Bloody Seven of Spades 1: Life and Death

"Can I trouble you to rewind that paragraph?" Dominique said to the owner.

"No problem." She pressed the button and quickly rewound the video, which was captured by the only surveillance device in her small shop.Dominique looked at the man on the screen and narrowed his eyes.

He had been dozing off and on at Carlos and Jasmine's all day yesterday.After waking up in the morning, he felt much better. Taking advantage of his recovery, he began to call various flower shops, gift shops and boutiques in the Las Vegas Valley one by one to find out which one sold the flowers he received. That gift basket.

After hours of questioning, the result came out: a small shop called "Susan's Shop" in the village of Enterprising.He made up a story about tracking down a dangerous escapee to Susan, the owner of the titled store, which aroused the other party's excitement, and he readily agreed to show him the surveillance video from yesterday morning.

The camera is installed in a corner of the store, facing the cash register.The angle and video quality are good enough for Dominique to believe that the gift basket on the counter is the one he received, but the man who bought the basket kept his back to the camera.There was nothing unnatural or suspicious about his movements, though they were certainly intentional.And looking at the back, his temperament is no different from the thousands of men in Las Vegas.

"Who billed him?" Dominique asked.

"It's Leslie, one of my employees. Would you like to speak to her?"

"If you don't mind the trouble."

Unfortunately, Leslie was unable to provide much information.The man paid the bill in cash; he was friendly, but not nice enough to be remembered.In fact, if she hadn't watched the video, she wouldn't have remembered this guy at all, and even after watching it, she couldn't tell what he looked like.The guy bought it and walked away, not impressing in the slightest.

Dominique thanked the two ladies for their cooperation, and after leaving the shop, he took out his mobile phone from his pocket and called Levy.What he found was nothing, but in a homicide investigation no detail, no matter how insignificant it may seem, should be overlooked.

Levi answered the phone and said a simple "Hi," which meant that he either had Dominique's number saved as a contact, or he recognized the number from yesterday's call.Dominique found both scenarios reassuring.

"Hey. Listen, don't make a fuss, I have some information for you."

He told Levi about what he had done, relaying Leslie's description of the man who bought the gift basket.

"White male," Levy repeated, "about 35 years old, average height and build, brown hair? Alright, I'm going to send a global announcement immediately!"

"I know it's not going to help much," Dominique said, "and there's no telling if that guy is Seven of Spades himself or just a random errand. But a little bit is a little bit, right?"

"Yes, I know a little bit. We have too many small details like this, and all of them add up to nothing."

Levi's tone sounded more tense than usual—he's been acting like an overwound toy all day, and it's not easy to act more nervous than usual.

"Are you okay?" Dominic asked.

"I..." Levi exhaled heavily, and said through the phone, "I probably held back for a long time, and I have nowhere to vent."

A muffled female voice in the background of the phone said, "I have a solution!"

"Brilliant, Martin, thank you."

"What happened?" Dominique said, not expecting Levy to tell him.

But he did, and told Dominic the latest interrogation and progress on the theft—or, as it should have been, no progress.Dominic listened as he walked slowly along the sidewalk, enjoying the fresh air outside.

"Anyway, the identity of the registrant of that mailbox was found out, and it was a man who had been dead for ten years," Levy said as he seemed to be packing something. "Surprised? There are no surveillance cameras inside that mailbox station, no An employee could remember who rented the letter box, and he never saw anyone open it."

"Where's the phone? Did you find anything?"

"Several of them, all one-offs, and each number used only once. There's no particular pattern to the few dead mailboxes—at least, we don't see it at the moment."

No wonder Levi was suffering from suffocation. "At the end of the day, there's always something to discover," Dominique said. "Every bond escaper makes a mistake at some point, and I guess murderers are the same. can catch it."

"Maybe." Levi's tone was not much more optimistic than at the beginning. "Would you still call me about something like this?"

Dominique makes way for a woman pushing a stroller. "No. I won't play anymore. I admit that I am a little reckless sometimes, and this murderer has stimulated a sensitive point that I don't even know, but I am not stupid enough to think that I have nine lives. By the way, tonight I'm the bartender at the 'Manta Ray'."

