[sitting having a drink before four bloodied thugs seated on a couch]
Well, fellas, here we are. I know your boss sent you here, but you got to know when to say no. A couple of chapters back, um, there was this guy named Alan. [attempts to recall] Aaron. No, it was Alan. Alan skimmed about three million bucks from a U.S. military base in Rivolto, Italy, and his prize was me looming over him with a Walther PPK. No, wait. Uh, it was a suppressed H&K USP .45 at the back of his head. And he started begging, like they all do, and I usually pulled the trigger before the waterworks began, but this time I listened. I heard a man who genuinely regretted his choices and wanted nothing more than to shed his wolf skin and return to the pasture as a lamb. I quietly let Alan go. A year later, I went back to check on him, fully expecting to find him back unto the fold. Alan was living in Boise, Idaho. He had a wife. She came with two kids. They had another on the way. They had a dog. He was working 9:00 to 5:00. Nothing there to skim. And he was smiling. Like a goddamn Buddha. That mother****erǃ I am not a jealous guy, but in that moment, I wanted what Alan had. So I told my bosses I was out of the game They were not happy to hear it. They didn't believe I could do it. I gave it my all. I really did. It was good. You know, it was better than I expected. I might have, uh, overcorrected. But... Sneaky devil. [finds it under a couch] **** kitty cat bracelet. Fun fact: Bone burns to ash at 1,500 degrees, and this basement is designed to double that, so they won't be finding you among the rubble. Deep down, I always knew it was a facade. It lasted a lot longer than I expected. [uses vinyl record to start a fire]
