“Just find a doorway somewhere to piss in?” The homeless man shook his head. “Because it’s against the law and breaking the law just ain’t my style, mister. Besides, just because you are a certain way doesn’t mean you have to act the way people expect.”
Hicks liked the man’s attitude and felt bad about the board meeting crack. “You take as long as you want, my friend, but I’ve got an appointment at noon.”
“Funny, so do I,” the homeless man laughed as he shuffled off. “Got that board meeting you was talkin’ about. On Fifth Avenue, no less.”
Hicks watched the man trudge back into the growing wind and head west, leaving him alone with the pushcart filled with things only of value to him. We were all like that, Hicks though; pushing our own cart filled with shit we thought valuable through the world. Some valued love or comfort or money. Most wanted all three and thought money could lead to the other two. And if money didn’t lead to it, then it certainly could buy it.
The formula varied, but Hicks knew everyone had at least one thing they valued most in this world. To that homeless man, it was his cart. But most of the people Hicks dealt with had their valuables stashed elsewhere in encrypted files on hard drives or in safe deposit boxes in banks no one was supposed to know about. They kept their secrets buried deep within themselves and prayed that no one ever looked for them. But someone always found out because part of every secret kept was the yearning to be discovered. To get caught. To tell. To let someone in on it. To confess.
Hicks had been in the intelligence game for over twenty years. He’d seen damned near every aspect of the human psyche known to man and yet it still managed to surprise him. No matter how many ops he’d run in any part of the world, he’d always learned something new from each one.
Even from a homeless man while he smoked his cigar on the street of a city bracing for Snowmageddon. He flicked his cigar ash into the concrete ashtray next to him. Or maybe it wasn’t that deep. Maybe all of it was just unrelated bullshit.
Hicks’ cigar had burned down to a nub when the homeless man came toddling back for his cart, looking more refreshed than when he’d left. A cup of hot coffee piped steam through its plastic lid.
Hicks dug his hand into his pocket, came up with a twenty and held it out to the man.
He expected the homeless man to take it. Instead, he just looked at it. “What’s that for, mister?”
“Storm’s coming,” Hicks said. “I was thinking this could help you buy something to keep you warm.”
But the homeless man backed away from the money, back toward his cart. “No thanks. I got all I need in this cart right here. Being prepared is what you might call a motto of mine.”
Hicks put the twenty back in his pocket. “Mine too.”
Hicks ground out his cigar in the ashtray. A light snow, barely a flurry, had begun to fall. The day was almost too pretty to ruin by threatening someone into working for him.
Almost, but not quite.
Read other books by Terrence McCauley
Terrence McCauley is an award winning crime/New Pulp writer. In 2014, he won the New Pulp Award for Best Author. His short stories have been featured in THUGLIT, SHOTGUN HONEY, ATOMIC NOIR, MATT HILTON’S ACTION: PULSE POUNDING TALES Vol. 1 & 2 and other places. His short story – “A Bullet’s All It Takes” (from THE KENNEDY CURSE Anthology by Big Pulp/Exeter Press) won the 2014 New Pulp Award for Best Short Story. He recently compiled GRAND CENTRAL NOIR, an anthology where 100% of the proceeds go directly to God's Love We Deliver, a non-profit organization in New York City.
Terrence is a proud member of the Polis Books family. In Spring, 2014, Polis agreed to republish his award-winning novel PROHIBITION (TruTV’s Search for the Next Great Crime Writer Contest) and SLOW BURN (2014 New Pulp Award for Best Novel). His latest novel is SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL. Visit him online at www.terrencepmccauley.com and follow him at @tmccauley_nyc.
The following is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in an entirely fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2012 by Terrence McCauley
Cover design by 2Faced Design
Ebook designed and formatted by:
www.emtippettsbookdesigns.com
Originally published by Airship 27 in 2012
Reissued by Polis Books in June 2015
ISBN 978-1-940610-77-1
1201 Hudson Street, #211S
Hoboken, NJ 07030
www.PolisBooks.com
Table of Contents
Title Page
Books by Terrence McCauley
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Sympathy for the Devil
About the Author
Copyright Notice
Prohibition Page 22