Racing the Light (Elvis Cole #19; Joe Pike #8)(26)
“He’s kind of a dick. Josh hates him.”
“Wendy and Kurt work for Adele. Maybe Corbin hired people to watch the bungalow. Maybe the people last night work for him.”
“It’s possible, I guess. Corbin has people like Wendy and Kurt.”
“Guards?”
Ryan made an uncertain shrug.
“I guess so. Josh’s folks are kinda rich.”
“I thought they were retired teachers.”
Ryan smirked.
“Uh-huh. Right.”
I gazed down the hall toward the studio. The bungalow hadn’t been ransacked, but this didn’t mean it hadn’t been searched. If the meatball and his partner were looking for Josh, they had probably been looking for clues.
I said, “Did you find anything helpful?”
Ryan’s mouth tightened and he looked unhappy.
“I don’t know how helpful, but it pissed me off. Josh was working on something he didn’t tell me about.”
“What are you talking about, Ryan?”
He shifted, and I saw the computer behind him.
“A folder on the drive. Looks like research for a show.”
“On the computer?”
“Yeah. On the drive. It’s stuff he downloaded after Skylar called. All these downloads about real estate stuff.”
“What kind of real estate stuff?”
“Like from the news. Articles and stories and stuff. Looks boring as hell.”
“Is there anything about Skylar or Josh or his plans?”
“It isn’t about them. It could be a coincidence, I guess, but the download dates start when Skylar called. Remember what I said? I was right. Josh was working on something with this bitch and cutting me out.”
Ryan looked hurt and angry.
“We don’t know what he was up to, Ryan.”
“Screw him and screw her. I know I’m screwed.”
I sighed.
“Can you send me the folder?”
“It’s only articles. All public stuff.”
“Send it anyway.”
“Okay.”
“Anything else?”
“Isn’t this enough?”
Ryan looked sullen and miserable. I tried to think of something encouraging to say, but my best efforts felt maudlin and false.
I said, “Is there anything you need or want from here? I’ll bring it to you.”
“I don’t need shit.”
Sullen.
“Okay. Just remember. Don’t come back. Not until we know what’s going on.”
Ryan smirked.
“I’m never going back. And I’m keeping the computer. Fuck’m.”
Ryan hung up.
I let myself out, locked Josh’s bungalow, and headed for home. No red pickup trucks or dirty SUVs appeared in my mirror, but every vehicle was suspect. The Dan Wesson rode shotgun.
16
I phoned Joe Pike as I worked my way across Hollywood.
“This thing’s heating up. Two guys in an SUV tried to run me down.”
“Get the plate?”
“It was covered. You free tomorrow?”
“I’m anxious to meet them.”
“Come early tonight. I’ll fill you in before Lucy and Ben arrive.”
“Lucy asked me to take Ben after dinner.”
“She did?”
“So you can talk.”
“About what?”
“Didn’t say.”
“You didn’t ask?”
“No.”
Typical.
I picked up skirt steak, chicken thighs, and handmade nixtamal tortillas from a Mexican market on Franklin. The women at the little market made the tortillas in the traditional way, and made them to order. I ordered two dozen and watched them shape and pat the masa dough into taco-sized tortillas and flip them onto a hot comal. They didn’t use a tortilla press or a rolling pin. They worked the dough by hand the way they’d seen their grandmothers and great-grandmothers do it back in Cozumel, and they made the best tortillas I’ve eaten.
I stopped for salad stuff and veggies at a market closer to home and pulled into my carport a few minutes later. Nobody tried to kill me on the way.
The salad and veggies went in the fridge, then I set to work prepping the skirt steak and chicken. Skirt steak was my fave for carne asada. Thighs were great for tacos because they stayed moist. The prep work didn’t take long.
I skinned and trimmed the thighs, then laid them out on a sheet of foil. I seasoned them with chili powder, garlic powder, a little oregano, and salt. When the seasoning looked good, I dropped the pieces into a plastic bag, added a little olive oil and a couple of squeezes of lime, sealed the bag, massaged it to bring everything together, and tucked the bag in the fridge. I cleaned up the chicken gunk, laid out a fresh piece of foil, and repeated the prep with the beef. When the beef and chicken were marinating, I went out onto the deck and prepped the grill. When the grill was good to go, I showered, dressed, and returned to the living room with my laptop. I brought up the In Your Face website.
Skylar’s original appearance on In Your Face bore their typical snappy episode title.
#29: WANNA GET PAID FOR NASTY SEX?: PREPARE TO BE SCREWED!