Lullaby Town Read online

  "We'll see." I really know how to throw a scare into them.

  I took the wallet and opened it. Nothing said MAFIA. Nothing said HIRED KILLER. What I saw was a California driver's license in the name of one James L. Grady, address c/o James L. Grady Confidential Investigations, Los Angeles, California. I blinked at it a few times and then I blinked at James L. Grady.

  James L. said, "Will you stop pointing that goddamned gun at me now?"

  I didn't stop pointing the gun at him. A pretty woman driving past in a white Mercedes gave us the finger. I said, "Who hired you?"

  "Peter Alan Nelsen."

  "Peter Alan Nelsen, the film director?"

  James L. Grady gave me snide. "Yeah. He said he hired you to find his ex-wife, but he figured you were stiffing him and he wanted to find out. I picked you up in Chelam with the ex and the kid, and I've been following you around ever since."

  "Ever since."

  "Peter came in last night. He's staying over at the Ritz-Carlton. He wants to see you."

  I stopped pointing the gun at him and he snatched back his wallet. A guy passing by in a red Nissan truck called me a shithead. So did James L. Grady.

  CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

  Peter Alan Nelsen had the Presidential Suite on the top floor of the Ritz-Carlton, overlooking Central Park. I followed Grady's Chevy to the curb, where we let a couple of guys who looked like they'd just mustered out of the French army have our cars, then we went inside.

  James L. used a house phone and said, "This is Grady. I'm in the lobby with Cole."

  He listened for a minute, then hung up and gestured with his chin. "Elevator's over there."

  He stayed a half step in front as we crossed the lobby, looking very spiffy in his coat and tie, like a successful exercise-equipment importer or a high-end insurance executive. He didn't look like a guy who could follow me for a week without my noticing. If he did, I probably would've noticed him.

  In the elevator, he leaned against one wall with his arms crossed and I leaned against another, and neither of us looked at the other. Invisible lines. The elevator was quiet and still and somehow made closer by the faraway hum of the electric motors. It was a long way up to the top floor. I said, "How come I didn't make you?"

  He shrugged, still not looking at me. "I'm good at it. Also, I didn't have to maintain continual contact. Once I knew where you were staying and where the woman lived and worked, it was easy."

  "You didn't have to worry about losing me because you could always pick me up again."

  "Uh-huh."

  I nodded. "I put the plane ticket and the Ho Jo on plastic. There were the phone calls charged to my office number in L.A."

  "You weren't trying to hide. You didn't expect anyone to look."

  I stared at him for about twelve floors. "Fed."

  Grady smiled. "Secret Service. Fourteen years." He finally turned and looked at me. "I'm impressed you picked me up. I was back and I was loose. I don't get picked up even when I'm living in the other guy's shorts. You're good."

  I spread my hands. Maybe Grady wasn't so bad after all.

  We got off at the top floor and followed the noise to the Presidential Suite. Nick met us at the door and gave me the big smirk, then jerked his thumb through the door. "Inside, hotshot." The Nick-ster.

  Inside, a quadraphonic stereo system was blasting out Fine Young Cannibals, and the air smelled like Jiffy Pop popcorn and cigarettes. Peter Alan Nelsen was talking to a couple of guys in baggy suits out by the terrace, and a guy with a loud green tie was speaking into a phone by the bar. One of the guys with Peter was wearing a paisley ascot and was smoking a purple cigarette. Dani and T.J. were slouching on the palatial furniture, and a thin woman going for the Tama Janowitz look sat next to T.J. with her hand on his thigh. Dani gave me a little wave. There were open bottles of Absolut vodka and Jack Daniel's bourbon on the bar, and Nestle's wrappers on the floor. Most of the Absolut was gone. It probably wasn't like this when the president was in residence. Grady frowned at the mess and gave disapproving. Nope, it wasn't like this with the president.

  Peter saw us and turned away from the two guys by the terrace without excusing himself and said, "Well, it's about goddamned time. Dani, turn off that shit and get these Broadway fruits out of here." Broadway fruits. Always sensitive.

  The guy with the ascot looked peeved. He said, "Peter, we have the backers in place. If you'll agree to direct the play, we can be on the boards by next fall."

