Sunset Express

I nodded.

'Elliot tells me you'll be joining our little soiree this evening.'

'That's right. Thanks for inviting me.'

'I understand you have a lady friend.'

'She's an attorney, also. She's excited about meeting you.'

'Well, who can blame her?' Jonathan made a little laugh. 'Ha-ha.' I glanced at Truly and Truly was nodding. Serious.

Jonathan said, 'We'll discuss the team's progress and direction. I want you to be a part of that meeting. I don't want you to feel left out.'

I said, 'You don't have to handle me, Jonathan.'

'I know that, son. I respect you.'

I recovered my gun, then we stepped out into the plaza and a wall of people and cameras and microphones surged forward and enveloped us. I thought that maybe this wasn't the jail anymore and maybe I wasn't me. Maybe I'd stepped through Calvin and Hobb's transmogrifier and I was no longer a detective and Green was no longer a lawyer. Maybe we had just discovered life on Titan. Maybe we had found the cure for AIDS and were about to tell the world. Why else would so many people be here shouting questions?

Jonathan went to the microphones. 'We're not here to answer questions, but I want to make a short statement.' He spoke in his normal voice, and the crowd shushed itself to hear him.

Jonathan's expression turned somber, and then he looked at me and again rested his hand on my shoulder. He said; 'As you all know, three days ago Mr Cole found important evidence that both the police department and the district attorney's office failed to uncover, evidence that we believe supports our client's claim of innocence. Both the police department and the district attorney's office promised to evaluate this evidence, and act on it, but they have not.' He let go of my shoulder, and the somber expression turned fierce. 'We demand that the police stop their footdragging and issue immediate arrest warrants for Stephen Pritzik and Elton Richards. Concurrently with this, and in consideration of the state's weakened case, I hereby request that the district attorney stop this injustice, admit the failure of his investigation, and dismiss all charges against Theodore Martin. In lieu of that, we have filed a motion with the bench to set bail so that Mr Martin might be released.'

Reporters in the back were tossing out questions as the reporters in front pushed their microphones even closer.

Jonathan's voice grew, and the fierce expression became outraged. He grabbed my shoulder again, and all the grabbing was making me uncomfortable. 'The tyranny of evil men cannot be hidden from the light of truth! We have not only uncovered evidence of a specific crime, but also of gross incompetence, negligence, and a police department all too willing to obfuscate the truth in an attempt to hide their own shortcomings.' Still cameras were clicking and videocameras were panning, and they seemed to be panning toward me.

I said, 'What's he talking about?'

Truly nudged me. 'Jonathan knows what he's doing.'

Green bellowed, 'We do not rest. We continue to investigate. And, ladies and gentlemen, we are about to blow the lid off the evil and the desire for personal gain that underlies this tragic and wrongful prosecution!'

Jonathan abruptly turned away from the microphones, and a wall of sound came from the press. They surged around us and shouted their questions, and just as abruptly Kerris and maybe a dozen of his security guys appeared from nowhere and surrounded us in a kind of flying wedge. Truly was smiling. I grabbed his jacket and shouted to make myself heard. 'What's he talking about, Truly? What just happened here?'

Truly laughed. 'The truth happened, Cole. Don't worry about it. We'll see you at the party.'

Kerris's people worked us across the plaza and down to the parking structure. I moved with the crush of bodies the way a leaf is carried by the wind, a part of an unseen world, yet not.

CHAPTER 18

I drove back to the house feeling hollow and uncertain, and spent the rest of the afternoon waiting for Lucy to return from her shopping excursion with Jodi Taylor.

Darlene called at ten minutes after three and said, 'Good afternoon, Mr Cole. How are we today?'

'We're fine, Darlene. And yourself?' I wondered if she had seen the press conference.

'Would Ms Chenier be about?' I guess not.

'I expect her return shortly, Darlene. May I take a message?'

Darlene hesitated, and seemed confused. I have never known Darlene to sound confused. 'Oh, no message. Please ask her to call.'

'I don't expect her for another hour or so, Darlene, and it's already after five, your time. Is tomorrow okay?' Baton Rouge was two hours ahead of us.

'She could call me at home.'

'Is everything all right, Darlene?'

'Everything is fine, Mr Cole. Please have a good evening.'

We hung up, and maybe five minutes later the cat door clacked and I heard him in the kitchen. I got up from the couch and found him standing just inside his door, motionless, tiny nose twitching as he tested the air. I said, 'It's just us.'

He stared at me for maybe forty seconds, then crept to the living room and tested the air again. I said, 'How about some tuna?' He hadn't been home in almost four days, and I had missed him.

I opened a small can of Bumble Bee Fancy White, sat on the floor, and put it down beside me. He loves Bumble Bee Fancy White. It's his most favorite thing. That and field mice. 'Well?'

You could see him catch the scent. You could see his eyes widen and his nose shift gears and his ears perk. He looked at the can, took two steps toward me, then squinted back toward the living room. He made his little growl.

'Lucy and Ben aren't here, but they will be. You'd best get used to it and get over this attitude you have.'

He stopped the growling and came over but did not touch the tuna. I stroked his back, but he did not purr. 'I know, buddy. I feel a little bit disrupted, too.'

He head-bumped me, then trotted out of the kitchen and up the stairs, heading for the safety of my loft, moving fast in case Lucy or Ben was lying in wait. I had to shake my head, but at least he was home. You take your progress where you find it.

I checked my office messages at 3:45. Thirteen more interview requests were jamming the machine, but there was also a message from Toni Abatemarco, saying she had something on Stuart Langolier. I called her back and said, 'What's the word, Toni?'

'I'm showing seven arrests over a five-year period, starting when he was sixteen for grand theft, auto. We've got a couple more GTAs, one count of fencing stolen auto parts, and an armed robbery. Real working-class doofball stuff.'

'That's it?' I was thinking about Jonna Lester. I was wondering what Stuart Langolier had to do with James Lester.

'His most recent arrest was eight years ago. Nothing after that. I can fax this stuff to you if you want.'

'Sure.' I gave her the number. 'Is there a James Lester listed as an accomplice or a known associate?'

'Hang on and lemme see.' I waited. 'Nope. I don't see one.'

I thought about it some more. 'How about a phone number or address listed for Langolier?' I thought I might call him. I thought I might ask him why Jonna Lester had brought him into this.

'There is, but it's eight years old, so I double-checked with information. There is no Stuart Langolier listed or unlisted in Santa Barbara, or anywhere in Ventura county.'

'How about an attorney?' His docket sheet would list his attorney of record. I could call the attorney and see if they had a current address.

She said, 'Sure. He had a public defender named Elliot Truly.'

I was poised to write it down, but I didn't. I said, 'Stuart Langolier was represented by a public defender named Elliot Truly.'

'That's right. You want his number?'

'No, babe. I think I have it.' I thanked Toni for the good work, told her to say hi to her husband, Frank, and then I hung up.

I stood in my kitchen, staring at the canyon through the glass doors for a time, and then I dialed Truly's number. 'Mr Truly's office.'