Baca

by Billy Kring

  Arch wasn’t going to let it go that easy. He said, “Start with this: three sets of descending reps, twenty-five, twenty, and fifteen, using the same weight. Alternate one leg, then the other and don’t rest between sets, then go to the leg curl machine and do it again for the leg biceps. I want you to work up to using one-fifty on this one.”

  “What weight do you want me to start with?”

  “Oh, about one-forty-five.” The guy’s eyes widened and I saw Arch slap his thigh and say, “Haw! Just start with less than you think you can lift. Finishing all the reps is what’s most important, building your groove and setting the muscles up for what’ll be coming.”

  We left him putting on plates and I said, “I need to use your phone.”

  “You don’t have one in your office?”

  “If who I phone has caller ID, I don’t want it to show up for the office.”

  He pointed toward his office, “It’s in there. Close the door if you want.” He paused and said, “How’s Hondo? I figure you being here means he’s better.”

  “Yeah, better but weak. He developed pneumonia. Almost didn’t make it through the night.”

  Archie shook his head, “You need anything...” I nodded. He said, “Tell Hondo to get well, the power lifters want another shot at him on the bench press.” He patted me on the shoulder with affection, and it clicked my teeth together. Tough love.

  I called the Caspian Diamond and said in my best redneck voice, “That little red-headed Mexican dancer y’all got gonna be dancing’ tonight?”

  The voice said, “I’m sorry, Blanca doesn’t perform here anymore.”

  “Oh yeah? What other club’d she go to?”

  “I wouldn’t know that.”

  “What was her last name anyway, case I see it somewhere at one a those other men’s clubs.”

  “We don’t give out that information.”

  “Okey-doke, then. Thankee.” I hung up. I had her first name, now to get the rest.

  I knew the green Lexus Blanca drove and could go to Vick and get him to eventually run it down through DMV, but then there would be a ton of questions and I wasn’t sure I wanted to spill everything right then. I decided to unleash my secret weapon.

  **

  I walked into the empty lobby of the Camino Real and saw Loomis alone behind the reception desk. He recognized me and was looking somewhere between me and the wall when he winked in acknowledgment.

  “Hey, Loomis. How’s it going?”

  “Pretty good. Had some Venusians check in this morning, in case you want some pictures.”

  “Venusians, huh?”

  “Oh sure, I recognized ‘em right off. They have all that pale blond hair and those icy blue eyes. It’s a sure give-away, just like your paper showed in last October’s issue. Did you write that one?”

  “No, it was another reporter.” I leaned my forearms on the counter, “Where are these Venusians saying they’re from?”

  Loomis snorted, “Some made-up place, here let me look.” He punched some keys on the computer and said, “Here it is. Reykjavik. Like there’s a place named that.”

  “Way to stay on your toes, Loomis.” I leaned closer, “Say, you get a lunch break around here?”

  “Sure. It starts in about a half hour.”

  “Can you go out to eat?”

  “Yeah, but I brought a sandwich today.”

  “Thing is,” I said in a low voice, “I need a little help on a case.”

  “I thought that was just your cover.”

  “It is, but to make it look legitimate we have to work a real case every once in a while.”

  “Oh, sure. I knew that.”

  “What I need is someone smart like you to go into a place and ask a few questions. I can’t go because they know me inside. You think you could help?”

  “Well...”

  “Loomis, you’d have to go to a gentlemen’s club and look at nude dancers and ask a few questions. I’ll give you money to spend and give you a hundred dollars to put in your pocket. What do you say?”

  “These are naked women, right?”

  “Beautiful women, Loomis.”

  “I’ll come out in thirty minutes.”

  “That’s my man,” I said.

  Loomis cleaned up before leaving the hotel. I wasn’t sure it was an improvement. He wore a red plaid polyester jacket, and he used so much gel on his hair it looked like he’d just stepped out of a shower and hadn’t dried his head.

