luck. People didn’t have it or weren’t home. I found myself intensely annoyed by the ‘coded’ messages she was leaving on people’s machines and voice mail. She wanted to know if they’d seen her friend Mary, or the new Tom Green movie. I told her Tom Green hadn’t made a new movie in years and that she might as well just ask if they had any dope, but she didn’t listen to me.
I was actually glad to have to go to work. “Paula Tilson’s been putting her fliers up on the bulletin board again.” John told me as I walked in the guardhouse. “You’d better take them down and go have a word with her.”
“Okay.” I said. “Should I give her a citation?”
“Nah, just give her another warning.” He said. I was relieved. I hated handing people citations face to face. Leaving them on fancy cars was kind of fun, but actually seeing a person’s reaction when you ruined their day was unpleasant. I took a golf cart and drove it down Noah Street, deliberately taking the long way around, to stretch out the call.
I drove past the Relna place and I slowed down to have a look. It appeared empty. I took down Paula Tilson’s fliers, which were for health seminars she was holding in her living room, and went over to her house to warn her not to put them up anymore, but she wasn’t home. On my way back I wrote a ticket for a car parked in the main lot that didn’t have a visitor tag, and went back to the guardhouse. John was on the phone. “Oh here, he just came in.” He said. He handed the phone to me.
“Hello?” -I don’t know why, but I assumed it was Jess.
“So far, nothing.” Manny Ayles said on the other line. “Hardly any activity at all.”
“That’s why you called?” I asked, noting John’s curious expression as he watched me.
“Just thought I’d keep you informed.” He said.
“Yeah, okay. Thanks Manny.” I hung up and turned to John with a smile. “The kid thinks he’s a deputy agent now.” I said. “I told him to keep an eye on the upper park, and let me know if he sees who’s been writing those lame tags on the fence.”
John nodded. “And?”
“He called to tell me he hasn’t seen anything so far.”
“That’s helpful.” John said.
“Yeah, the kid’s real sharp.” I said
A little later I was dispatched to the dock to tell some party cruisers that they couldn’t get a slip without advance registration. They were playing eighties hair metal without any sense of irony, and they were very drunk. There was a middle aged bald man, a younger guy without a shirt, and two heavily made-up girlfriends. They all held beer bottles and gave me bad looks for intruding on their fun.
That night John put me on the main-gate, which was unusual. When I asked him why he said he was reading a good book and wanted the quiet. Before the murder the arm on the main gate stayed up all day, and most of the cars that came through just slowed down a bit so you could see the pass hanging from their rearview mirror. Some of the ruder residents would zip through before you knew they were there, but now everyone had to stop. It made working the main-gate relatively labor intensive. People mostly seemed annoyed by the inconvenience of having to stop, until they realized it was due to the recent tragedy, and then they would overcompensate and be extra nice.
The gatehouse was connected to the main guardhouse, so I heard the call come in. Niti said she understood and that she’d look into it herself. “That’s strange.” She said after she’d hung up. “Mrs. Pern said she saw someone creeping around in the Relna’s house. They’re supposed to be out of town.”
I froze. “Uh, I think I know who it is.” I said, trying to find my way as I went. She looked at me and waited. “Their back door key goes under a potted plant on the porch, and I think Jordan Dinns saw where I left it the other day.” I was invoking the name of the closest thing Lakeview had to a juvenile delinquent.
“Oh right, your unauthorized side-job,” She said, “Franco told me about that. I guess I’d better get over there.”
“Niti, why don’t you let me go? I mean, I know the Relnas and I can put a good scare into Jordan.”
She stood up. “Yes, I’m just a girl, and not even an agent like you.” She said. “I’m sure you’re the only one who could handle any real action.”
“Come on Niti. I didn’t mean that…”
“Yes, yes, I know you can’t help it, but you’re just like everyone else around here. You’re on gate duty at the moment, so I’m afraid you’ll have to sit this one out.” She turned and walked out.
I got out my cell and started flipping through the Lakeview directory book, looking for the number for the Relna place. I found it and dialed, and as the phone rang, I tried to remember if they had a machine. If it went to voicemail, I was fucked. I could remember their phone in the kitchen, and there was definitely no machine there, but in the living room I wasn’t sure. I thought there was a white answering machine next to a lamp on an end table. I was almost certain.
