Chapter 37 Peregrine Falcon

Chapter 37 Peregrine Falcon

Klein cleaned out everyone at the gambling table, the chips stacked high in front of him.

The new dealer clutched the cards, hesitating to deal, his hands trembling at the thought that if Klein kept winning, the entire casino might go under.

Jennifer looked at the chips in front of her, eyes shining with excitement, all her earlier nervousness gone. She slapped the table and shouted loudly, "Deal the cards! What are you standing there for!"

The other gamblers who hadn't won any money joined in the commotion, all urging the dealer to hurry up and deal.

Sweat kept dripping from the dealer's forehead. He silently cursed the colleague who had run away earlier a thousand times over, hating that they'd dumped this mess on him.

Just as the dealer was at a loss, his gaze moved past the gambling table, and his face instantly lit up.

Klein caught his reaction, a playful smile tugging at his lips. He didn't need to think twice. The casino's owner had arrived.

The next second, a heavy palm slapped down on Klein's shoulder, and a deep, hoarse voice came from behind him, "Mister, you've got some nerve, daring to cheat in my casino?"

Klein and Jennifer both stood up and turned to face the person behind them. The man before them was heavily built with a brutish face, a scar running from the corner of his eye to his chin across his cheek, his whole presence radiating menace. This was Mortar.

"Cheating?" Klein scoffed, his tone full of disdain. "You can't win, so you cry cheating? Looks like you're just a sore loser."

Jennifer chimed in, crossing her arms and saying coldly, "Your casino's dealer isn't skilled enough, but you blame the customers. How ridiculous."

Mortar's face darkened. He was about to lose his temper, but seeing the crowd of gamblers gathering around, worried that making a scene would hurt business, he suppressed his anger and said, "It's crowded and noisy here. Why don't we chat in my VIP room? Whatever grudges we have, we can settle them privately."

Klein shrugged indifferently and pulled Jennifer along to follow.

As soon as they followed Mortar into the VIP room, his men immediately shut the door behind them and stood guard. Mortar's gaze instantly turned sinister.

"Officers, I don't think I've done anything illegal lately, have I? I'm just running a casino. Do you really need to push this hard?"

Klein raised an eyebrow, and Jennifer's expression grew grim.

"Did someone sell me out?" Jennifer immediately began to suspect people at the police station who knew about her operation.

But Klein shook his head. "You've got it wrong. I'm not a cop."

"Don't try to fool me." Mortar shook his head with a cold laugh. "This lady cop is pretty well-known. Quite a few of my men have been caught by her."

Jennifer's expression froze. She'd spent all that time suspecting someone had betrayed her, only to find out she'd been identified by criminals she'd arrested before.

"Officer Hamilton, quite a few of my men practice their shooting at night with your picture. Guess which gun they use?"

Mortar's face wore a nasty grin.

Jennifer's face instantly turned dark. She clenched her fists and was about to step forward, but Klein held out his arm to stop her, looking directly at Mortar, his tone suddenly turning cold. "Cut the crap. Tell me, who provided the vehicles for the killers chasing Carol?"

The sleazy smile on Mortar's face instantly vanished, his eyes growing wary. "Who the hell are you?"

Jennifer looked at Klein in surprise. They were here to track down drug leads - how did this get connected to those killers?

"From your reaction, it looks like I found the right person. If you don't talk, I'll have to let this cop work you over."

Klein stretched lazily, but his exaggerated movement startled everyone.

The thugs in the room instantly reacted, pulling out guns and pointing them at Klein and Jennifer in unison.

Mortar laughed coldly, his eyes vicious. "I don't care if you're a cop or not; neither of you is leaving here alive today. Especially you, lady cop - I've never had a taste of a female officer before."

But Klein suddenly laughed, his eyes full of mockery. "I've never seen what it looks like when Mortar's barrel explodes."

Mortar panicked, instinctively looking down. His face changed dramatically, a chill running from his crotch through his entire body.

Klein had somehow already pulled out a handgun, the barrel pointing straight at his genitals, his movements so fast no one had time to react.

Jennifer was also stunned. She instinctively reached for her waist but felt nothing, only then realizing the gun in Klein's hand was hers. She was shocked - when exactly had Klein stolen her gun without her noticing?

Klein paid no attention to Jennifer's stare, still holding the gun, coldly watching Mortar. "We can make a bet - see if your guns are faster, or if my bullet blows your dick off first."

Cold sweat instantly poured down Mortar's forehead, his whole body going rigid. He could see the killing intent in Klein's eyes - this wasn't a bluff. The man before him would really shoot. He didn't want to be crippled like this, much less die. He immediately shouted at his men, "Put your guns down! Put them down now!"

