They took the long way around the block when they got to the wig shop.
“Do you see him?” Ezio asked, as he nodded to a squirrely-looking guy in front of the wig shop.
“Sure do,” Ash answered.
“Yep,” David agreed.
He was across the street from the wig shop, leaning against a telephone pole, pretending to talk on his phone, but his eyes were locked onto the front door.
“You and David go check out the back, I’m going to go get me a slice of pizza.” Ezio nodded toward the pizza shop across from the wig store behind the telephone pole. Even this time of night, there were plenty of people seated around plastic tables in front of the shop waiting for their pizzas.
“Sounds good,” Asher agreed.
Ezio was third in line for his slice, and it gave him time to watch the watcher. He wasn’t very subtle. By the time he got his pizza and soda and sat down, the man had moved to the fire hydrant on the corner, this time pretending to look at something on his phone. But it was still clear that he was eyeing the closed wig shop. Yep, he would never win an award for subtlety.
Ezio’s phone rang. It was Asher.
“Yeah?”
“Got a guy who I think is supposed to be watching the back, but is so engrossed in a racing form, I don’t think he’d notice if a nuclear explosion went off.”
“My guy is definitely carrying, and I don’t think he gives a shit who knows he’s watching the place either. He should just stand in front of it.”
Asher laughed. “Maybe he’s worried if there are police drive-bys and doesn’t want to bring that much attention to a wig shop at damn near midnight.”
“Good point,” Ezio agreed. “Still, we can’t just storm the place, and something tells me we can’t just knock on the door.” Ezio watched as the front door of the wig shop was opened wide by a big man with tattoos and he let out three men who were in high spirits. They turned to him, and one gave him a salute.
Ezio wished he could hear what they were saying. They were definitely friendly with the man who was in charge, but he made a motion for them to keep quiet.
“Will do,” one of them said loudly.
The big, tattooed man grabbed the loud one by the arm and Ezio heard him apologize.
“Let him go, we’re going,” another man said.
Ezio looked around at the other pizza patrons. Nobody seemed to notice or care what was going on across the street. However, Fire Hydrant Guy was watching things pretty closely. When he made a move to the curb, the tattooed man waved him away so he went back to rest against the fire hydrant.
Finally, the trio walked down the sidewalk and on down the street.
Interesting.
“You going to keep us in suspense?” Asher said on the phone.
“Oh yeah. Three guys just came out the front. I’m going to go have a talk with them.”
“We’ll be there in a minute,” Asher said.
“They’re heading east on Bremerton Street.”
“Gotcha.” Ezio got up and threw his pizza in the trash and did a quick walk around the corner so he could catch up with the trio. He spotted them walking slowly and talking loudly. They were discussing their winnings.
How stupid could you be?
He caught up with them.
“Hi guys, I hear that place is hopping. Better than Goldy’s. Were you playing poker?” All three turned around. Two of them were slightly buzzed, but the sober one looked at him suspiciously. Good to know someone had some common sense.
“Who are you?” he asked.
“My name is Louie Powers. I usually play at Goldy’s, but I was told about this place, but I don’t have somebody with clout to get me a way in.”
“You don’t need clout, you need cash,” the blond guy in a tie said.
“I can just show it at the door?” Ezio asked.
“You’re right,” the sober man said. “You do have to know someone, in order to get in to play. Our friend Reggie vouched for us.”
“Could he vouch for me?” Ezio asked.
“Sure, he could,” the other drunk guy said.
Sober Guy shoved him. “No, he can’t, he has to know you. Why don’t you want to play at Goldy’s?” he asked suspiciously.
“My wife comes to the casino to haul my ass back home. I need a new place to hang out.”
The sober man gave a wide smile. “You are not alone, my friend. What’s more, it’s not one of those smoke-free environments either.”
“Fucking hate those,” Tie-Guy said. “What do you play? Craps? We won tonight. But there sure were a bunch of losers at the table. They’re still there, the dumbasses. They’re just losing more and more.”
“Poker’s more my game,” Ezio said.
Sober Guy stopped smiling. “That’s not a good game to play in there.”
“Why not?”
“It’s handled by an outside crew. We’ve been going there forever, and they always bring in newbies, except for one player, he’s always there. It’s a set-up. Us regulars know it and we mind our own business when they let in a game. There’s no way we want to get on the bad side of that crew. We have a good thing going here, and if our normal management wants to do something a little nasty on the side, that’s their business.”
“Yeah, a mini-casino in a wig shop, doesn’t that beat all?” the third guy chimed in. “It’s fucking nuts.”
“So, don’t play poker here, huh? Good to know, but it sucks. Are you sure it’s that
