chapter 23

take a miracle

As Joe snarfed up the last bite of his meatball sub, Aldo came back into the room, jangling his car keys. “You boys ready to get to work? We usually get busy within the next hour or two.” He threw the keys on the table. “Why don’t you take her for a spin?” 

Joe grabbed them and said, “Awesome, thanks!” They had only been in the ’70s for less than an hour, and Chief and Joe already had a job delivering pizza for a place that was fronted by the mafia. Chief knew it wasn’t a good idea, but what other options did they have?

They needed Aldo’s battleship-sized Cadillac to find the Cornstalk and the Tomato and intercept the Ching. He didn’t like that the car was bright pumpkin-orange—no flying under the radar with that color—but he had to work with what they got. 

But first, the Chief needed to get them out to the car without ticking off Aldo. Joe had eaten massive amounts of food, and Chief needed to at least offer to pay in a way that sounded believable, even though they actually had no money if Aldo accepted. This would require some delicate maneuvering, because if they ticked off Aldo, it’d be no car— and no getting the Ching and no going back home, ever. 

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