Exploits Read Online Free PDF

start no conversations and I figured if I just grabbed her and carried her down the stairs with me the extra weight would slow me down enough so the bouncers could catch me, and so a brief and tender romantic moment went unrequited.
    I yelled to Harvey to get ready to roll as I burst out through the front door with a couple of hundred coolies staring at me, but no one followed me, so thankfully he didn't have to use up no energy or calories or nothing getting us out of there, and ten minutes later we were back at the Macau Inn, sitting in the bar, him sipping an iced tea and eyeing my beer the way I had eyed that little hostess on the third floor.
    “Have you given any serious thought to how you plan to cover all those bets tomorrow?” he asked.
    “Me and the Lord'll think of something,” I said. “After all, we got all night, ain't we?”
    “All night isn't that long, Preacher.”
    “The Lord made the world in six days,” I said. “That's one for each continent, the way I figure it. Now, if He could make Asia in a day and have time left over for creating the sun and the moon and swiping one of Adam's ribs, surely He don't need all night to solve this minor inconvenience.” I finished up my beer. “You just make sure you don't bust no legs coming out of the starting gate.”
    “I could beat most of the local coolies on one leg,” answered Harvey. “Don't worry, Preacher—it's in the bag.”
    “All right,” I said. “It's about time you headed home and got a good eight hours, so you'll be all fresh and ready to go in the morning.” Then I changed my mind. “You know, now as I come to think on it, it's probably better than you spend the night here. Can't chance you running into traffic and getting all tuckered out on your way here tomorrow morning.”
    “I don't have any money for a room.”
    I tossed him my room key. “Take mine,” I said. “I'll get another. You can pay me out of your share of the winnings.”
    He picked up the key and headed off to the room. Then, just to make sure he didn't do nothing to damage his wind on the eve of the big event, I rounded up all the girls in the lobby, rented another room, and made sure that none of ’em were available just in case he came looking for a little infraction. It was a long and arduous chore, but I figured I owed it to him, and I was sure that my Silent Partner would understand that I was only doing it for the benefit of His tabernacle.
    I got up a bit before sunrise, tiptoed out of the room, and went down to the front desk, where a young Chinaman was smoking a waterpipe and doping out the races.
    “Got a safe deposit box for hire, brother?” I asked.
    “Yes,” said the clerk, pulling out a box and handing me the key. “That'll be one Hong Kong dollar.”
    “How'd you like to make some real money?” I said.
    “I wouldn't be adverse to it,” he admitted.
    “Good,” I said. “Comes nine o'clock, this place is gonna be crawling with rickshaws and big spenders. A lot of them are going to want someone responsible to hold their bets.” I pulled a pair of hundred-pound notes off my roll, which was still wrapped around the handkerchief, and handed them to him. “This ought to make it worth your while.”
    “Yes, sir!” he said with a great big smile.
    “Now, as you can see,” I said, sticking the roll into the box, “I'm putting forty thousand pounds in here. You're my witness.”
    “Right,” he said, barely taking his eyes off his own two hundred-pound notes, which was probably close to half a year's wages for him.
    “Okay,” I said, handing him the box. “Lock it up for safekeeping.”
    He put the box back in place, locked it, and returned the key to me.
    “Now, just so you've got this straight: you're legally empowered to take bets up to forty thousand pounds. Once you've reached the limit, or there ain't no more money being wagered, stick it in another lock box and keep the key yourself.”
    “Then what?”
    “The winner gets the