That’s How I Roll: A Novel Read Free Page A

it.
    ’d seen these same bears plenty of times—I’d been seeing them one way or another ever since I started earning money. The bears were all after the same thing. They all worked the same way. I’dseen them tear hives apart often enough. But this was the first time I’d ever
been
that hive-protected honey.
    The kind of men I did work for, some of them would talk about how terrible the bears could make it for you if you stopped them from getting their paws on the honey. How much strength it took to hold them off. How that tested a man, deep inside.
    Bragging? I don’t know. Maybe the men who never said a word about such things were the only ones who had really passed that test.
    But I didn’t have to believe any of those stories to know how to behave when those bears came for me. All I had to do was act the way the storytellers claimed they had.
    The whole thing was kind of stupid, because the one thing the bears
did
know was that I wasn’t going to talk. They never even
hoped
I would; it was as if something forced them to go through the motions anyway. Kind of like a dance, only with no music.
    t was also a race with no winners.
    The bears were racing to defuse one bomb, but all that time, I was busy building another. I even had a punch list, like the construction bosses always carried with them. I didn’t have a yellow pad, or an aluminum box to keep it in, but I had a better place to store things.
    Step One came naturally. The locals always get the first chance—not only do they know the territory best, they’re already inside it before word reaches beyond their borders.
    But this time, they knew they had to work fast, and that knowledge drove them something fierce. When you feel the Devil’s own breath on the back of your neck, you can’t even waste the energy it takes to turn around and see how close that hellhound is.
    Even so, they couldn’t just crash through the brush without worrying about how much noise they made. Knowing the territory best also meant everyone in that territory knew
them
, too.
    They would have liked to have the hive completely surrounded before they made their move, but they didn’t have that luxury. They had always been the top dogs here, but they knew that was due for a change.
    And quick, too.
    Bigger and more deadly bears were on their way; you could already feel the ground trembling under their weight. The locals knew they would never be able to drain the hive dry—the best they could hope for was to pull out anything that could hurt them before they were shoved out of the way.
    hose bigger bears had no need to poke and probe and look for openings. They didn’t have to pussyfoot around—no matter what popped out when they squeezed, nothing in that hive posed a danger to any of them.
    Why be subtle when you don’t care what kind of tracks you leave? When the bigger bears were all done squeezing, there’d be nothing left but a tiny little lump.
    Just big enough to stick that goodbye needle in.
    hen you’re arrested for murder, you don’t have much to trade. The rule is, you have to trade
up
, like when a drug addict gives up his dealer. But if you’ve done
considerable
killing, talking about who paid you for those services might make the Law so happy that they’ll spare your life in exchange. Or even turn you loose.
    But once you get down to murder for money, the Law’s not the only player at the table. No matter how high up those you talk to may stand, no matter what they promise, you know that even the
rumor
of you talking can end it all.
    Once the Law has you like they had me, you
are
going to die.There isn’t but one actual option left to you, only one thing you can still control. You get to decide who does the job.
    If you make the Law do it, all they can kill is your body. Your spirit lives, and your reputation carries on.
    When you die the right way, there’s no reason for anyone to seek vengeance on your loved ones.
    Just the opposite, in fact.
    he crime that