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?
Chris took a long, slow breath. His fingers were white where he was gripping the chipped wood of the table. Garrison aside, he’d never discussed with anyone other than America and Mel all he knew about Ross, and that was only because they’d lived through it with him; Amé more than anyone else. Ben had carried his own suspicions about Chris’s tortured relationship with his former boss, and understood how that experience continually shaped Chris’s approach to the job, to his understanding of his duty and responsibilities that came with the badge he wore. But Chris had never breathed a bad word about Sheriff Ross to anyone else. There had never been a worthwhile reason to, no profit in it. His silence was less for his benefit than for Caleb’s—the sheriff’s son—or for all those who’d worked with the sheriff but had never been tainted by him. Now, sitting with Royal in this too-hot booth, Chris couldn’t hold his tongue.
“You may think he was good for Murfee, for the Big Bend, but he wasn’t fit to wear this goddamn badge.”
Royal looked Chris straight in the eye, unblinking behind his bifocals. Gold rims burned with sunlight. “And neither are you. That’s the heart of it, Sheriff Cherry. That’s all this is about.”
Chris was angry with himself and done sparring with Royal. “Okay, D.A. Moody, as long as we understand each other. As long as we’re absolutely clear. But until the voters of this county turn me out, I have work to do. My job. I expect you to do yours.” Chris stood, got ready to leave. “Besides, we both know it’s too late to save my job anyway, right? One success isn’t going to change that.”
Royal looked him up and down, measuring him, running a hand through his thinning hair. He’d been a pretty good baseball player once, or so Chris had been told. It was hard to see that now. “Are you even trying that hard? To win this thing?
“What do you think?”
Royal watched him for a few seconds more, then looked down at the Daily on the table in front of him, still open to the story about the bodies in Delcia Canyon. He stared at that longer, reading it again. “If you can make a credible case that Eddy Rabbit was involved with those deaths, I’ll charge him.”
“I appreciate that, Royal, I do. I’ll do what I can. Hell, I’ll do my best,” Chris said, fishing for a twenty out of his pocket. He folded it and laid it across the open paper, across his own name in the editorial. “You can keep that. I’m done reading it. And breakfast is on me. For both you and Bethel.”
FIFTEEN
Eddy Rabbit hadn’t taken all day at all.