"Are you going to work so soon?"

"Yeah. I'm fine, really. Just a little bit of a headache, and that's all."

"Okay. Take care of yourself and see you later."

"You too. Bye!" Dominic hung up the phone and walked towards his pickup truck. He felt that the burden on his shoulders was much lighter.The case would not end with him, no doubt about it, but he would no longer see it as his job.

Levy was right—he was just a citizen.He, an ordinary citizen, has a job to do.

***

With the headache still in the way, Dominique swapped places with another bartender so he could work at the quieter bar in the backyard of the club.The tip might not be as much, but the music isn't as loud and the subwoofer isn't as loud.

Another advantage of doing things outdoors is that it is easier to talk.Dominique was not idle, flirting with the men at the bar; after a few hours, he had hooked up several candidates for a good night.

Just as he was coming over from the beer refrigerator, the moment he turned around, the two bottles of Heineken he was holding in one hand almost fell to the ground.

Levi Abrams sits at his bar.

Levi Abrams.In a gay nightclub.by the bar.

"What?" Apart from this word, Dominic couldn't say anything else.

Levi was wearing a dress shirt and trousers, no coat and tie.There was a layer of afternoon stubble on his chin, and Dominic had never seen him bearded, and he looked unkempt—but with those sharp gray eyes and sunken cheeks, On the contrary, he seemed more attractive.Half the men in the yard were looking at him.

"I want to get drunk," Levi said, looking him straight in the eyes. "Can you give me a hand?"

Dominique realized that he was still holding the beer that the guest asked for, who was waiting impatiently at the bar not far from Levi.He delivered the beer without saying a word—the group paid for the card—and came back to Levi and said, "If you get drunk here, there will be a lot of men hanging around you. You want Do you want this result?"

"No," Levi said, "but I'm going to get really drunk tonight anyway. At least it's safe to drink here, and I'm covered so nothing can go wrong."

Dominic stared at him. "You trust me that much?"

"How's your head?" Levi said meaningfully.

A week ago, Dominic would never have imagined that Levy would label him "trustworthy".He had a feeling at the moment as if his sister Angela's cat—a heartless, scratchy bastard—had left the house alone and come to him just to be petted.

Of course, he would never tell Levi this metaphor to his face.

"So what do you want to drink?" he asked.

“Classic cocktails.”

Dominique bit his cheek, and fiddled with the wine bottle in the wine cabinet, so as not to laugh out loud. "Come on, you can't test people like that," he said at last. "It's not fair."

Levi rolled his eyes, but there was a faint smile on the corner of his mouth.

"Let me introduce you to something new. I'll make you a drink that you've never had before."

Levi gave him a wary look. "Like what?"

"You can entrust your life to me, but you won't trust me to mix you a glass of wine?"

Levi threw up his hands in surrender and sat back on the bar stool.

Dominic steps aside so Levi can't see his movements.He mixes bourbon, sweet vermouth, and Campari with ice cubes, pours them into a vintage cocktail glass, and deftly peels off a slice of orange and spirals it into the concoction. in the wine.When he was done, he placed the cup in front of Levi.

He thought that Levi would still ask for the name of the wine, but Levi directly raised his glass and took a sip.Dominic was fascinated by watching Levi lick a drop of wine from his lower lip.

Levi pondered quietly for a while, a smile gradually appeared on his face. "Amazing," he said, taking another slow swig. "What's it called?"

"'Playboy.' Same as 'Negroni,' but with bourbon instead of gin."

It's a rich, bittersweet cocktail more suited to fall than spring, though it's always a hit among those who love bourbon.Anyway, Levi seems to like it, and Dominic can see that he is not the kind of person who will take care of other people's feelings and pretend to cater to him.

A new group of guests came to the bar, and Dominique was greeted.When he got back to Levi's side, the glass was empty, not a drop left.Levi tapped on the rim of the cup, signaling for another cup.

"You really want to get drunk tonight," Dominique said while mixing drinks for him, "is this case so difficult now?"

