“What are you doing here?” I asked. Pointing at the portal, I added, “I thought we told you to stay away when this stuff was going on.”
“I couldn’t help myself,” he said. “I had to see.”
“What did Cosmo do to my friend Guillermo?” I asked, not caring if there was menace in my tone.
Before he could answer, Carmelita came through, still carrying the gun. I relieved her of it and pointed it at the portal until it closed, repeating my question to Mulligan as I waited. “What did Cosmo do?”
“I don’t know what he did,” Mulligan said. “He got here before you and your friends did. We waited upstairs. He just said he wanted to be near where the bridge to the other side was being opened.”
Putting a hand up to signal that he should wait before saying anything else, I turned to Carmelita. “She give you any trouble?” I asked.
“No,” Carmelita said, her eyes on Mulligan.
“Good.” Then, turning back to Mulligan, I said, “Did Cosmo say anything else?”
“A few things. Nothing of much consequence. After a while, it was like he couldn’t stand the suspense any longer. He told me to wait up in the house, and he went downstairs.”
“And then?”
He shrugged. “And then nothing. It was all quiet. I waited like he said.”
“For how long?”
“Maybe…forty-five minutes. I finally couldn’t stand it anymore, so I went down, too. I found the old man unconscious and that other guy just kind of…mewling over him like he didn’t know what to do.”
“Damn it!” I said, wishing I’d had more of a chance to go after Beadle and make him pay.
“You call an ambulance?”
“Of course! I didn’t want anyone else dying in this garage, I can tell you that.”
“Uh-huh,” I said. “Thanks for being so compassionate.”
“Hey! Now, wait a minute. If I hadn’t agreed to all this, you never would have—”
“Bury it, Mulligan,” I said, and for a moment I thought I might have to set the gun down lest my temper come into play.
Carmelita, possibly sensing this, put a restraining hand on my upper arm. The gesture had the effect of turning the flame down on a boiling kettle. The steam eased up, but it was right there, ready to come back.
Turning to Carmelita, I said, “Let’s get out of here.” Then I led her toward the garage door.
“Do you know where Uncle Cosmo went?” Mulligan asked.
“He’s gone,” I said. “Don’t count on him coming back. And if you ask me, we’re all better off without him.”
Without another word, I opened the garage door and went out into the bright afternoon with Carmelita in tow. As soon as the door was closed, I turned to her and said, “Any sign of the other Jed? He come knocking on the door or anything?”
“No,” she said.
“That’s good.”
I still had the gun in my hand and realized it probably wouldn’t look so good to be standing out on the street with it if any of Mulligan’s neighbors were looking. Still, before I put it away, I gave Carmelita a careful look and asked, “Where is Sherise staying?”
“The Hollywood Hotel,” she answered without hesitating.
I slipped the gun into my pocket.
“Why did you ask that?”
“About the hotel?”
“Yes.”
“I needed to make sure the right Carmelita came through,” I said. “For all I know, she might have overpowered you after I left you.”
“Are you satisfied now?” she asked, sounding a bit hurt.
“Absolutely.”
“You don’t want to shoot me or anything?” she prodded.
I smiled. “Not right now, Carmelita. Not right now.”
Chapter Eleven
“So, how is Guillermo?” I asked as we got into my car. Still without the security offered by Guillermo’s adaptation of my fedora, I opted to let Carmelita drive. I also decided to give her the gun, which she dropped into her purse. It wouldn’t do to have Hijack Jed show up now, taking over while I was both armed and driving. The combination surely wouldn’t be good. I knew my dark double could get into plenty of trouble regardless once he crossed into me, but if I could keep guns and steering wheels out of his hands, it might keep things from getting completely out of control.
“He’s fine,” Carmelita said. “The ambulance took him to the hospital, and the doctor said there wasn’t any concussion. They still wanted to keep him overnight, though. He got out this morning, and—”
“All right, all right,” I said. “I’m going to want the whole story from the beginning, but right now I want you to take me to Sherise.”
