The First Novella in the Sin City Refugees crime series by Ken Hattaway.
Rated PG-13 for sequences of action and violence throughout.
DESCRIPTION:
Leo Denison is tired of scratching out a living. After making off with a quarter million dollars from a local Las Vegas casino, the software engineer is ready to leave the country and start over in style. He's not fully prepared, though, for what happens next when a group of feisty seniors take umbrage at his brazen theft and take matters into their own hands to see justice done. Meanwhile, a struggling musician moves to the big city in search of meaning for his life.
The Sin City Refugees stories are a series of intertwined black comedies that provide an aggressive take on the new American dream--and the high price people are willing to pay in order to achieve it. They are modern cautionary tales containing no morals, explanations, or easy answers for the flawed individuals who seek to make sense of the increasingly violent world around them. For those who notice space-time differences in the Las Vegas of today versus the one found in these stories, keep two words in mind: alternate universe.
Enjoy.
Sin City Refugees series:
Dead Money
Dead Corpse
Dead Pulp
EXCERPT FROM DEAD MONEY:
Leo’s eyes moved from the gun to Paulie’s face. He fought the urge to panic as adrenaline pumped through him, instead planting himself with a forced casualness onto one of the white cushioned chairs. He looked Paulie up and down. All he had to do was stay calm and react with split precision. He scratched himself and said, “You’re pretty tall. About my height, which is five-ten. Am I right?”
“Five-ten and a half.” Paulie began screwing the silencer into place. “You know, for a guy about to die, you don’t look too upset.”
“Classic type-B personality. I’ve been told I’m the antithesis of the easily excitable.” Leo finished forming his plan. Its conclusion solved two problems at once and guaranteed his seeing another sunrise. “Tell you what Paulie, maybe we can work out a deal. Why don’t you take a peek in that bag over there? If you like what you see, maybe you can help yourself to a few samples and forget you saw me today.”
Paulie gave Leo another tsk and threw in a bemused look for added measure. “That the best you can do? I’m underwhelmed. Though I am impressed that you’re not sniveling or begging for your life like some guys I’ve done.” Knowing Leo was stalling, Paulie nevertheless took several steps towards the bag and pulled it out by its drawstring, his gaze as well as his gun still on Leo. With his free hand he pulled open the top. His eyes grew wide. The bag and its contents held sway over the gunman for only a moment, which was all Leo needed.
Paulie choked down air as a gaping hole opened in his chest, the result of a muted shot from Leo’s Glock. Leo pulled the trigger twice more, slamming two more bullets into the torso, just beneath the first. He’d deftly removed the firearm from under the table where he kept it hidden and had fired it through one of the removable seat cushions to muffle the sound. Paulie dropped to his knees then tumbled over in a heap, a confused look frozen on his face.
Leo turned the newly minted corpse over to minimize blood seepage onto the carpet and dragged the body into the kitchen. Like MacGyver gone wild and given over to the Dark Side of the Force, he rounded up the last of his cocaine, a bong, a can of lighter fluid, a wooden match and went to work on Paulie.
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