Reluctant, Coltrane followed, the cool air making him shiver.

“The area is reinforced by steel to withstand earthquakes,” Duncan said. “It’s insulated against fire and sealed against flood. As a further precaution, a halon-gas fire-extinguisher system is recessed into the ceiling.”

What’s the matter with me? Coltrane thought. There’s plenty of space in here. Why do I feel smothered?

Hearing a metallic click, he turned, to discover that the door had swung shut. “Does the lock work from the inside as well as the out?”

“Of course. There’s no danger of being trapped in here. Randolph thought of everything.” Duncan reached the only shelf that wasn’t empty. “I have only a few more boxes. If you’ll give me a hand.”

“Gladly.”

In truth, Coltrane couldn’t wait to get out. He breathed normally only after he and Duncan carried the boxes into the soul-warming light and Duncan locked the darkness behind them. The change was immediate. Again, Coltrane felt at one with the house.

4

OUTSIDE, AT THE CURB, he helped Duncan put the boxes into the Mercedes. Turning, he peered toward the property and recalled the almost-mystical quality of brightness in it.

Except for the vault, he reminded himself.

But the vault doesn’t count, he thought. It was never intended to be part of the house.

“So what happens now?” he asked Duncan. “Where are you taking those boxes?”

“UCLA. Randolph established a special collection there. For the past few days, I’ve been making trips back and forth. It’s time-consuming. Maybe I could have trusted someone else to do the job. But somehow it gave me a sense of peace.”

“And the house?”

“Will go on the market.” Duncan hesitated. “You know, it’s odd. Randolph didn’t particularly care for where he lived in Newport Beach. You saw how badly maintained it was. But here, where he came only occasionally, he kept this house in perfect shape.”

“It’s being put up for sale?”

“That’s what the trustees of his estate have decided to do. Randolph willed the Newport Beach house to me, but he made no provisions for this one.”

“Duncan, would you do me a favor?”

“That depends.”

“Ask the trustees to delay putting the house on the market.”

5

“YOU WANT TO BUY A HOUSE?” Jennifer asked in disbelief.

Daniel looked astonished. It was Saturday, 2:30 in the afternoon. They were in Coltrane’s Chevy Blazer, heading past Christmas decorations on Hollywood Boulevard.

“That’s what all the mystery’s about?” Daniel asked. “You’re taking us to look at a house?”

“You ought to feel complimented. I wouldn’t think of taking a drastic step like this without some input from the two of you.”

“But you’re out of town a lot – sometimes for months,” Jennifer said.

“Maybe not anymore.”

“I’ll believe that when I see it. When would you find time to look after a house?”

“I could hire people to maintain it.” Coltrane steered left onto Beachwood Drive, heading up into the tangle of streets in the Hollywood Hills.

“But right now, if you need to leave in a hurry, all you have to do is lock your place and drive away,” Daniel said. “No muss, no fuss. Not to mention, you’ve got me next door to come over and check on things. And you’ve got Jennifer. Why on earth do you want to complicate your life?”

“I was hoping to simplify it.” Coltrane steered to the right, heading up a eucalyptus-lined zigzag road. “I want to put down roots.”

“Then plant a tree,” Daniel said. “I’m telling you – this could be a mistake.”

Coltrane crested a hill. Excitement made him smile as the house appeared below him. He had been afraid that upon returning to it, he wouldn’t feel the same magic. But if anything, it gripped him more strongly.

“There.” He stopped in front.

The car became silent.

“So what do you think?”

Neither Jennifer nor Daniel said a word.

“Well?” Coltrane asked.

“Shit,” Daniel said.

“What’s the matter?”

“It’s fantastic.”

“What about you, Jennifer?”

She still didn’t say anything.

“Jennifer?”

“… It’s one of the houses Packard photographed.”

“Right.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t want you to have preconceptions.”

Jennifer raised a hand to shield her eyes from the sun. “I wouldn’t have believed it. As impressive as it is in Packard’s photograph, he didn’t do it justice.”

“Then you understand why I’m tempted to buy it,” Coltrane said.

“The question that comes to mind is how. Have you got an oil well or something I don’t know about?”

“Exactly what I was thinking,” Daniel said. “This is a major piece of real estate. The asking price must be over a million.”

“And a half,” Coltrane said.

“How the… What makes you think you can afford…”

“My father’s going to buy it for me.”

They looked at him as if he’d lost his mind.

“Your father?” Jennifer asked.

“The son of a bitch had twenty dry-cleaning shops,” Coltrane said. “After he shot my mother and himself, the shops were sold. The proceeds were put in a trust account that my grandparents managed while they were raising me. Except for feeding and clothing me, paying my medical bills and my college expenses, the money was never used. Until I was twenty-one, I didn’t even know the account existed. I thought my grandparents were paying the bills. If I’d known where the money was coming from… Several times, I almost gave it away. What stopped me were my grandparents. They didn’t want the money, either, but I kept worrying that if something terrible happened to them, if they had catastrophic medical bills or… I wanted to be in a position to pay them back for all the years and the love they put into raising me. So I let the money stay – in case. The last thing I expected was to use it for myself.” Coltrane tasted something bitter. “But finally the asshole who called himself my father is going to do something for me.”

An emotional silence was broken by the stutter of a hard-to-start lawn mower down the street.

“Okay,” Jennifer said. “I can see you’ve got your mind made up.”

“Why are the two of you being so negative?”

They looked at each other.

Daniel glanced down in embarrassment. “I guess we do sound negative. The truth is, I enjoy having you as a neighbor. The last thing I want is for you to move.”

“But it’s not like I’d be moving to another city. We’d still see each other.”

“It wouldn’t be the same, though.”

“No.” Coltrane felt a twinge of melancholy. “No, it wouldn’t.”

“All we want is what’s best for you,” Jennifer said. “Don’t you think you should at least check to make sure the house doesn’t have structural damage from the last quake? Maybe it’s about to fall over. Or maybe its plumbing is all messed up, or the house is sitting on a swamp.”

Coltrane chuckled. “I sort of planned on getting it inspected.” He pulled out a key that Duncan had lent him. “Would you like to see for yourself about the swamp?”