This time he moved his feet a little wider than the width of his shoulders and lowered his weight as he readied himself. Slowly he extended his hand inch by inch. “Not ’til I say I’m ready.”

Bets were made and accepted in haste from the onlookers.

“You call it,” Danny looked at Benito. “He looks like Quick Draw McGraw.”

“Ready!”

“Estás listo?”

“I said I was read—”

Danny took the coin, his left hand a blur.

Robert clenched his fists as a ripple of laughter broke from the spectators. More than one fistful of crumpled notes was exchanged.

“You’re too close.”

Danny held out the coin, which Robert reached for. “That’s two.”

“Do it from further back,” said Robert through clenched teeth. A single bead of sweat trickled down the side of his face.

Benito looked between the two men then flicked his fingers as if shooing Danny away. “Take a step back.”

“Hey, man, that wasn’t the deal,” said Danny. Three of Benito’s friends edged towards him.

“Do it,” said Benito. “It wasn’t a request.”

Danny took a step back on his left heel.

Robert raised his outstretched hand, coin in the centre of his palm.

Danny inhaled slowly, the fingers of his left hand wiggling like seagrass.

Robert scrutinised his face with a new intensity.

Danny’s left hand twitched but it was his right that struck out like a cobra, snatching the coin free.

“Mierda!” spat Robert.

Danny flicked the coin high into the air with the tip of his thumb then caught it in a single fluid motion. “Wanna go again, double or nothing?”

Benito spat a gobbet of saliva at Danny’s feet. “I have a different game for you. It’s called ‘give me all of your money or I shoot you in the face’.”

Danny allowed a curious smile to creep onto his face. “Shoot me? With what?”

As Benito reached behind his back with his right hand, Danny performed three actions almost simultaneously.

One: He cupped Benito’s left elbow and pulled him forward, causing him to stagger.

Two: He slipped behind Benito and snatched the weapon from his waistband.

Three: He looped an arm around the Mexican’s throat and pressed the revolver against the side of his head.

As the other men went for their guns, Danny yanked Benito backwards so no one in the room had a clear line of sight.

“Easy, guys!” said Danny. “I didn’t come in here looking for trouble.”

“Well, you sure as shit found it, pendejo,” said Robert.

“Put your weapons on the floor and kick them towards the door.”

None of the men moved to comply. A bottle tumbled to the floor. Danny glanced at the weapon that he held pressed against the side of Benito’s skull. “This is a nice piece. Ruger revolver, six shots, single action.”

He rapped the barrel against the side of Benito’s head, just hard enough for effect. The sound was loud and ominous in the sudden silence of the bar. “Put your weapons down nice and easy and kick them over there. Do it or Mr Mussolini here gets the first one in the brain pan.”

Benito spewed a series of curses and commands in Spanish. After a couple of seconds, the two men with the pistols placed them on the floor. Both looked like standard Glocks.

“Kick them over to the door.”

The men glared at Danny with undisguised venom but did as ordered.

“And now the knives,” said Danny. The barrel of the Ruger never wavered from Benito’s head. “Come on, get on with it.”

A collection of hunting knives and a couple of switchblades joined the surrendered pistols.

Danny twisted Benito to the left and stared at the barman. “Knock the music off.”

The barman complied, the bar falling into silence. “You got anything tucked away under the counter I should know about?”

The barman’s face contorted as he replied in the negative.

“You sure? If I come over there and find a weapon, you’ll be getting the second bullet.”

The barman shuffled from foot to foot momentarily then reached slowly beneath the bar.

“Go easy!” warned Danny. The barrel of the Ruger stretched the skin at Benito’s temple.

The baseball bat the barman retrieved was an old-fashioned Louisville Slugger. The dark stains on the business end told of more than one head-bashing.