“We’re good. I got it.”
Pike pushed the man against the car, and pulled his hands behind his back. Cole bound his wrists with a plasticuff, then slipped behind the wheel to search the car. Pike frisked the man, found nothing dangerous, and walked the man to his Jeep.
“Are you the police? C’mon, man, I didn’t do anything wrong. Am I under arrest?”
Pike opened the rear driver’s-side door, pushed the man inside, and climbed in behind him. He pulled the door closed, took out his phone, and snapped the man’s picture. The man cringed when the flash went off.
“What are you doing?”
Cole climbed into the shotgun seat, and flashed the man’s phone.
“Phone and wallet. Has a scanner in his car. Guess what he’s listening to?”
The man said, “So? It’s a popular hobby.”
Pike checked the photograph for clarity, and texted the picture to Isabel. She called immediately.
Pike said, “What do you think?”
“OhmiGod. It’s him. Where are you?”
“He’s here. I’m putting you on speaker.”
Pike put the call on speaker, and asked her again.
“Do you recognize the individual?”
“He’s one of the assholes who kidnapped me. The one around the corner. YOU ASSHOLE!”
Pike said, “Call you later.”
Pike hung up. The man glanced from Cole back to Pike, and wet his lips. They were finished with acting.
“You’re him. The guy.”
“I’m him.”
Cole said, “He’s him.”
The blond man waited for Pike to say something, but Pike said nothing. The blond man filled the silence.
“All right. So call the police.”
“No police. This is a private matter.”
Pike brought up the picture he’d taken of Boris. Dead in the hall. He let the blond man see.
“What’s his name?”
The blond man glanced away, but his gaze returned to the picture.
“Where’d you get this?”
“I took it. What’s his name?”
“Ronson. This was you? At the house?”
Pike showed him the picture of Spot.
“Name.”
“Stanley. Now listen, you got me, okay? Be cool.”
Pike held up the shirtless man’s photo. The blond man answered before he asked.
“Wallick. Don’t kill me, okay? I don’t want to be part of your collection.”
Pike lowered his phone.
“Your name.”
“Jason Stegner. I’m Stegner. God’s honest truth.”
Cole said, “DL says your name is Richard Mills.”
“It’s a fake. C’mon. I’m Stegner. Jason Stegner. I swear.”
Cole said, “Why are you here, Mr. Stegner?”
“The girl. We thought she might come back. Something happened, but we didn’t know.”
Cole said, “She isn’t ‘the girl.’ She’s Ms. Roland.”
“Sure, whatever you want.”
Pike said, “I want Hicks. Where is he?”
“Looking for the girl. For Ms. Roland.”
“Looking where?”
“I don’t know. Hicks told me to watch her house. I don’t know where he is.”
Cole said, “When you want to see him, where do you find him?”
“Wherever he says. I call him or he calls me. Like that. We don’t hang out.”
“You work for Hicks?”
“Yeah.”
“Who does Hicks work for?”
“I don’t know. Some guy. A drug dealer. Hicks calls him the cowboy.”
“You don’t know his name?”
“Hicks didn’t tell us. He’s like that. The less you know, the less you can tell.”
“Like now.”
“I would tell you. Believe me.”
“The cowboy. Is he here in L.A.?”
“Hicks talks to a cat named Riley. Riley’s here with some other guys. They work for him. Riley calls, Hicks jumps.”
Pike thought for a moment.
“You’re going to call him.”
“The cowboy?”
Cole sighed.
“Hicks, stupid. Keep up.”
“I just called. He didn’t answer. I got the voice mail.”
Cole said, “You’re going to call.”
Stegner’s phone rang, cutting him off. The ring sounded like the Road Runner from the old Chuck Jones cartoons. Beep-beep, beep-beep.
Cole glanced at the screen, showed it to Pike, then showed the incoming number to Stegner.
“It’s Hicks. This is him.”
The phone rang again. Beep-beep, beep-beep.
Pike said, “Kill it.”
The beeping stopped.
“Why’s he calling?”
“Returning my call? I don’t know.”
Pike thought for a moment. He took Stegner’s phone, and touched the screen. The phone asked for a password.
Pike said, “Password.”
Stegner told him. Pike opened the phone, and set it aside. He showed Stegner the picture of Spot. A refresher.
“We’re going to call. Tell him you couldn’t answer because a man walked by. A man with a dog. You couldn’t move.”
Stegner nodded.
“Okay.”
“Give us away, it’ll be your picture I show the next man.”
Stegner’s jaw flexed. He wet his lips.
“What do you want me to say?”
“Say you need to see him, whatever you need to say so we end up face-to-face.”
“Okay.”
“What’s the number?”
Pike entered the number. The speakerphone rang loudly in the quiet confines of the Jeep. Hicks answered on the third ring. His voice was high and excited.
“What the hell, why didn’t you answer? I need you.”
Stegner started to tell him about the man and the dog, but Hicks cut him