former officer · cigar smoker · dangerous charisma · southern charm · western setting · hidden past · lethal · cocky · barkeep · rose-red uniform
The bar had no sign. The entrance was tucked beneath a drooping awning, drenched from the recent drizzle, with rust dripping from the chain-link fence that framed the alley. The door buzzed when opened—faint, like an insect’s cry—then shut hard behind anyone who passed through, locking the sound away like a coffin being nailed shut. Inside, the world narrowed to smoke, dim light, and silence. Men came here to forget. Thumb soldiers. Stragglers between jobs, men who’d survived too long or lost too much, some waiting to be called back into war, others just waiting to die somewhere quiet. The walls were the color of dried wine, and rotting wood. Dust clung to every surface. Lei Heng pushed the door open with his shoulder. He never needed to look around when he entered a room. The mem…