What kind of stupid question is this; he knows better than anyone how bumpy the road to solving the case is.But Levi just shrugged and took the glass.

"It's not the case. At least, it's not just the case." He sighed heavily, and Dominic couldn't help raising an eyebrow at him. "It's my boyfriend."

"Ah." Dominic put on a neutral expression of matter-of-fact, trying not to let the curiosity that was about to explode show.He knew about Stanton Barclay—fuck, everyone in Las Vegas knew it, well, the whole of America—but as a billionaire, he was famous Low-key and cautious.He was quiet about his private life, and his relationship with Levi was kept out of the public eye.

"He wants to get married."

"Is not it good?"

"I don't know." Levi scratched the condensed water droplets on the bar with his fingers, studying the lines on it, as if he had never seen such an interesting thing. "I always knew he wanted to get married, he'd been talking about it. But I think he's going to propose now, and the timing couldn't be worse. We've been doing nothing but fighting for weeks— —Actually, it’s been several months.”

"What's the noise?"

"Everything is noisy, it's all meaningless. Sometimes I think...we might not be suitable for each other." Levy thought for a while, then said: "He is not my bashert."

Dominique is leaning on the bar, his forearms pressed against the countertop.He noticed that Levi aimed at his shoulder, taking advantage of the opportunity to look at his biceps that were about to burst the sleeves of his black slim T-shirt. "what does that mean?"

"It's Yiddish," Levy said after a long pause, with an unusual pause, "contains the meaning of 'fate' or 'as it should be'. Can be used in various situations, but most of the time Refers to 'soul mates'."

"Do you believe in soul mates?" Dominique asked in surprise.He couldn't connect such a romantic concept with the down-to-earth, serious man in front of him.

"Of course, I believe that two people can be highly complementary, as if they are a whole divided into two. It's not that a person has only one unique object in this world. But whether there is only one or not, Stan and I Don't feel like this. He clearly knows why I am a policeman and why I can only get satisfaction from this profession, but he still wants me to give up. Let me give up being myself."

Levi picked the orange peel out of the glass and fiddled with it, scratching the skin with his thumbnail.

"Actually, don't I do the same thing as him? Am I not trying to change him? I want him to become a person who can accept his partner's life and death as a daily routine, but he will never become that. I hold It's not fair to everyone to dream like this." He finished his drink and put the orange peel back in the empty glass. "Could I have another double of any brand of bourbon in this drink, please? No ice."

Dominique dumped the contents of the glass and poured a double bourbon as Levi had requested.He left Levi to drink quietly while he entertained the new round of guests, settled two or three bills and made a few cocktails.When he came back to look for Levi after finishing his work, the other party had already drank the third glass of wine.

He took away the empty wine glass, and replaced it with a tall glass filled with water. "I won't give you wine until you finish this glass."

Levi glared at him bitterly, but made no objection.

Dominique had never seen Levi delirious, so he didn't know what kind of drink he was—whether he was the sentimental type, or the angry type, or the playful type—or how much bourbon he would have to drink to get drunk. .He's clearly on top, though; his eyes are blurred, his cheeks flushed.He rested one arm on the bar and rested his chin.

"Have you always been this big?" Levi looked at Dominic's figure, his eyes were far less reserved than an hour ago.

Dominique was used to being judged and asked questions about his physique, so he just shrugged. "Yeah, more or less. I've always been one of the biggest kids in the class anyway."

"Probably an athlete too," Levi muttered, looking at his glass of water, "football?"

"Wrestling. Never a fan of football."

Levi stared at him with wide eyes, showing an expression of disbelief. "You expect me to believe you never watch football?"

Dominic sighed.It's not that he doesn't understand how this view came about.In stereotyped eyes, his physique is masculine, attracting some and scaring some, and always triggering assumptions.He didn't blame Levi for thinking this way, just like walking on the street at night, some women would rather go across the road than walk on the same road with him, and he wouldn't blame them either.But that inexplicable sense of frustration always made him faintly irritable.

"Oh, I used to like football," he wrote lightly. "Not only football, basketball, baseball, ice hockey—hell, even golf. I watch any sport I can bet on. But I feel The interest is in the money, not the game itself."