  He hopped in the Yugo and said, “Boy, nobody’d figure you for a detective in this thing, huh?” I opened the glove box and got out the small ear pieces and lapel microphones that I brought from the office.

  “We’ll use these to communicate while you’re inside and I’m outside.” Loomis nodded, his eyes fixed on them. I took an earpiece and fitted it to him. My fingers came in contact with the hair above his ears and were instantly slippery. I looked out the side window past Loomis and said, “Hey, is that Elvis?”

  Loomis twisted around to look and I wiped my hands on the back of his plaid jacket. “Nahh,” I said, “Don’t guess it was the King.” Loomis turned to face me and I put the lapel mike on his shirt, making sure to put it where the jacket wouldn’t rub across the face of the mike and make loud scratching noises in my ear. When I was satisfied, I filled him in on what I wanted him to say, gave him three hundred dollars and a plain manila envelope to keep in his jacket pocket. “You ready?” I asked.

  “I’ve never seen a live naked woman,” he said. “I can hardly wait.”

  **

  I parked behind a Lincoln near the Caspian Diamond’s entrance and went over it one more time with Loomis, who was itching to get out the door. “I’ll be able to hear everything you say and everything said to you. I can talk to you through the earpiece so we can communicate just like we are now.”

  “I got it. I’m ready.”

  “Okay, go get ‘em,” I said.

  I could hear Loomis breathing as he walked inside. Jennifer Lopez was singing her newest song and I could hear the occasional clinks of glasses and other muted sounds. After several seconds the music sounded the same. “Loomis, are you standing?”

  “Uh, yeah. She’s beautiful.”

  “Find a table by the stage so you can talk to the women when they go up to dance.”

  I heard some shuffling and the sound of something bumping, then a voice said, “Watch where you’re going. You can stare at the girls after you sit down.”

  Loomis mumbled an apology and I heard him sit down. A waitress came over and he ordered a drink. A Zombie. When the song ended Loomis hissed, “She’s coming this way!”

  “Just do like we planned.” I rubbed my forehead.

  I heard Loomis say, “Uhh, hey.”

  A woman’s voice said, “Hi, did you enjoy the performance?”

  “Oh yeah,” Loomis sounded excited, “Do you practice on a pole like that or is it just something natural?”

  “I practice.”

  The waitress brought the Zombie and I heard Loomis gulp three or four times and say, “I’ll have another one, and could you bring something for the lady?”

  The woman ordered a Seven and Seven. Loomis said, “You cold? I ask cause your nipples are real hard. Mine get like that when I rub ice cubes on them.”

  “Loomis!” I said into the mike.

  I heard a clatter, then the woman said, “Did something bite you?”

  Loomis said, “Uhh...”

  “Tell her it’s an old war wound that acts up.”

  He told her and I heard the waitress return and put down their drinks. I heard Loomis glug three times and say, “I’ll take another one.”

  I said, “Loomis, slow down. You don’t have anything on your stomach.” I didn’t hear anything back. I continued, “Ask her like we rehearsed.”

  Loomis did pretty well, considering he drank four more Zombies in the next five minutes. He told the woman he was looking for a dancer named Blanca, but didn’t know her last nam
e. The woman said Blanca didn’t work at the Diamond anymore. Loomis said he was to deliver a package to Blanca from an admirer who used to watch her dance, but was dying and wanted to give her this little token of his appreciation. He said it was too bad Blanca wasn’t working here, but did the woman know where she was? Loomis showed the woman the manila envelope with ten one hundred dollar bills, then told her if she could get him to Blanca, she would get a reward. The woman hesitated and Loomis placed a hundred dollars on the table and told her she could have that if she knew where he could find Blanca. He told her there would be another hundred if he found Blanca.

  The woman took the hundred and told him an address in Culver City.

  **

  Loomis threw up in the Yugo before we returned to the Camino Real. He apologized and was going to take off his jacket to use as a rag when I told him I’d take care of it. My eyes watered. I rolled down the window and turned my nose to the wind.

  “Why did you order Zombies?” I asked.

