The Sentry - By Robert Crais Page 0,49
Jared to come down, and Jared turned from the window.
Cole was waiting outside his house when the door opened and Jared came out.
“Hey, dude, whassup? You with the police or the big dude?”
“The big dude.”
“Dude’s all right. I like that cat. I already told him about those banger dudes I saw. Him, and the police. They were here yesterday.”
Jared had seen a lot of action in the past two days. He was comfortable with it.
“I’m not here about the banger dudes. I was hoping you could tell me how long Dru’s been living next door.”
“Dude. I’m so bad with time.”
Cole waited, letting the silence press Jared for an answer.
Jared finally shrugged.
“Gotta be three months. Steve hooked it back to London three months ago. That dude has cash. He’s always in Europe.”
“She moved in the day he left?”
“That’s the way it works. Steve brought her over, introduced her to my mom, this is my house-sitter, all of that stuff.”
“When did her uncle move in?”
Jared glanced across the street and made a sly smile. Cole wondered at both the hesitation and the smile.
Jared said, “The next day.”
Jared glanced across the street again, and Cole sensed Jared wanted to say something so badly he could not maintain eye contact.
Cole said, “What?”
“I see things, dude. Dru has a hot body. She lays out a lot. I’m up in that window for a reason.”
“Tell me, Jared.”
“I don’t think Uncle Wilson is Uncle Wilson. They don’t always act like relatives, if you’re catching my subtext here.”
Cole stared at Jared for a long time. He felt cold inside, but his mouth was dry and the morning sun was hot on his skin. A knot of anger blossomed in his chest like cherry-red fire.
“Do not say this if it’s bullshit.”
“Dude. I have a dead-on view of their yard. I can see in their windows, and she doesn’t pull the shades. I’ve seen them fucking. I think she digs it that I watch.”
The cold grew until Cole felt numb. He stared at Steve Brown’s house, and wondered who these people were and if everything the woman told Pike was lies.
Cole looked back at Jared, but didn’t know what to say. The best he managed was a nod.
Cole did not try to hide what he did next. Jared might have gone back into his house, but Cole didn’t notice because Cole didn’t care.
Cole found the key in its place by the gatepost, opened the gate, and let himself into the house. He knew what he wanted and what he would do with it.
He pulled on the vinyl gloves as he went to the kitchen. During his earlier search, he had seen folded paper grocery bags wedged into the gap between the refrigerator and the counter. He pulled out several bags, shook one open, then placed it on the counter. He selected three glass tumblers from the dishes left on the counter, put each in a separate bag, and placed the three bags carefully into the open bag. He collected two empty Diet Coke cans and a water bottle from the family room, bagged them the same way, then went up to the master for the metal box with Wilson’s papers. He brought it down to the kitchen.
Cole stopped in the downstairs guest bedroom on his way out. A few of her things were there, but now he wondered if she really used the room or if it was just for show. An empty stick of Dry Idea antiperspirant deodorant was on the dresser. He added it to the bag, then locked the house and gate as he left.
Cole returned to his car, but did not start the engine. He called a friend named John Chen, who was a criminalist with the LAPD’s Scientific Investigations Division.
“John? I need you to check some prints. I need it done fast.”
“Dude. I’m at a drive-by in Hawaiian Gardens. I’ve been here all frakkin’ night.”
“I need this, John. It’s for Joe.”
Chen hesitated, which told Cole he would agree.
“Okay. Okay, for sure.”
“I can bring the samples to you. Where in Hawaiian Gardens?”
“Uh-uh, bro, way too many witnesses here. Meet me downtown in an hour. Make it an hour ten. Outside CCB.”
Cole closed his phone and headed for downtown Los Angeles.
24
Elvis Cole
As an employee of the Los Angeles Police Department, John Chen, like the department’s sworn officers, was forbidden to perform unauthorized case work, use city resources for personal gain, or help civilian private investigators off the books. These were good and valid rules to preserve the