  Peter said, "Nick, give Dani a hand with the fruits."

  Nick pulled the phone away from the guy at the bar, then pointed at the two guys by the terrace and showed them his famous thumb-jerked-at-the-door move. High verbal. The guy with the ascot said, "I'm sure we can reach some sort of agreement," but Peter wasn't listening; he was already over with me and Grady. Nick and Dani hustled the three Broadway people out. The Tama Janowitz went with them.

  Peter said, "Jesus Christ, you were supposed to find my kid and let me know. Instead, I gotta hire somebody to find you. I thought we were pals." He looked hurt.

  "There were things I wanted to find out and do before I called you in."

  "Like what?"

  "I can't tell you."

  "Bullshit. I didn't hire you to do things. I hired you to find my kid. What're you trying to do, jack up the price?" Now he was giving me suspicious.

  I said, "If you had waited, I would've called. Karen needs to prepare the boy, and there are things going on in her life that she needs to straighten out. That's what's been taking the time."

  Peter grunted when I said it and looked interested, forgetting about the hurt and the pissed. "You talked to her about me?"

  "Yeah."

  "What'd she say? She excited?" He was leaning forward now, wanting to hear about himself.

  "She's got a life here, Peter. She's scared that your coming in is going to change that. You need to be sensitive to that."

  "Sure, sure. I'm sensitive. I'm caring." He made a little hand move to show me how sensitive and caring he was. "How about my kid? Is Toby okay?"

  "Yes. He plays basketball. He seems happy."

  "Good, good." Peter was moving around now, looking pleased with the way things were working out. Karen wouldn't be pleased, but there you go. "So maybe you weren't trying to fuck me over. You were trying to smooth things out and that takes time. I can understand that."

  "Thanks."

  He gave me beaming. He was wearing a blousy white tuxedo shirt, black jeans, and black leather jump boots. The boots hadn't been polished in about three hundred years. "I knew you were on my team. You're my kind of guy. We're two of a kind."

  I spread my hands. Two of a kind.

  James L. Grady cleared his throat. "You need me for anything else, Mr. Nelsen?"

  Peter said, "You got the address on my kid?"

  Grady took a small spiral notepad from his jacket, tore out a sheet, and handed it to him. "Yes, sir. Home and work addresses for the ex-wife."

  Peter gave the slip of paper to Nick without looking at it. "Terrific, Grady. You're on the A list, just like Cole. A couple of A-team players." He made another little hand gesture to Nick. "Pay'm off, Nick-ster. Give'm something extra for the good work."

  Grady said, "Just what we agreed to, Mr. Nelsen. I don't need extra."

  "Whatever."

  James L. started out with Nick, then turned back and looked at me. "Good work finding the woman, Cole. I'll see you around."

  "Sure."

  He went out.

  Peter strutted around the room, giving everyone more of the beam job. "I'm excited. I'm jazzed. I'm ready for action." He strode to the bar and picked up the phone. "This is Peter Alan Nelsen. Have my cars ready in five minutes." He hung up before whomever he had spoken to could answer, then he addressed the room. "Everybody get ready. We're going to see my kid."

  I said, "Peter, I know you want to see your son, but going out there like this isn't the way to do it. The boy doesn't know you're here."


  "I'll tell him."

  "He doesn't even know that you're his father. He needs to be prepared."

  Peter stopped grinning and frowned at me. "What are you talking about? What does he need to prepare for? I'm not some kinda test."

  "Peter, think about it. The smart way is to take it slow. You don't want to screw it up with Toby before you begin."

  The frown got deeper. "What are you saying? Are you telling me not to go?"

  Dani said, "Maybe we should let them know. It's not polite to just barge in."

  Peter said, "Goddamnit, what's the big deal? He's my son, isn't he? She's my ex-wife, isn't she? How come everybody's turning against me?"

  Dani said, "Nobody's turning against you, Peter."

  I said, "It's better if you wait. Let me set up a meeting with Karen."

