There were other places like it, all over the city.
Newspapers, especially those in the cold-weather zones, love to portray L.A. as a Balkanized smog-blinded armed camp with no more substance than a sitcom and no more altruism than a politician. It's not any closer to the truth than a lot of the other stuff in the papers.
Sherrell Best was packing along with his parishioners, distinguishable as the leader only because he had to break to take frequent phone calls.
He came over to us. "This is a wonderful person."
Lucy blushed. "Saint Lucretia."
"The kind of good she's created has to come from a beautiful soul, Dr. Delaware."
"I know."
"Please," said Lucy, placing a packet of cookies into the box.
"Wonderful," said Best. "Can I steal the good doctor from you for a second, Lucy?"
"Only if you bring him back."
He took me into a cubbyhole office and closed a particle-board door that didn't cut out much of the noise. On the wall were some of the same type of biblical pictures he'd had in his kitchen.
"I just wanted to thank you for all you've done," he said.
"It was my pleas-"
"It was exceptional, the way you stuck by her. She's blessed to have met you and so am I." He gave me a troubled look.
"What is it, Reverend?"
"You know, for a time I thought if I ever found what happened I'd take the law into my own hands. The Bible exhorts against revenge, but it also permits the Blood Redeemer his due. There were times I thought I'd do something terrible. My faith was lacking."
Tears filled his eyes.
"I could have been a better father. I could have given her money so she didn't need to-"
"Stop," I said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I'm no Solomon, but I know the difference between a good father and a bad one."
He cried some more, softly, then snapped out of it. Drying his eyes, he took my hand in both of his. "How selfish of me- so much work to be done. Always hunger."
I returned to the packing line.
Lucy's hands moved like a weaver's at a loom. She was trying to smile but her mouth wouldn't cooperate.
"Thanks for coming," she said. "Guess I'll be seeing you at the beach tomorrow."
"Here, too," I said. "I think I'll stick around for a while."
Jonathan Kellerman
Jonathan Kellerman is one of the world's most popular authors. He has brought his expertise as a child psychologist to numerous bestselling tales of suspense (which have been translated into two dozen languages), including thirteen previous Alex Delaware novels; The Butcher's Theater, a story of serial killing in Jerusalem; and Billy Straight, featuring Hollywood homicide detective Petra Connor. His new novel, Flesh and Blood, will be published in hardcover in fall 2001. He is also the author of numerous essays, short stories, and scientific articles, two children's books, and three volumes of psychology, including Savage Spawn: Reflections on Violent Children. He and his wife, the novelist Faye Kellerman, have four children.
