T ime to gamble with Peoria’s life. I may hate Floyd, but I sure as fuck wish I had his poker face right now.

The club was dark, but there was nobody inside except for a few guys that stood near the bar with guns on their hips. A stage that ran through the middle of the room had a pole, but it wasn’t a strip club I knew, and I was pretty familiar with most of them. There was a bar that had a selection of liquor behind it, but none of the bottles had been opened. Everything in the room appeared to be brand new, so I assumed it was still a work in progress. I looked around the room for Mr. King or Gill, but I didn’t see any of them. A door opened at the back of the room and I saw Gill poke his head out. He looked at me with a smile, but then it turned to a look of disdain as he scanned me with his eyes.

“Ah, Vincent. You come to us empty handed? That isn’t the deal we made.” Gill walked out of the room and motioned for me to lift my arms.

“I don’t have a gun.” I lifted my arms without hesitation and let him search me.

“You also don’t have any jewelry, unless you stuffed it up your ass.” He took a step back and glared at me.

“I need to speak with Mr. King.” I let my arms fall to my side after Gill was done searching me.

“If Gill didn’t find anything during that search, your pockets appear to be quite light.” I heard Mr. King’s voice and turned to see him walking out of the same room Gill had exited from.

“I need to make a new deal with you.” I stared at him as he approached.

“A new deal? You haven’t even fulfilled the terms of the deal we made earlier today.” His ragged voice echoed through the room. “Have you reconsidered saving the lives of those poor girls you put in danger with your foolishness?”

“No, I still expect to get a bullet for what I did, but I didn’t tell you the truth earlier. I didn’t rob your jewelry store on my own and while I was making that deal with you, the man I thought was my best friend left town with all the jewelry.” A sigh escaped my lips.

“I see.” Mr. King nodded. “Gill, go get the one girl—the one he gave the necklace to—Peoria.”

“Yes, sir!” Gill nodded and disappeared.

“If you’ll agree to let the girls go, Mr. King, I’ll tell you who has your jewelry. I know someone with your resources can track him down. You can kill me once she’s safe. I won’t fight you or even resist.” I held up my hands in an act of submission for the first time in my life.

“I wish it was that simple, Mr. Crane.” Mr. King let out a long exhale and shook his head. “I’m a man that believes in honoring deals. I wouldn’t be where I am today if I let people get away with breaking them. You can save one of the girls in exchange for the information you can offer about the person who has my jewelry. If you don’t choose Peoria, you’ll have to watch her die in front of you. If you choose Fiona, you’ll have to look into Peoria’s eyes when you sentence her best friend to death.”

“You’re going to kill me anyway! What is the point of that!?” My blood stared to boil. “They didn’t do anything to you!”

“Vincent!” I heard Peoria’s voice and turned to see Gill walk her into the main part of the club.

“Hi, Peoria.” I would have smiled if I possible, but with the decision Mr. King put on my shoulders, I couldn’t even muster one.

“What will it be, Vincent? Do you want to watch Peoria die or do you want me to kill her friend?” Mr. King turned towards me.

“What?” Peoria’s face turned from an expression of happiness to one of despair. “You said we could go free!”

“I don’t have the jewelry, Peoria.” I turned towards her and shook my head.

“Vincent...” Her eyes started to fill with tears. “Choose me. Let Fiona live her life, because honestly—if you’re going to die, then I’d rather die too.”

“Don’t be silly.” I snapped at her with a rough tone. “We didn’t even know each other a few days ago.”

“Love is strange, isn’t it, Vincent?” Mr. King shook his head. “The heart is mysterious.”

“Let them both go.” I turned back to the older man.

“No, that deal is no longer on the table.” He shook his head back and forth.

I had one chance. I had to take it. Everything that mattered to me was in the room and the only thing standing between us was one old man from a forgotten time.

I spent my youth hearing stories about the Mob. I heard about how heroic they were, how much money they made, and how much they were feared. Floyd and I used to dream of one day following that path, living outside the law while we made more money than we knew what to do with. I had seen the reality of the world they created—all the lost souls that dreamed of that kind of life.

The fear was fading and there was nothing heroic about Mr. King. I tried to show him respect. I tried to do the right thing, even when the wrong thing got me in the position I was in. I would have laid down my life for Peoria to live, but I wasn’t going to make the choice he put in front of me. I wasn’t going to die with Fiona on my conscience and send Peoria home regretting the moment she met me. I moved quickly—quicker than I had ever moved in my life. I spun towards Mr. King and with a snap of my arm, I had my forearm pressed to his esophagus. I lifted him off the ground immediately, letting him dangle in my arms.

“Let her go!” I looked directly at Gill. “If you don’t, I’ll snap this old man’s neck.”

“Fuck him!” Mr. King’s ragged voice was forced out over the grip I had on his throat. “Kill her and then kill him!”

“Mr. King...” Gill’s eyes got wide.

“Do it!” Mr. King snapped and I jerked his body from left to right to silence him.

“Gill, you can do the right thing here.” I looked towards the men at the bar. “Don’t even think about drawing those guns. Gill, release Peoria and hand her your gun.”

“I can’t.” Gill shook his head back and forth, jamming the gun into Peoria’s ribs. “Fuck you, Vincent. I’ll kill her, I swear I will.”

“No you won’t.” I kept my voice steady. Mr. King tried to speak, but I jerked him in my arms again and kept his air restricted. “There’s what? Three of you here?”

“Yeah...” Gill narrowed his eyes at me.

