Time to Die Read Online Free Page A

his head and dumping a torrent of water from the wide flat rim of his plastic-covered hat. “Hello, ma’am,” he said. “Are you keeping dry?”
    The woman seemed nervous as she shot him only a cursory look and then returned her eyes to the road. “I’m trying,” she said. “I’m taking my grandson to get a video and a game.”
    Matt’s curiosity was piqued by her behavior. “Are you okay?” he asked. “You look nervous.”
    “No,” she said. “I’m fine. Just tired of the weather.”
    Matt wiped the cascade of water from his mouth. “Could I see your driver’s license, please?”
    This time, the look in the woman’s face was something close to panic.
    * * *
    Brad felt his insides seize. Why hadn’t he thought of that? Of course, they were going to want to see her license, but Nicki still held the bulky purse on her lap, hugging it to her chest and trying not to let her breathing run away from her. Up front, Gramma clearly didn’t know what to say.
    “Are you okay, ma’am?” the cop repeated. “You don’t look so good.”
    In his mind, Brad could see the cop slipping his pistol out of its holster. His hand tightened around the grip of his own.
    “I’ve got your purse here, Gramma,” Scotty said, and he unhooked his seat belt. Reaching over the edge of his seat, he grabbed the bag from Nicki and lifted it over to his grandmother. “I was looking for some gum while you were inside getting the movie,” he explained. “Then you came back and I was scared that you might get mad about me going through your stuff.”
    * * *
    Corporal Hayes smiled as a waterlogged boy leaned forward with the purse gripped in his fist.
    The grandmother accepted her bag, and at the moment of the handoff they exchanged a significant glance that Matt didn’t quite know how to interpret. When the boy caught him watching, it grew awkward, and then the kid smiled at him.
    Gramma still avoided eye contact as she fished through the junk in her bag for her wallet, and from there she started fishing for her license. She riffled through all of the picture sleeves in the wallet—past a couple of credit cards and a photo of what could only be a younger version of the boy in the backseat.
    “I know it has to be here somewhere,” she said.
    “Ma’am, you look nervous,” Matt said. Scared to death actually came closer to it.
    “Do I?” she said. “I just can’t—Oh, there it is!” She looked past her wallet into the cavern of the purse itself and pulled out the plastic card. “It must have fallen out.” She dared a flash of eye contact as she handed it over.
    Matt looked at it, compared the picture to the face in front of him, and was reassured. It was her, all right. But there was something wrong here. “Give me just a minute, will you?” he said. He stepped away from the truck just far enough that the occupants wouldn’t be able to hear what he was about to say on the radio.
    * * *
    In the back of the Bronco, Brad seethed. How could he have been so stupid? Jesus, he should have thought of the license. As it was, he was lucky to snatch it away from Nicki in time to dump it in the purse. The kid was one smooth liar, though. Brilliant.
    Brad dared a peek over the boy’s seat, out toward the window. What was happening? Why were they still sitting there?
    “The cop took her license,” Scotty whispered, making Brad wonder if he’d spoken his thoughts aloud.
    Brad touched a finger to his lips.
    “It’s not her fault,” Scotty said. “She’s trying, she really is. She’s just not very good at this stuff.”
    “Be quiet,” Brad hissed. “And quit looking at me. It doesn’t matter whose fault it is.”
    “Brad, you can’t shoot them,” Nicki said.
    “You be quiet, too,” he snapped. Brad had no idea what he was he was going to do if things got ugly, but it sure as hell didn’t involve shooting an old woman and a kid. He had to threaten them, though, or else they wouldn’t be frightened into doing what he