'Too goddamn many guns around,' Tow said, as she headed back toward the kitchen.

Anna and Harper slid into a booth, and a waitress brought a pot of coffee and two cups. 'So what are we doing?' Anna asked Harper.

'Having you along won't make it easier,' Harper said.

'It might; I'm probably smarter than you are,' Anna said.

'Thatcould help,' he said. He grinned again: he wouldn't be goaded.

'So what.' The grin faded and he squared himself in the booth and said, 'Names. The whole thing is connected to O'Brien and Jacob: You shoot Jacob's. fall. and the next thing, the guy is coming after you and kills O'Brien and MacAllister, who also happen to be connected by drugs. Somewhere in there, we'll find his track.'

'But I didn't know that much about Jason,' Anna said. 'We'd done a few things over at UCLA, Creek and Louis and me, and he was taking film classes, and heard about us. He came up with a storythis was a year or so agoand we shot it and sold it. So he started looking for stuff, and whenever he'd come up with something, he rode along, shot it, and got a cut, ten percent.'

'But you weren't social.'

'No. He'd get me by phone, or if I needed an extra guy, I'd call him up. He was good with a camera and he had a cool head when things were getting rough. He'd keep shooting no matter what.'

'I know.' A sudden deep sadness crossed his face, and Anna reached out and touched his hand on the coffee cup. 'I'm really sorry about your kid. I mean, I really am.'

'Yeah.' He looked out the window, at a woman skating by in the street, Walkman phones on her ears. 'Christ, I hardly knew him. I mean, I'd see him all the timebut I didn't know him. It was like, I could get to know him later. My ex-wife, I think she did a pretty good job with him, now this.' He shook himself and said, 'So do you have any ideas about O'Brien? Where we start?'

'I know one name and faceBoband I've heard about a couple of other people. But if we can find Bob, we might have something.'

Bob, she told Harper, was also in film at UCLA. A few months earlier, Jason had called about a possible story. They'd arranged to meet in Santa Monica, and when they did, Bob was with him. They were both high.

'They either shared the dope or shared the dealer,' she said. 'One way or another.'

'So let's go talk to Bob,' Harper said, pushing the coffee away.

'Hospital first,' Anna said.

Creek was in a third-floor critical care unit, sleeping, an IV dripping into his arm. Pam Glass was curled up on a chair next to the bed, reading a magazine, wearing the same clothes she'd been wearing that morning. When she saw them coming, she smiled, weakly, and stood up. 'He should sleep for another hour or two,' she whispered.

'Have you been home?' Anna asked.

'No, I just went down to the corner for a sandwich. I'm okay.'

'God, Pam.' They both turned and looked at Creek. His hair had been tamed, and was pulled back under his head. His face was pale under the sailor's tan, his cheekbones more prominent than Anna remembered. And he looked, she thought, almost. old.

'An hour or two?' Anna asked.

Pam nodded. 'What are you guys doing?'

'Looking around,' Harper said.

Glass hardened up: 'Look, I know you were a hotshot when you were with the sheriff's department, but I don't think we really need.'

Harper grinned at her and said, 'Shhh.'

'What?'

'Just a minute ago you were really worried about Creek. That's a very nice aspect of your personality.' He looked at Anna and tipped his head toward the door. 'Let's go. We can be back in two hours.'

On the way to UCLA, Harper said, 'I've got a question, but I don't know exactly how to phrase it.'

'Think real hard,' Anna said. 'Pretend the question is a putt.'

'Okay. The thing is, you're an interesting woman. We're just starting to know each other, and I figure we can go one of two wayswe can have a pure business relationship, or we can think about maybe, you know, doing something together. I mean, not for sure, but leave the possibility open, since you don't seem to be involved with anybody. You know what I mean?'

'No. I don't think I understood the last sentence at all; it was too complicated,' Anna said. She understood. She was also enjoying herself.

'I'm saying that I've been tempted to come on to you, just a little bit,' Harper said.

'A little bit tempted, or a little bit come on?'

He changed lanes with a lurch, cutting off a Mercedes that had been coming up from behind. 'A lot tempted to come on a little bit.'

'Okay, I've got that. Go ahead.' She put her feet on the dashboard.

'But if there's no point, I'll forget it,' he said. 'Give up. On the other hand, if there is a point, then I'll continue to be tolerant and charming and liberal and shit, in my own cowboy way.'

'Jesus,' Anna said, pinching the bridge of her nose. 'Cowboy. You were probably born in Reseda.'

'So is there a point, or not?'

'Well,' she said, letting her eyelids droop, 'I wouldn't totallygive up.'

'Totally,' he said, satisfied.

Tracing Bob took time. The administration offices were closed, but they found a course guide in the library. Anna thought Bob and Jason had been taking an editing course together: they found a course description that might be right, located the classrooms on a map. They got into the building as a kid was coming out, then walked through the hallways, looking for someone who might be a teacher. They didn't find any, but after talking to a few students, scored with two pale-faced kids in an editing room.

'Red-haired guy, skinny, sorta hard-faced like a skater,' Harper said, giving them a description from Anna.

'Like from Arkansas, or somewhere? This hillbilly accent?' asked one of the kids.

Anna snapped her fingers: 'That's him: I forgot the accent.'

'Well, his name's Bob, all right. I don't know his last name, but he works at Kinko's, at night.'

Bob was already on the job, and recognized Anna as soon as they walked in. He lifted a hand, walked over: 'How's it going?'

'We need to talk,' Anna said. 'About Jason.'

'Jason? I haven't seen him for a couple of weeks.'

'We doneed to talk,' she said. She looked around. 'Who's your supervisor?'

They took him out behind the Kinko's, into an overflow parking lot, where he lit a cigarette and said, 'Jesus, I can't believe he's dead. Dead?'

'We're gonna send his ashes back to Indiana,' Anna said.

Bobhis last name was Catwellshuddered: 'When I die, I hope they don't send me back to Fort Smith. Nasty.'

'He was murdered,' Harper said. 'The guy who did it took his time. Beat him to death. His skull was in about fifty pieces.'

'Aw, man,' he said. Then: 'What do you want? Why are you talking to me?'

'Whoever killed him may be coming after me. I don't know why, but that's the way it is,' Anna said. 'There's a possibility that whoever did it was somehow involved in dealing drugs to Jason. You know Jason got into it a little heavyand the last time I saw you, you both were into it.'

'Oh, no,' Catwell said. He flicked the cigarette in a bush and took a step back toward the store.

Harper moved quicklyvery quicklybetween Catwell and the Kinko's back door. Anna remembered the ease with which he'd taken her at the apartment. He said, 'We really need to know where you got the crank, or whatever.'

'Fuck you,' Catwell said. 'You can get killed talking about shit like that.'

'Talk to us, or talk to the cops,' Anna said. 'The cops are crazy to get this guy. He's killed two people and shot a third one.'

'That sounds like a reason notto talk.'

'If you give us a name, we'll forget you,' Harper said, pressing him. 'If you don't, we'll feed you to the cops. They'll be on you like a hot sweat. And when they get the name, they won't hide where they got it. You'll be right down there identifying the guy.'