Raising Money

by R. T. Lawton

About the Author: R.T. Lawton has over 160 short stories in various anthologies and other publications, to include 49 sold to Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. He currently has nine short story collections in paperback and e-format on Amazon.

Excerpt

Danny and his minor league partner in crime, Jackson, were sitting in a dark booth by the front window where they could see people passing by on the sidewalk. This Irish pub wasn’t their usual bar, but circumstances weren’t entirely safe for them to go back to their old one for a while, not after the results of their last scam.

“We’ve got a little over two hundred left,” said Danny. “I think we ought to invest it in our next job.”

Jackson looked up from his draft beer.

“You the idea man. What you thinking this time?”

“Well, it’s like this. I been reading this book written by Chester Himes.”

“Who’s he?”

“A guy who did time in Ohio for bank robbery.”

Jackson cocked his left eyebrow.

“Bank robberies are a little dicey for us, don’tcha think? We don’t exactly have that kind of experience. And, if Chester ended up in prison, I’d say his bank plan didn’t work out very well for him.”

“Bank robbery has nothing to do with this.”

“Tell that to Chester, he’s the one doing time.”

Danny went quiet and just stared at his partner.

After a moment, Jackson finally broke the silence.

“Okay, so what’s the name of the book?”

Story Comments