Jenn came in, dressed to the nines, and gave Jesse a pleasant but passing kiss on the mouth. The trill of excitement tightened into a knot of desire and sadness. The kiss was passionless.
“I am on an investigative assignment,” Jenn said.
“What’s Channel Three investigating this time,” Jesse said. “The resurgence of platform soles?”
Jenn smiled.
“Are you saying that Newsbeat Three is not noted for high seriousness?”
“Yes,” Jesse said.
“This is a good one for me,” Jenn said. “It’s like hard news investigation.”
Jesse nodded. The knot in his stomach held tight. He knew it would be there until well after she left.
“Our sources tell us that Latino gangs are infiltrating Paradise,” Jenn said.
Jesse stared at her.
“Latino gangs,” he said.
“There is gang graffiti on several buildings in Paradise,” Jenn said.
She took some snapshots out of her purse and put them on Jesse’s desk so he could see them.
“Our sources sent us these pictures,” Jenn said.
Jesse recognized a couple. One had been on the side of the commuter rail station for more than a year. One had appeared on the back wall of the food market at the mall. There were two more he hadn’t seen.
“Can you name your sources?”
Jenn shook her head.
“Does the name Miriam Fiedler mean anything to you?”
She smiled.
“Walter Carr?”
Jenn smiled again but she didn’t say anything.
“Jenn,” Jesse said. “There has not been a gang-related crime in this town since I’ve been here.”
“Isn’t that odd?” Jenn said. “I mean, Marshport is right next door. There are gangs there.”
“Several,” Jesse said.
“You don’t think they might want to slip in here, sometimes, where the streets are paved in gold?”
Jesse leaned back a little in his chair. Jenn had her legs crossed. Her pants were tight. He could see the smooth line of her thigh.
“I never lived in a slum, exactly. But I worked in a lot of them in L.A. People who live in suburbia think every slum dweller yearns to live there, too,” Jesse said. “But many people I knew liked the ’hood. Wouldn’t want to leave it. Would die of boredom and conformity if they lived elsewhere.”
“To me,” Jenn said, “that sounds like an excuse to do nothing about slums.”
“That’s probably it,” Jesse said.
“No,” Jenn said. “I didn’t mean that you were like that. But are you saying none of the gangbangers ever cross the line into Paradise?”