“Sherise? Isn’t a visit with your girlfriend a little low on the priorities list right now?”
“Just drive, Carmelita, will you? Drive and talk.”
She did.
As we made our way from Pacific Palisades to Hollywood, following Sunset Boulevard as it threaded through neighborhoods so swanky they had names on iron gates bordering the main road, I got the story of what had happened in this world since my crossing over the night before.
Guillermo and Osvaldo had left the portal open for a few minutes just in case I needed to abort my mission. When I didn’t come back right away, they shut the machine down, and it wasn’t long after that that Cosmo came down the stairs with a gun. He threatened Guillermo with it, and Guillermo—being no fool—complied, opening the portal to the world he’d just sent me to. According to Carmelita, he thought about switching out the settings and opening a gateway to some random world, but Cosmo was ready for that, insisting that the machine just be turned on and nothing else touched. When the portal opened, he crossed through, never doing anything to harm Guillermo or Osvaldo.
So, my assumption that it had been Cosmo who’d injured Guillermo had been wrong. The old maniac could live out the rest of his doomed life in Jetpack’s world for all I cared. If he hadn’t hurt Guillermo, then he hadn’t earned my enmity. The fact that he’d given Elsa an easy opportunity to return to our world wasn’t something Cosmo had intended, and I realized that if he hadn’t come through when he did, things might have gone a lot worse for me in that garage as Elsa worked on extracting the truth of how—and where—I’d made my return to that world.
“After Cosmo was gone,” Carmelita said, “Guillermo wasn’t sure what to do, but he decided to leave the portal open in case Cosmo had done something to put you in danger. He remembered how you sort of leapt through the opening into his living room the first time when you were running from that security guard.”
“Don’t remind me,” I said.
“So, it was maybe twenty minutes after Cosmo went through that Guillermo and Osvaldo saw you come back. Or at least they thought it was you.”
It turned out that what I’d imagined while being held captive by the paralyzer had been pretty close to the truth. Jetpack Jed came through first with Elsa right behind him, her gun materializing at the same time as Jetpack, its barrel touching the back of his head.
“Osvaldo told me you looked scared. Well, I mean not actually you, but he thought it was you.”
“I understand.”
“Elsa came through next. She told you—or, I mean, Jetpack Jed—not to speak and told Guillermo and Osvaldo not to say anything either. Then she kept the gun trained on all three of them and made Guillermo shut the machine off before she forced Osvaldo and Jetpack Jed—although I don’t think he was actually forced, you know?—to load the machine into the back of Guillermo’s truck. Then she took Guillermo’s keys, and before she left, she hit Osvaldo in the head with the butt of her gun. He got knocked out. When he came to, Guillermo was also unconscious, so he assumes she hit him, too.”
I tightened my jaw at hearing this, my heartbeat racing with rage.
“Mulligan came down to the garage around that time and called for an ambulance,” Carmelita said. “Osvaldo tried calling me from the hospital, but I was with Sherise
and Jack. You never should have taken on that responsibility, Jed. Now’s not the time for us to be split up and trying to keep an eye on him, too.”
“Any new developments there?” I asked, ignoring her rebuke.
“Nothing that I know of. If O’Neal has tried calling you at home, I haven’t been there to get it, and I haven’t heard anything from Peggy about the police trying to find you.”
“All right,” I said. “What happened next?”
“Osvaldo finally got through when I got back to the hotel with Sherise and Jack. I made sure Sherise was all right with being left on her own, and I went to the hospital, but it was the middle of the night by then and they wouldn’t let me in.”
“Did you tell Sherise what happened?” I asked, alarmed. “Does she think Elsa kidnapped me?”
“No. Osvaldo didn’t tell me that part over the phone, just that Elsa had thumped Guillermo and that they were keeping him overnight.”
“So, Sherise still doesn’t know?”
