Kline said, “We’re bringing you home-”

He reached for her, but Pike caught his hand and rolled it. Kline jumped back.

“You sonofabitch! Flynn! Do something-”

“He could have ripped it out by the root, Gordon. Let’s see what they have.”

Pike took the faxed booking photo from his pocket and gave it to Flynn.

“This is Meesh. This is not the man in the pictures Pitman showed Larkin.”

Kline and Barkley both peered over Flynn’s shoulder to see. Barkley seemed uncertain, but Kline was impatient and stepped away.

“No, it isn’t, but so what? For all we know, you made this yourself.”

Bud slowly looked at him.

“But why would he do that?”

“To milk us for more money.”

Larkin was focused on her father.

“This isn’t the man in their pictures. They told us that man was Alexander Meesh, but he isn’t. They lied to us, Daddy.”

Daddy. It didn’t seem like a word she would use. Pike liked her for it, but her using it left him sad.

Kline took a breath, then softened his voice.

“We all saw those pictures, and I agree with you-the man in those pictures was not this man. But you’re making it sound as if they misled us. Two people can have the same name.”

Bud glanced through the attached pages.

“Same name, maybe, but not identical arrest records. This record matches what Pitman gave me when I came onboard.”

Gordon raised his eyebrows.

“Really? Then here’s what we need to do-we need to cut Pike loose here and now. Pike has to go. We need to get Larkin home and then we can ask Mr. Pitman. Believe me-I have plenty of questions. Believe me-if I don’t like the answers, he’ll regret the day he was born.”

Conner’s head bounced up and down as if all of this was the best idea he ever heard.

“Why don’t we go home, sweetie? We’ll see what this man Pitman says after we get you home.”

“I’m not going home.”

Kline stared at the ground as if he couldn’t believe the trouble she was causing.

“Flynn. Would you please put her in the car?”

“No, sir. Not unless it’s voluntary.”

Pike said, “She isn’t safe at home, Kline. Don’t you get that?”

Gordon Kline gazed up at Pike from beneath bushy eyebrows, and his voice was still carefully soft.

“Are you sleeping with her?”

Pike’s mouth twitched, but he watched Conner Barkley. Barkley did not react, and Pike felt even more sad for the girl.

Larkin said, “Fuck you, Gordon.”

“This is obstructing justice. You’re a witness in a federal investigation. This man, Pike, he’s putting you in dangerous situations-”

“This is a dangerous situation.”

“-and he’s alienating the people trying to help you. All I’m suggesting is maybe Pitman has a good reason for doing what he’s doing. We’ll ask him, and he’d damn well better explain.”

Pike said, “Ask him why he pretended he didn’t know who was with the Kings the night Larkin hit them.”

“Are you saying he knew?”

“He was flashing pictures of the man the day after the accident-two days before he approached Larkin. Ask him why the man he claims to be Meesh is still trying to kill Larkin even though the Kings are dead.”

Kline glanced at Conner Barkley, then shook his head.

“I spoke with Agent Pitman this morning. He said they were still looking for the Kings.”

“They’ve been dead more than a week. We just found them.”

“I don’t understand.”

Larkin said, “We found them-as in, we looked, and we found them. Someone put their bodies exactly where I had my accident, Gordon. Would you like the address? 18185. I think it was a message. That I’m going to join them.”

Kline wet his lips. He glanced at Barkley, then shook his head.

“You’re sure it was the Kings? You are telling us now that George King is dead?”

Larkin’s voice was brittle.

“And his wife. They were in the Mercedes.”

Bud stared at Pike.

“How?”

“Head. Executed in another location, then brought to the warehouse. The vehicle was registered to George King.”

Kline said, “So what’s your point here, that Pitman murdered them?”

“I don’t know.”

“Do you believe Pitman is behind the attempts on Larkin’s life?”

“I don’t know. It would explain the leaks, but all we know for sure is everything he’s told you are lies.”

Larkin said, “You have to be careful, Daddy. You can’t trust him.”

Kline glanced at Bud.

“Will you check this out? Eighteen-eighteen-five.”

“Right away.”

Kline focused on Pike.

“The man in the picture-the man who isn’t Meesh-do you have any idea who he is?”

“We might have his fingerprints. I don’t know that we do, but we might. We might be able to identify him.”

“As an attorney, I am telling you that if you withhold any evidence from the police, you can and probably will be charged with obstruction of justice and possibly as an accessory to the crime. I want you to know that.”

Bud said, “He knows that. Jesus.”

Pike said, “I’ll take my chances.”

Kline nodded.

“Just so you understand. You’re fired. Is that clear, Bud? This man is no longer in our employ. He no longer works for you, nor will he receive money from us or from you so long as you are in our employ.”

Larkin shouted over him.

“What is wrong with you? Haven’t you paid attention?”

Her father said, “Larkin, honey, now he’s breaking the law. We can’t have that.”

“We came here to warn you, Daddy!”

Kline interrupted.

“Conner, I have work. Let’s get out of here.”

He walked back to the Hummer.

Conner Barkley frowned at his daughter. His quizzical expression had frosted into something impatient.

“This puts me in jeopardy with the government, Larkin. We should never have been involved. We should have turned Pitman away, but you had to tell your story, and now here we are. Think of the exposure with the IRS. Think of the SEC. They could punish me, Larkin.”

It wasn’t about Larkin’s safety. It was about her father. The company. The exposure.

Pike said, “Bud, for Mr. Barkley’s record-I am not in your employ, nor his, and never have been.”

Pike glanced at Larkin.

“I’m helping a friend.”

Larkin ran to the Lexus, and Pike followed her.

“Officer Pike-”

Pike glanced back to see Bud make a tight smile. Kline and Conner Barkley were already at the Hummer.

Bud said, “Call if you need me.”

Pike got into the Lexus and drove away fast. He turned out into traffic, watching his mirror, but the Hummer stayed in the lot. They would need a different car soon. Kline or her father might describe the Lexus to the police.

Pike knew they had lost an edge. They had lost the element of surprise. Gordon Kline was probably already on the phone with Pitman. They had to move even faster than before.

Larkin said, “What are we going to do?”

“Keep going.”

She touched his shoulder. She rested her hand on his delt.

“We won’t back up.”

“We never back up.”

Pike turned into a Safeway parking lot in Burbank and went into the trunk. The black backpack Pike took from the motel was inside along with their other things. Everything he had taken from Jorge and Luis was in it. Pike went through the maps and passports until he found the Baggie containing Larkin’s picture. He closed the trunk, then climbed in behind the wheel and pulled back into traffic.

She said, “What’s that?”

“Your picture. The guy who’s after you, he gave it to Luis. He touched it, so we might have his fingerprints. It didn’t matter when we thought he was Meesh. Now it matters.”

Pike took out his phone. He was dialing when Larkin spoke again.

She said, “You know what’s fucked up? I love him.”

“Yeah. I loved mine, too.”

Pike had never said those words to anyone. Not even Elvis Cole.