The Night Crew

'Jesus,' Anna said, pinching the bridge of her nose. 'Cowboy. You were probably born in Reseda.'

'So is there a point, or not?'

'Well,' she said, letting her eyelids droop, 'I wouldn't totallygive up.'

'Totally,' he said, satisfied.

Tracing Bob took time. The administration offices were closed, but they found a course guide in the library. Anna thought Bob and Jason had been taking an editing course together: they found a course description that might be right, located the classrooms on a map. They got into the building as a kid was coming out, then walked through the hallways, looking for someone who might be a teacher. They didn't find any, but after talking to a few students, scored with two pale-faced kids in an editing room.

'Red-haired guy, skinny, sorta hard-faced like a skater,' Harper said, giving them a description from Anna.

'Like from Arkansas, or somewhere? This hillbilly accent?' asked one of the kids.

Anna snapped her fingers: 'That's him: I forgot the accent.'

'Well, his name's Bob, all right. I don't know his last name, but he works at Kinko's, at night.'

Bob was already on the job, and recognized Anna as soon as they walked in. He lifted a hand, walked over: 'How's it going?'

'We need to talk,' Anna said. 'About Jason.'

'Jason? I haven't seen him for a couple of weeks.'

'We doneed to talk,' she said. She looked around. 'Who's your supervisor?'

They took him out behind the Kinko's, into an overflow parking lot, where he lit a cigarette and said, 'Jesus, I can't believe he's dead. Dead?'

'We're gonna send his ashes back to Indiana,' Anna said.

Bobhis last name was Catwellshuddered: 'When I die, I hope they don't send me back to Fort Smith. Nasty.'

'He was murdered,' Harper said. 'The guy who did it took his time. Beat him to death. His skull was in about fifty pieces.'

'Aw, man,' he said. Then: 'What do you want? Why are you talking to me?'

'Whoever killed him may be coming after me. I don't know why, but that's the way it is,' Anna said. 'There's a possibility that whoever did it was somehow involved in dealing drugs to Jason. You know Jason got into it a little heavyand the last time I saw you, you both were into it.'

'Oh, no,' Catwell said. He flicked the cigarette in a bush and took a step back toward the store.

Harper moved quicklyvery quicklybetween Catwell and the Kinko's back door. Anna remembered the ease with which he'd taken her at the apartment. He said, 'We really need to know where you got the crank, or whatever.'

'Fuck you,' Catwell said. 'You can get killed talking about shit like that.'

'Talk to us, or talk to the cops,' Anna said. 'The cops are crazy to get this guy. He's killed two people and shot a third one.'

'That sounds like a reason notto talk.'

'If you give us a name, we'll forget you,' Harper said, pressing him. 'If you don't, we'll feed you to the cops. They'll be on you like a hot sweat. And when they get the name, they won't hide where they got it. You'll be right down there identifying the guy.'

'I don't have to tell anybody any fuckin' thing.' He walked around Harper toward the door.

'You know better than that,' Anna said, talking to his back. 'Sometimes you do have to tell; you know they can squeeze you. If you don't help us, the cops'll be here in ten minutes. So help: please.'

'You won't be able to stay here if you don't,' Harper said. 'Your ass'll be back in Fort Smith.'

'Please,' Anna said.

Catwell got to the door before he stopped. He faced the door, unmoving, for a full ten seconds, then finally turned, and said to Anna, 'So you used to, like, party down with Jason and Sean.'

Anna, confused by the tone of his voice, said, 'What?'

Harper asked, 'Sean? MacAllister?'

Catwell shifted his gaze to Harper: 'You know him?'

'Yeah, I saw him last night,' Harper said. To Anna, he said, 'The late Sean MacAllister.'

Anna was closing in on Catwell. 'When you said I partied down with them, what'd you mean?'

Catwell's eyes slid away, and he made a 'you know' bob of his head: 'You know.'

'No, I don't; but I've a bad feeling about what you think.'

'Well, maybe it's not true,' Catwell said.

'That I was sleeping with them?'

'Yeah, I guess.'

'Where'd you hear that?'

'Listen, if it's not true.'

'I don't care about that, 'cause for one thing, they're both dead.'

'Sean?' Now Catwell was scared. 'They killed Sean, too?'

'Yes.' Anna nodded. 'Same guy, but with a knife. Now where'd you hear I was sleeping with them?'

'Uh, you came to a party one night, off Sunset? To get Jason, but he was really wrecked? So you left without him?'

She remembered: 'At BJ's. Upstairs.'

'Yeah.'

'What's BJ's?' Harper asked.

'Club,' Anna said. To Catwelclass="underline" 'So what'd they tell you?'

'That, uh, you know.'

'What?'

'Slept with them. At, uh, the same time. like in a pile.'

'Ah, jeez,' Anna said. 'They told everybody that?'

'Sure. I mean, like it wasn't any big secret.'

'I didn't even knowMacAllister,' Anna said.

'He and Jason had an apartment together, over by BJ's, down the hill from there,' Catwell said.

Anna looked at Harper and walked in a circle around the parking lot, ran her hand back through her hair: 'Jeez.'

'What?'

She looked at him: 'He's not trying to kill me. I'm perfectly safe,' she said.

'Say that again.'

'I'm not in troubleyou'rein trouble,' Anna said.

'What're you.'

'He's not gonna kill me. He's gonna kill you, Jake. Somebody already said it. Pam? I think Pam didhe's killing the guys he sees around me. Ah, God: he only shot Creek because Creek was with me. If we'd seen it.'

'Huh.' Harper thought it over. 'Like he's eliminating the competition.'

'Yeah. So I've got no problem.'

Now Harper shook his head: 'Don't think that. If he gets to you. I don't think you'd enjoy the date.' And to Catwelclass="underline" 'Who else was at that party? High-school kids?'

'I don't know. People coming and going. Street kids, for sure. I don't think they were in high school no more. But I was loaded, man. I can barely remember. but I remember the story about Anna.'

'Good memory,' Anna said.

Catwell said, 'No, man. I mean, it was like a hotstorywhat you guys done. They said they were gonna send it in to Penthouse.'

'Aw, man, that damn Jason,' Anna said. 'Uh, you didn't tell anybody you'd been sleeping with me?'

'No. Jesus.'

'So give us a name, Bob,' said Anna.

He was weakening. 'Goddammit, if I do, you can't tell anyone.'

'We're not interested in you,' Harper said. 'We just need a name. The guy who sold to Jason.'

'Tarpatkin,' Catwell said softly. 'He works out of the Philadelphia Grill on Westwood. He's a Russian, he'd be there by now, probably. Later, for sure.'

'Does he sell wizards?'

'What? Wizards?'

Harper described them and Catwell shook his head: 'Tarpatkin's been around a while. He only sells to people he knows and he only sells coke, heroin and high-priced hash. He doesn't fuck around with that other shit.'

They got a description: Tarpatkin was tall, gaunt, pale, with long frizzy black hair and a goatee. 'He looks like the devil,' Catwell said. 'And Jesus, please don't let him find out who you talked to.'

'Got time to swing by the hospital again,' Anna said, looking at her watch. 'He says the guy's at the grill all night.'

'All right.' Harper had a remote key entry for the car, unlocked her door from twenty feet, then opened it for her, touched her back as she got in. Almost courtly, she thought. Old-fashioned. Not unpleasant. 'Sorry about that sleeping-around thing. bunch of kids bullshitting. Nobody pays any attention to it.'

'Somebody did,' Anna said. 'Stilclass="underline" I'm a little shocked.'

'So we've got to check this BJ's place. Our guy must be hanging out there, if he heard that story.'