Free Bullets Are My Business (9781101616413) by Josh K. Stevens

the energy to react. A needle is nothing after a bullet. There’s a pause and I’m rolled over onto my side. The needle is in the back of my head now. Another pause. Something is digging around in my thigh. Now the needle. I’m rolled back to face the ceiling. Becky is standing beside me.
    Becky talking: “That’s the best I can do with a sewing kit.”
    Jacks speaking: “It’s good enough.”
    Becky: “You’re sure this is his type?”
    Jacks: “I’m just going by what his ID said.”
    Megan speaks: “Is he going to be okay?”
    No one responds. I hope to hell someone in the room is nodding. Becky is back at my side. A needle is in my forearm.
    I’ve been here before, inches from death’s door.
    Everything goes from shades of gray to black as the void closes in.

Interlude
    Five Years Ago
    The first time was all because of a broad. So was the second. I guess a broad has been involved every time. Whether or not she’s the one pulling the trigger, a dame is behind all of the pain and suffering in any man’s life.
    Her name was Eva.
    Eva was a real looker. No matter where I went with her, people were always rubbernecking to catch a glimpse. Not that I could blame them. She was unbelievable. She was more Greek goddess than human. Everything about her was eye catching. She had blond hair that you wanted to feel graze across your skin, intoxicating eyes that you would drown in if you stared into them for too long, a body that looked like it was carved out of marble and draped with silk, and a set of legs that went from the pavement under her feet and came close to touching the sky. She was the type of girl that would make you wake up in the middle of the night in desperate need of a cold shower.
    She wasn’t a dim bulb either. She had a mind like a trap. Eva was one of the few women who could leave me absolutely speechless. She was sheer perfection and she was mine. I always told her that I would do anything for her and I meant it.
    But in the end, the only thing she wanted me to do was die.
    There’s too much to tell about my relationship with Eva. I saw her outside of a bar one evening and I recognized her from a job I did for a bookie. She was his front-of-house girl and used to run the numbers and handle the accounting for him. That night, she was with some upper class, asshole jerk who was getting a little bit too rough. There are several things in this world that get me by the balls. One of which is men who beat on women. Another is silver spoon kids. He had two strikes against him and I let him know that. He made a move to take me down. That’s a third thing I can’t stand. People who try to knock my block off. I left him in an alleyway, upside down in a garbage can, with more bruises and broken bones than he could count. I took Eva home, and that was that. We were in a committed relationship by the end of the night. It went on for two and a half years.
    Now, I could go on for days about our ups and downs, our fights, the way we made love, but all that jazz doesn’t really matter so much. I was in love with her and I thought that the feeling was mutual. That’s really what everything boils down to. I was saving up to buy her a ring, that’s how committed I was. A nice little ditty with a rock in the center. In the end, none of that mattered.
    In the end, it all came down to a phone call.
    I was just coming home from a long, hard day. Back then, every day was long and hard. I had the bruises to prove it. I hadn’t been on my own for very long at that point, after leaving Campbell’s employ.
    I had just stepped into my apartment when the phone started ringing. I wasn’t going to answer it. I went about my business as I normally would, but the phone remained a constant blaring soundtrack in the background. After it rang for the thirteenth time, I knew that whoever was calling wasn’t about to give up. I