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    Double or Nothing
    Double or Nothing
    Double or Nothing
    Ebook37 pages26 minutes

    Double or Nothing

    By Dale Hartley Emery

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Norm Wheeler’s luck at the racetrack runs out, leaving him deep in debt to a ruthless bookie. When he tries to hire a rival thug to kill the man, the negotiation takes a dangerous turn, doubling Norm’s trouble.

    Desperate, with time running out, caught between two dangerous criminals, Norm must find the courage to settle his own debts once and for all.

    A short crime story from Dale Hartley Emery.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDriscoll Brook Press
    Release dateSep 15, 2014
    ISBN9781632610133
    Double or Nothing
    Author

    Dale Hartley Emery

    Dale Hartley Emery writes fiction in a variety of genres, including fantasy, crime fiction, and mainstream fiction. His stories include Inventory, Marmalade, and The Donation. Dale has worked as a failed shoemaker, reluctant dairy farmer, and ruthless ice cream man. For several years he monitored the nuclear test ban treaty, making sure those pesky commies didn't blow up the planet. (They didn't.) When he isn't writing, Dale advises software teams and leaders about how to play nice together. Colleagues in Dale's industry once created a special award for him for being reasonable. Dale lives in California with his wife.

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      Book preview

      Double or Nothing - Dale Hartley Emery

      DOUBLE OR NOTHING

      Dale Hartley Emery

      Driscoll Brook Press

      © 2014 Dale Hartley Emery

      Copyright Information

      Contents

      Title Page

      The Prop

      The Dog

      The Chalk

      Taking the Price

      Moving the Line

      All In

      The Return

      About the Author

      Connect with the Author

      Books by the Author

      Copyright Information

      The Prop

      Norm Wheeler had never been in a pawn shop before, much less the back office. As the humorless attendant led him behind the counter and down the hallway, Norm imagined it would look like the office behind any other small shop—a ceiling fan, a few filing cabinets, a window shaded by stained blinds, a desk strewn with papers and maybe an ashtray. But the tiny office in the back of Billy Dough’s Pawn Shop was even more stuffed with junk than the main showroom. In one corner an energy saver bulb flickered in a shadeless lamp. In another corner was a display case filled with dozens of what looked like marbles, each on its own pedestal. Against the wall, a wobbly stack of ripped cardboard boxes threatened to spill a dozen rolls of paper towels onto the floor. There were no windows. If there were filing cabinets, Norm could not see them. There was no ceiling fan. The only ventilation was a small fan mounted through the back wall near the ceiling.

      The one thing Norm got right was the ashtray, made of blue-tinted glass with a logo printed in dark blue on one ridge. Seven or eight slender, half-smoked cigarettes lay crumpled in the ashtray and on the blotter it rested on. The desk was small, old, made of dark wood. One deep drawer was open.

      The attendant closed the door behind Norm.

      Behind the desk, in the only chair in the room, sat a small, pleasant-looking man with an obvious toupee. That would be Emile Bilodeau, pawn broker, loan shark, bookie. And probably a few other professions of the kind that did not confer letters to print after your name on your business card.

      Norm noticed that one lens of his glasses was smudged. He wanted to wipe it, but did not have a tissue or cloth to wipe it with. There were

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