Page 83 of Russian Roulette
Leroy tries to stifle a yawn and fails. “Nah, I forgot until now. Should I still try to find her? Also, I don’t think I was supposed to tell you guys either. Me and Jade get along good, and I don’t want her mad at me. She’s already crushed my balls once. No need to give her an excuse to cut them off next time around.”
“We need to find the girl,” I say. “This is the first clue we’ve gotten about why Jade is in Vegas. Can you call a few of your security buddies to help?”
“Yeah sure,” Leroy says. “But it’s like I told Jade. Half the strippers in Vegas are tall, blonde, beautiful bombshells. Might be hard to find this particular one. She didn’t give me a name. Not that a name would do any good. Most of the strippers go by fake names like Vanilla Bean, Starlight, or Cookie Butter.”
“You said she was Ukrainian,” Seven says. “That might help you track her. Start with the higher end strip clubs and work your way down. If she’s a knockout, I doubt she’s working in a trashy strip club.”
“Why don’t you give me a night off so I can do some checking around on my own?” Leroy asks. “Or better yet. Why don’t you guys come with me? It would sure beat sitting around waiting on Vulcan to come flying down from the sky. This is boring as shit sitting here doing nothing. Why are you all obsessed with Jade, anyway?”
“You can have tonight off,” Seven tells him. “In fact, I’ll give you playing money and a huge bonus if you can find Jade’s friend.” Seven pulls several large bills out of his wallet and hands them to Leroy. “Buy some lap dances on me. Just don’t get distracted by big tits and forget why you’re at the clubs.”
Leroy chuckles happily, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. “Oh boy, this private investigator job is right up my alley. Don’t worry, if this gal’s working in one of the clubs, I’ll find her.”
Seven leans closer to the window and points to a dot in the sky. “Is that a helicopter coming this way?” He jumps out of the limo and heads for the tarmac before I answer.
I follow quickly behind him. “Don’t do anything stupid, okay?” I warn him after running to catch up. “We have a situation here and everyone needs to stay calm until we figure it out.”
“There’s nothing to figure out,” he replies. “Don’t worry, I’m under control. Vulcan and I need to have a little man-to-man chat. That’s all.”
The helicopter hovers over us and we step back to give Vulcan space to land safely. He waits until the blades stop before stepping out. He grins broadly at us when he reaches the tarmac. “Hey guys! What’s up?”
Oh fuck. Here we go.
41
JADE
Before I have time to unbuckle my seatbelt, Seven jerks open the helicopter door. He reaches up with both hands to lift me out and onto the ground. “Are you okay?” he asks, his brow creased into a worried frown. “Are you hurt? Did you have any kind of accident while you were with him?” He wraps both arms tightly around me and squeezes me tight.
I pull back to look up at his face. “I’m fine. Why are you asking me about accidents? What did you expect to happen? To crash? Vulcan told me he’s a fully licensed pilot. Everything’s fine, except you’re acting weird as hell. The flight wasn’t scary at all.”
He shocks me by leaning over to kiss me softly on my lips. His surprising action feels as if he’s intentionally claiming me, with Kit and Vulcan, both standing nearby watching. His lips move lower to nuzzle the nape of my neck. Suddenly his body stiffens, and he abruptly turns loose of me and steps back.
“What is it?” I ask, gazing up at him. “What’s wrong?”
His eyes have turned dark green with fury. “Your body smells and tastes like Vulcan’s aftershave,” he mutters through gritted teeth. “I’m going to kill him.” He storms full speed toward Vulcan, who is standing there casually watching us with his arms crossed, an amused smirk on his face.
Oh my God! What did I do?
I reach out to grab Seven’s sleeve to stop him and miss. He’s moving toward Vulcan too fast for me to catch him. “Seven! Wait!”
He quickly reaches Vulcan with his fists tightly balled up in rage. He doesn’t give one word of warning and instead swings toward Vulcan’s jaw. Vulcan smoothly ducks and headbutts Seven in his ribcage and they both crash with a loud thud on the tarmac.
Before I can stop them, they’re rolling around like a couple of middle school kids on the playground, each trying to get the upper hand on the other. I run toward them, then stand there in shock, not knowing what to do. Or even if I should try to intervene at all. I’ve never been in a situation like this before and don’t have a clue how to stop it.
I turn to Kit, who’s standing there calmly watching them with his arms crossed. “Don’t just stand there!” I yell at him. “Do something! They’re going to hurt each other.”
“Not my monkeys, not my circus,” he says, holding up his hands. “Let them work it out. They’re like the wild animals I work with. Sometimes it’s best not to interfere and let nature take its course.”
Vulcan has Seven on his back now, with his powerful hands wrapped tightly around his neck. He’s choking him to death. Vulcan’s much bigger and obviously stronger. If I don’t do something, he’s going to kill him. I can’t believe how fast this escalated.
“Stop it! Both of you! Stop!”
They’re not paying any attention to me. Seven’s face is turning beet red from the lack of air. Vulcan has gone batshit crazy and any thoughts I might have had that they’re playing have disappeared. I knew Vulcan had psychotic tendencies, but I wouldn’t have expected him to go nuts on his friend. Even if Sevenwasthe one who attacked him first.
Seven tries to throw Vulcan off him and can’t. Vulcan’s bigger size and strength are too much for him. When he’s almost at the point of passing out from lack of oxygen, he slides his hand into Vulcan’s back pocket and pulls out a switchblade knife. Seven must’ve known he keeps one there.
In a split-second, Seven has it open. The long, sharp blade shines in the late evening sunlight. The tip of the jagged blade is less than an inch from Vulcan’s side.
