The Night Crew

'All right,' she said. 'Just checking.' She ran the tape back to the start, let it run, and said, 'Let's goand leave f the lights on and the door open. And let's leave the door open downstairs.'

'What was that all about?' Harper asked, when they were back in the car.

'Well, we wanted a look at Harnett,' A

She punched a number into her cell phone and said, 'I want to report a burglary in progress, in Burbank, yes, right now.'

When she finished, she hung up and said, 'Okay, so now the cops'll come. They'll find the break-in, and the tape going, so they'll stay a while.'

'And now we call Harnett,' Harper said.

'Exactly.'

'Better let me,' Harper said. 'If he's the guy, he'll know your voice.'

Harnett answered on the third ring, sounding sleepy. Harper said, 'Mr Harnett, this is James T. Peterson with the cleaning company. Mr Harnett, there's been a big break-in at your office, we called the police, but I think you better get up here.'

Harnett arrived in a year-old Buick, the back end of the car making a T-shirt frowny face at them as it bounced over the curb into the parking lot. Norden said, 'Here we go.'

A cop was standing by a squad car, talking on a radio. When Harnett got out of his car, the cop held a hand up to slow him down.

A

'Yeah, the LoBall,' Norden said. 'It's closed.'

'Yeah, but we were there to look at the shooting. He did an interview with somebody else, and I grabbed him and we did a couple of minutes. He was pretty good. He wouldn't give us his name, that's why it didn't ring a bell. I remember him saying he'd rather not give his name. I thought he might have done TV.'

'White hair,' said Harper.

'Yeah, but he's kind of fat. That guy in the parking lothe was soft, but he wasn't fat, exactly.'

The cop slammed his car door and led Harriett into the building and out of sight.

'How long ago?'

A

Norden nodded: 'About that. The guys who ran the place were always in trouble with the cops, and the shooting was the last straw. I think they were open for a couple more months, and then they were out. There's another place there now.'

A

Harper frowned: 'If he's the guy, he's nuts.'

'But there're cops all over the place. What's he go

The phone rang in her pocket, and she fumbled it out. 'And if he's the guy, it'll freak him out. He'll show us something.'

She pushed the button on the phone and a woman's voice squeaked, 'A

'Yes?'

'I'm dying.'

'What?' She looked at the phone. 'Who is this?'

'China Lake.' The voice seemed distant, weak. 'I'm dying.'

'What.' She was sputtering, and Harper and Norden were looking at her curiously.

Then a man's voice, rougher, familiar: 'She's dying, A

A

Harper, alarmed, said, 'What?'

'It's him.'

Chapter 21

'Listen to her.' The man's voice was like a snake's, a hiss of pleasure.

Jake had bolted from the car, was ru

Then the woman in A

'Where are you?'

'She's around, that's where,' the man said. 'I saw you tonight. What are you doingare you looking for me? If you're looking for me, I'll tell you what, that's not a good idea. I'll cut the top off your goddamn head off and eat your brains.'

The voice was right: the voice was the man in the parking lot, the man who'd shot Creek. A

'A

'I'm here,' she said.

'You're not very talkative.'

'I amlooking for you, you asshole; and this better be a rotten joke.'

'Or what?' He laughed. 'What're you going to do?'

'I'll kill you,' A

'Oh, you'll kill me? You hear that, China? She's going to kill me. Here, you wa

China's voice was a whisper. 'I can't see; I'm getting really cold.'

'Let her go,' A

'No. She's go

'You fucker,' A

But A

Nobody there. She stood there with the phone in her hand, looked at Norden, then turned around to look down the street at Harnett's building. A cop hurried out of the building, followed by Harper. As they scrambled to the cop car, Harper turned to look toward her. A

'Can't be right,' A

'If she's here, she's probably back in one of the bathrooms, that's where she usually is,' the woman smirked.

A

'No, go away,' a woman's voice, shrill, not China.

A

The guy tried to shrug, then said, 'What's that?'

'Damn it.' She went back into the hall and Harper caught her and said, 'Nothing?'

'No.'

'She's not upstairs,' Harper said. He put both hands on his head, trying to think, and a bouncer came up behind him and said, 'You guys got a problem?'

'Yeah,' A

'What's the problem?'

'We think a fruitcake grabbed her. She could be in serious trouble,' Harper said. He was using his cop voice, and the bouncer said, 'You know, she was here an hour ago. I think I saw her going out, she was alone. Let's go ask Larry.'