Levi tilted his head, looking puzzled.

"I have a compulsive gambling addiction." Dominic said in a nonchalant tone, as if it wasn't a big deal, but of course, it was the opposite.But Levi had already told him some unspeakable private matters, and he was happy to reciprocate. "It's been a few years in the withdrawal period, but it takes a lifetime to quit this kind of thing."

Levi straightened his back and pressed his hands on the bar. "You have a compulsive gambling addiction and you live in Las Vegas? Isn't that like a quitter living above a bar?"

"I'm a native here. My whole family lives here. If I moved out of town, being alone would be as dangerous as being in Las Vegas. I decided to stay. I'll just do my best to avoid the temptation to— Such as various professional competitions."

Levi stared at him.Dominique, uncomfortable with his scrutiny, pushed the glass of water away.Levi picked it up, drank the remaining water in one gulp, then put down the glass and wiped his mouth. "I'm so conflicted. I don't know whether to say that you have a superhuman will, or that you have a mental illness?"

Dominic grinned. "I just thought you were praising me." After finishing speaking, he poured another glass of double bourbon.

Levi smiled and toasted him.

Another couple joined the small crowd at the bar, but Dominique had no intention of ending his conversation with Levi.He winks at another bartender, Amanda, and silently begs her to help him.Although she looked like she wanted to get angry at him at first, after seeing Levi, she seemed to have drawn some conclusions, so she went to greet the new guests after giving Dominic a thumbs up.

She can think what she likes, it doesn't hurt anyway.He turned back to Levy and said, "You must have played sports while you were in school, right? I guess..." Definitely not a team sport.No, it should be the kind of solo sports that can give full play to Liwei's long and flexible physical advantages. "Swimming? Track and field?"

Levy burst out laughing, only to be choked on by Bourbon.Dominique also smiled and handed him a few napkins to wipe his mouth.

"My God, no. This..." Levi waved his hands and compared his body. "It was built afterward. I was so skinny when I was a kid that I couldn't even exercise. Let me tell you, being a 'skinny jewish fag' in high school was no fun .”

Dominic frowned.Seeing his expression, Levi shook his head.

"I'm not pouring bitter water. My friends are great, my family is great. I'm doing okay at school. Yeah, there are some bullies, but there are kids who are worse than me. He took a small sip of bourbon, drinking more slowly than he had three before. "I used to dream of being a cop-detective, like in those storybooks. But I know it's just a dream for someone like me."

"What happened? The plot obviously didn't develop like that."

Levi didn't answer right away.He sways on the bar stool, his eyes straying—Dominique is going to refuse him a drink later, but maybe Levi will stop himself.

"I was attacked," Levy said, and Dominique immediately regretted the questioning. "It happened when I was in college. I was in the parking lot of a gay bar, and a gang jumped on me and beat me to death." .When I woke up I was in the hospital - I still can't remember how I got there."

"Christ," Dominic said.He felt sick to his stomach.

Levy stared at the wine glass and continued, his voice was very soft: "The attitude of the police when they came to me to make a statement later made me feel worse than being beaten. They just... were indifferent. They didn't take it seriously. They seemed to think that I deserved it , just didn’t say it out loud. Maybe it’s because I’m gay, maybe it’s because I’m too weak to even protect myself. I don’t know. But it felt like being in the victim’s position again.”

He stopped, drained his glass, and pushed over to Dominique.

"That was the most angry time of my life." He was a little slurred. "Those weeks I was so overwhelmed with rage that I almost suffocated. I hated the cops, hated the people who beat me, hated myself for being so fucking useless! I couldn't concentrate, my grades dropped , throwing tantrums at everyone around you."

Dominique had heard similar words before, from war veterans who couldn't adjust to civilian life after leaving the army--temper tantrums, which could be provoked by the slightest inattention, and worst of all, the lack of easy outlets Way, they can only indulge in this powerless anger.

Not so Dominic's experience.He is not angry.There's just... emptiness.Lost on purpose.Everything that happened later proved that this emptiness was more dangerous to him than anger.