  Peter suddenly made the big smile again and came over and pounded me on the back. "You wanna set up a meeting, that's okay by me. Tell her Peter Alan Nelsen is back. Tell her I came three thousand miles to see my kid and I'm on my way. She's gonna be thrilled. The kid's going to be thrilled. Why wouldn't they?" He slapped me on the back again and then he told everybody he was going to take a leak and after that they would leave.

  I said, "But, Peter."

  He waved his hands. "Trust me on this. I know people. I know the human heart. It's why I'm me." Then he strode out of the room. Whistling.

  I took a deep breath, let it out, then went over to where Dani was standing with the Nickster and T.J.. The Nickster said, "Hey, the guy's happy. Why you wanna piss on his parade?" Dani just looked at me the way you look at someone when you want him to help you.

  I said, "I'll call his ex-wife and let her know. There's a Howard Johnson's just off the freeway outside of Chelam. Neutral territory. Have him come there, to the restaurant. That's where she'll be."

  Dani nodded. "I'll try."

  I strode out of the room, too, but I wasn't whistling.

  CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

  I went down to the lobby and used a pay phone by the men's room to call Karen Lloyd at the bank. It was not a call that I wanted to make. "Yes?"

  "It's me. Peter's in New York. He hired another detective who followed me to you. He knows where you live and he's coming out there now."

  She took a deep breath, then let it out with a soft hiss. "My God. He's coming to Chelam now? Right now?"

  "Yes."

  "We can't just spring it on Toby like this. Toby doesn't know anything. He'll be terrified. I don't want Peter coming to the house."

  "I've arranged for him to meet you at the Howard Johnson's. I'm leaving ahead of him so I'll be with you when he gets there."

  "That sonofabitch. Can't you stop him?"

  "I thought about shooting him, but that seemed a bit drastic."

  "Not to me." She didn't say anything for a while. "Did you tell him about the DeLucas?"

  "No. That's up to you, but he's going to know sooner or later."

  "That bastard."

  "Stay focused on DeLuca. We can talk to Peter. We can find a way to work it out."

  She said, "Oh, that's shit," and then she hung up. She didn't sound as thrilled as Peter had said she'd be, but maybe that was just me.

  When I got to the Ho Jo it was four minutes after three that afternoon, bright and clear and smelling of autumn. Karen Lloyd and Joe Pike were sitting at a table in the front of the bar. Karen was wearing a maple pant suit and pale red lip gloss and she seemed calm and contained, but it was the kind of calm you feel in a hospital waiting room. This early, they were the only two people in the bar.

  Karen said, "Where is he?"

  "A few minutes behind me. Did you meet Charlie?"

  She gave me annoyed. "No. I said that I wouldn't, didn't I?" She was holding a tall glass with something clear in it. "I don't want to talk about that. All I can think about is Toby. I'll have to sit down with him tonight. I'll have to tell him about his father. It's all happening so fast." She made a little head shake and had some of the drink.

  "You may not want to talk about Charlie, but we need to. He's your more serious problem."

  "It doesn't feel that way."

  "It will." I told her about Walter Lee Balcom and Angelette Silver. "Did Charlie call to find out why you didn't show up?"

  "No."

  "Did anyone who looked suspicious come into the bank, or watch you from a car, or follow you?"

  "Of course not."

  I looked at Pike. He shook his head.

  Karen said, "You were watching?"

  Pike nodded.

  Even more annoyed. "I didn't see you. I didn't know you were spying."

  Pike made a little head shrug.

  Karen tapped at the table, then took more of the drink. Not a happy lady. Feeling the control slip away, but trying to make the best of it. "All right. But I would think that your going to see Charlie and my standing up to him finally convinced him that I'm serious."

  Pike said, "It's not over."

  Karen frowned at him. "He can't want to make a stink about this any more than I. If I get in trouble, he gets in trouble. Isn't that right?"

  I said, "Guys like Charlie don't let it go."

  She made the little head shake again and closed her eyes. "I'm sorry, but I just can't deal with this. I've got Peter to think about. I've got Toby. My God, how am I going to tell him that yesterday he didn't have a father but today he does?"

  Pike leaned forward. "Tell him you've got some good news."

  Karen closed her eyes again and said, "Please."

