“Your second left.”
Then he charged ahead, going past the turn he told me to take.
I slowed my pace, then went down to a run, made a show of stretching a bit.
Then turned down the space between buildings.
A metal door creaked open.
Then there was Remo in another of his all-black outfits.
“Come on in,” he said, watching down the alley until we both ducked inside.
He flicked on a light.
And we were surrounded by multi-colored, differently sized stuffed animals.
“The fuck is this?” I asked, pushing a purple seahorse out of my way as I walked through.
“One of those shoot water in the center of a bullseye games. Closed for the season.”
“What? You have keys for the whole city?” I asked, shaking my head at him.
“It’s impressive how little security they use in these Boardwalk shops,” he said, grabbing a duckling that had fallen on the ground, turning it around, then shoving it in one of the organizers attached to the wall. “Any progress last night?”
“Yeah. I went to the piano lounge and made contact with Frank. Got myself invited to a private poker party. But more than that, I think I might have come across someone on the inside we can use to get more information.”
“Who’s that?”
“The lounge singer.”
“Monroe something,” Remo said. I couldn’t help but wonder if he knew the name of everyone who worked there.
“London.”
“Langston. London must be her stage name.”
“Monroe is her real name, though?”
“As far as I can tell, yeah. I don’t have much on her. Why do you think she’s someone we should tap?”
“Frank treats her like his little pet. And she very clearly isn’t into it. He gets handsy. He wants more. She can get close.”
“Safely? Not having her rape or murder on my conscience.”
“She handles him well. Keeps him on the hook without letting him think he can have anything. I didn’t get a chance to really talk to her. But I did slip her a note asking her to meet me today. Figure I can feel her out. But if I think she’s an asset, do I have permission to rope her into this?”
“Okay. But tell her as little as possible for the time being. Until we know if we can trust her or not.”
“Got it.”
“Did you learn anything at the poker game?”
“He’s friends with a bunch of dicks. Well, one or two were alright. The others—”
“The one with the mustache?” he asked.
“Yeah, he was there.”
