The Night Crew

'Cheryl, have you seen the TV news thing about the guy who jumped off the ledge here in L.A.?'

'Well, sure, everybody's seen it. You can't get away from it.' Then, excitedly, 'Was that you guys?'

'Yeah. It's getting around. Have you see the animal rights thing, at the medical center?'

'Oh, the guy with the pig. Cracked me up. Was that you, too?'

'About two minutes apart, story to story. And you're getting them way up there in Oregon?'

'Hey, it's not like we're in Tibet.'

As they talked, the Blue Shirt kid came upA

What was his name? Like the mountain, right? Not Everest. McKinley. Charles McKinley. He was playing the role just right, A

A

'Cheryl says she wants your body,' A

'She can have it, as long as she gives it a good cleaning once in a while,' Creek said. As A

When she got off the phone, she ripped dark's number off the scratch pad where she'd written it, looked at it for a moment, then folded it in two and stuck it under a magnet on the refrigerator.

Clark. She got a Coke from the refrigerator and sat on the piano bench with Creek, facing away from the piano. Creek smelled pleasantly of sun-sweat and turpentine.

'You're early,' she said.

'Thought you might like to talk, ru

'Yeah.' She'd told him that morning about the prowler, now she told him about the man in the apartment.

'Maybe I ought to look him up,' Creek growled, when she finished.

'I don't think so,' she said, reaching over to pat his back. His back felt like a boulder. 'He's got co

'I don't want him fuckin' with you,' Creek said.

'I don't think he will,' A

'Yeah, I. guess.'

She felt the sudden evasiveness in his voice: 'Look at me, Creek,' she said.

He shook his head. 'I ain't looking at you.'

'Oh my God, you jumped her,' A

'Did not. Jump her,' Creek said. 'And that's a nasty phrase anyway. High school.' He segued to a couple of bars of 'Ain't Misbehavin'. 'But she is a tastylittle thing.'

'Pretty hard edges for a cheesecake,' A

'Hey, you know, nobody really appreciates what a woman cop goes through every day,' Creek said tartly. 'Especially one with some decent looks.'

'Just how much of her did you look at?'

'None of your business.'

'Ah. And would I be right to suspect that this somehow leads to your getting the cabin painted on the boat? You smell like paint.'

'She wants to learn to race and she's go

'Help like Teri did.'

Creek shuddered: 'I asked you never to mention that name.'

'Sorry.'

'Now I have to find a priest,' Creek said. 'To cleanse me.'

She smiled now. 'Sorry again.'

'Easy to be sorry,' Creek said. 'You don't have to live with the pain.'

A

And after a little while, A

The music stopped. Creek turned to her, suddenly pale, as though the tan had run out of his face, like blood. 'Aw, shit,' he said.

They left A

Louis was sitting outside his apartment, standing on the curb in his white shirt and plaid jacket, carrying the laptop. He'd updated the address database with GPS numbers, and claimed that with his new GPS receiver he should be able to put them within a few feet of their actual position, anywhere in L.A. County, southern Ventura or Santa Barbara.

'What's happening with Jason?' he asked, as he ducked his head and climbed aboard.

'I'm trying to figure out a funeral,' A

Louis started monitoring the cops from his apartment, an hour or so before they went out. He had a sca

'Boys or girls?' A

'Girls. There was a call about ten minutes ago. The cops hit a club up there, cocaine thing, and I guess dumped a bunch of girls out on the street, lined them up, and a fight started. Somebody said it looked like a riot.'

'Everybody'll be there,' Creek said. He sounded as grumpy as A

'I don't think so,' Louis said, not yet catching the crankiness in the front seat. 'There hasn't been much on the air. You sorta had to be following it.'

'So let's go,' A

The riot was a bust.

A few cop cars still lingered, a few girls strolled along the street, mostly looking at reflections in the store windows. There was the familiar air of trouble immediately past, but no actionlike arriving ten minutes after a thunderstorm, with nothing but puddles to show for the violence.

They headed toward the valley, A

'Wish the bitches had been doing something,' Louis said. 'Would've made the night simple.'

'Don't call them that,' A

'Why not?' Louis asked. That's what.'

'Shut the fuck up, Louis,' A

'Ooo, what's your problem?' He was smiling, trying for a bantering attitude, but he didn't understand.

'Best be quiet, Louis,' Creek said, and Louis shut up. A minute later, A

'Is there a problem I don't know about?' he asked tentatively.

'Yeah, but it's mine,' A

'Fatburger coming up,' Creek said. Creek knew every Fatburger in L.A. County.

'Stop, I need some caffeine,' A

'Diet Coke.'

'Fatburger and a Coke,' Creek said.

A