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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?

He’d been keeping his stash out here for a year or more, afraid someone might try to rob him. Even Charity didn’t know it was out here, and she pretty much knew everything about him, but to be honest, when she was using, he didn’t trust her much, either.

He unwrapped the phone and flipped it on, and while he waited for it to power on, he stood and stared at that clear bag a long time, as the shadows around him grew even longer.

His hand was trembling.

I can’t help you stay clean . . . but you have to try . . . If you don’t, what you’re doing now will straight-up kill you. Or it’ll get you killed.

He’d come to this moment again and again; a hundred, hell, maybe a thousand times in his life. His thoughts were as clear as that freezer bag itself. He could see straight, think straight, and it felt good. Like the old Eddy. The sun was warm and nice, and the wind was moving over him like Charity’s fingers on his skin, and Deputy Danny Ford had been damn decent to him, when he had no reason to be. This was a good day. The sort of day Eddy Rabbit could hold on to and remember—the first of many—if he just didn’t fuck it all up.

If he just took the whole bag and tossed it into the river and never looked back.

One foot in front of the other . . . and then he could be running again.

But he continued to stand there . . . way too long . . . trapped in place, turning the bag this way and that in the sun. The meth inside glowed with its own yellow light.

Like the police tape, waving like a flag.

Caution.

He was still holding the bag, staring into it, mesmerized, when the phone from Apache started to buzz.

TWENTY-SIX

Zita needed new clothes.