Carmelita looked momentarily ashamed. “I’m sorry, Jed. Things have been happening so fast that I forgot to call her back and tell her. I haven’t checked in on her at all.”
“It’s okay. I’d rather she not know what happened until I can show her I’m back and I’m safe. Why do you look so bothered?”
“Because it’s my job to keep her safe from Hennigar.”
I smiled at this. “You’re doing great, Carmelita.”
“You really think so?” she asked with a hint of pride in her smile.
“I do,” I said. Then I asked, “Was Osvaldo in the hospital, too? Is he all right?”
“They checked him over. He’s all right. They wanted to keep him because he wouldn’t talk to the doctors or say what had happened. Fortunately, he keeps his discharge papers from Camarillo in his wallet. When the doctors found those, they made some calls and found out he’d been released into his mother’s custody. It took some time to reach her since she doesn’t have a phone, but eventually they let him go. I think they only wanted to keep Guillermo in the hospital because of his age.”
“And he’s not badly hurt?” I asked even though she’d already told me Guillermo wasn’t seriously injured.
“He’s fine, Jed. I waited outside the hospital all night until they let me up to see him, and I can tell you that he’s his normal self. Just with a bandage on his forehead.”
“You stood outside the hospital alone? All night long?” I asked.
“Of course. Someone needed to be there in case Elsa came back.”
I nodded and smiled at her, but her eyes were on the road, so I don’t suppose she caught the gratitude I’d just silently pitched.
“Anyway,” she continued, “when I got up to see him, I talked to his doctor, and they said they were going to let him out after he’d eaten something. So, now he’s home.”
“And when did you figure out that it wasn’t me who’d come through at the end of Elsa’s gun?”
“After I got Guillermo back to his house. He wanted to go straight into the workshop and fire up his scopes. He said he could track you through your fedora.”
This got a chuckle out of me despite how rough things had been for the last several hours.
“What is it?” Carmelita asked.
“I should have known he wouldn’t be content just to make something that would keep me from getting hijacked. He also wanted to keep track of me.”
“Is that all right?”
“Yes, I suppose. I’m going to have to have a little talk with him about my privacy when this is all over, but I can’t be upset with him for doing all he can to help me, can I?”
“No. I don’t suppose you can.”
“So, he found out where Elsa and Jetpack Jed are?”
“No. At least, he hadn’t before I left.”
“What happened?”
“As soon as he said he was going to use your fedora to find out where you and Elsa had gone, Osvaldo got a very uncomfortable look on his face. I asked him what was wrong and he told me that it wasn’t Elsa and you who’d come through. It was Elsa and someone who looked like you.”
“How did he know?”
“He said the man who looked like you had a limp.”
The lift in Jetpack Jed’s shoe, I thought. And then I said, “But a limp doesn’t show anything, does it? I could have just hurt my leg or something.”
She shook her head. “He said you had one leg shorter than the other. It’s something I would have picked up on if I’d seen Jetpack Jed, but it surprised me that Osvaldo saw it. He’s very observant.”
Now she beamed with pride as she drove.
“I guess he is. I’ll have to thank him when I see him.” I leaned back a little in the seat and tried to relax. Then I asked, “Did Guillermo call the police? About the truck?”
“I did. Late last night while I was waiting outside the hospital. I haven’t heard whether they’ve found it yet or not.”
“Did Guillermo file a complaint against Elsa? Are the cops after her now?”
She shook her head. “He was afraid to. I think he was worried that if the police went after her, it would mess things up for you.”
“Well…he might have been right,” I said.
Afternoon strollers, shoppers, and tourists crowded the sidewalks of Hollywood Boulevard in front of the Chinese Theater and the rambling expanse of the Hollywood Hotel. At the corner of Highland, Carmelita turned left and found a parking spot halfway up the block.
“Are you sure about this?” she asked as we got out of the car.
“Because?”
