Bloody Seven of Spades 1: Life and Death

For Levi, there are few things more satisfying than taking a slow, willful hot shower, especially after a long day of travelling.He put aside the murder, Stanton, and having to call his parents to explain the pain, and concentrated on feeling the hot water beat against the tense muscles in his shoulders and back.

When he finally came out of the wash, he put on the folded T-shirt and home pants by the sink, and opened the bathroom door while wiping his hair with a towel.

The moment he stood at the door, he stopped, and a feeling of "something was wrong" in his heart made him stand still.

He had turned on the ceiling light before, and now the room was brightly lit.The door was locked and the anti-theft chain was buckled, everything was the same as before he entered the bathroom.

But there was wind - not the cold blast from the air conditioner, but a breeze of fresh air from outside.

He looks to both sides.The curtain of the balcony door fluttered slightly.After entering the house, he hadn't opened the door yet.

He threw the towel on the floor and glanced at the chest of drawers across the room—his gun was in it.Maybe he could still rush through—

The closet near the door suddenly opened, and Drew Barton stepped out, pointing a gun at Levi with both hands. "Stay still," he ordered.

Levi raised his hands in a semi-surrender position and stopped moving. "How did you come in from the balcony? This is the fifth floor."

"I came from the balcony of the room next door to yours and pushed open the glass sliding door." Barton was sweating profusely, his face was shiny, and his hair was messily stuck to his forehead.His hands were shaking while holding the butt of the gun, but his eyes were shining with determination. "You can't imagine that people can do anything when they are cornered."

"I really want it," Levi said.

That's it, come closer, he thought, watching Barton come around the bed and approach him so that there was nothing between them.Go on, go on, go on—

Seeing that Barton stopped a few steps away, he could only suppress his disappointed sigh.This is the worst angle to face a gun threat, as there is no reliable and effective defense at such a distance.Barton was too far away for Levi to rush forward to disarm him before the shot was fired, and not far enough to dodge himself.Levy can only pin his hopes on persuading the other party to give up.

"Have you ever actually shot a gun before?" Levi asked. "Do you know how loud the gunshots are? If you shoot me, a group of people will rush in in a few minutes. There is no way you can escape."

"I'm willing to take this risk, if I have to. But now, I want you to sit on that chair." Barton raised his chin, pointed to the chair he mentioned, and kept his eyes on Levi, without revealing any flaws in his movements .

Levi stood where he was. "Why?"

"I checked. You were one of the lead detectives on the 'Seven of Spades' case. So it makes sense he'd kill you. If you died like Patty, they'd think That's what he did too."

Barton thought he could really stab him to death with a knife?Levi almost laughed.However, the other party asked Levi to sit on a chair, which meant that Barton decided to tie him up first before using the knife.There was no way Levi would give in.If he persisted, Barton might come closer and force him into a chair.

"That's no use," he said. "I've told you that Seven of Spades didn't kill Patty the way Patty died, or the way you killed me. They'll know the killer." It's you."

"Even so. But at least it will arouse reasonable suspicion [1]." Barton's hand holding the gun twitched, and there was hatred in his words. "Whether you succeed or not, you will die. I feel comfortable in this way anyway. Come on, sit on the chair!"

"I want to see if you dare to shoot," Levy said.

The lights went out in an instant.

Before he could say it, he plunged down suddenly, rushed towards the oblique corner, and landed lightly and smoothly.Gunshots sounded, and Barton shot blindly at the dark room, which was deafening in the small space.

Levi turned over and lay on his back, bent his right leg, and then kicked suddenly at the position where Barton was in his memory.That kick hit Barton's knee.There was a scream of pain followed by a thump—hopefully it was Barton falling to the ground, but Levi couldn't bet on that because the light was too dim.

There was a heavy drum-beating sound from the gate, accompanied by anxious shouts resounding through the corridor.Levi didn't dare to be distracted.He turned over to his knees and jumped forward, wrestled with Barton in the dark, after a brief and chaotic entanglement, he finally managed to land on Barton's back.

Barton was left holding the gun in his right hand; Levi grabbed his wrist and slammed it hard on the floor several times until he let go with a howl.Levy reached for the gun, but Barton waved the gun far out of his reach.

He heard a loud clang of metal, the bolt was knocked loose, and the door opened, but was quickly blocked by the chain.Levy's attention was distracted, and in such a short moment, Barton found an opportunity and hit him in the ribs with a counter-elbow.

Levi wailed, rolled to one side, and stood up again.Close combat has never been his strong suit - all his training has told him to do everything possible to stay standing and never get prone to the ground.The problem now is that Barton slipped away without the gun in his hand, and he couldn't see his fingers around him.All power in the house and corridors was cut off, and the bright nightlights of Las Vegas were blocked by heavy balcony curtains.

The heavy object hit the door with a frighteningly loud sound.Then there was another bump.Another hit.

The constant impact, coupled with the black lights and misfires, made it impossible for Levy to determine the location of Barton.He retreated to the wall, using the wall to guide himself to the bedside table, and picked up the TV remote control he put there last night.

He concentrated his attention, blocked the loud noise and shaking of the door, and heard a flurry of rustling.He smashed the remote control with all his strength and let out a cry of pain.

Levi tensed his nerves, ready to strike.Then two things happened at the same time: the lights came back on, the security chain snapped under the persistent impact, and the door suddenly swung open.

He watched Dominic rushing into the house like an eighteen-wheeler in disbelief, almost dumbfounded.Dominick rushed over and overwhelmed Barton, who had just taken the gun, and the gun flew out of the latter's hand.

Levi stepped forward and took the gun in his hand.After pressing firmly for three seconds, Dominic dragged Barton to his knees together, and clamped Barton tightly with a chokehold. Even Levi frowned in pain when he saw the action.Dominic pressed his right elbow tightly under Barton's chin, and his thick bicep and forearm squeezed the carotid arteries on both sides of Barton's throat.The most frightening thing is that he also pressed his left arm on the back of Barton's head, and held his right bicep with his left hand to strengthen the pressure of his left forearm on the back of Barton's neck.

Even Levy can't guarantee that he can get rid of such a restraint.Of course, he would never have allowed himself to be choked in the first place.

Barton writhed wildly, scratching Dominic's forearm with his nails, his face turning from red to purple.In the corridor outside, a distraught hotel employee was on the phone with police.

"You'd better relax," Dominic said softly, "I don't want to hurt you, but with a chokehold like this, the chance of accidental death is not small. I only used more than [-]% of my strength. "

Barton softened under Dominic's restraint, his body paralyzed, and only his hands were clenched into fists.He glared at Levi, and it was the fire in his eyes that caused him to stab his wife to death in the first place.

Levi hadn't recovered from his surprise, he managed to squeeze out a word and asked, "How?!"

"You've got a guardian angel who's out of the ordinary," Dominique said.

[1] Reasonable doubt, a legal term, refers to the lack of sufficient evidence in the trial of a case, which makes people have reasonable doubts about whether the defendant is guilty; the point is: once a reasonable doubt is raised, if it cannot be ruled out, the defendant cannot be proved guilty.