BooksBarbecue
Back This Side of Night
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?

“Are you not? Look at what you have become. You should meet my son, Martino. He would admire you, and fear you. You have strength that he does not, that Rodolfo did not have.” He waved at the gun, dismissing it, and then bent down and grabbed a handful of earth, crumbling it in his hands. He looked through it as if he was seeking something. “If you take my life today, you, at least, have earned that right.” He tossed the dirt into the wind.

“You ruined Rodolfo’s life. My life. No one here trusts me, because of you. Because of all the things you’ve done. Because of what you are. Everything you say is a lie.”

“Because of what we are, and not everything is a lie, mija. The truth can be as dangerous or deadly as that gun you hold. I have only wanted to protect you . . .”

She laughed, bitter. “The way you’ve protected Zita? Running, begging for help? Begging for your lives?”

Fox Uno considered before answering, gathering and searching for more dirt. “You care for the girl.”

“I’m not going to let you protect her anymore, if that’s what you mean.” It wasn’t a threat, simply a fact. “Look at you. Old and feeble, standing in a cow field covered in shit.”

America took a few steps forward. The silver gun was heavy in her hand, but she kept it steady. The first month after she’d found it on her doorstep, she’d slept with one hand on it. In many ways, she’d been holding it forever. “You planned for this all along, didn’t you? You were always going to run here, to me, when everything you’ve done finally caught up to you.”

Fox Uno stared into the dark muzzle of the silver gun, unblinking. He tossed the last bit of dirt away. “What do we do now? What have you decided to do with me, mija?”

She stepped closer, right next to him. She put the gun underneath his chin, and although it wasn’t necessary, she pulled back the hammer, a sound that echoed over the scrub. Fox Uno looked skyward, his features pinched from the barrel of the gun pressed hard into the soft skin of his throat, before he slowly leveled his gaze at her again.

The sun was high enough now that they were both bathed in its light, but his face remained shadowed by her own.