I had a hunch that the numbers runner my men shook down was an acquaintance of mine I called ‘Angie’. We had a mutual agreement, Angie and I. I’d busted her once for illegal gambling. In return for a little information, the Deputy DA and I let her walk. These days I mostly turned a blind eye to her numbers running and, in return, she fed me more information from time to time.
Cruising the streets in my pick-up so I wouldn’t draw any undue attention to myself or to her if I found her, I scanned back and forth for her at some of her usual corners, but she wasn’t around. I looked at my watch – just after 8:30 AM. It was a little early to find her out and about. I checked the first open bar that I came to in the area where she usually did her cash pick-ups. Nothing.
Rolling on, I ended up at
