Indigo Slam: An Elvis Cole Novel Read Free Page B

appeared well nourished and in good health, as did her brother and sister. Maybe she was making all of this up. Maybe the whole thing was their idea of a joke. I said, “Have you called the police?”
    “Oh no.” She said it quickly.
    “If my father was missing, I would.”
    She shook her head.
    “It’s what they do, and they won’t charge you. I usually get around two grand.”
    Charles yelled, “Ripoff!” A small framed picture fell when he said it, and knocked over three Jiminy figurines. He scuttled toward the door. “I didn’t do anything. Jeezis.”
    Teresa straightened herself. “We don’t want to involve the police, Mr. Cole.” You could tell she was struggling to be calm. You could see that it was an effort.
    “If your father has been gone for eleven days and you haven’t heard from him, you should call the police. They’ll help you. You don’t have to be afraid of them.”
    She shook her head. “The police will call Children’s Services, and they’ll take us away.”
    I tried to look reassuring. “They’ll just make sure that you guys are safe, that’s all. I may have to call them myself.” I spread my hands and smiled, Mr. Nothing-to-Be-Afraid-of-Here, only Teri Haines didn’t buy it. Her eyes cooled, growing flinty and hard and shallow with fear.
    Teresa Haines slowly stood. Winona stood with her. “Your ad said confidential.” Like an accusation.
    Charles said, “He’s not gonna do frig.” Like they’d had this discussion before they came, and now Charles had been proven right.
    “Look, you guys are children. You shouldn’t be by yourselves.” Saying it made me sound like an adult, but sounding that way made me feel small.
    Teresa Haines put the money back in the wallet and the wallet back in her pocket. She put the envelope in her pocket, too. “I’m sorry we bothered you.”
    I said, “C’mon, Teresa. It’s the right way to play it.”
    Charles coughed, “Eat me.”
    There was a flurry of fast steps, and then Teresa and Charles and Winona were gone. They didn’t bother to close the door.
    I looked at my desk. One of the little Jiminys was gone, too.
    I listened to Cindy’s radio, drifting in from the balcony. The Red Hot Chili Peppers were singing “Music Is My Aeroplane.” I pressed my lips together and let my breath sigh from the corners of my mouth.
    “Well, moron, are you just going to let them walk out of here?” Maybe I said it, or maybe it was Pinocchio.
    I pulled on a jacket to cover the Dan Wesson, ran down four flights to the lobby, then out to the street in time to see them pull away from the curb in a metallic green Saturn. The legal driving age in the state of California is sixteen, but Teresa was driving. It didn’t surprise me.
    I ran back through the lobby and down to the parking level and drove hard up out of the building, trying to spot their car. A guy in a six-wheel truck that said LEON’S FISH almost broadsided me as I swung out onto Santa Monica Boulevard, and sat on his horn.
    I was so focused on trying to spot the Saturn that I didn’t yet see the man who was following me, but I would before long.

2
    Teresa Haines’s Saturn turned south past the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station, then east onto Melrose. I didn’t careen through oncoming traffic to cut her off, and I didn’t shoot out her tires. Teri Haines was driving just fine, and I wasn’t sure what to do if I stopped them. Hold them at gunpoint for the police?
    Fairfax High School was just letting out, and the side-walks were dotted with boys toting book bags and skateboards, and girls flashing navel rings. Most of the kids were about Teri’s age, some younger, some older, only these kids were in school and she wasn’t. Charles leaned out of the passenger-side window and flipped off a knot of kids standing at the bus stop. Three of the kids gave back the finger, and somebody threw what appeared to be a Coke can which hit the Saturn’s rear wheel.
    Teri cruised along Melrose