Page 15 of Reckless Roulette

That makes the biggest smile bloom across his face, startling me. “You think? I don’t know. I’d like to believe I’m a pretty average guy.”

He drives through the city and parks behind a building to watch the back door of a club. As he does that, he clambers into the back seat and rummages around before laying the rear seat down. He drags a bag in from the trunk and pulls it up to the front seat. He takes out a hat and plops it down on my head before pulling one on himself. Then he hands me a face mask.

“I still feel like this is a setup. That Harker set me up and that you’re actually some regular guy and Harker is laughing and laughing. You don’t look the least bit badass.”

Len glances over at me and grins. “Thank you. Are you staying in here or coming in with me?”

“I sure as fuck am not staying in here. I mean… I’m destined to die in six days, I might as well get my fill, you know? Do I get a gun?”

“Do you know how to use a gun?”

“Eh,” I say with a shrug.

“You’ll fucking shoot me in the back and be all, ‘This is what you get for not worshiping the ground I walk on and sucking my toes.’”

“If anyoneeversucked my toes, I would probably kick them.”

“That sounds extremely kind of you,” Len says. “Ready?”

“Now?” I ask.

“Yeah, now. I’m a busy man. There’s an anime I like that comes on at midnight that I really don’t want to miss.”

“Excuse me? Are you…” I just shake my head. I have absolutely no idea how else to handle this insane man. So with my hat in place and a mask covering the lower half of my face, I follow him. There’s a big part of me that questions if I’m going to get murdered tonight following this man around.

“Don’t dis the show until you try it.”

“Do I look like I watch cartoons?”

“They’re not cartoons. Oh god, don’t get mestartedon this. You’re going to have me all riled up. Now you’re coming over to my place and we’re watching some true TV, you hear me? And I’m going to teach you how to play video games.”

“So… you think by making sure my last week on earth is hell, you’re preparing me for life after death?” I ask.

He grins at me as he reaches the back door. “Exactly!”

The door is locked, so he knocks on it. The music in the club is pretty loud, so he hammers on it some more before the door slides open and a man looks out. The man is likely expecting someone he knows, so he seems a bit uncertain upon seeing Len.

“Who the fuck are you?”

“Just here to have a word with Grandal,” Len says before looking beyond the man at the door. “And there he is. Grandal, a word?”

“Who the fuck do you think you are?” the man says from where he’s sitting at a table with a group of about five men. Two get up when they see that Len’s someone they don’t know. “Get this fuckhead out of here.”

And without hesitation, Len pulls out a gun and shoots the man holding the door open in the head. He swings the gun over and with five perfectly aimed shots, he shoots the remaining five men before stepping into the room. I’m just standing there gawking from the doorway as he steps over a body while Grandal scrambles for his gun.

It’s not Lenkillingthe men that has shocked me, it’s that Grandal is known for having some quick and ruthless guards at his side. They’re men that absolutelyno onefucks with because they’re ruthless, cruel, and good at what they do.

None of whom even got a gun out before they met their end.

Grandal has just pulled out his gun as Len steps up to him and rams the butt of his gun into Grandal’s nose. The man’s head snaps back as Len snatches the gun from Grandal’s hand and the sound of his nose cracking fills the room. The man flips out of his chair in an attempt to get away from Len who is walking over to the door leading into the club before switching the lock on. Then he walks over to Grandal who’s leapt to his feet.

Len shoots him right in the knee and the man crashes to the ground. “Where are the women you’ve been selling?” His voice is cold and there is absolutely no sign of the grinning, obnoxiously joyful man.

“Fuck you! Fuck you!” he hollers. “Help! Help!” But the noise of the club is too loud.

Len walks over to him and squats down as he watches him, the expression on his face almost blank. “You have one more knee.”

“Fuck you.”

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