At The Sandwich Shop

He knew something was wrong the moment he walked in the door and saw the wardrobe turned over and a couple of coupons on the floor. Did the Prater 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 Plymouth jogging around the corner.

He lurched stealthily back into the sandwich shop, looking for Muerto and trying to wrap his head around what he was seeing and what Danielle had told him just an hour ago. At the back of the room, next to the coffee table, a door stood ajar. He lightly pushed on the door and peered into the darkness. All he could see were shadows that resembled a large reindeer with a box of candy.

He strode into the dark room, cursing himself as he did so. "Unbelievable, I know better than to even be here," he said to himself temperamentally.

That was his last thought before he felt a tote bag hit him on the spinal cord and everything went black.