Freedom, truth, love, beauty.

“Trust is a feeling, Hank. It’s something you feel for another person, like love or hate. It comes about because you see what a man does, who he is. A man does what he says he’s gonna do, values his friends, his family, an’ tries to do right by them? You can’t help but trust a man like that. You can’t help but feel trust for that man. A man like you.”

He quits playing with his hat and puts it on.

“So your call. We can dump you here with a couple hundred grand for a job well done, you can make a run, try to start over someplace. Take your chances with the Russians that way, cuz they’ll be lookin’ for all of us. Maybe you can go to the cops, try to spell it all out, take your chances with the truth. Get to see your mom an’ dad again that way. Or, come with us. Have a new life. A new family. Be trusted. An’ I think that maybe, that’s what might be best for you. Cuz the truth is, Hank, whoever you were a week ago, you’re not him anymore.”

Really, it’s not as hard a choice to make as you might think. Because after all, he’s right, I’m not the man I was a week ago. I’m not half that man. I stop scratching Bud and uncurl the fingers of my right hand from around the pistol.

“I’m in.”

— from Caught Stealing by Charlie Huston; currently available free in the Stanza store on the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Update: Just discovered this was Huston’s first novel. Holy Shit! Comparisons to Elmore Leonard and Cormac McCarthy are deserved, IMHO.