  Four minutes later, Peter arrived. At first I thought that maybe Rommel and his Panzers were pouring through the pass, but then I realized it was Peter. Two black presidential stretch limos followed T.J. riding point on a candy-apple-red Harley-Davidson cop house special, T.J. in a heavy buckskin coat and World War I aviator's goggles, circling the parking lot and revving his engine as the two presidentials skidded in. Peter Alan Nelsen climbed out from behind the wheel of the first limo and the Nickster climbed out of the second. The waitress and the bartender went to the windows to look. Karen looked at them looking and chewed at her lip.

  Dani and a couple of scared-looking guys in formal black chauffeur suits got out of the back of the first limo. Everybody could have easily fit into one, but why have one when you can have two?

  I watched Karen Lloyd –once– Karen Nelsen watch them and I touched her arm. "It's going to be fine."

  "Of course it's going to be fine." She took a sip of her drink.

  Peter came in first, with Dani beside him and Nick and T.J. sort of behind. Karen folded her hands neatly on the table in front of her and watched Peter the way you watch someone in the next yard, sort of detached. For a moment they looked at each other across the room, then Peter walked over and stopped at the edge of the table. "Hi, Karen."

  "Hello, Peter." Her face was without expression and she did not stand up.

  I said, "This is Dani. That's Nick and T.J."

  Everybody nodded and said howareyas. When Karen looked at Dani, Dani's big thighs jumped.

  Peter sat down and Dani pulled up a chair from the next table. Nick and T.J. went to the bar. Peter looked at Joe Pike and said, "Who's this?"

  "Joe Pike. He has the agency with me. Remember?"

  Peter looked back at Karen. "It's been a long time, Karen. You look great."

  Karen nodded politely. "Thank you."

  The waitress came out from behind the bar. "What's everybody having?"

  Peter said, "I want a Budweiser. The guys at the bar, they're with me so give'm whatever they want." He gestured at Karen's drink. "What's that?"

  "Vodka tonic."

  "Give her another."

  Karen said, "No. Thank you."

  Peter said, "You don't want another?"

  "No. But thank you." She pronounced the words slowly and carefully, as if she and the chair were in balance but the words might upset that balance. "I'd rather do what we have to do, so that I can get back to the bank."
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br />   Peter looked confused. "It's over ten years."

  Dani said, "I'll have a Perrier, please."

  The waitress eyed Peter past her order pad. She hadn't written anything down, "You look like someone."

  I said, "Bring the Bud and the Perrier, okay?"

  The waitress put her hand on the side of her neck and rolled her eyes in recognition. "You're the guy who makes movies. I saw you on Arsenio."

  Karen's jaw knotted.

  The waitress said, "You're Peter Alan Nelsen!"

  Karen's jaw knotted harder and the corners of her mouth pulled down.

  Peter nodded, turning on the smile. "That's right. In the living 3-D."

  "Wow."

  Karen said, "Oh, for Christ's sake," and glared at the waitress. "We're trying to have a discussion here, and you're not part of it."

  "You don't have to get snippy."

  "And you don't have to act like some sort of idiotic teeny-bopper. Just bring the drinks."

  The waitress gave Karen the ice treatment and went over to Nick and T.J.

  Peter said, "Jesus Christ, she probably just wanted an autograph or something."

  "She can get it later. I'm the vice-president and manager of the bank here, and I am a mother. I have responsibilities. I can't waste my time."

  Peter looked like a little kid who'd just been told to go to bed and didn't like it.

  Karen said, "I know you want to see Toby, but I'd rather you wait. He doesn't know that you're here and he doesn't know who you are or anything about you. Give me this evening to talk to him and then you can see him tomorrow."

  Peter liked that even less.

  Karen said, "If you come out now, you'll just scare him."

  Peter shook his head. "Hell, what's he got to be scared of?"

  I said, "Any child would be scared, Peter. One day he's comfortable with his life, the next a strange man walks up to him and says, hi, I'm your old man. Everything he knows changes, and everything becomes an unknown. Do you see?"

  Peter frowned and sort of pooched out his lips. "Whose side are you on?"

  "The kid's. I'm also on yours and Karen's."

  Dani said, "You've seen this kind of thing a lot, haven't you?"