I heard a voice say threateningly as Sam Jackson stepped out of the shadows and tried to keep me from going into The Charming Moose the next morning. “It’s going to take more than you to stop me,” I said as I started to push past him. It was just before six a.m., and there wasn’t much traffic out. To most folks driving past the diner, it probably looked as though Sam and I were just having ourselves a nice little chat. They would have been mistaken. “That’s where you’re wrong,” Sam said. “Listen, we can do this the hard way, or we can do it easy. In the end, it makes no difference to me.” “I’m not going to make killing me easy for you,” I said harshly. “If you want my life, you’re going to have to fight for it.” “Kill you? Where did you get that idea?” Jackson asked me, clearly surprised by my reaction. “You ambush me at my diner in the early hours when no one else is around and you threaten me,” I said. “Why wouldn’t I think that you meant me harm?
