the other man, the one America had called Danny, holding a gun on them the whole time.

—

THEY TRIED TO KILL HIM IN MANUEL BENAVIDES, a place he knew better as San Carlos.

Shorty Lopez had once owned a great rancho there, La Hacienda Oriental, and Juan Abrego could still remember the parties, nights filled with the soft light of lanterns and torches, the smell of smoke and horses and perfume and mota. That was all gone now, like Shorty himself. After he and some others ambushed Shorty on the orders of La Vibora they’d taken to wearing pieces of Shorty’s broken skull on gold chains and had done so for many years. La Vibora had made the chains for them as a reminder not only of the high price of loyalty, true loyalty, but more important, the true cost of betrayal.

It was a lesson he had taken to heart.

—

JUAN ABREGO HAD BEEN IN THE SECOND VEHICLE, a van, with Gualterio in front and two more cars behind (all americano, stolen from this side of the river), when they ambushed him.