Chapter Nineteen
I had stepped from one ordeal, into another.
As I emerged into the large room, at least ten sets of eyes turned to me. A group of seven men sat around a central table piled with cash and playing cards. At the far edge of the table, one of the men held the rest of the deck—the dealer. The space was long and narrow, with a low ceiling supporting overhead lights that illuminated the men with a yellow glow. The air was thick with smoke, wafting from the myriad cigarettes and cigars the players at the tables held clamped between their teeth.
A gambling den.
Four of the closest men were Asian, wearing shirts and smart pants which stuck out against the others present, who were apparently members of The Hounds, and were dressed like their friends from out front. But the one th
