Sunset Express

I said, 'What's he talking about?'

Truly nudged me. 'Jonathan knows what he's doing.'

Green bellowed, 'We do not rest. We continue to investigate. And, ladies and gentlemen, we are about to blow the lid off the evil and the desire for personal gain that underlies this tragic and wrongful prosecution!'

Jonathan abruptly turned away from the microphones, and a wall of sound came from the press. They surged around us and shouted their questions, and just as abruptly Kerris and maybe a dozen of his security guys appeared from nowhere and surrounded us in a kind of flying wedge. Truly was smiling. I grabbed his jacket and shouted to make myself heard. 'What's he talking about, Truly? What just happened here?'

Truly laughed. 'The truth happened, Cole. Don't worry about it. We'll see you at the party.'

Kerris's people worked us across the plaza and down to the parking structure. I moved with the crush of bodies the way a leaf is carried by the wind, a part of an unseen world, yet not.

CHAPTER 18

I drove back to the house feeling hollow and uncertain, and spent the rest of the afternoon waiting for Lucy to return from her shopping excursion with Jodi Taylor.

Darlene called at ten minutes after three and said, 'Good afternoon, Mr Cole. How are we today?'

'We're fine, Darlene. And yourself?' I wondered if she had seen the press conference.

'Would Ms Chenier be about?' I guess not.

'I expect her return shortly, Darlene. May I take a message?'

Darlene hesitated, and seemed confused. I have never known Darlene to sound confused. 'Oh, no message. Please ask her to call.'

'I don't expect her for another hour or so, Darlene, and it's already after five, your time. Is tomorrow okay?' Baton Rouge was two hours ahead of us.

'She could call me at home.'

'Is everything all right, Darlene?'

'Everything is fine, Mr Cole. Please have a good evening.'

We hung up, and maybe five minutes later the cat door clacked and I heard him in the kitchen. I got up from the couch and found him standing just inside his door, motionless, tiny nose twitching as he tested the air. I said, 'It's just us.'

He stared at me for maybe forty seconds, then crept to the living room and tested the air again. I said, 'How about some tuna?' He hadn't been home in almost four days, and I had missed him.

I opened a small can of Bumble Bee Fancy White, sat on the floor, and put it down beside me. He loves Bumble Bee Fancy White. It's his most favorite thing. That and field mice. 'Well?'

You could see him catch the scent. You could see his eyes widen and his nose shift gears and his ears perk. He looked at the can, took two steps toward me, then squinted back toward the living room. He made his little growl.

'Lucy and Ben aren't here, but they will be. You'd best get used to it and get over this attitude you have.'

He stopped the growling and came over but did not touch the tuna. I stroked his back, but he did not purr. 'I know, buddy. I feel a little bit disrupted, too.'

He head-bumped me, then trotted out of the kitchen and up the stairs, heading for the safety of my loft, moving fast in case Lucy or Ben was lying in wait. I had to shake my head, but at least he was home. You take your progress where you find it.

I checked my office messages at 3:45. Thirteen more interview requests were jamming the machine, but there was also a message from Toni Abatemarco, saying she had something on Stuart Langolier. I called her back and said, 'What's the word, Toni?'

'I'm showing seven arrests over a five-year period, starting when he was sixteen for grand theft, auto. We've got a couple more GTAs, one count of fencing stolen auto parts, and an armed robbery. Real working-class doofball stuff.'

'That's it?' I was thinking about Jonna Lester. I was wondering what Stuart Langolier had to do with James Lester.

'His most recent arrest was eight years ago. Nothing after that. I can fax this stuff to you if you want.'

'Sure.' I gave her the number. 'Is there a James Lester listed as an accomplice or a known associate?'

'Hang on and lemme see.' I waited. 'Nope. I don't see one.'

I thought about it some more. 'How about a phone number or address listed for Langolier?' I thought I might call him. I thought I might ask him why Jonna Lester had brought him into this.

'There is, but it's eight years old, so I double-checked with information. There is no Stuart Langolier listed or unlisted in Santa Barbara, or anywhere in Ventura county.'

'How about an attorney?' His docket sheet would list his attorney of record. I could call the attorney and see if they had a current address.

She said, 'Sure. He had a public defender named Elliot Truly.'

I was poised to write it down, but I didn't. I said, 'Stuart Langolier was represented by a public defender named Elliot Truly.'

'That's right. You want his number?'

'No, babe. I think I have it.' I thanked Toni for the good work, told her to say hi to her husband, Frank, and then I hung up.

I stood in my kitchen, staring at the canyon through the glass doors for a time, and then I dialed Truly's number. 'Mr Truly's office.'

'This is Elvis Cole. Is Truly in?'

'I'm sorry. Could I take a message?'

'How about Jonathan?'

'I'm afraid they can't be disturbed.'

I hung up again.

I showered and changed and was just getting ready to run down to my office when Lucy got back. I wanted to check the fax. I wanted to have the facts with me when I confronted Truly at the party and asked him what in hell was going on. Lucy came in flushed and excited and beaming, carrying a shopping bag with shoes and a long plastic dress bag. She said, 'I want to show you! It's absolutely gorgeous and they took up the hem right there while we waited and it's just perfect!'

Her smile made me smile. 'You would look perfect in anything.'

'Yes, but I'll look even better in this.'

I reached to peek into the bag, but she held it away. 'Don't peek. I want you to see me with it on.'

'How about I see you without it on, then with it on, so I can decide which way I like you better. Sort of like before and after.'

She smiled. 'If you're as smart as I think you are, you'll rave about me both ways.'

I pulled her close. 'I'll rave, but smart has nothing to do with it.'

She kissed my nose. 'I'm having such fun.'

'Me, too, Luce. I'm glad you guys are here.'

We kissed again, and then I told her that Darlene had called and said that Lucy should phone her at home.

Lucy frowned. 'She said to call her at home?'

'Unh-hunh. I asked if there was a problem, but she said no.'

Now Lucy wasn't smiling. She seemed somehow distant and distracted.

'Lucy?'

She smiled again, but now it was forced. She stepped back. 'I'd better call Darlene and see. Why don't you go along to the office and I'll show you the dress when you get back?'

'You sure?'

She was already moving toward her room. 'I'm sure it's business and it could take a while. I'll model the dress when you get back.'

She disappeared into the guest room and closed the door.

I said, 'Okay.'

The marine layer had burned off but it was bright and hot as I drove down to my office. We get these inversion layers, and the air stops moving and grows milky from the exhaust of five million cars. A thin haze was forming to the east. I was surprised that Jonathan Green would allow an inversion layer on a day when he was going to have a party. Might cast a pall on the entire affair.

I parked in my spot, walked up the four flights to my floor, and saw that my door was open. I stepped in and found Dan Tomsic sitting on the couch. He looked large and heavy, and his eyes were closed. I glanced at the fax. Something had printed out in its basket. I looked back at Tomsic. 'I could've sworn that I locked the door.'