  “The only drink name I knew.”

  “You could have ordered beer.”

  “I didn’t think that’s what people drank in naked clubs.” He felt miserable and I didn’t question him any more. When I let him out, I drove to the nearest car wash and spent three dollars in quarters cleaning out the passenger side. I paid a dollar for some kind of strawberry air freshener -- the only kind they had -- and placed it at Ground Zero. It helped a little.

  The address in Culver City was in a Hispanic neighborhood. I got some long stares as I cruised in the Yugo, looking for the house number. I found it in the middle of the next block. The house was originally built in the forties and was well maintained with the yard neat and green. I parked at the curb and walked to the front door. A doorbell was by the knob and I pushed it, hearing the faint ring inside.

  The door had three small, face high panes of glass descending like stairs across the door. I put my eye against one and could see through a thin curtain. A woman was getting out of a recliner. She put down a newspaper and walked to the door. I pulled my face back and the door opened. The Hispanic woman was probably in her fifties. She looked at me with a frown.

  I said, “Miss, I’m looking for Blanca. Is she here?”

  “No hablo Ingles.”

  I could see the living room behind her. The newspaper was the Los Angeles Times, in English. There was a Redbook beside it and an old Bewitched rerun was on the television, with Elizabeth Montgomery and the rest of the actors speaking their lines in English. I said, “Blanca’s in danger. I’m here to help her.”

  The woman didn’t move or speak.

  We had a silent face-off for thirty seconds, until she won. I sighed and said, “My friend is the one who helped her escape at the Caspian Diamond. He was almost killed doing it. I know Blanca went by to see him while he was in the hospital. Her enemies wouldn’t know that.” The woman didn’t acknowledge I’d spoken. I said, “I’ll go wait in the car for five minutes. If you don’t put me in touch with Blanca by then, I’ll drive off. But know this, those men are hunting her just like I am, and if I can find this address, so can they.” I went to the Yugo, got in and tuned the radio to NPR, where they were describing the incredible distances whales could hear each other under water. After a couple of minutes, I figured if the human race could learn to talk in hoots, whistles, and clicks we could just stick our heads in the water and talk across the globe. Then again, being put on hold might result in a lot of drownings.

  The door of the house opened and the woman stepped outside holding a cordless phone and beckoning me to her.

  The woman said, “Blanca’s on the line. She wants to talk to you.”

  “Wow,” I said, “That Learn to Speak English in Thirty Seconds course from Rosetta Stone really works, huh?” She made a face like tasting something sour and handed me the phone.

  I said, “Hello.”

  “You’re his friend?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Okay, tell me what room he’s in.”

  “Three fifteen.”

  “Anybody could find that out with a call.”

  “Yeah they could, but nobody except someone he talked to would know you visited him. He told me you snuck past the nurses, and you thanked him for saving you. He almost died that night because of pneumonia, did you know that?”

  “No, but he seemed to have trouble breathing when we talked.”

  “Hondo made it through the night and when he regained consciousness this morning, he told me to find you.”

  “How did you?”

  “I’m a world famous super sleuth.”

  She ignored my comment. “You think Rakes or Mortay can track me to my aunt’s place just like you?”

  “You’re lucky, your fellow performers at the club don’t seem to be telling their bosses everything they know. I think you’ve got a little time, but eventually Rakes will find you.” I could hear her breath shudder.

  She said, “If we meet, how will I know you?”

  “We’ve already met. I’m the one who asked you if you were from Durango.”

  “That’s you?”

  “Uh-huh. So where do you want to meet?”

  Blanca said, “You know the Tar Pits?”

  “Yep.”

  “I’ll be there in an hour, by the entrance. I’ll wait fifteen minutes and if you don’t come, I’m going to Mexico.”

  “I’ll be there.” I heard a click and then handed the phone to the woman. “You think that Rosetta Stone course, The One Minute Brain Surgeon, would work for me?”

  The woman said, “Somebody already operated on your crazy head, pendejo.”

