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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?

The room was electric, Mel’s fury almost visible in the air. It had been years since she’d been this mad at him, since their first year in Murfee, when Chris had been consumed by Rodolfo Reynosa’s murder. Mel had always had a matchstick temper, but Chris had almost forgotten what it was like to feel that raw, red heat again. He’d fallen in love with her partly because of that fiery streak—the way it fueled her, sometimes burned him. It was a small price to pay.

“What do you want me to do?”

She tried to quiet Jack. “I want to trust you on this, Chris, I really do. Until now, I have. But . . . but I think you really should call Joe Garrison. Today. Now.”

Chris shook his head, tired and frustrated. His whole tiny family was in the kitchen, but they were on one side of the table, and he was on the other. They were together, but he might as well have been alone.

He thought about all the times he’d almost done exactly what she wanted and called Garrison, but it was too late for that. He’d spent five years trying to protect the Big Bend as its sheriff; now he was going to spend these last days protecting and helping Amé.

“I’m sorry. I don’t think I can do that. I already told them to come. They’ll be here before noon. Seventy-two hours, that’s all I need from you.”

She blinked, once, twice. “I guess I need to pack our things then. And before you ask, I don’t want your help.”

She looked at Chris hard again, over the top of Jack’s head. She had their son held tight to her body and her eyes still flashed, her fury still smoldering.

“You know what’s funny? I keep thinking about that speech you gave before you walked out last night. You were up there talking to Dave Wilcher, but I knew you were really talking to everyone sitting in that gym, pretty much the whole damn town. And I saw how they responded to you, Chris, the way they looked at you. It was like you were on the football field again, playing in front of a big crowd. You may want to tell yourself you were throwing away your badge, but you weren’t. You were throwing to win . . . one final, fourth-quarter touchdown. You sure didn’t sound like a man who was ready to quit or wanted to lose . . . a man who doesn’t give a damn anymore about being the sheriff in this county, no matter what you’re telling yourself now. And I’ve never, ever been prouder.”