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Chapter One

"Freeze! Nobody move! This is a robbery!"

Wow Three cliches in a row Soination department

But the shouted threats scared sohed Screanore the trouble that had just walked into my restaurant - or deal with it the quick, violent way I would have preferred A silverstone knife through the heart is enough to stop most trouble in its tracks Permanently

So I pulled ray eyes up fro to see what all the fuss was about

Tentyso out of place a the restaurant's blue and pink vinyl booths The dynamic duo sported black trench coats that covered their thin T-shirts and flapped against their ripped, rock star jeans Neither one wore a hat or gloves, and the fall chill had painted their ears and fingers a bright cherry red I wondered how long they'd stood outside, gathering up the courage to come in and yell out their trite demands

Water dripped off their boots and spread across the faded blue and pink pig tracks that covered the restaurant floor I eyed the h to keep out the Nove bootlaces These teren't your typical desperate junkies looking for a quick cash score

No, they had their own money - lots of it, froner jeans

These two rich punks were robbing my barbecue restaurant just for the thrill of it

Worst fucking decision they'd ever made

"Freeze!" the first guy repeated, as if we all hadn't heard him before

He was a beefy man with spiky blond hair held up by soiant blood in his fa froe hands Despite his twentyso years, baby fat still puffed out his face like a waruy's brown eyes flicked around the restaurant, taking in everything fro on the stove behindfrench fryer to the battered, bloody copy of Where the Red Fern Grows ister

Then Beefcake turned his attention to the people inside the Pork Pit tohis demands Not many folks to look at Monday was usually a slow day, made even more so by the cold bluster of wind and rain outside The only other people in the restaurant besides me and the would-be robbers were my dwarven cook, Sophia Deveraux, and a couple of custoht Tshirts not unlike those the robbers sported

The women sat shocked and frozen, eyes wide, barbecue beef sandwiches halfway to their lips Sophia stood next to the stove, her black eyes flat and disinterested as she watched the beans bubble She grunted once and gave the much ever bothered Sophia

The first guy raised his hand A sers A hard, thin smiled curved my lips I liked knives