Payoff — Steve Brewer

Eddie may be seventy-seven years old, but he's still a tough guy, a former heist man who packs a pistol in his pocket. But Eddie's no killer. Then a young woman in a bar makes him an offer he can't refuse.

This hard-boiled short story, which originally appeared in the anthology "Damn Near Dead," is veteran author Steve Brewer at his best.

"Like Elmore Leonard, the writer whose work his most resembles, Brewer writes with a light and deft touch, bringing style and wit to the crime genre." --David Montgomery, Chicago Sun-Times