"Yes. Often." I stared at the lights of the San Fernando Valley and listened to the music from the van. It sounded Spanish. I said, "If we can't find her, then we have to stop Akeem. That means we go back to the source."

Pike nodded. "The guy who set us up."

"Cool T. Cool T might know."

Pike shook his head. "What a name."

Pike started the Jeep and we drove back down into the city and to the motel, and the next day we went for Cool T.

CHAPTER 23

Joe Pike and I left the motel for Ray Depente's place at five minutes after eight the next morning. We drove to Ray's much as you would drive anywhere. SWAT wasn't waiting on the roof, and the police hadn't cordoned off the area, and a squadron of black-and-whites with screaming sirens didn't give chase. We were just two guys in a Jeep. Wanted for murder, maybe, but there you are.

We stopped at a Denny's for breakfast, and while we were eating, two uniformed cops came in and sat in the smoking section. Pike and I paid, and walked out past them, but they never looked our way. Detective material.

At seven minutes before nine, we pulled into the little parking lot next to Ray Depente's, and went inside.

Ray Depente was sitting at his desk in the little glass cubicle, talking on the phone and leaning back with his feet up. The older woman who managed the office was behind him, peering into a file cabinet. When we stepped out of the door, Ray saw us and put down his feet and stood up. He mumbled something into the phone, then hung up and came around the desk and out onto the floor. The cops would've been here. They would've talked to him.

I said, "Hi, Ray. This is a buddy of mine. Joe Pike."

Ray stopped just outside of striking range and looked over Joe Pike and then squinted back at me. You could see him braining out what he'd have to do and how he'd have to do it to neutralize us. Pike slid two steps to the side, giving himself room if Ray made the move. There weren't many people in the gym. A young Asian guy sporting a black belt worked three women and a man through an intermediate kata, and a young Hispanic guy practiced roundkicks on a heavy bag in the far corner. Some of his leg moves were so fast you couldn't follow them.

Ray said, "You've got no business here. Leave now, before I call the police."

"I didn't kill James Edward, Ray. Akeem D'Muere set me up for the bust and D'Muere pulled the trigger."

"Ain't the way the police tell it." Ray took a half step back and turned so that his shoulders were angled to the plane of attack. "Why don't we give'm a call, let everybody sit down and talk about it." He made a little head move toward his office.

Pike said, 'That won't happen."

Ray shifted again, adjusted his angle more toward Joe. "Maybe not, but you never know." Behind him, the class grunted and worked through their kata, and the heavy bag snapped with deep coughing whumps. "I won't tell you again to leave, then we'll see what happens." The woman in the little office closed the file and looked out at us and then came around the desk to stand in the door as if she could somehow read the tension.

I said, "You don't know me, but you know James Edward. You think he was digging for a deal?"

Ray Depente canted his head like he'd been trying not to think of that, and his eyes flicked from me to Pike, then back. There was a physical quality to time, as if it were suddenly still, and moving through it was like moving through something dense and unyielding. "Maybe you used him for a fool. Maybe you thought you could come down here and rip off the brothers, but it didn't work out that way. The police said you escaped. An innocent man don't escape."

"Bullshit. James Edward and I came here to find out what happened at the Premier Pawn Shop. James Edward is dead because the cops involved didn't want us to find out, and neither does Akeem. Your man Cool T set us up."

"I know you're lying. Cool T's righteous."

"He set us up. He told us when and where to be, and the Eight-Deuce were there waiting for us."

Ray was fighting it. You could see him starting to think that maybe I was being square. He wet his lips. "Why in the hell did you come back here?"

"Because Akeem wants to kill a woman named Jennifer Sheridan, and I can't let that happen."

"I don't know anything about it."

"You don't, but maybe Cool T does, or knows somebody who does."

Behind us, the Hispanic kid launched a flurry of kicks at the heavy bag, then collapsed to the mat, sweat falling like rain from the dark cloud of his hair. Ray Depente abruptly straightened from his fighting stance. "I've got a class due in forty-five minutes."

"This won't take long."

"All right. Let's talk about it. If what you say makes sense, I'll see what I can do."

Ray led us back across the wide parquet floor to the little cubicle and said, "Miriam, I need maybe a few minutes alone with these gentlemen. Would you excuse us, please?" Miriam moved out of the door when she saw us coming and stood beside her desk. She peered at me and at Pike with obvious distaste. "Who's going to answer the phones?"'

"I will, Miriam. I remember how they work."

"That fella from NBC is supposed to call." She didn't like this at all.

"I can handle it, Miriam. Thank you."

She humphed and bustled out, and then he closed the door, and went behind his desk. He took the phone off the hook.

A couple of hard chairs sat against a wall that was mostly pictures and mementos of Ray Depente's Marine Corps years. I took one of the chairs, but Pike stayed on his feet, looking at the pictures. Ray in fatigues showing gunnery-sergeant stripes. An older Ray showing master sergeant. An 8x10 of Ray Depente screaming at a platoon of recruits. Another of him smiling and shaking hands with President Reagan. Ray in dress blues with enough ribbons on his chest to make him walk sideways. Pike shook his head at the pictures, and said, "Jarhead."

Ray Depente's eyes flashed. "You got a problem with that?"

Pike's mouth twitched. "I went through Pendleton."

Depente's eyes softened and he settled back, maybe looking at Pike with a little more respect. There are two basic types of individuals: Marines, and everybody else. He gave a thin, tight smile. "Yeah. You got the look, all right." He crossed his arms and looked at me. "Okay, we're here and I'm listening."

I told him about Eric Dees and the REACT team, and that these guys were now apparently involved with the Eight-Deuce Gangster Boys. I told him about the meeting at Raul's Taco, and what Cool T had told us. "Cool T said that the REACT cops were in business with the Eight-Deuce. He told us that the Eight-Deuce would hip the REACT cops to the competition, and the cops would bust the dealers. He knew we were looking for a connection, and that's what he gave us. He told us that the REACT cops were going to step on a dope dealer in the park. The cops showed up, but so did the Eight-Deuce. They knew that we were there, and they were looking for us."

Ray shook his head. "I believe what you say, but I know Cool T to be a right brother. If he told you this, it's because he believed it."

I spread my hands.

Ray gave me certain. "Bet your life on it."

Pike said, "James Edward did."

Ray's jaw flexed and he shifted in the chair. "Yeah. I guess he did." He fixed the sharp eyes on me again. "Least, that's what you say."

I said, "Cool T said that the Eight-Deuce are working for the REACT cops, but it's not tracking out like that. These cops are acting like they're scared of Akeem, and they're trying to handle him, but they don't have the horsepower. That puts a woman I know in jeopardy. She's hiding with one of the officers involved, and if she's hiding, it's because the cops don't think they can control Akeem. I need to find out how this thing fits together. If I find out how it fits, maybe I can find her, or maybe I can stop Akeem."