He got out and looked to his right and his left. There wasn’t a soul in sight. The sky had gone from magenta to full dark with no stars.
Titus opened the back of his Jeep. He pushed his suitcases to the side. He pulled back the spare tire cover. He moved the jack and the tire iron. He moved the flares and the reflective hazard triangle his father had given him last year for roadside emergencies.
He grabbed the yellow tow strap his pops had given him along with the flares.
He walked over to Ol’ Rebel Joe. He read the inscription on the base of the statue in the red light of his taillights: TO OUR FATHERS AND SONS AND BROTHERS WHO EXHIBITED UNFAILING BRAVERY AND DEVOTION AS THEY FOUGHT TO PRESERVE OUR WAY OF LIFE. 1915 CHARON COUNTY.
“Fuck that noise,” Titus whispered.
He lopped the tow strap around the waist of the statue. He hooked the other end to the ball hitch on his Jeep.
Titus got in and dropped the Jeep into low gear.
At first he thought it wasn’t going to move. His tires were smoking as they spun against the asphalt. The engine squealed with a metallic ferocity, but eventually he felt the monument give up like the Confederacy did at Appomattox.
When it fell, Joe’s arm flew off and bounced down the road, sending sparks up like a swarm of fireflies.
Titus hopped out, unhooked the tow strap from the ball hitch, then jumped back in his Jeep and tore off down the road.
He laughed all the way to the county line.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Writing a novel never gets easier, but when you have wonderful people in your corner it never gets harder either. I need to take a moment and show those people my gratitude.
Josh Getzler, my agent, the first person to believe in me and the first person who helped me believe in myself. Thank you for all you do, sir.
Christine Kopprasch, my editor, thank you for pushing me to challenge myself as a writer and an artist. Your steady hand guides my words and the worlds we create.
To Nikki Dolson, Chad Williamson, Bobby Mathews, Jordan Harper, Rob Hart, Rob Smith, Jonathan Janz, Eryk Pruitt, James Queally, and Mark Bergin. Thank you for reading the early version of this book. Thank you for your honesty, your support, and most importantly, your friendship. There is darkness in the world, but you all are the light.
And finally:
Thank you to Kim. She knows why. She’s always known.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
S. A. Cosby is an Anthony Award–winning writer from southeastern Virginia. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller Razorblade Tears, which was named on more than twenty best-of-the-year lists, won the ITW Thriller Award for Best Hardcover Novel, and was recommended by Barack Obama. He is also the bestselling author of My Darkest Prayer and Blacktop Wasteland, which was a New York Times Notable Book and named a best book of the year by NPR, the Sun Sentinel, and The Guardian, among others. You can sign up for email updates here.