ch9 pg 56-57

THE night girl Roxanne looked up from her book and acknowledged us as we walked by. There were no messages.
I stood at the bar and poured Samantha and myself a drink. The rain continued to splatter my window and rattle the sliding doors. She took the glass from my hand as I sat down.
"That might explain where the money came from, Greenie's bets."
"But why would he send it to me?" Samantha took a seat next to me on the couch.
That was a good point. Why? If the money was meant for her, why kill him and then start to look for it? Dead men don't talk.
Samantha got up and stood in front of the window. Her silhouette was outlined by the dim lights of the city. She arched her back as she took a sip from her glass.
I had seen enough. The two of us alone looking at the lights of Waikiki was enough for me to get up and turn on the lamp. I walked over to the window and stood next to her.
"Why don't you sleep on it? It's been a long day for you."
"I slept all day."
The heat from her body made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Her dark eyes, glimmering from the light of the lamp locked onto mine.
It hit me that I was in a penthouse suite on Waikiki Beach with a beautiful woman next to me. If that wasn't enough, we were sipping drinks and it was raining. Samantha was on deck waiting for a chance at bat.
I got back to business. As soon as Ronnie got wind of this thing, he would want answers. I stepped back and cleared my throat. "How many runners did you work with?"
Samantha turned away from me and stared out into the night. "I think there were six. Chucky Silva took care of Pearl. Steve, he worked the hotels in Waikiki. Greenie mentioned a guy named Rick, I don't remember his last name, he worked the North Shore. The three others were small timers. There was some guy named Chris, another guy named Gary and a woman he called Gwen. I never met them or got their last names."
The runners were people who collected the bets, but even runners had people that worked for them. Wives, friends, cousins, anyone who was interested in putting some action in took a piece of the pie. Runners usually took ten percent of the six-five action. If the runner had someone else taking bets, he would split that amount.
"Any idea what shop Chucky worked in?" Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard was made up on different shops and divisions.
"Chucky was a sheet metal worker." She was all business now.
"What about the Steve guy? What hotel did he work in?"
Samantha wheeled around and faced me. "Is this an interrogation?"
I sighed and put my hands on her bare shoulders. "You have to help me out on this. The cops are going to be breathing down my neck wondering just how much you know about the whole thing. I need something to keep them off my back."
She realized I was right. "I don't know what hotel Steve worked at. Rick worked at one of the surf shops in Haleiwa. They both brought in a ton of action."
"I need some specifics Samantha."
"I can't tell you what I don't know," she said as she broke away from me and pouted on the couch.
The phone rang.

"Yes?"
"Darling, we gotta talk." It was Ronnie.
"What's up?"
"I'm coming over."
That wouldn't do. "Meet me at The Study."
"Wait for us." He hung up.
Who was 'us?' I turned to face Samantha. "There's one more thing I have to check out. I'll be a while, but you'll be okay here."
"Do you have to go out now?"
I looked into her eyes and nodded my head. The fact that I was ten years older than she was brought me back to reality.
"You go and get some sleep. I'll be back before you know it."
"Wake me when you get back."
I was waiting for that but when I got it, I didn't know what to do with it. I just nodded and walked out the door.
Roxanne looked up at me as I passed her desk.
"I'll be in The Study," I told her.
She nodded back as the elevator doors opened.