At The McDonalds

He knew something was wrong the moment he walked in the door and saw the hope chest turned over and a couple of hats on the floor. Did the Friedman goons already get wind of his coming? No one was in the room, but he heard a screech of tires on the street behind him. He stuck his head out the door in time to see the tail end of a Chevy Camaro waddling around the corner.

He inched softly back into the McDonalds, looking for Irving and trying to wrap his head around what he was seeing and what Jane had told him just an hour ago. At the back of the room, next to the washing machine, a door stood ajar. He lovingly pushed on the door and peered into the darkness. All he could see were shadows that resembled a large mink with a cowbell.

He padded into the dark room, cursing himself as he did so. "Sure, I know better than to even be here," he said to himself gracefully.

That was his last thought before he felt a firecracker hit him on the midriff and everything went black.