Hi, you’ve reached the Relna clan. We’re not in at the moment, but if you leave your name and number after the beep, we’ll get back to you. Thanks!
“DAVID!” I shouted after the beep. “Pick up the phone! Pick up right now. Hurry! It’s an emergency, pickuppickuppickup.”
I heard a click. “Ben?” He said.
“Someone saw you in there man, security’s on the way right now. You need to hide or get the fuck out.”
“On their way? How many?” He asked.
“One, but it doesn’t matter, she knows where the key is and she’s gonna come in the house, You gotta disappear.”
“This is it.” He said. “I can take care of it.”
“What?”
“I got a knife. I can take care of it.”
“No, are you fucking crazy? Just go hide somewhere. Go to the attic.”
“You’ve been a good friend.” He said. “But this is life and death for me. I’ll make it look like I broke in here so you wont get in trouble.”
“NO YOU FUCKING IDIOT! JUST HIDE FOR FUCK’S SAKE!”
I heard the click on the other end.
I ran out of the guardhouse and continued running toward the Relna place. Niti had taken the golf cart, so I didn’t think she had gotten there yet. My lungs began to hurt and I slowed to a jog, but then the thought of Niti getting stabbed to death motivated me back into a sprint. Some old ladies sitting on their front porch looked surprised to see me running, and they called out to me, asking what was going on. I smiled and gave them a wave as I ran by.
When I reached the house the golf cart sat empty in front. I ran around to the back and saw her though the kitchen window. I rushed up the back steps, thinking David might be about to make his move, and threw open the door. Niti jumped and turned around fast. “Niti.” I said, leaning over to catch my breath. “Hang on a minute.” I held my hand up and looked at her while I tried to bring my breathing back under control. She looked confused. “I just wanted to tell you, I, uh, there was a call right after you left.” I took another couple of breaths. “Mrs. Pern. She said she saw Jordan leaving the house, headed down third.”
Niti furrowed her brow. “You left the main gate to come down here and tell me that?” She shook her head. “That thing on your belt is called a radio, dummy. It would’ve gotten that information to me a lot faster than your old legs.”
“Right, you’re right, yeah.” I said. “I shoulda radioed, I just thought you might need help.”
“Listen Ben, I think you might’ve gotten hooked on big excitement and thrills over the last couple of weeks. I’m sorry to disappoint you but there is no burglary or severed body parts or murders going on here. It’s something much less exciting than all that.” She looked at me with an eyebrow raised. “Don’t you smell it?”
I sniffed. “What is it?” I asked, unable to smell anything.
“Pot.” She said. “Jordan obviously came in here to smoke a joint, and now he’s going back to his house or over to Matt’s. I’ll go find him and have a word, I suggest you get back to the main g
ate before someone realizes there’s no one there and files a complaint.”
“You’re right. Sorry.” I said. “I was trying to help.”
“Go.” She said.
She arrived back at the guardhouse about forty-five minutes later, shaking her head and smiling. “That kid is a real problem.” She sat back in the chair in front of the telephone and leaned back, folding her arms. “You know where he was? Over in the rec-center, shooting pool with Melissa Finer and Beth Obersen. Just as calm as you please.”
“Did he act all shocked and innocent?” I asked.
“Yeah, the little shit. You could tell he was high.” She said. “He was red-eyed and slower than usual, but even in that condition he was insolent as ever.”
“Did you read him the riot act?”
“Well, I told him we knew he’d been in there, and that given recent events we were not as reluctant as before to get the police involved in local matters. I told him that breaking and entering could get him five years.”
“Sounds like a good line.” I said.
“Yeah, it has the benefit of actually being true. Anyway, he denied everything and wouldn’t you know it, Melissa and Beth both said he’d been with them all night. I would’ve expected that from Melissa, but imagine little Beth, lying for that creep. Well the three of them are on my list now, and I never forget.”
“How’d you leave it with them?” I asked.
“Oh, I told them I was bringing the police in first thing in the morning to dust