Blake Madison stood for several seconds listening to the dial tone buzz through the handset of the pay phone,feeling that whatever Bette had herself into now she would have to manage on her own- and he figured she was qualified to do it. As he hung up the phone, he saw Sammy the Snapper come through the door of the Lakeside Hotel, glance both directions, smooth back his hair, and walk off in the general direction of The Spitball. He'd be checking in with Tony, thought Madison, smiling and smarming at the Big Guy and hiding his dirty little secret. Blake crossed the street, entered the hotel's foyer, then mounted the three flights of garish gilt-and-red staircase to Sammy's room. Blake had to walk past the room, because a maid's cart sat in front of the partially open door. He found a leather wing-back chair at the end of the hall and feigned interest in a copy of National Geographic he found on a little glass-topped table. Finally the maid emerged, closed the door, and pushed her cart around the corner where she rapped and called "maid service" at another door. Blake slid the corner of his Safeway Club Card into the lock, which clicked as he turned the knob. He reclosed the door and entered the parlor portion of Sammy's pad. Nothing had changed since his visit that morning, except Sammy had been into the Dewar's, a bottle of which sat on the kitchen counter next to a glass which still held melting ice cubes. In the bedroom, Blake found the briefcase empty on the bed. He glanced in the bathroom, seeing a puddle of water around the toilet. He went in and lifted the tank lid, and there was the cash in a water-tight freezer bag, wedged under the float.

Blake went back into the bedroom, produced a Dictomite mini-recorder from his pocket, and jacked it into the digital pickup on Sammy's phone. He pressed the play button, heard the touch-tone dialing beeps, then a voice and a name that sent his pulse rate speeding- "DeAngelis here". Sammy's voice said "yeah, Mr DeAngelis. I got the package smooth as silk. Thank you, sir." DeAngelis' voice cut in "and Tony the Wop?" Sammy coughed."None the wiser, Mr D. But, yeah, it was close. He shows up with his heat right after the kid popped Connie, but the kid's no dummie. He ran and Tony never made him." DeAngelis' responded "that's good. Tony doesn't need to know anything about this business, it doesn't concern him. I've got another little job, Sammy. Double the money. Interested?" Blake heard Sammy suck in a breath, then respond "sure Mr D. What's the deal?" DeAngelis said "Be at this number at 8 tonight." Sammy said "yes Sir, no problem. Gotta check in with the Wop for a while, but I'll be here."

Madison popped the recorder out of the bug and pocketed it. Christ, he thought, if DeAngelis was playing in this game anything could happen. For a moment he considered telling Tony what he knew, but there was more to learn from Sammy, and if Tony caught a whiff of betrayal, Sammy would be wormfood. Blake padded toward the front door, and as he reached for the knob, he saw it turn slowly as the lock tumbler clicked. There were some floor length curtains by the patio doors leading to the veranda, and Madison slipped behind them as the door creaked open.