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name?”
    “ Candi, Candi Slaughter.”
    “ Candi… God, are you kidding?”
    “ Hey look, Louie, I only just met her last night.”
    Louie picked up a pen and scribbled something on a legal pad. I guessed it was Candi’s name. He stared for a moment, shook his head then snorted, “You got more action last night than I’ve seen in years.”
    I let that last remark slid e. I love Louie, but at best he’s mildly drunk by four o’clock on just about any afternoon, at worst he’s totally hammered. He’s grossly overweight. His personal hygiene leaves a lot to be desired. He usually wears one of three suits, all wrinkled from sleeping in them. A remnant of whatever he last ate is usually dribbled across his untucked shirt. His idea of a balanced meal is beer and bourbon. And those are his good points, none of which seemed to be a ringing endorsement in a woman’s quest for a life partner.
    “ Candi,” Louie said, gazing up at the bare light bulb in the ceiling lost in his thoughts.
    “Just lucky I guess.”
    “You didn’t happen to see your friends the D’Ang elo brothers or anyone doing something suspicious like rolling a roulette wheel out a side door, did you?”
    “No, far as I could tell Gino and Tommy never showed.”
    “ Gino and Tommy, you’re on a first name basis now?”
    I shrugged.
    “This Candi Slaughter know anything?”
    “Actually , the subject never came up. I’m working on it Louie, relax. If there’s something there I’ll find it.”
    “Sounds to me like you already have.”
     
    Chapter Ten
    10:30 on a sunny Sunday morning and I was sipping coffee at Nina’s. The place was filled with people. All of them looked like they were in no hurry to be anywhere. I was waiting for Aaron LaZelle to show up. He was my pal from the police department, currently a Lieutenant in Vice, although it was rumored he was on the move up the ladder again.
    He came in through the back door and was behind me with a hand on my shoulder before I knew he was in the place.
    “Need a refill?”
    I hal f jumped out of my chair. “Damn it, Aaron, don’t do that, God, I’ll drop over from a heart attack.”
    “Sorry , Mister Touchy, I thought you private investigator types were supposed to have eyes in the back of your head?”
    “I do, but they were closed.”
    “Need a refill?” he asked again.
    “Yeah, black.”
    “I’m gonna get some pastry, you want something?”
    I was going to tell him I’d already had a caramel roll , but the last one was so good I said, “Yeah sure. I think maybe I’ll try one of those caramel rolls.”
    “Good, give me ten bucks will you?”
    “What?”
    “ Hey look, you called me. I’m here. I know you plan to pump me for some sort of information. The least you can do is buy me coffee and a pastry. What’s the problem? I’m the guy bringing it all to the table.”
    I gave him a twenty and made a mental note to list it on my expense rep ort to Louie.
    I went back to checking the crowd while Aaron worked his way forward in line. I was studying two women who I would have rated 9’s or 10’s before I’d met Candi. Now I was thinking they probably had pain-in-the-ass personalities.
    Aaron set the coffees down then slid a hubcap-sized caramel roll toward me. “See anything worthwhile?” he asked.
    “Actually no, I’m guessing they’re probably a pain in the ass.”
    “The blonde and the Asian woman?”
    “Yeah, you checked them out?”
    “Hello.”
    “God, they’re doing the little piece thing. You know , where they pull a crumb off so it doesn’t look like they’re really eating a lot. I’ve had dates eat their meal and half of mine like that.”
    “Yeah, it’s the kiss of death when they just want a little bite of your dessert.”
    We chatted on for a few minutes until Aaron got tired of me wasting his time.
    “So, what do you want?”
    “Want? Wh y do I have to want anything? Can’t I just want to see you, hang with my pal? Apparently buy him