Chapters (110)
- Cover
- ALSO BY J. TODD SCOTT
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- PROLOGUE
- I
- II
- PART ONE
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- PART TWO
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- PART THREE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- FIFTY-SEVEN
- FIFTY-EIGHT
- FIFTY-NINE
- SIXTY
- SIXTY-ONE
- PART FOUR
- SIXTY-TWO
- SIXTY-THREE
- SIXTY-FOUR
- SIXTY-FIVE
- SIXTY-SIX
- SIXTY-SEVEN
- SIXTY-EIGHT
- SIXTY-NINE
- SEVENTY
- SEVENTY-ONE
- SEVENTY-TWO
- SEVENTY-THREE
- SEVENTY-FOUR
- SEVENTY-FIVE
- SEVENTY-SIX
- SEVENTY-SEVEN
- SEVENTY-EIGHT
- SEVENTY-NINE
- EIGHTY
- EIGHTY-ONE
- EIGHTY-TWO
- EIGHTY-THREE
- EIGHTY-FOUR
- EPILOGUE
- I
- II
- III
- IV
- V
- VI
- VII
- AUTHOR’S NOTE
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- Excerpt from LOST RIVER
- LITTLE PARIS
- DILLON
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- What’s next onyour reading list?
“What about your daddy?” Roman asked, leaning back in his chair, somehow flexing his arms at the same time. All those pills he’d popped had turned him into one big son of a bitch, and Johnnie wondered if he chewed up some Viagra, too, before throwing it to Rae all night when Johnnie was home playing husband to Zam and daddy to Johnnie Jr. and Antonio. Johnnie also couldn’t help wondering if Roman fucked Rae in that amazing ass, and the thought made his head hurt.
The veins popped in Roman’s neck, and he wasn’t stuttering so much anymore. He sure was fucking talkative now that Rae was off the stage.
Johnnie always thought Chavez would be the first to cross him, but maybe he had it wrong. Maybe some good pussy and a few Chinese pills were going to make Roman the brave one.
It was right then that Johnnie decided, before all was said and done, he might just have to kill Roman, too.
We’re all killers now.
“I’ll handle that. Don’t worry about it. He doesn’t know what he doesn’t know.”
“And you’re sure this ‘nobody’ is really there in Murfee?” Roman stared right at him, muscles still flexed. They ignored gravity like Rae’s ass.
How the fuck does he do that?
Since when did he ever look anyone in the eye?
Johnnie shrugged, told the truth. “They’re not sure. I’m not sure . . . not yet. But I will be.” The Indians, those indios from Acuña Johnnie answered to, really didn’t seem to know if the man they were looking for was in Murfee or not; they were just guessing, and it was up to him to find out for sure. Although he had been running dope for them out of the Big Bend for the past few months, the indios didn’t have a lot of other eyes or ears in the area—mostly just Johnnie, and Johnnie had his own guy. In a year, maybe two, they’d own all of West Texas, and probably have a dozen shooters and spies on speed dial, but not now. Now, some sort of final shakeout was going on down south between the indios and their rivals, and the man they wanted dead was at the heart of it.
That’s all that mattered to Johnnie.
Johnnie stood, tossing a couple of hundreds on the table. He had no idea what the bill was, but it was nowhere near the amount of money he’d thrown down. Money he didn’t really have, for drinks he couldn’t really afford.
Like he couldn’t afford to let the other men around the table fuck this up for him.