"Yeah, I joked around with him a little, but we didn't talk. He didn't have the gift of gab, you know? Me, I like to talk. Him, he just seemed kinda awkward and sad."
"Did he mention his family?"
Golden laughed.
"Some dude calling for a whore doesn't bring up his family. Look, I don't want to be best buddies with these people. I don't give a shit who they are or where they're from. I tie up my phone with one guy, no one else can get through-I'm losing money. Like now."
I tried to think of something else to ask, but it was clear Golden didn't have anything more to offer. I folded the list of names and put it away.
I said, "Okay, Stephen. Page them and set it up for tomorrow, then give me a call-"
I took out a business card and put it in the little bowl with his wallet.
"You can reach me at this number, and I know that you will."
Golden's face brightened, surprised that Joe and I were going for it and anxious to get us out of his house. You could almost see the wheels turning behind his bushy eyebrows. As soon as the girls called back, he would warn them, tell them to split town, and then be on the horn to his attorney. He might even leave town himself.
I said, "You know how I know, Stephen?"
"Hey, I said I would, didn't I? You're giving me a big break here."
"That's right. And I'm also taking your computer."
I closed his laptop, then jerked out the cables. Golden's eyes widened and he lurched forward, but Pike touched his arm.
Pike said, "Stay."
Golden froze in place between us. Marsha went back to the kitchen and called from the door.
"For Christ's sake, Stephen. Dinner's going to suck."
I tucked his computer under my arm and moved to the door.
He said, "That's fucking stealing! You can't just come into someone's house and steal their stuff!"
"I'm not stealing it-I'm holding it hostage. If your girls come across, you'll get it back. If they don't, it goes to the police."
Pike opened the door, then glanced back at Golden. Pike shook his head, and went out.
Golden said, "This is bullshit!"
"Call me tomorrow morning or it goes to the cops."
"Fuck you, you asshole! Fuck Faustina, too!"
I stopped, and turned hack to him when he said it. His face paled, and his rage became something soft.
I said, "What?"
He shook his head.
I let myself out, pulled the door shut, and stood on the porch. Pike was in the street, his sunglasses reflecting red like nighttime cat eyes. Inside, Marsha called Stephen Golden to dinner.
14
A gentle onshore breeze carried the smell and the taste from the sea, six blocks away. A thin maritime fog swirled overhead, bright with reflected light. The fog dampened neighborhood sounds, and left the world feeling empty. Pike watched me approach. When I reached him, we were in the street, two guys just waiting. We had no reason to wait, but something felt unfinished. I stared at Golden's house, wondering if I had forgotten an obvious question or an even more obvious conclusion. When I looked at Pike again, he was still watching me.
"I saw how you looked at him. A couple of times in there when he said things."
"What do you mean?"
"Are you all right with this?"
I glanced back at the house, but its face hadn't changed. It was a house. I didn't know if I was all right or not. I tried to explain.
"I work a case for other people. It's always about someone else. This time, too; Faustina is a stranger-but it ended up feeling like I was here about me. I wasn't sure what to ask. None of it seemed as clear."
I thought about it.
"I guess."
We stood in the street. Out on Main, a horn blew. A dog barked as if fighting for its life, and then the barking abruptly stopped. I smelled garlic.
After a while, Pike said, "You did fine."
We walked back up the street to his Jeep, then made the long drive back to my house, bumping along in traffic like a million other Angelenos, but the sense that my night's work was unfinished remained. We left the 405 at Mulholland and drove east along the spine of the mountains, neither of us speaking. The fields of light on either side of us that marked the city and the valley did not glitter that night. They were hidden behind lowering clouds. The stalled spring rain had thinned