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?

After dinner, Mel stayed inside with Jack, and Garrison and Chris went out to the front porch, where they’d started. Chris brought out an ice-choked bucket of Rahrs, and Garrison brought his folder, still unopened, and settled into a chair, as Chris fished out a beer for each of them. Mel had told Garrison there was room enough for him to spend the night, but the agent had insisted he had a room back in Valentine. That was a long drive, but he had meetings all the next day, and it wasn’t as long as going all the way back to El Paso.

Chris got the impression that Garrison had slipped out of El Paso quickly to come see him, maybe without telling anyone that he was coming to Murfee.

It also wasn’t lost on Chris that Darin Braccio’s and Morgan Emerson’s burned bodies had been recovered outside Valentine.

—

THE TWO MEN DRANK their beers silently.

The sun wasn’t yet down, and long shadows were still gathered on the ground where cenizo and Texas mountain laurel ran into the distance. Over time Chris had learned to pick out the tall spikes of spice lily, the dark brown of chocolate flowers, and even the trumpet shape of sacred datura—jimsonweed—that opened its flowers only at night for hawk moths. Chris had spent nights watching Rocky chase the hand-sized moths drawn to its pale white flowers under the glow of the house’s security lights.

As with his Spanish lessons, Chris had made it a point to learn about this place. He wasn’t sure he’d ever know it, truly understand it, but for as long as he was here, he had to try.

“It’s quiet here. I don’t know if that would drive me crazy or not,” Garrison said. “But I can see the beauty.”

“It takes some getting used to,” Chris conceded.

“And have you? Gotten used to it?”

“I don’t know. Some days . . .” Chris shrugged. “It’s weird. I think Mel has taken to it faster than I have, more than I ever would have guessed. She despised Murfee so much when we first got here, and now . . .”

“She seems like a good woman.” Garrison laughed. “Tough.”

“Better than I deserve,” Chris said.

Garrison raised his beer, a lonely toast. “Well, Sheriff, on that we can agree. I’m glad you said it so I didn’t have to.”

—