Dreams Die First Read Online Free PDF

of my chair, I picked up the steak knife and held the point to his throat while I opened his jacket and took the heater from his belt holster. I waited until he caught his breath. “I don’t like being pushed. I said I would come over later.”
    His eyes crossed as he looked down at the knife held to his throat. Lonergan’s voice came from the still-open doorway. “Feel better now, Gareth?”
    He was slim and pale and his eyes were narrowed behind the gold-rimmed spectacles. He stepped into the room, his bodyguard on his heels. “You’ve proved yourself. Now you can let him up.”
    I straightened up and put the knife back on the table. I met his eyes. “You got my message?”
    He nodded.
    “I’m not interested in the paper. It’s like buying my way into bankruptcy.”
    “You’re right.”
    I was silent.
    “If you had gone for that deal, I wouldn’t have made it. I can’t stand stupidity.”
    “Then what do you want?”
    “Would you take the paper if it were free and clear of all attachments?”
    I glanced at Verita. She nodded almost imperceptibly. I turned back to him. “Yes.”
    “You’ll still have to get a loan to carry the operating expenses.”
    Verita spoke before I had a chance to answer. “The only way he can afford that is if he gets to keep twenty-five percent of the classified advertising revenue.”
    “Your accountant’s pretty sharp,” he said. “Twenty percent.”
    I looked at Verita. “With twenty percent we could just make it,” she said. “But it would be tight.”
    “Let me think about it. I’ll let you know in the morning.”
    Lonergan’s voice turned hard. “You’ll let me know now.”
    I was silent while I thought. What the hell did I know about running a newspaper even if it was just an advertising freebie?
    “Afraid you can’t cut it, Gareth? All the big talk about writing and publishing is different now that you might have to put your money where your mouth is.”
    I still didn’t say anything.
    “At least your father tried, even if he didn’t have the guts to carry it through. You haven’t even got the guts to begin.” His voice had taken on an icy edge.
    I remembered that voice from when I was a kid and knew that it reflected a controlled contempt for the rest of the world. I was suddenly angry. I wasn’t going to let him or the sound of his voice push me into doing anything I wasn’t ready to do.
    “I’ll need help,” I said. “Experienced help. Will Persky still be around?”
    “If you want him.”
    “I’ll need an art director, reporters, photographers.”
    “There are services that supply all that. You don’t need them on your payroll,” he said.
    “Have you figured out how many copies I would have to sell at a quarter each to break even?” I asked Verita.
    “About fifteen thousand,” she said. “But nobody ever paid for the paper before.”
    “I know that, but that’s not the kind of paper I want to run. I want a chance to make some real money.”
    Lonergan smiled suddenly. For a moment I almost suspected he had a sense of humor. “Gareth,” he said, “I’m beginning to think you’re growing up. This is the first time I’ve ever heard you express an interest in money.”
    “What’s wrong with that, Uncle John? Being rich hasn’t seemed to cramp your lifestyle.”
    “It might cramp yours.”
    “I’ll take that chance.”
    “Then we have a deal?”
    I nodded. I leaned forward and helped the Collector to his feet. I held out his gun. He took it. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I get nervous when people make sudden moves toward me.”
    He growled something roughly in his throat.
    “Your throat might be sore for a few days,” I said. “But don’t worry about it. Just gargle with warm salt water and it’ll be all right.”
    “Come on, Bill,” Lonergan said, moving toward the door. “Let’s leave these good people to finish their dinner.”
    In the doorway he looked back at me. “Eleven o’clock tomorrow morning in my