“Like before? Sneaking around Josh’s bungalow?”
I wondered if they worked with Wendy and Kurt. Maybe Wendy and Kurt pulled the day shift, and the scarecrow and the meatball worked nights.
“Nah, uh-uh. They went in this time. Right through the front. I saw’m.”
“They entered his bungalow.”
“And get this, they were wearing those bug-eye goggles let you see in the dark. How about that, huh? Looked like a couple of spacemen.”
Probably weren’t working with Wendy.
“How long were they inside?”
“Nineteen minutes on the dot. I clocked’m.”
Nineteen minutes was long enough to ransack an apartment.
“Could you see what they were doing?”
“It was dark.”
“They didn’t turn on the lights?”
“Not even a flashlight. Place was as black as my butt crack.”
Another delightful image.
“Did they take anything when they left?”
“If they did, I didn’t see it, and you can bet your weenie I was looking.”
“Will you be home for a while, Mr. Karsey?”
“I’m always here and I’m always watching. Tell the old lady. She might wanna pass me some green.”
I started the car, drove to Ventura Boulevard, and pulled over to call Wendy Vann.
“Were you and Kurt at Josh’s bungalow last night?”
“No. Why?”
“A man and a woman entered his bungalow between three-thirty and four this morning. Were they yours?”
Wendy hesitated.
“They were not. What did they look like?”
I repeated Leon Karsey’s description and told her about his call.
Wendy stopped me.
“Hang on. They wore night vision goggles?”
“That’s what he said.”
“The guy’s a crank. He’s half a loon, Cole. Josh has told me stories about him.”
“I’m going to check the bungalow. How about you check with Corbin? See if they work for him.”
“I’ll ask, but if they worked for Corbin they wouldn’t have to sneak inside in the middle of the night. That it?”
“Josh’s phone. Can Adele access his account?”
“I’m working on it.”
“Either she can or she can’t. What’s to work on?”
“There are issues.”
“Did you ask her?”
“It’s complicated. These things take time.”
“Put her on. I’ll ask her myself.”
“I’m on it, Cole. Do you have anything new to report?”
“As of two days ago, Josh is in Los Angeles. He was seen twice in the past week.”
“Wait. Josh is here, and he’s ignoring her?”
“He isn’t in Nevada and he hasn’t been abducted.”
“Stop it. Where’s he staying?”
“I’m working on it.”
“Don’t be smart, Cole. This isn’t funny.”
“I don’t know where he’s staying.”
“With the porn girl?”
“He’s been seen with her, but I have reason to believe they’re not together. I’m not positive, but it’s shaping up this way.”
“Adele will ask. Why is he doing this?”
“I don’t know.”
“Is he in love? Is that it? He fell in love with a porno actress and he’s embarrassed?”
“I don’t know, Wendy. Maybe he doesn’t want to give his father another reason to shit on him.”
Wendy sighed.
“I hear you. Anything else?”
“The call log.”
“Jesus, Cole, I’m on it.”
Wendy hung up.
Her being on it wasn’t getting anywhere, so I called a friend named Terri Grafino. Terri worked for a company that owned twenty thousand signal towers throughout the United States. The company leased antenna space and signal repeaters to hundreds of cell service providers, whose billions of signals flowed through Terri’s system.
Terri sounded excited when she answered.
“This is so crazy! I was just thinking of you!”
“You’re always thinking of me. Who can blame you?”
Terri laughed.
“Nicky, for one, but let’s not tell him.”
Nicky was Terri’s husband. A week after they married, one of Terri’s former boyfriends started calling her, sending emails, and showing up at Terri’s office. Terri and Nicky got a restraining order, but the boyfriend ignored it. Then they hired me, and the harassment stopped. Terri and Nicky and I remained friends.