Sunset Express

He nodded. Upset about last night, maybe.

'Come on out.'

Ben came out. He was wearing baggy pajama bottoms and a white T-shirt. When he came out the cat lowered his ears and growled. Ben said, 'He doesn't like me.'

'It's not you. He doesn't like anyone.'

'He likes you.'

I nodded. 'Yeah. He likes me and Joe, pretty much, but he doesn't care for other people. I've never known why.'

The low gutter of his growl spiraled up into his war cry and I grew worried he might charge. I'd seen him charge, and it wasn't pretty. I said, 'Knock it off.' Loud.

The growling stopped.

'That's better.'

His ears stayed down, but at least he didn't leave.

Ben crossed the deck to the rail, keeping one eye on the cat, and looked out at the canyon. He put his weight on the rail, then leaned out. He said, 'Hawks.'

Two redtail hawks were gliding low over the canyon. 'They're redtails. They nest up the canyon.'

He bounced on the rail. 'I think I heard coyotes last night. Was that coyotes?'

'Yep. A family lives by the reservoir.'

He bounced faster, then edged along the rail and bounced more. Nervous. I guess he hadn't come out just to look at the hawks. 'Your mom and I are going to work things out, Ben. It's okay.'

The bouncing stopped and he gave me the same eyes that he'd given me when we'd first met, eight-going-on-nine and taking care of his mom. 'She was crying.'

I drew a deep breath. I squinted at the canyon, then looked back at him. 'Is she crying now?'

He shook his head. 'I think she's sleeping.'

'She's upset about something, but I'm not sure what.'

The bouncing was over, but he still looked uncomfortable.

'She say anything?'

He looked down at the deck, and seemed even more uncomfortable.

'She seemed okay until Darlene called.' I watched him. 'After Darlene, she seemed kind of upset.'

Ben looked at the cat. The cat's ears were up now, and he seemed calm. Ben said, 'She's fighting with my dad.' Fighting.

'Ah.'

'My dad didn't want us staying here. He said we should be in a hotel.'

'I see.' The hawks reappeared, higher now, following the air back toward their nest. The female had something in her talons. 'Are you okay with this, Ben?'

He shrugged without looking at me.

I went to the rail and leaned next to him. 'It's tough when your parents are fighting. You get caught in the middle and no matter what you do, you always feel like you're letting one of them down.'

Ben said, 'She really likes you.'

'I really like her. I like you, too. I'm glad you guys are here.'

He didn't seem moved by that, but there you go.

I took a breath and went to the center of the deck and worked through a simple kata from the tae kwon do called the Crane. You do a lot of bending and your arms pinwheel a lot and you spin, but it isn't difficult. Ben watched me. I did the Crane slowly, moving from one end of the deck to the other, and taking great care in my movements, sort of like with the tai chi. When I reached the end of the deck, I turned and did it again, back to the other side, only much faster, moving at three-quarter speed. Ben said, 'What's that?'

'Ballet.'

Ben grinned. 'Nunh-unh.' He stopped leaning over the rail and crossed his arms. 'Is that karate?'

'Korean karate. It's called tae kwon do.' I went through it again. Left to right, right to left.

He said, 'They do that on Power Rangers. They beat up monsters.'

'Well, it's a fighting skill, but only if you look at it that way. That's a choice you make. You could also choose to look at it as a way to make yourself stronger and more flexible and healthy. It's also fun.' I did it again and watched him watch me. 'Want me to show you how?'

He came over and I showed him. I modeled the postures and adjusted his position and walked him through the moves. 'Don't try to hurry. Slow is better.'

'Okay.'

We did the Crane. After the Crane I showed him the Tiger. Ben took off his T-shirt and tossed it aside. Sweating. We worked through the katas together as the sun floated up from the eastern ridge and the air warmed, and then I saw Lucy watching us from the door. I smiled. 'Morning.'

'Hi.'

Ben said, 'Look at this, Mom! This is called the Crane. It's a tae kwon do kata. Watch.'

Ben worked his way through, and as he did, Lucy put her hand to the glass, fingers spread, and I put my hand to hers. She said, 'Joe's on the phone,'

Ben said, 'Mom, you're not watching!'

I went in and found the phone on the counter. 'Now what?'

Pike said, 'Put on Channel Five.'

I put it on and went back to the phone. The morning anchor was recapping yesterday's report on Green's accusations, and again ran the clip where Green made it look like I had been the one who turned up Mrs LeCedrick Earle. I said, 'We quit last night. We're no longer working for the Big Green Defense Machine.'

Pike grunted. 'Keep watching.'

The anchor said that LAPD had announced a full investigation into Angela Rossi. The anchor said that Rossi had been suspended pending the outcome. I felt a dropaway feeling in my stomach and said, 'Oh, man.'

Pike said, 'I tried calling her, but the phone's off the hook.'

'How about I pick you up?'

He hung up without answering. Lucy had come inside, and Ben was still on the deck. I said, 'We've got to go see about Rossi.'

Lucy nodded. 'I thought you might. I've got the meeting later in Long Beach. I'll take Ben.'

'Sure.'

She started away, then turned back. 'I liked seeing you together with him.'

I smiled, but I didn't say anything. I wanted to ask what was going on with her former husband, but I didn't want to press her. I wanted to be supportive, but sometimes support can be oppressive. Maybe it would work itself out. Maybe, too, it was none of my business. I decided to give her some room. Giving them room is often the better part of valor, especially when you're trying not to make things worse.

I showered and dressed, and then I drove down to Culver City and found Joe waiting at the curb. Pike slid into the right front seat and closed the door without a word. He buckled the seat belt and still didn't say anything. I guess he was angry, too.

It was a few minutes after nine when we drove to the beach, then turned south to the Marina and slowed at the mouth of Angela Rossi's cul-de-sac. We would've turned onto her street, but we couldn't because of the news vans jamming the cul-de-sac and spilling out onto Admiralty Way. Knots of reporters and camera people were clustered on the sidewalks and in the street, and a couple of women who were probably Rossi's neighbors were arguing with a short, stocky guy in a sport coat. Apparently, his van was blocking their drive. Apparently, they wanted the reporters to lay off Rossi and get out of their neighborhood. Pike said, 'Look at this crap.'

We parked across Admiralty and walked back. A beefy reporter sitting in a Blazer did a double-take when we passed, then hurried after us, asking if he could have a word. He reached Pike first and Pike seemed to give a lurch, and then the reporter sat down on the street hard, going 'Ornph!'

Pike didn't lose a step. 'No comment.'

I guess some interviews are harder than others.

We walked past the reporters to the front gate. The thin man with the glasses and an older woman were telling an attractive red-haired reporter that they weren't going to let her in, when the thin man recognized me and shook his finger at me. 'It's you. You lied to me when you were here. You weren't looking for anyone named Keith!'

I said, 'Would you please tell Detective Rossi that Joe Pike and I would like to see her?'