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“You mean it can become a chapter of the fucking Death Division?”
There was a dry laugh from the video screen. Groat had lit a cigar and was merrily puffing on it.
“What I do with my club after you leave the country is none of your concern.”
Rainer looked at Esme. She was pleading with him, but he couldn’t tell what she wanted. Then, she shook her head.
The brave Little thing.
She wanted him to say no, even though she knew it would mean her own life. He had to be brave too.
“What if I say no?” Rainer asked. He hoped that Dog would at least have the patience to answer this question. He’d already proved beyond reasonable doubt that his trigger finger was very, very itchy.
“As I said, it’s an offer you can’t refuse.” Dog said. “Please, don’t make me state it again.”
Rainer glanced at the windows of the warehouse, as if hoping for divine intervention. He needed time to think, time to hope. Then, he thought of something. Something so dumb and brilliant that he almost smiled.
“I’ve got a counter-offer,” he said.
Dog’s eyes narrowed.
She was still looking at Kevin’s corpse.
Corpse.Even thinking the word was making her feel detached from reality. She’d never seen a corpse before.
Now, she was looking at a body that just a few hours ago had kidnapped her away from her life and thrown her into chaos.
She should have been happy.
Should she?
Right now, she felt nothing, and it was because of the words that had just come from her Daddy’s mouth.
Russian Roulette.
“Here are the rules,” Rainer said. Esme could barely process what was happening. Her whole body was trembling as she watched her Daddy speak. “I fire the gun at my temple three times. That gives me a fifty-fifty chance of survival. If I make it, you let me go. I won’t bother you again. You’ll never hear from me. I’ll take Esme and go somewhere far away. Not Costa Rica. I’m staying in the States. But you have my word that I won’t bother you.”
Was this really his plan?
To risk his life just because he didn’t want to live abroad?
Esme couldn’t help but think that there had to be some kind of extra, secret plan going on here, but she couldn’t think what on earth it could be.
Dog considered. “You really hate Costa Rica that much, huh?”
“I got family here. Don’t want to move abroad.”
“And you’re willing to risk your life for that? Fuck. You’re braver than me. Damn. I hope there’s no funny business going on here, Rainer. I should say no.”
“Wait,” the man on the TV screen said. “Humor him. I don’t get much entertainment in here. I’d like to watch a man I hate blow his brains out.”
“Well, the boss is into the idea,” Dog said, sighing. “And you know me. I’m, a people-pleaser.” Then, he emptied the barrel of his revolver, and replaced a single bullet. “Let’s get this show on the road.” The sound the barrel made as he spun it was chilling, like a bone xylophone being rattled with an ivory mallet.
For a moment, it felt as though Esme was hallucinating, like she was watching a smiling skull floating above the room. It was destiny, watching, trying make up its mind about which way to turn.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Everysecondofhislife had been leading up to this moment. All of it. All the effort his parents had put into raising him. All the laughs and tears he’d shared with friends and enemies. All the motorcycles he’d repaired. All the hours, days, weeks, months he’d spent in prison, seething with hatred and enmity for his brother, the man who put him there. As Rainer looked at the revolver that might take his life, he thought about hate.
