A blade of sunlight, streaked through the smallest of gaps in the middle of the window where the curtains don't quite meet, slices across my eyes jerking me awake.

"Ugh." I winced as I ran my hand across the wound on my stomach. It did not stop bleeding overnight,

"This is never coming out; another bed sheet bites the dust". I couldn’t help but chuckle slightly at this thought. The best thing to do right now is to head for a shower and clean up. Getting up from the bed I checked my phone and noticed a missed text from Henry.

Henry

"Hey, Max. Got us a gig Meet me at the diner and we'll discuss the job."

Sent at 9:48 am

Henry. Cool, I needed to speak to him.

Max

"Hey. I overslept. I will jump in the shower and then meet you at the diner. Also, I need to see Frank about the wound I got last night."

Sent at 10:18 am

The warm water from the shower was refreshing and the perfect way to wake me up. After taking a shower I grabbed my favorite jacket and my old reliable handguns before leaving the apartment. While leaving the complex I could hear someone banging on a door demanding to get in.

"Hey, let me in, I know you're in there…

The guy doing the banging sounds pissed. Each knock causes the door to rattle violently, you could easily see it won't take much more of that abuse.

"…don't ignore me I'll break down this bloody door and..."

I thought I should interfere before things got out of hand.

"Look, can you stop banging on the door they don't want to talk to you," I said with as much strength in my voice as I could considering my screwed-up stomach. The man turned to me and began to approach.

This really wouldn't be the best day for this prick to pull any tough guy shit.

"Oh, so you are the man that she is seeing now. That bitc--" He stood close, trying to look intimidating. He was poking his finger in my direction, close to my chest, close enough for me to know he was mere millimeters from making contact.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

I'm not in the mood for this…

"Look buddy I'm not having the best start to my day and I'm allowing you to back off before I break your lip."

There's the slightest flicker of fear across his face, he quickly gets himself back in control.

"Really… just what are you going to do."

"See this...." I pointed to my necklace.

The man looked at my necklace and noticed that it was the mark of the Knight Riders. Any pretense of this guy might have immediately drained along with the color on his face.

"I am… deeply sorry, sir. I did not know you were a Knight Rider. My apologies again, sir. I think I will give up on the drink for a while."

With that over I got to the parking lot, got in my car, and made my way to the diner.

I spotted Henry sitting by the window with a cup of coffee in his hand and staring at one of the waiters. I and Henry became friends at the age of four, we met back at school Henry transferred to my school I was instructed to show him around the school and since then we have been friends ever since. Henry likes to sort out issues by talking or paying them off. He did this a lot while we were working for the notorious crime family Tony Almano, whereas I would rather let my two guns Eve and Ivy do the talking.

Hoping into the seat across from Henry and asked him about the gig.

"Ever heard Redeye?"

"No. Should I have?" I said.

I run through my memories, searching for anything Redeye, nothing.

"What the hell is Redeye?" I ask with genuine interest. Whatever it is cannot be good otherwise he wouldn't be asking me about it.

"It is a drug that was commonly used by the military. Some soldiers used to consume Redeye to stay focused and not feel pain during combat. However, recently, there have been rumors that some soldiers have been hoarding Redeye in the city intending to sell it once they return from war. Additionally, there are rumors of a heist on a boat that was carrying Redeye meant for an entire platoon.”

"So, what's this got to do with the gig?" I said.

"There's a deal going down where there will be a briefcase full of Redeye and we need to get the briefcase and deliver it to the client."

I let out a laugh. "Henry I am not doing the police's job. Who even gave you this gig anyway?"

"Sam"

I laughed again. "Jesus Henry, you know he is called Slippery Sam for a reason. He will find a way to get us arrested or killed, and all the while he gets to sell the drug. Did he even say how he is going to pay us because last I checked he did not have a single Eddie?"

Henry did not know what to say, on the one hand, I was right, Sam did not have that dependable of a reputation but on the other hand the pay is good.

"Max, we have been chooms since we were 4 years old, heck there are times when I consider you as my brother, so I am asking you to do this gig with me."

"…Fine but I need to see if Frank can patch up this wound."

"No problem."

We left the dinner and made our way to Frank’s, a gunsmith who we are incredibly good chooms with, he helped us out a lot back when we were working for Tony Almano and has continued to help us since we left the Family.