Her voice was all strain, an octave higher. Milo released her arm, spun her back so she faced him.
“The truth.”
She rubbed her wrist. “Big brave guy. I’m filing a complaint.”
“I’m sure it was a thrill having him here,” said Milo. “Younger guy, I’m not judging. But now he’s gone- with a woman his own age- and things out in the real world have grown ugly, so it’s time to toss the May-December fantasies and help me get to the truth.”
Bunny MacIntyre gaped. Smiled. Slapped her flank and roared with laughter.
When her breathing finally slowed, she said, “You thought he was my boy toy? Man, are you stupid!” More laughter.
“You’re covering for him,” said Milo. “All for a platonic relationship?”
MacIntyre laughed herself hoarse. “Stupid, stupid, stupid! He’s family, you dolt. My sister’s son. She died of cancer and so did Barnett’s father. And despite what the government claims you’ll never convince me it wasn’t because of all that radiation.”
“ Los Alamos.”
She blinked. “Let me tell you, they got all kinds of crazy things going on there. Few years back there was a huge fire, burned thousands of acres black but spared the lab. That sound logical? Supposedly it was set on purpose by some Smokey Bear types to control forest fires and the winds blew it out of control.” She snorted. “Tell it to the marines.”
“Barnett’s your nephew.”
“Last I heard, that’s what you call a sister’s son. I’m all he’s got left, mister. He’s an orphan, get it? I was willing to take him in from the beginning but he didn’t want a handout so I sent him over to Gilbert Grass. When Gilbert retired, I told him I could really use the help. Which was true. Is helping family illegal now?”
“He’s got a sister in Ohio.”
MacIntyre pursed her lips. “That one. Married a banker, rich snob. She always looked down on Barnett ’cause he wasn’t much for schooling. Not stupid, don’t go thinking he was stupid. He had trouble reading but give him a pump to fix, or something to build, and he’d do it in a flash.”
“Good for him. Now where is he?”
“He’s a good boy,” said MacIntyre. “Why don’t you just leave him alone?”
“Where is he, ma’am?”
“Don’t know.”
“Ms. MacIntyre- ”
“You deaf?” She rubbed her wrist some more. “You can pull a Rodney King from today till tomorrow but I don’t know. He didn’t tell me.”
“He left without a word?”
“He left thanking me for everything I’d done, said it was time to go. I didn’t ask questions because I don’t like to ask questions and Barnett doesn’t like to answer them. He’s been through enough. The man’s a vegetarian, that tell you something?”
“He likes animals.”
“He’s peaceful.”
“When did he leave?”
“Three days ago.”
“His truck’s here.”
“Gee,” said MacIntyre, “Sherlock Holmes must’ve put on a few pounds.”
“What’s he using for wheels?”
Silence.
“Ma’am?”
“He’s got another one.”
“Another truck?” said Milo. “It’s not registered.”
“It’s registered to me.”
“Then it’s your responsibility, not his.”
“Suppose so.”
“What kind?”
MacIntyre didn’t answer.
“Something happens,” said Milo, “the liability is yours. And if it’s registered, all I have to do is make a call.”
She twisted her mouth.
“If it’s not,” he said, “you’re in trouble.”
“Haven’t gotten around to it yet. It was Gilbert’s, I bought it from his widow.”
“What make?”
“Also a Ford.”
“Color?”
“Also black.”
“Where does Barnett keep it?”
“Somewhere in Santa Clarita and don’t ask me where ’cause I don’t know.”
“Auto-storage facility?”
“One of those customizer places. He’s having work done on it. Souping up the engine, big tires, you know- boy stuff. Don’t you think he’s entitled to have some boy fun?”
“Is he traveling alone?”
“You just said he had a girl.”
“Did you know it before I told you?” said Milo.
“He mentioned he had a friend, but that’s it, don’t know her name.”
“Never met her?”
“No, but she’s good for Barnett and that’s all I care about.”
“How do you know she’s good for him?”
“He’s started getting a little happy.”
CHAPTER 44
We headed back to the road and Milo did another BOLO check as I started up the Seville. Shook his head. “Now I’m manhandling crones.”
“She’ll survive.”
“Thanks for the support,” he said. “Where’s your sensitive side?”
“Dormant. Want me to head over to Santa Clarita, find the garage that worked on Barnett’s other truck?”
“Too much work for too little payoff. Malley and Cherish are already out on the open road. The question is which road.”
“There’s also the matter of Cherish’s Toyota.”
“You think they’re traveling separately? You heard MacIntyre. Barnett’s happy.”
“It would take more than romance to bring joy into his life.”
“What do you mean?”
“Maybe he refused to cooperate with you because he had his own plan. The word ‘closure’ should be dropped from the English language, but a guy in his position might figure getting some sort of satisfaction could ease his pain. And Cherish could help him.”
“Payback,” he said.
“That’s another word for it.”
By the time I made it back to the Valley, the sun was starting to drop. I drove straight to the park where Kristal Malley had been murdered, hoping for simple bloody symmetry. Instead of Drew’s body we found only a scrubby, sad space pocked with trash.
Milo had his little penlight out and he washed the skinny beam over the same public lavatories described in Sue Kramer’s police report, the same Dumpster, now reeking of waste.
The same swings, where a pair of young killers had sat smoking and drinking beer.
No kids here, tonight. No people at all. Off in the distance, the crumbling, flat-roofed units of 415 City were top-lit harshly, security bulbs spanking the darkness. A police siren howled, then dopplered to silence. Shouts and laughter and drumbeats filtered through the night. The air was heavy and oppressive and dangerous, like hands around a throat.
Milo pocketed the penlight. “Nice try. They could be anywhere. Maybe Cherish really did want to go to Vegas.”
I said, “Where exactly was Lara found?”
He sat down on one of the swings. The chain howled in protest. Phoning Sue Kramer, he asked her the same question, listened intently. Made some notes and hung up and handed them to me. “For what it’s worth.”
The Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve is 225 acres of what passes for natural habitat in L.A. Created by a dam filled with undrinkable water and army-engineered flood-drainage channels, and planted with native vegetation, the refuge is sandwiched between two freeways yet motion-picture gorgeous. Birds love it and a couple hundred species migrate in and out. People are welcome with qualifications. No hunting, no fishing, no bikes, no feeding the ducks. No straying off the well-marked paths.
Following Sue Kramer’s directions, I entered on Balboa Boulevard, just below Birmingham High School, cruised a treeless stretch of road. A short while later, the L.A. River appeared, an empty, graffiti-marred trough in this drought-plagued winter.
Milo said, “She parked right there.” Pointing to a spot bordering the river, half-hidden by an initial planting of eucalyptus.