She said, “We are way overdue for a dinner. Pick a night, and it’s yours.”
“Can we put it off a couple of weeks? Lucy and Ben are coming.”
“I’m pouting. Can you see my pouty lips?”
“Flawless.”
“Ha. So this job. What do you need?”
“Call log on a blind number. I don’t know the service provider.”
She thought for a moment.
“Identifying the current provider is doable. As for the rest, I dunno. If one of our contract companies provides service, maybe. If not, I might not be able to help.”
“Whatever you can do, Terr.”
I read off the number twice, thanked her, and drove to Los Feliz.
Twenty-two minutes later, I crept up Josh’s street. Cars, trucks, garbage cans, and dumpsters lined the sides, reducing the street to a single grudging lane. Parking was the usual hillside nightmare. I was six houses away when I passed a woman climbing into a Volvo. I hit the brakes and backed up, feeling as if I’d won the lottery.
I was walking uphill when a white SUV parked across from the red bungalow pulled from the curb and rolled toward me. I moved to the side and the SUV picked up speed. The SUV was dirty. A thick pelt of dust coated the windshield and hood, and dried mud caked the bumper as if the two men inside had been off-roading in a pigsty.
The SUV came faster.
I stepped to the side even farther.
The driver punched the gas and the SUV swerved toward me.
I jumped onto a Chevy’s hood and shouted.
The SUV flashed past.
The driver tried to mask his face with a hand, but the wraparound sunglasses gave him away. The ponytailed man in the passenger seat didn’t bother. He grinned as they passed, as if he was sorry they missed me.
I tried to get their license number, but dried mud caked the plate.
I watched the SUV disappear.
I sat on the Chevy in the very hot sun for a long time. Then I returned to my car, put on my gun and my jacket, and went to check Josh’s bungalow.
15
Leon Karsey stepped outside as I climbed the steps. He wore the same shorts and T-shirt as yesterday.
“You gonna see what they did?”
“I am.”
“Can I come?”
I changed the subject.
“Two men were down below in a white SUV. They were in a red pickup yesterday, pretending to be gardeners. Today they were in the SUV. They’re watching for Josh.”
Karsey stood on his tiptoes and craned to see the street.
“You’re shittin’ me. Where?”
“They’re gone. Males around forty. The driver had a round face and wraparound sunglasses.”
“The meatball?”
“Didn’t look burly, but his head was roundish. The other man has a thin face and a long black ponytail.”
“You sure he’s a man? The scarecrow’s a woman.”
“He’s a male.”
Karsey craned for the street.
“I’ll keep an eye out.”
“Don’t get involved. Please. These people are dangerous.”
Karsey stopped craning and leered.
“I got a little something something inside for dangerous people. Wanna see?”
“Not today. Thanks.”
I left Karsey at his door, crossed to Josh’s bungalow, and examined the locks. Both the knob and dead bolt keyholes showed the bright golden scrapes of a pick gun. I let myself in with the key.
I had expected Josh’s bungalow to look like Skylar’s apartment, but it didn’t. The living room looked the same, only neater. The soda cans, takeout cups, and fast-food debris were gone. The kitchen counter had been cleared. It was possible the meatball and the scarecrow worked as midnight janitors, but the odds were against it.
I circled through the kitchen and down the hall to the studio. Yesterday’s clutter of printouts and folders stood in a single neat stack. The Post-it Notes sprouting from the monitors and lamps like pink and blue fins had been removed and clipped together. The floor was free of clutter and the table had been straightened. Skylar Lawless still smiled from the poster, licking her gleaming teeth, but something felt off. I studied the studio from the door, trying to figure out what, and finally saw it. The big monitors and audio equipment remained, but the desktop computer and keyboard were missing.
I dug out my phone and called Ryan.
Ryan said, “Yeah, I know. I took it. Easier to go through it here.”
“Did you take anything else?”
“A hard drive. Why, what else is missing?”
I told him about the meatball and the scarecrow.