Channing spoke with heroic bravado, just short of pounding his chest and swearing an oath.

Ray would never hand over his supplies—that was the first point.

And second, he didn't believe Channing's words at all—not even a single punctuation mark.

He said calmly, "If—just if—I really had the supplies you mentioned, then after I handed them over, what if you turned around and sold me out to Mary? You'd get the supplies and earn her a favor at the same time. Tsk—wouldn't that be even better?"

Ch