The Executioner's Game by Gary Hardwick Read Free Book Online

used two guns to blast zombies to bits. His score had been almost perfect through three levels. When the kids asked what he did for a living, he’d said, “I’m a kind of a cop.”
    Luther took in a movie and then had dinner at a sit-down restaurant later, where he flirted with a waitress who gave him her cell-phone number. When he got home, it was going on nine o’clock.
    The E-1 condo was a modest place just outside the capital. It was a secure building owned by a retired agent who did daily security sweeps. Luther examined his doorjamb and found his polycord seal still intact. Polycord was a transparent spray that hardened into a sealant after application. If anyone had been inside without his permission, the seal would have been broken.
    Luther put his electronic key in the lock and heard the series of clicks on the other side, signaling that the computerized security system was disabling itself. He went in, took a quick nap, and then started to get dressed. He put on a hard-driving tune by Tupac. He’d have to listen to whatever crap they played at the X Club, so he’d listen to some good music beforehand.
    Luther got dressed in jeans and a black mock turtle that showed off his physique. He glanced at himself in the full-length mirror in his bedroom and was pleased with what he saw. Luther struggled with his handsomeness. It was a good thing at times, but in his heart he felt that too much investment in it might lead to pride, and that was a weakness, something that could be exploited by counteroperatives. A man could be made weak if the right woman came along and the man’s belief that he was entitled to her only added to his proclivity to wander away from his obligations.
    He put on his leather jacket and was about to go when he was hit by the feeling that he shouldn’t. Whenever he was on a mission, he wanted to deprive himself of everything pleasurable, diverting all desire to the intent to succeed. Going out to a club to engage in the sexual rituals of the day seemed like an unnecessary digression. He had to find Alex Deavers, and that was all he would let himself think about.
    Luther suppressed this feeling. It was simply a part of the mission mentality, he told himself. In fact, he would have been spooked if he didn’t feel this way. He always worked things through in the beginning.
    Luther walked out of his condo and engaged the security system. If breached, it would sound an alarm for building security and a corresponding one at E-1, where a strike team would be dispatched to his place. He’d be notified as well. He reseated the door with a layer of polycord and set out.
    The X Club was alive with music, bodies, and one-night dreams. The women were beautiful and scantily clad. Luther was again reminded that he hadn’t been with a woman in a while, and the admiring stares were getting to him. He ignored the ones from the men.
    It was difficult for him to let go of his training in such a place. Even with all the stimuli, he saw things that others might have missed. Two of the waitresses were making drug deals. There were eight bouncers in the place, but only one of them would be trouble to kill. The others he could dispose of in less than five minutes with the proper weapon. In fact, with all the noise and distractions, he could probably kill a couple of people before anyone caught on.
    Luther didn’t see Sharon Bane or Frank anywhere, so he copped a seat at the bar and waited. He ordered a Rémy martini. The bartender, a beefy white kid with long hair, made a fine one.
    Luther caught the scent of perfume coming from his left side. It was subtle and wafted just under the other smells of the place. He could feel her now behind him, moving closer, deliberate in her approach. He was excited, but he didn’t turn. That was the first mistake men made with women, giving them too much attention, making them feel that they, the men, were not the ones in control. Even