Page 5 (2/2)

Lunchtime

I fire up the generator and the stove to boil some water, add part of a box of pasta to the pot, and heat up some sauce I let the fan run while I eat because the afternoon is just too fucking hot and I need a little temporary relief The pasta is nicely al dente, but the sauce comes out of a jar and sucks I remember ho et a taste before dinner was on the table

While I eat, I fire up the netbook PC and wait for it to acquire enough of a satellite signal to download ets none he just drops at my feet with his head on his front paws The fan shuffles the hair on his head around, and he huffs again before closing his eyes for a bit of a nap

The electronic beep tells me my email has loaded There is o

nefor ten bucks – fucking tease that email is – and three additional, similar advertisements I have also apparently won the Swiss Lotto four tira at a discount, and the President of a country I have never heard of wants to give me one-point-two million dollars from his off-shore account

Nothing from Rinaldo

I don’t delete the ain

I wash the dishes, put theenerator, and then drop back into the rocking chair on the porch Odin wakes up and follows He lets out a big yawn, stretches, turns himself in a circle, and then settles back down at my feet I reach out and rub the back of his neck with the toe of my boot

My eyes scan the horizon

Sage brush, packed red earth, and dust devils

I lean my head back and close my eyes for a unshots fill my head I can see my own arm upraised and the barrel of my Beretta turned on its side as a man in a dark blue suit runs away from me My arm jerks twice, and he falls

“What the fuck, Arden? He wasn’t the target!”

“He was a witness”

“But shit…Rinaldo’s not going to be happy about this”

“I’ve done worse”

Well, I thought I had

Apparently killing the nephew or cousin or souy off Since Greco’s group was Rinaldo Moretti’s competition, the potential for an all-out h, which is why I had to disappear Greco didn’t knoho did it, but he was determined to find out, and it was better if I was just not around to be found Rinaldo was ticked, and there had been aaround in his office when I thought he was going to put a bullet in my brain, but he didn’t Exile was the next best alternative That was just after Memorial Day weekend, and tomorroill be the first of September

I open ain and stare at one of the dust devils as it spins and jerks around for a round I rollhow he can sleep while wearing a fur coat in this heat I scan the horizon again, rather haphazardly

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