I connected a video conference with my union rep. Bobby DeAngelo was, as usual, the picture of efficiency. He had been my rep at the Henchman Union since his predecessor, Mike Gambino, got rubbed out in the great Gambino purge of ‘06. Apparently there had been some disagreement over where to place garbage collection depots, and it had definitely not agreed with him.

“I gotta tell you, Phil” he smarmed, “it’s not looking so good for this action of yours. Apparently the charter is ambiguous about using the families of people employed by someone. That means that GlobTrak is no longer allowed to blackmail you with Angela and Nick, but given a good enough laywer, bada-bing bada-boom BioWeps could get out of a union sanction.”

This was not what I had wanted to hear. However I could no longer delay it, I had to go and spill the beans to Angela.

I trudged down the stairs with a heavy heart. As she smiled at me from the couch, I said: “Angela, we have had some financial problems lately, and I had to take steps…”