"Our parish rabbi's wife is an Israeli, and she served in the Israel Defense Forces." Levy hasn't looked at Dominique's face since he started talking about the past. "She was the one who advised me to do Krav Kravla. It was the only thing that really worked - not only because it made me stronger and taught me how to protect myself, but because it gave me an outlet to vent all my anger Let it out without losing self-control."

Dominic wondered if he should give Levi another glass of wine.He was drunk—very drunk, otherwise he would never have said these things to Dominic.One more glass is too much.But from another perspective, Levy's distraught appearance makes people feel distressed.

Dominique pours another shot of bourbon, this time a single serving.

Lifting his glass, Levy said, "But the anger was there all the time. It changed every aspect of my life. I had to leave New Jersey because I couldn't stand living in a place that brought back so many memories. Thinking that someone else might have the same thing as me." I was so pissed off by that experience, so I joined the Vegas Police Department. It was almost impossible for me to trust anyone. Even after all these years, no matter how happy I was, there was always a small part of me that always I'm so angry." He drank the glass of wine in one gulp. "I guess that's why I killed Dale Slater."

Dominic opened his mouth speechless.Levi's hands were shaking while holding the wine glass tightly.

That's it, that's the real reason Levi's here.It's not because he's getting overwhelmed by a case, or because he's had an argument with his boyfriend - he'll come here to get drunk and tell a half-baked guy because he's ashamed of himself.Dominique is all too familiar with that feeling.

"I wasn't calm when I pulled the trigger," Levi continued, before Dominique could figure out how to respond. "I was pissed off."

"It's no wonder you're angry," Dominique said. "The man was threatening the child's life. It's human nature to be angry in a situation like that—it's instinctive."

Levi was finally willing to look at him, and the emotions in his eyes were like turbulent waves, gathering fear, shame, and desperate despair. "'Seven of Spades' called me and asked me if I liked killing Slater."

"do you have?"

The question didn't sway Levy one iota. "I don't know. I'm not turned off by it. There's no way I'd be happy with something like that. But for half a second, seeing him go down, I felt... fulfilled."

"I think it's understandable—"

"No. It's crazy. And then, when I beat up those guys that night, I liked that feeling." Levi was really slurred, his breathing became rough, and he stuttered. "I got turned on. Hard even. The only thing I wanted after that was for someone to hold me down and fuck me until I screamed."

Dominique's eyes widened, and his dick was twitching in his jeans.He ignores it and pries away Levi's fingers to retrieve the glass.

"Well," he said, "you can't drink any more."

"There must be something wrong with me," Levy whispered.

"No, there's nothing wrong with you." Levi was shocked by Dominic's decisive tone. "You're just mortal. There's nothing weird or wrong about being sexually aroused by winning a fight—it happens to a lot of people. Even if you feel the satisfaction of killing Slater...Lev, see for yourself. It's been almost a month, and you're still having trouble sleeping and eating over it. If there was something wrong, you wouldn't be hit so hard."

"I've been waiting for the turnaround."

Dominic swallowed hard. "No. It will... fade away. But that feeling will stay with you for the rest of your life."

Levi made a movement of closing his hands, as if he wanted to leave the bar, but Dominic took his hands and pressed hard on the sticky bar.

He just waited for Levi to meet his eyes again, and then said: "It's like this. Sometimes killing is inevitable, but it should never be a trivial thing. Wait until the day when killing is nothing to you." If you can turn the page by waving your sleeves, then you should change your job."

The two of them stared at each other quietly for a long time, and Levi's hot hands were held by Dominic.

"I think I should go home," Levi said, "pay me the bill, please."

"Okay." Dominic let go of his hand and walked to the cash register computer. "Would you like to call a taxi for you?"

"Thanks, no. I have a call service."

While Levy was fumbling with his phone—he dropped it twice—Dominique typed out the bill and held it in front of him on a metal tray with the Stingray logo on it.Levy finally finished the call, looked down at the bill, and blinked.

"Impossible at this price."

"I'll give you a [-]% discount, a friendly price."

