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And he went, hurrying away across the stone patio, Creek peering after him. In the background, they could hear sirens: fire rescue, too late.
'What was that all about?' A
Creek shook his head. 'I don't know.'
'Well.' A
The jump was there, in and out of focus, but undeniably real, taking her breath away: and at the last second, the man's arms flailing, his face passing through the rectangle of the lens display, then the unyielding stone patio.
'Jeez,' she said. She looked at Creek. 'This is.' She groped for a concept, and found one: 'This is Hollywood.'
Creek muttered, 'Better go. The pigs are about to fly.' She nodded and they headed for the truck, walking fast, but not too fast. The cops were disorganized at the moment, but five minutes from now they wouldn't be. This would not be a good time to be noticed.
Louis had backed the truck into the street, jockeyed it into a no-parking zone.
'Where's Jason?' he asked, as A
'Took off,' A
'How come? Did he shoot it?'
'Yeah, he got some great stuff,' A
'Don't sound like the Jason we know and love,' Louis said, puzzled.
An ambulance went by, and Creek turned the truck in another U and they headed through light traffic back west down Wilshire.
'We get it all?' Louis asked.
'We got it all,' A
'As a poke,' Louis said.
'Yeah. Let's find a spot where we can see the mountain.' A
Creek looked at her curiously, and Louis said, 'Hatton? Why're you calling Hatton?'
'Revenge,' A
Jack Hatton came on ten seconds later, his voice the perfect pitch of good cheer: 'A
'Don't "how you doing" me,' A
'A
'Don't A
'A
'Go away.' And she clicked off.
Beside her, Creek gri
From the back, Louis said, 'Such language. we really go
'No,' A
'Most excellent,' Louis said, with great satisfaction. 'Get me a place where I can see the mountain and I will crank this puppy out.'
A
Chapter 2
All done.
A
At moments like this, coming down in the pre-dawn cool, Creek and Louis already headed home, she thought of cigarettes; and of younger days, sitting in all-night jointsa Be
A
A
A
Sometimes she thought she was going crazy, but it was a happy kind of craziness.
A
Venice was coming backwas even fashionablebut she'd lived on Li
The interior of A
The walls were of real plaster, would hold a nail, and were layered with a half-century's worth of paint. Hardwood floors glistened where the sun broke through the windows, polished by feet and beach sand. They squeaked when she walked on them, and were cool on the soles of her feet.
The lower floor included a comfortable living room and spare bedroom, both filled with craftsman furniture. A bathroom, a small den that she used as an office and the kitchen took up the rest of the floor. The kitchen was barely functional: A
'The fact is,' Creek told her once, 'your main cooking appliance is a toaster.' Creek liked to cook. He considered himself an expert on stews.
On the second floor of A
The tub was a rectangular monstrosity in which she could float freely, touching neither bottom nor sides nor ends; in which she could get her waas smooth and round as a river pebble.
In the adjoining bedroom, the queen-sized bed was covered with a quilt made by her mother, the material taken from clothes her parents had worn out when they were young. Under the canal-side window, the quilt looked like rags of pure light.