Hard Case Crime: Fade to Blonde Read Free Page B

man who’s gonna do mysterious bad things?”
    “Sure. She’s hired me to help her.”
    “You simple son of a bitch. I didn’t give her to you to work for. I gave her to you to boff . I couldn’t even get a glove on it, and, you know, I didn’t want her going to waste.”
    “I already took her money.”
    “Yeah, well, I’m sure that’ll be a novel experience for her.”
    “Any idea who the guy is?”
    “The guy.” He waved away a smell. “What makes you think there’s a guy? Outside of her shaggy little head? Listen, Ray, I’m serious. You only know the girls you poke. I know every girl who ever tried to work in this town, and I’m telling you, this one’s nuts. Strictly wigsville. You don’t want to hop her, don’t hop her, but whatever you do, don’t become part of her plans .”
    “I already took her money. Who’s she been hanging around with? I assume she’ll simmer down and tell me, but I’d like to hear it from you.”
    “She don’t hang, that I know of. It looks like she gaveup the starlet bit a while back. I’ll give her that, she’s smart enough to give up. Since then she works in stores and so forth, you know, little pretty-girl jobs. I hear she might have posed for some, ah, pictures. As for guys, she’s been seen around with Lance Halliday.”
    “Jesus, the names out here. Who’s he?”
    “An ‘independent producer.’ Isn’t that nice? He’s a little hood who makes stag movies. Maybe that’s what he wanted with your nut job, he heard she’d done nudie stuff. He came out here to be the new Hot Diggity, and it wasn’t such a crazy idea, because he’s got the face, the voice, he even moves nice, but he’s one of those you get where, under the lights... ” Mattie slowly raised his hands, wiggling his fingers. “It all fizzles away. Like ice on a radiator. He’s a big blonde dreamboat and he’s always got a ring on every finger. You know, the debonair Lance Halliday was in attendance, wearing his trademark rings. I guess he played around with your nut job a little, like he does with a lot of ’em, but I can’t see him getting obsessed. He’s too queer for himself. But no, yeah, if she bounced him hard enough I guess he could turn nasty. He’s a very vain guy with not a lot to be vain about, and you don’t want to kid some of those too hard.”
    “Could he be blackmailing her?”
    “With what, for what? She’s nobody.”
    “She says she’s done stag movies. Could he be blackmailing her with that?”
    “Nah. In his line of work, that’s just cutting his own throat. It gets around he does that, how’s he gonna get girls?”
    “Where would he spend time?”
    “All over. He owns part of a place called the Centaur, out in Thousand Oaks.”
    “I think I know it. Where does he live?”
    “Palms somewhere. Come to think of it, he must havean OK from Burri to peddle his movies.”
    “I thought what’s-his-name ran that neighborhood. Scarpa. Lenny Scarpa.”
    “Sure. And Burri runs Scarpa. Wake up, beautiful. Burri runs half the West Side.”
    “Jesus, still? I thought he was one of those old Twenties guys.”
    “He ran it in the Twenties, he runs it now, he’ll run it when we’re both in Puppy Heaven. You want to get mixed up in something Fausto Burri’s maybe part of? That what you want, Ray?”
    “Listen, Mattie, I appreciate this.”
    “Why do I waste time on you?” Reece said without joy.
    “Ah, c’mon, Mattie. Cheer up.”
    “Why do I waste my time?”
    “I buy you drinks.”
    “So you say.”
    “C’mon, I’ll buy you one now. You’ve done enough damage for one day.”
    He took his feet down off the desk one by one, like an old man, and sat there. “I hope you enjoy it when you get it,” he said.
    “Let’s go get a drink,” I said. “I just got paid.”

4
Shade
    In the morning I went to see the manager and squared myself on the rent. He didn’t kiss me. Then I got in the car and drove over to Torrance New & Used and saw Joey Moos, who