"You shouldn't—"

"Stop arguing," Dominique said, "just think of it as a discount for law enforcement."

He swiped Levi's credit card and returned it to him.It took Levi several minutes to slip the card back into his wallet, then scribbled and signed the tip amount on the cash register; he held on to the edge of the bar, shaking violently as he stood up.

"Wow, take it easy." Dominic gestured to Amanda, who rolled her eyes, but still waved at him.Dominic quickly walked around the bar and put his arms around Levi's waist to stabilize him. "Let me help you out."

Levi was too drunk to take care of himself. Regardless of the height difference between the two, he reluctantly put an arm across Dominique's shoulder. "I haven't been this drunk in a long time," he said. "Fuck, your head is too big."

"I can carry you out if you want."

Levi shoved him on the shoulder, but he lost his balance and fell, and Dominic barely moved.Dominique caught him, and the two of them moved slowly towards the curb in front of the club.

When they both stood still, Dominic let go.Levy didn't let go—one of his hands was still on Dominique's arm, as if he had forgotten his action.

Levi stood staggering and said, "I'm sorry to make you listen to me blah blah blah. I don't usually..."

"Hey, this is also the professional requirement of our bartender. I just hope you won't hate me tomorrow."

What Levi told him tonight were all extremely sensitive private matters, which he would never have said when he was sober.For Dominic to see himself so vulnerable, he might take it out on him.

"I won't," Levi said softly.

Then he leaned over, grabbed Dominic's upper arm, and pressed his other hand on Dominic's chest.Then, with his hand there, he slowly groped along Dominique's breastbone.

Dominic dared not move.Does Levi know what he's doing?

Levi looked up at him. "It's a little hard to get back to my senses. It turns out that I have always misunderstood you as a person. I was completely wrong."

"I think so, too." Dominique had always thought Levi was cold and repulsive, but that wasn't the case at all.Everything that happened in the past few days showed that there was boiling magma under the calm sea, and Levi had to tie himself up so that his tantrum would not hurt people around him by mistake.

"I misjudged you."

Before Dominic understood what was going on, Levi touched the back of Dominic's neck with his hand, pressed him down and kissed him.

Dominic gasped, but Levi kissed someone passionately, irresistibly, with hungry lips and greedy hands overwhelmed.After a while, Dominic also gave up his self-made kiss back, squeezed Levi's slender crotch tightly with both hands, and stuck his tongue into his mouth.

It was the smell of bourbon that brought him back to life. "Levi, stop." He backed away abruptly, took Levi's wrists and put down the arms hanging around his neck. In fact, he also knew that even if he was drunk, if Levi refused to be Controlling him can break free at any time. "Stop. I'm not that kind of guy."

Levi blinked dazedly.His thin lips were swollen and moist, tempting him to lean in and kiss again. "What?"

"Cooperate with someone you steal when you're upset with your boyfriend," Dominique said. "I'm not that kind of guy."

Levi took a breath. "Not so—"

"Even if you don't have a boyfriend, I won't fuck with you when you're drunk and unhappy. If you think I'm that kind of person, you won't trust me enough to come here tonight .”

No matter how angry Levi was trying to get at him just now, he let it all out after hearing this.He shook his head, looking exhausted.

Dominic let go of Levi's wrist and took his hand instead. "It didn't start like this, you and I," he whispered, "it shouldn't have started like this."

Levi opened his mouth in surprise, and for a few seconds, the drunkenness in his eyes seemed to disappear.

A black taxi was parked by the curb.Levy immediately broke free from Dominic, and because of his haste, he didn't stand still and almost fell.The driver quickly got out of the car and ran towards him, shouting: "Officer Abrams! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Levi leaned on the driver to stand firm, and was led by the driver towards the rear door.The driver opened the car door for him, and Levi turned to look at Dominic. "Sorry," he said, "I'm... so sorry. And, thank you."

The driver put Livian securely in the back seat and went back to the front door.Dominique stood on the curb, watching the glamorous high-end car drive into the traffic flow and blend into the colorful and noisy night scene of Las Vegas.

"Not good," he said.