Vinny pushed open the heavy door of the building at the back of the alley, leading to a dim hallway. He looked back at Gallante's tall frame shadowed by the fading light of the street and shuddered, their encounter still fresh in his mind. He was told the Boss could snap at anytime at anyone, but he couldn't have known how easy it was to set him off... He sighed and shook his head, telling himself to put it aside for now and continue the job. Gallante stepped past Vinny during his inner pep talk and rapped his knuckles against his forehead.<br/><br/>"Ey, Sleeping Beauty, let's get movin we're burnin moonlight 'ere." Gallante continued down the hall as Vinny followed, rubbing his head. They approached another heavy door and Vinny executed a series of knocks, two fast knocks then a break followed by three more. A voice crackled from an unseen speaker.<br/><br/>"Password, fellas." the voice sounded tired, but there was an edge there. Vinny answered with, "It was the One-armed Man." There was a silence that stretched for a few seconds, until the shifting of metal was heard behind the door. It swung inward and light poured out, along with a muffled Jingle Jangle Jingle playing over an old record player. The man on the other side seemed human in most respects, middle aged by the look of him, with a medium build and the looks out of one of those old soda ads, like the spitting image of a decent working man in the 50s. Though, the off putting thing was his missing arm. No stump, no indication an arm was even there, just a hole.<br/><br/>"Well, a good howdy doo to you, there, fellas." He spoke cheerfully, but he made it apparent he'd been up for a while and wasn't happy about it. "What can I do for you this fine night?"<br/><br/>Gallante stepped past Vinny and clasped the other man on the shoulder. "Robert, my boy...I need some, uh, flowers. A good friend of mine is having his funeral today, and I can't show up empty handed, you know?" He strode past him, into his small shop and up to the counter. The shelves were all bare and reinforced with steel, though the counter was made of fine wood. Robert followed and stepped around the counter. "I know it's late, and short notice, but help a guy out would ya? We're friends, aren't we?" He gripped Robert's hand and squeezed it tightly, feigning a look of profound sadness. "Be a pal..."<br/><br/>Robert felt the credits press against his palm and smiled up at the poor man. "Why, of course we're friends, Gallante, so I'll help ya out." He reached under the counter and pressed a button, causing the sound of cracking gears to sound behind the walls. Then, the walls flipped outward, revealing an assortment of weaponry, from close to long range, silent to loud, personal to well, "collateral damage." Robert tucked the credits into his pocket and watched as the two men perused his collection. "If you don't mind me askin, Gallante, when did your friend kick the bucket?"<br/><br/>Gallante turned to him, brandishing one of several semi-automatics. "Oh, he's not dead yet." He wiped his hand along the weapon, testing its weight. "I just have...I don't know, a feeling or a premonition. I think something terrible is going to happen to him. Better to be prepared, isn't that right, Vinny?"<br/><br/>Vinny, for his part, nodded dutifully before returning to hefting out a nice rifle for himself.<br/><br/>"It'll be quite the public affair, gunned down I think. Terrible. Just terrible. And all because he stole from someone very important."<br/><br/>Robert blinked and shook his head. "Well gee, this feller doesn't sound too smart to me, if you pardon."<br/><br/>Gallante stuffed a few more choice pieces into his coat and headed for the door. "No. He wasn't."