JONATHAN KELLERMAN. THERAPY

“Untucked,” I said. “Wonder if he’s armed.”

“Wouldn’t shock me.”

I reloaded the camera and photographed Degussa and Hacker as they got in the Explorer. The SUV hooked an illegal U, returned to Washington, turned south on Inglewood and pulled to the curb just shy of Culver Boulevard, in front of a bar called Winners.

One of those clay-colored, cinder-block masterpieces with a Bud sign in the single fly-specked window and a HAPPY HOUR WELL-DRINKS discount banner above the door.

Milo spotted a space across the street, ten yards north. He hung his own illegal U and parked.

I click-clicked the front of the bar.

Milo said, “Too small for us to go in without being noticed, so we just wait.”

*

An hour later, Hacker and Degussa still hadn’t emerged. Half an hour in, Milo had chanced a walk down the block and a look-see around the back of the bar.

“The rear exit’s bolted. Eventually, they’ll have to show at the front.”

As we sat there, he checked with Sean Binchy a couple more times. No record, so far, of Jerome Quick or Angela Paul flying anywhere.

Jerry and Angie.

Gavin and Christi.

Like-father-like-son had spawned a nightmare, and I found myself feeling sympathy for Quick, no matter what else he’d done.

Milo groused, “No record at the Mexican border, but what the hell does that mean? After 9-11, you’d think they’d register every damn car, but they don’t, it’s still that stupid random crap. Leaving a big fat hole for Quick to walk through.”

I was about to commiserate when movement in front of Winners caught my eye.

“The party begins,” I said.

*

Hacker and Degussa and two women stood on the sidewalk as their pupils adjusted to the light.

A blonde, a brunette, both in their late thirties. Big hair, heavy in the hips and bust. The blonde wore a black tank top over epidermal jeans. The brunette’s tank was red. Backless high-heeled sandals gave them both a mincing, butt-jiggling walk. Alcohol added some wobble.

Faces that had once been pretty had been paved over by bad decisions.

Hacker stopped to light up, and Degussa stretched his arms around both the women. Cupped their breasts. The blonde threw her head back and laughed. The brunette made a playful grab for his groin.

Milo said, “Classy.”

The four of them got in the Explorer and returned to Hacker’s apartment, entering the subterranean garage through an electric gate.

“Party time,” said Milo, “and yet again, I’m not invited.”

CHAPTER

43

The building’s manager was a man in his sixties named Stan Parks. He wore a short-sleeved white shirt and gray slacks, had thinning hair and a disapproving mouth. A thirty-year-old Caltech engineering diploma hung behind his desk. His office was on the ground floor, next to the elevator, and the rumble of the lift shook the room at random intervals.

He said, “Hacker has no lease, just a month-to-month. He and his roommate.”

“Raymond Degussa?”

“Raymond something. Let me check.” Parks tapped the keys of a laptop. “Yup, Degussa.”

“Did he move in the same time as Hacker?”

“Two months later. Hacker cleared it with me. I told him no subleases, the check had to come from him, no split obligations.”

“How are they as tenants?”

“They’re okay. Your month-to-months, they’re the ones who give you troubles. I prefer leases, but it’s not one of the best units, stayed vacant a long time.”

“What’s wrong with it?”

“There’s nothing wrong with it, it’s just not one of our best. Not the harbor side, and the way the trees grow at that particular height you can’t see much of anything on the other side.”

“What trouble has he given you?”

Parks frowned and played with a pencil, stippling three fingertips, then passing the shaft between his fingers. “Look, I’m not just the manager, I’m part owner. So if there’s something going on that affects the building, I need to know.”

“Who are the other owners, sir?”

“My brothers-in-law, the dentists.” The elevator vibrated the room. Parks sat through it, stoic. “I depend on this place. Is there something I should worry about?”

Milo said, “At this point, no. What kind of problems have Hacker and Degussa given you?”

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