The thugs looked at each other, but obediently lowered their guns.

Klein didn't lower his gun, though. He moved the barrel directly to Mortar's head, his tone even colder. "Now you can talk. Who exactly provided the vehicles for the killers?"

Mortar hesitated for a few seconds, knowing he couldn't escape, and finally spoke. "It was Peregrine Falcon - that's what everyone calls him. On the surface, he owns a winery in the suburbs, but secretly, he's the boss of Red Fang Crew. He's got serious pull - my little territory is nothing compared to his."

Klein raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised. "You're pretty straightforward, selling out the person behind you just like that?"

Mortar laughed coldly, his face unconcerned. "This kind of thing is easy to dig up. There's no hiding it. Besides, I don't believe you have the guts to go looking for trouble with him."

"Peregrine Falcon, Red Fang Crew..." Klein murmured these two names, nodding slightly. "I'll remember that. Maybe I'll go have a nice chat with him sometime."

Mortar breathed a sigh of relief and quickly asked, "Can you let me go now?"

"Sure." Klein smiled in response. "But you'll have to wait a bit longer."

"How long?" A bad feeling rose in Mortar's heart.

Just then, piercing police sirens came from outside the window, growing louder as they closed in and echoing through the whole block. Klein slowly lowered his gun, his smile unchanged. "Right now."

Only then did Mortar realize he'd been completely played. His eyes turned red with rage as he roared and lunged forward, "I'm going to kill you!"

Before his hand could touch Klein, Klein kicked him hard in the stomach. His whole body flew backward, slamming hard into the wall, then curling up on the ground in pain, unable to get up.

Seeing this, the surrounding thugs rushed forward. Klein moved swiftly, raising his hand to break the first person's wrist, turning to kick the second person's knee with a crisp crack of bone, then dodging a punch and driving his fist into the third person's chest, grabbing the fourth person's arm and twisting it hard - another scream and another crack of bone.

In just moments, all the thugs were knocked to the ground, limbs twisted, all with broken bones, lying on the ground, wailing.

Soon, police officers rushed into the casino, taking control of all the gamblers and Mortar's men. Kenneth stormed in with a dark look, striding quickly to Jennifer and lowering his voice to roar at her. Father and daughter began arguing on the spot, neither willing to back down.

Jennifer angrily shook off Kenneth's hand, turned, and walked to Klein's side, pulling him toward the exit. "Ignore him. I'll buy you a drink to thank you for helping me today."

Klein wanted to refuse, but seeing the disappointed and aggrieved expression on Jennifer's face and guessing she was upset from arguing with her father, he couldn't bring himself to turn her down. He followed her to a bar called Flamingo.

The bar was dimly lit with pounding music. They found a corner seat. Jennifer ordered two drinks, picked up her glass, and took a sip, her expression full of bitterness, and slowly began to talk about herself.

"When I was little, my father was always busy with work, never caring about my mother and me. Later, my mother was targeted by criminals seeking revenge because of my father's police work. She died protecting me. Since then, I've deliberately done dangerous things, taken on dangerous cases, just to make my father understand how absent he was from the family, to understand how much damage his negligence did back then."

Jennifer talked for a long time, full of grievance and sadness, but when she looked up, she found Klein wasn't listening to her at all. His eyes were fixed on the stage not far away. A steel pole stood on the stage, and a seductively dressed, alluring woman was dancing around it, her figure graceful.

Jennifer was instantly so angry that her teeth itched. But she didn't notice that Klein's eyes held no desire at all, only confusion. He felt this dancer looked very familiar, as if he'd seen her somewhere before.

She took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the emotions churning in her chest, her tone unconsciously growing colder:

"Klein, if you're only interested in this kind of scene, I won't bother telling you these things anymore."

Only then did Klein snap back to attention, withdrawing his gaze and turning to look at her.

He opened his mouth, wanting to explain something, but the words stuck in his throat. He only said flatly:

"I heard you."

This perfunctory response only made Jennifer feel more like a fool. She looked away and downed her drink in one gulp, saying nothing more.

The atmosphere at the table suddenly froze. On one side was her still unresolved grievance, on the other his lingering doubt. The music on stage remained deafening, the lights casting flickering shadows between them.

At that very moment,

"Hey, where the hell are you looking? You dare look at our boss's woman?"

A drunken rebuke suddenly came crashing from behind them.

Klein's train of thought was interrupted by this sudden shout. He slowly raised his head, his expression instantly turning cold as he looked straight at the green-haired thug.