Chapter 18

“I tipped you,” Alex said.

“Your card?” Max asked.

Alex dug in his wallet and pulled out a

business card. Handing it to Max he said, “Remember, I’m only

selling books.”

“Oh, believe me,” Max said. “If that’s what

I wanted, I could go into DC and get a whole lot better deal.”

“Yeah, well, I know what I’m doing,” Alex

said, closing the door.

As Max pulled away, Alex smiled at the two

big bay windows that stood on each side of the book store front

door. One window held new releases, the other old favorites. Alex

pulled out his keys and unlocked the front door of the book store.

He might look rough, but the store always looked beautiful to him.

Freshly polished dark wood from both the floors and the bookshelves

greeted him. He surveyed the room, noticing that everything was

just as he left it, clean and tidy, from the leather couches and

chairs that seemed to fill each corner of the space, to the big

work tables that popped up in various places throughout the giant