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?
THEY LEANED against Danny’s truck, talking.
He told her everything that had happened at the Far Six—more truth than he ever told the Texas DPS or federal investigators—about how Eddy had texted him a warning message that only Danny would understand, and how he’d even gone a step further: running right into those killing fields, just to make sure Danny saw him.
To make sure Danny knew what was happening.
Danny had no idea Eddy could run that fast, and Danny would have sworn that he’d been smiling.
Danny told Charity that Eddy had died a hero, but more than that, he’d died clean and sober. And if Eddy could stay clean, so could she. That’s what Danny wanted her to know, to remember and hold on to.
That, in the end, Eddy had finally made it through to the other side.
—
“THANKS,” CHARITY SAID, finishing off her cigarette. “It was nice you comin’ out to the funeral, and then bringin’ me out here for this today. This is what Eddy would have wanted, to be left out here, not some hole in the ground. Thinkin’ about stuff like that gave him the creeps.” What Charity didn’t say was that Danny had been the only one who’d come to the funeral, and Danny had paid for it.
“No, it’s fine. I wanted to do this. I needed to do this. Eddy did right by me, and I wanted to do right by him.”
She stuck her hands in her Goodwill jacket and looked out into the canyon. “He wasn’t a bad guy, you know? He meant well. He could be sweet, at times.” She shrugged. “He was just kinda broken. He was all jagged-like, but he never meant to cut you. Not on purpose, anyway. It just happened, bein’ around him too much, if that makes any damn sense.” Danny thought Charity was going to cry, but she only wiped a hand on her dry face, and continued. “I don’t know that I’ll really miss him, though. Is that a bad thing to say? Does that make me a bad person?”
“No,” Danny said. “I don’t think so. I don’t think so at all.”
She smiled, still clear-eyed, and turned away from the canyon. “It’s okay, Mr. Ford. I think I’m done here. I don’t think I’ll ever be coming out here again.”
Danny put an arm around her, squeezed her tight. She was small and thin and frail, but he knew her strength was coming back. “All right, then let’s get you out of here. I need to get to town to see the doctor anyway. He gets upset when I’m late, wants to charge me extra.”
Charity looked at him strange, searching him over. “I didn’t think you got hurt in all that shit that happened.”