  I walked to the car, sure my charm had won her over. Pendejo was probably the Spanish word for handsome.

  **

  I reached La Brea in forty minutes and saw Blanca standing by the entrance. I walked to her. “Looks like we’re both early.”

  “I’m scared, this is too open here.”

  I pointed at the Yugo, “Let’s get in and drive somewhere less vulnerable.”

  “You drive that thing?”

  “Doing what I can for the environment. It gets a gazillion miles per gallon.”

  “So do roller blades.”

  I drove south on La Brea and turned east on Santa Monica, reached Vine and took it to Hollywood. I pulled into a parking building and drove us to the top level where I eased into a space and we looked out over the three-foot high retaining wall at Hollywood and LA. It was as safe as I could make us on short notice.

  “Now,” I said. “How would you like to start?”

  “It’s a long story.”

  “I’ve got all the time you need.”

  Blanca looked out over the city, took a deep breath and let it out, “I started dancing at the Caspian Diamond a year and a half ago. Mortay ran the Diamond and Carl Rakes came in often. I think he owns part of it too, or is some kind of partner or something. After six months, they approached me and asked if I knew anyone who was good at smuggling people across the border. When they said that, I knew the phones at the Diamond were tapped, because I’d called some people about smuggling my sister and some cousins into the US. Since they knew anyway, I didn’t deny it, so I set up a meeting for them. I told them I wanted my family brought too, and Simon agreed.

  “Anyway, next month I hear the people I knew had vanished off the face of the earth, and Simon and Carl had other people of their own doing the smuggling. I guess, once they were taught the route, they didn’t need anybody else doing it. My sister and cousins were still in Durango, too. They didn’t bring them until much later.”

  I said, “Do you know what route they used?”

  “No, only that they crossed east of San Diego through the hills and met a van that drove them to somewhere near LA.”

  When did your relatives come?”

  “Less than two weeks ago.”

  “Where are they now?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Does Rakes have them?”


  “No, that’s why he was hurting me, trying to find out if I knew where they were. That’s when your friend rescued me.”

  “And you don’t know where they are.”

  “No. The last time I heard from my sister was on a message she left on the answering machine. It said they were saved by the star and he was taking them somewhere safe. She said she would call me, but I haven’t heard from her.”

  “Did you save the message?”

  “Yes, and Carl got into my apartment and heard it. That’s why he thought I knew where Maria was.”

  “The star, do you think Maria’s talking about Bob Landman?”

  “The actor? How would she know somebody famous like that?”

  “It seems when Mr. Landman gets into a role, he gets into a role.”

  “Huh?”

  “Landman’s going to portray a Border Patrol Agent in an upcoming movie. They say he tries to live the part before playing it.”

  She thought a minute, then said, “Maybe it is. Maria mentioned something about a beautiful man they met. It might be Landman. He’s very handsome.”

  “Why is Rakes after your sister?”

  “For what they carried.”

  “Like what?”

  “Maria told me that was how they paid for part of their journey. The smugglers gave them small items to carry and if stopped by the Immigration, to say it was theirs.”

  “Do you know what they were carrying?”

  “Maria told me she had a golden egg covered in jewels and inside was a tiny wagon.”

  “A wagon?”

  “Like in Cinderella, is what she said.”

  I glanced in my rear view mirror as a black suburban with dark tinted windows pulled in ten feet behind us. The driver got out. It was the Russian whose eyes I had soaped.

  Simon Mortay exited the passenger’s side, looking like he was nothing but bones under the black suit. Charon the ferryman, come to collect his toll. He wasn’t carrying a cane; instead Mortay had a large Beretta in his gloved hand.

  Blanca’s eyes were big and she whispered, “Oh no, no, no...”

  I grabbed her arm, “When I get their attention, start the car and get out of here.” She nodded.

  My pistol was at the office, and I patted my clothes for anything to use and found a hardness in my shirt pocket. I got out, armed with a box of Tic-Tacs.