Down in the Zero

'I've heard that sound all my life,' I said, reaching for her, the diamond on my hand sparkling against the bronze flesh of her thigh. 'It always sounds like the bell for the next round.'

On the drive back, I raised the kid on the car phone. 'Where are you?'

'In the parking lot,' he said. 'By the deli. I wanted to pick up— '

'I'm heading back now. Meet me there.'

He was waiting as I arrived, doing something with the Plymouth, peering into the open trunk. He looked up as I approached.

'Why didn't you tell me your mother was a patron of Crystal Cove?' I asked him, quick, before he could get set.

'I…didn't know. What's a patron?'

'A supporter. Financial.'

'Oh.'

'Yeah, 'oh.' What's between her and Barrymore?'

'I don't know.'

'But you know there's something, right?'

'I…guess so. He used to…come over to the house. A long time ago.'

'Sonny, listen good, okay? Your mother never told you to get in touch with Barrymore? If there was any trouble…?'

'No. She never said. Just you.'

'Okay, kid. It's probably a false alarm anyway. You gonna be working on the car for a while?'

'Yeah. The fuel cell, how can you tell if it's full? I mean, does the gas gauge— ?'

'It works just like a regular one. Look, there's a videotape I want to look at…you got a VCR over at the house, right?'

'Sure, it's— '

'I'll find it,' I told him.

I went through the house slowly, but there was just too damn much of it. I'd need days to do a decent search— it was a job for the Israelis. Cherry's bedroom looked the same— no patina of dust even though I'd never laid eyes on a housekeeper all the time I'd been hanging around. It wouldn't be the only safe drop she had anyway. The clock in her bedroom mocked me. Three hours ahead …what the hell was that all about?

'First run's at nine,' the kid told me as I was moving back across the driveway to my apartment. 'I'm gonna get there early, burn things in.'

'I'll come by later,' I told him. 'You don't know what time you go off?'

'No, not really. They usually run the Open Class last, but…'

'I'll find you,' I said.

I was at Fancy's before dark. 'I tried the parents of Troy and Jennifer' she told me. 'The kids who…did it together?'

'And?'

'I figured, they'd be…together too, you know? Seeing as how their kids loved each other so much. But, Jennifer's father, he jumped right on me. He said he'd heard about you. About checking things out. And he and his wife, they just wanted to be left alone. So I called Troy's house. His mother wanted to know if I spoke to Jennifer's parents. I told her, not yet, like it was going to happen, right? She said she thought Jennifer was pregnant, and her parents wouldn't let her have an abortion. They're Catholic. But she wouldn't let me make an appointment either.'

'Could that be true…what she said?'

'I kind of…asked around. Don't be mad— I was careful. It wouldn't be true. First of all, her parents aren't Catholic. And besides, lots of girls get abortions around here— it's a common thing. And Jennifer wasn't underage— she wouldn't have needed anyone's permission. They could have even gotten married if they wanted.'

'But they were both in Crystal Cove…'

'I know. That's the funny thing— I think that's where they met. They really didn't know each other all that long…to be doing something like that.'

'How long does it take?'

'Don't make fun of me, Burke. It's such a serious thing, doing what they did, I just thought…'

'I wasn't making fun of you, girl. That's the thing about suicides— you can never ask them.'

Fancy drove us to a Thai restaurant in town in her NSX. I ordered skewered beef, seared in hot oil in a fondue pot they brought to the table. Fancy asked for stir–fried vegetables over sesame noodles.

'What do you drink with Thai food?' she asked, looking over her menu.

'Beer,' I said. 'At least that's what everyone says.'

'Could I have one?'

'Sure. Why not?'