The Odds - Jeff Strand Page 0,46

on the table. Tried to force a smile. “Well, that could have gone better.”

“You think this is a joke?” asked Gavin, standing up.

“No. I do not. I’m sorry.”

“You never make a threat you can’t back up. We had that hammered into us again and again. We never, ever give them the chance to call a bluff. Why the hell would you tell him that you could blow up his car? What were you thinking?”

“I wasn’t thinking,” Rick admitted. “It was a mistake.”

“Now he knows that you can’t back up your threats.”

“I get that,” said Rick. “I’m aware of what I’ve done. It was a major blunder and I apologize.”

“Well, don’t apologize to me,” said Gavin. “I can’t believe you did that. That was Game Rules 101. No threats you can’t back up.”

“I get that!” Rick shouted. “Quit saying the same shit over and over! I messed up! You don’t need to keep talking about it!”

“We need to let him know,” said Butch.

“Let who know?” asked Rick.

“Who do you think? The Claw Man.”

Rick violently shook his head. “No, no, no, let’s figure this out first.”

“Oh, hell no,” said Butch. “We’re not going to get in trouble for what you did.”

“I’m not asking you to take any of the heat. I’m asking you to hold off bringing in anybody else until we work out how to handle this. We don’t know yet what Ethan is going to do. I might still be able to persuade him to see reason.”

“Not a chance,” said Butch. “This is all on you. I’m not going to let you make it worse for us.”

Rick had a gun strapped to his leg.

If he threatened Butch with it, he might be able to convince him not to call anybody quite yet.

Of course, Butch and Gavin also had guns strapped to their legs.

It would be two against one.

He didn’t know how long he could hold them off. There was a reason he wasn’t part of the team that did things like kill players for breaking the rules.

Since this whole disaster was because of Ethan calling his bluff, he needed to not bluff in this moment. He needed to act.

He pulled out his gun and shot Butch in the forehead.

Well, he aimed at Butch’s forehead. Even though they were in the back of a van together and it should have been an effortless shot, he actually hit him in the shoulder. There was a lot of blood but it was nowhere close to a kill shot.

Butch cried out in pain as Gavin knocked the gun out of Rick’s hand.

Rick was no fighter. But this was life or death and as the adrenaline surged, he grabbed Gavin by the collar and slammed him down onto the table as hard as he could, hoping his face would just splatter.

It didn’t.

Gavin pulled away from him. Rick reached for him again. Though Butch was probably going for his own gun, Rick had to worry about the closer problem first.

Rick grabbed Gavin’s arm, but Gavin yanked it away.

Butch howled as blood spurted from his bullet wound. Rick had shot him in the right shoulder, and Butch was right-handed, so he was trying to grab for his gun with his left hand, which was costing him time.

Rick dove at Gavin. This was not going to be a graceful fight.

He tried to claw at Gavin’s eyes, but Gavin turned his head away, and Rick’s neatly trimmed fingernails scraped down his cheek. Rick punched him in the neck. Then he slammed Gavin’s head into the table again. Tapping into animalistic rage and survival instinct seemed to be working out pretty well.

He slammed Gavin’s head against the table once more. This time the edge of the table bashed into his ear, which had to really hurt.

“Get out of the way!” Butch shouted at Gavin. He’d retrieved his gun.

Rick lifted Gavin, trying to use him as a human shield. Gavin was not interested in being used this way, and frantically tried to twist himself out of the way so that Butch could shoot Rick. As they struggled, they bashed into the table, and then they bashed into the other wall of the van.

“Shoot him!” Gavin shouted.

Butch fired.

Rick was not the only person to make a very poor decision. Butch, still spurting blood from his shoulder and obviously not thinking clearly, heeded Gavin’s request even though Rick and Gavin were still stumbling around the van. The shot struck Gavin in the very ear that Rick had bashed into the table.

Gavin fell.

Butch took