“I’ll kill at least two of you before you can take me down.” I started shifting towards the men at the bar. I snapped my arm tighter around Mr. King’s neck and motioned to one of the men. “Give me your gun.”

“Don’t do it!” Gill’s voice echoed through the room.

“If you give me your gun, you will not be the one I kill.” I looked at the two of them.

“Fuck this, I got a family.” The one closest to me pulled out his gun and handed it to me.

“Your family will die for that betrayal!” Mr. King choked out his words, but I was already pulling him away as I pointed the gun at Gill.

“Shut up, old man.” I tightened my grip on his neck to the point I thought I was going to kill him if I held him in the vice-like grip much longer. “Now I’m going to make sure that you’re one of the ones that dies, Gill. I’m going to kill your boss, you, and the guy over there.” I motioned to the man who had not given up his gun.

“Fine, then you can do it after she dies.” Gill cocked the hammer on his gun and the look in his eyes suggested he was serious.

“Shoot him, Vincent. I trust you.” Peoria’s eyes locked on mine.

I’d never been the best shot. Marksmanship was not my forte. I aimed the gun at Vincent and felt fear swirl through my veins as I pulled the trigger. Peoria had put all of her faith in me and I only had one chance. I aimed for Gill’s head, but the bullet caught him in the shoulder. The man at the bar went for his weapon and I quickly turned it to him, letting another bullet fly towards him. It missed him completely and he drew, but I turned Mr. King towards him.

Peoria ducked down, grabbed Gill’s gun, and took a step back with it aimed at him. Her hands were trembling and I didn’t want her to actually have to use it, but we had an advantage. The man at the bar hesitated when he realized he was going to have to risk shooting his boss to hit me. I leveled my gun at him again and he started lowering the gun towards the floor. I looked over at Peoria and then to Gill, who was on the ground holding his shoulder.

“They have some rope around here somewhere. They used it to tie me up last night.” Peoria walked over and picked up the gun from the second guy who had relinquished it.

“Where’s the rope?” I shook my gun at the two at the bar.

“In his office.” One of them motioned with his head.

“Get the rope and then we’ll get Fiona.” I turned to Peoria and motioned towards the office.

Peoria returned with an assortment of rope and cloth. We tied all of them up, one by one, until they were secured. Mr. King was gasping for air when I released my grip on his throat, but I quelled any sort of remorse I felt for the older man. He had tried to end our lives and his words were too dangerous. Gill was bleeding, but his wound wasn’t bad. Peoria certainly wasn’t gentle with the rope she used to secure him. Once they were all tied up, I placed a call to Detective Rogers and told him where we were. We found Fiona in the back room and after a brief embrace with her best friend, Peoria came back over and hugged me. I escorted the two women back to the front of the club and waited for the police to arrive. When they showed up with their guns drawn, we put ours on the ground and let them come in to make the arrests. Detective Rogers was the last to enter and he looked at me with disbelief.

“You did all of this yourself?” He blinked at me and looked at the four men being hauled to their feet.

“I had a little help.” I wrapped my arm around Peoria’s shoulder.

“Are you two willing to testify that these guys held you against your will?” He put his hands on his hips and looked at Peoria and Fiona.

“I will.” Fiona nodded quickly.

“Does it mean we get to stay in Vegas longer?” Peoria looked at Detective Rogers and then back at me.

“If you want. We just need you here for the trial.” Detective Rogers shrugged. “We should get you to the station so we can get your statement—your parents are here as well. I know they’re anxious to see you.”

“You won’t be staying in Las Vegas.” Fiona shook her head back and forth. “They’re going to lock you in a cage and never let you out of their sight again.”

“Probably.” Peoria sighed.

“There’s one more piece of business, Detective Rogers. Can I talk with you over here?” I motioned for him to walk away from the group.

As happy as I was that we had made it out of the ordeal alive, I wasn’t free of guilt. I was part of the reason everything happened to begin with. Peoria and Fiona were put in danger because of my actions and it was time for me to face the consequences of my actions. Lawson King was a dangerous man and although he didn’t have the same presence the Mob once had in Las Vegas, the three guys he had in the club barely represented the extent of his empire. We could sugar coat it all we wanted, but none of us were actually safe. I couldn’t tell Peoria not to testify, but she was risking a lot to do it.

I laid everything out for Detective Rogers. I told him about the robbery, why we did it, and the fact that Floyd ran away with the jewelry. Floyd had betrayed me and I no longer had any loyalty to the man I once considered my best friend. Detective Rogers listened to everything I said, made a few notes in his pad, and then left me there to go outside. I knew he would be coming back with handcuffs, so I walked back over to get one last hug from Peoria. He walked back in and I held my hands out in front of me.

“Put your hands down.” He scoffed and shook his head.

“I figured that would make it easier to slap the cuffs on me.” I let my hands fall to my side.

“What?” Peoria pulled away from my embrace. “You’re a hero!”

“I wish that was the case, but we both know you wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for me.” I shook my head and sighed. “I confessed to everything.”

“No!” Peoria’s face turned to a look of absolute horror.

“Come on.” Even Fiona’s face reflected a shocked look. “He saved us, you can’t arrest him.”

“Well, that is a conundrum, I’m afraid.” Detective Rogers smiled. “The District Attorney doesn’t have any record of a jewelry store robbery. I guess Lawson King forgot to report it...”

“So he’s free?” Peoria grinned from ear to ear.

“I have nothing to hold him on.” Detective Rogers looked to Peoria and then back to me. “You’re free to go.”