“Antoooone!” Sal groaned.

Joe nodded pleasantly. “Very sorry to lead you two to a dead end, but we’re not from around here. Me and my partner just started delivering for Aldo, and I guess we better get to know the roads better, seeing as we can’t use Google maps ’n all.” 

Sal leaned across the car’s middle console and squinted up at Joe. “What? Google hats? Where are you from anyway?” 

“China,” Joe answered matter-of-factly.

“You a communist?” Sal said. 

Joe tilted his head thoughtfully. “Geez, I never thought of it that way, but yeah, I guess so.” 

“Well, just so you know, not too many people around here like a communist,” Sal said. 

Meanwhile, back in the orange Caddy, Chief sat in the driver’s seat, watching the scene go down from the rearview mirror. He couldn’t hear what they were saying, but he didn’t like the looks of it. He pushed open his door and got out of the car. 

Sal watched the guy walk toward their car, and he reached into his jacket pocket like he was going for a gun.

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