“Because I would have thought you’d want to get to Guillermo right away and see what he’s found out.”
“In good time,” I said as I checked for traffic and entered the street. “I don’t expect we’ll be here long, but Sherise has been on her own since the middle of the night last night, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then…” I said as I reached the curb and turned toward the corner, assuming my reasons didn’t need to be stated. This was Carmelita, though, and sometimes she missed cues, so I said, “We won’t be long. We’ll go to Chavez Ravine next.”
I led the way through the front doors and into the lobby, Carmelita trailing right behind. Then it was up the red carpet of the curving staircase—taking them two at a time and no need to grasp the handrail. On the second floor, it was a short walk to Sherise’s room where I didn’t bother pausing to catch my breath. “Sherise?” I called out as I knocked three times. “It’s me.”
“And me,” Carmelita added from behind me, but only loud enough for me to hear.
“Trust me,” I said to her. “No one’s going to forget you’re here.”
The door opened a second later. Sherise looked alarmed, probably at my urgent tone. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Nothing,” I said as I stepped in and wrapped my arms around her. Holding her tight, I leaned back a little, lifting her off the ground as I kissed her.
“Wow!” she said when I set her down again. “Should we close the door?”
A little embarrassed, I crossed the threshold and stood aside to let Carmelita follow and swing the door shut with a click.
“Where’s Jack?” I asked.
“He’s reading his book in the bedroom,” Sherise said. “I picked one up for him this morning.”
“You went out?” I asked. “On your own?”
She let out an exasperated little breath and said, “Honestly, Jed, the boogeyman isn’t going to swoop me up on Hollywood Boulevard. You know that as well as I do.”
“I don’t think we’re dealing with the boogeyman here,” I said. “This guy’s something worse. He’s real.”
“Of course,” she said. Then she put a hand on my chest and said, “I know you’re trying to protect me here, Jed. But I’m going crazy in this place.”
I took her hand in mine and said, “Just one more night. In the morning, you can go home again.”
She nodde
d and said, “All right. But if something else goes wrong tonight and this thing isn’t resolved, we’re calling the police. And I don’t just mean your detective friend.”
“It’s a deal.”
In my mind, I added, That won’t be necessary.
Nodding toward the bedroom, I said, “He all right?”
“Oh, sure. The girls at the club are practically fighting over him, and he’s lapping up the attention.”
“Has he said anything yet?”
“Actually, yes.”
This got my attention. “What did he say?”
“Don’t get too excited. Nothing but ‘Please, Miss Sherise’ and ‘Thank you, Miss Sherise.’”
I nodded. “Well…that’s a start then, isn’t it?”
“Now,” she said. “Are you going to tell me the story behind that greeting?”
With a sigh, I said, “I got into a bit of a bind last night. It’s all fixed, though.”
She shook her head. “There’s more to this story, Mr. Strait.”
“There is. And I’ll tell you the whole thing later. Or tomorrow. After the rest of this mess is wrapped up.” I took both her hands in mine now and turned toward Carmelita. “Here’s the thing, though. I need to go back out now and do what I can to make sure it does get wrapped up. And I’m going to need Carmelita’s help. Can you take the night off from Darkness?”
I caught a flash of anger, but she reeled it in before she spoke. “Jed, I’ve canceled meetings to get our record distributed. I’ve turned down interviews with other radio stations. I should still be able to pick the pieces up on those things, but we need to strike while the iron’s red or this whole thing could fall apart. And it could anyway. I get that. But Darkness is real and it’s steady. I can’t do anything to jeopardize that.”
Nodding, I looked down at the floor, collecting my thoughts. “Will you take a gun now?”
“No. I don’t need a gun.”
“You’ve got the phone still?”
“I do.”
“And you know how to use it?”
“It’s not that difficult. I even showed Jack how to use it.”
The Fedora Fandango: A Dieselpunk Adventure (The Crossover Case Files Book 5) Page 14