BooksBarbecue
Back Vortex Save as PDF
Chapters (61)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. 3
  6. 4
  7. 5
  8. 6
  9. 7
  10. 8
  11. 9
  12. 10
  13. 11
  14. 12
  15. 13
  16. 14
  17. 15
  18. 16
  19. 17
  20. 18
  21. 19
  22. 20
  23. 21
  24. 22
  25. 23
  26. 24
  27. 25
  28. 26
  29. 27
  30. 28
  31. 29
  32. 30
  33. 31
  34. 32
  35. 33
  36. 34
  37. 35
  38. 36
  39. 37
  40. 38
  41. 39
  42. 40
  43. 41
  44. 42
  45. 43
  46. 44
  47. 45
  48. 46
  49. 47
  50. 48
  51. 49
  52. 50
  53. 51
  54. 52
  55. 53
  56. Epilogue
  57. Epilogue
  58. Acknowledgments
  59. About the Author
  60. Also by Catherine Coulter
  61. About the Publisher

So Snake wouldn’t let it go. Of course Snake blamed him, it was par for the course. Blame on top of his nonstop whining. Dante wanted to hit him so hard his own crap shovel broke, and bury the two of them together. He forced himself to be patient as he said matter-of-factly, “I gave her the same amount I always use. Who knew she’d figure it out? Don’t you blame me, not my fault.” He paused a moment, studied his friend’s face. Time for mending fences, a touch of sympathy. “I’m sorry, Snake, you liked her. Sure, you wanted to spread her out and have at it, but what happened wasn’t anybody’s fault.” He bumped his fist against Snake’s shoulder. “Hey, I guess we can only give this one a projected score, right? On spec? Hey, what’s this?” Dante leaned down, picked up a shiny piece of metal, raised it. “It looks like a really old belt buckle.”

Snake, distracted, studied the buckle. “I’ll bet it goes way back, maybe one of the Revolutionary soldier’s belts from the camp at Valley Forge. There’s writing, maybe a name on the back of the buckle, I can’t see well enough to make it out.”

“Look, here are some buttons, too.” Dante shrugged, slipped the buckle and the two buttons into his jeans pocket.

Snake froze. “Did you hear that? Someone’s out there, maybe a hunter, or a couple of kids making out? They’ll see us, call the cops.”

Dante didn’t spare him a look, just kept digging, heaving shovelfuls over the side. He swiped sweat out of his eyes. “Sure—a hunter in a park at midnight. If it’s kids making out, believe me, they’re not going to be paying any attention to us. Come on, Snake, I know you have bat ears, but there’s nothing out there to worry about. We were really careful when we carried her in, there’s no one around. But we don’t want to be here this close to Godwyn or that freaking fraternity house any longer than we have to be. Another foot should do it. We’ve got about four feet, yes, another foot should keep the animals from smelling her, digging her up.”

Smelling her? Animals digging her up? Snake looked over at Aolith’s tarp-covered body, felt bile rise in his throat. She’d been so beautiful, so alive. “Really, I know she’d have gone for me if I’d asked. I don’t want to do this anymore, I don’t want to troll with you anymore.”