Willie stared at him for a moment, then grabbed three glasses and filled them with soda. He slid them in front of us.
He looked at Carter. “That all?”
Carter took a sip from the drink and shook his head. “No.”
Willie leaned back against the counter. “How did I guess?”
Dana looked at me. I just shrugged and watched the other two.
“I need a little info,” Carter said.
Willie didn’t look impressed. “So?”
“So I need it from you.”
Willie folded his skinny arms across his skinny chest. “I don’t owe you nothin’ right now. We square as of last month.”
Carter tilted his head to the side. “Come on, Willie. You’re gonna need my help again. Right?”
Willie squirmed a little, but tried to hold on to his stance.
“We both know I’m right,” Carter said. “Your friends are going to come calling again. You just gonna run?”
I had no idea what they were talking about. But I could tell by Willie’s body language, as he uncrossed his arms and the angry frown dissolved to resignation, that Carter had him over a barrel.
“You promise to keep them off me again?” Willie said, lowering his voice.
Carter held up a hand. “You got my word.”
A crooked smile emerged on Willie’s face. “’Cause they might be on my ass another time soon.”
“And I’ll be there to keep them off,” Carter assured him.
Willie reached out his fist and Carter met it with his own, sealing their deal.
I didn’t want to know.
Willie relaxed. “Alright. What you need?”
Carter looked at me.
“Know a guy named Deacon Moreno?” I asked.
Willie looked at me and then at Dana as if he were just realizing we were there. He looked back at Carter. “They cool?”
“They’re with me, aren’t they?”
Dana tried to cover up a smile with her hand while I attempted to look somewhat trustworthy.
Willie looked back at me. “I know Moreno.”
“What’s he into?” I asked.
Willie shrugged his pointy shoulders. “Pretty much whatever he wants.”
“Guns?”
“For sure.”
“He’s in a gang?”
He glanced at Carter, needing a little reassurance before answering me. Carter nodded at him.
“South Bay Niners,” Willie said to me. “They run everything south of the bridge.”
“The bridge?”
“Coronado, dude. South Bay ’cause that’s where they run. Niners ’cause they all rockin’ nine- millimeters.”
Deacon Moreno was a member of one of the nastier gangs in San Diego.
“How about Wizard Matellion?” I asked. “Know him?”
Willie stood up a little straighter and his jaw tightened. “I ain’t talking about Wizard.”
“Why not?”
He glared at me. “’Cause dudes who talk about Wizard die. Straight up.”
“No one’s gonna know,” Carter said.
Willie stared hard at Carter, then shook his head. “Wizard is a bad motherfucker.”
“He a South Bay Niner, too?” I asked.
Willie laughed at me like I was retarded. “Wizard fuckin’ runs South Bay Niners, Sixth Street Triples, and Hoover Down Killas.”
Carter looked at him. “He runs the whole area?”
“Fuckin’ A,” Willie said. “And I ain’t sayin’ no more about him.” He folded his arms back across his chest.
If Matellion was running the whole show, that meant he was responsible for dozens of murders. It was how they moved up. The more you killed, the more responsibility you got. Fucking fantastic-a case I’d originally thought would be easy had just gone from bad to much, much worse.
“You got an address for Moreno?” I asked.
Willie’s face screwed up into a tight ball of anger. “How about if I just drive you right up to his door? Introduce you and shit, let him know I was the one who brought your ass there?”
Carter stood up and looked at Dana and me. “Why don’t you guys give us a sec?”
Dana stood. “I’m gonna find the bathroom.” She walked toward the back of the restaurant.
“I’ll be outside,” I said.
As I stepped outside into the overcast afternoon, my cell phone vibrated. I didn’t recognize the number on the readout.
I flipped the phone open. “Hello?”
“Noah, it’s Liz.”
I gripped the phone a little tighter. “Hey.”
“Where are you?” she asked.
“Working. Why?”
“I need you to come down to the station.”
I took a deep breath and watched the traffic go by on Fifth. “Why?”
She paused for a moment, then said, “I just need you to come down, Noah.”
“Is Mike gonna be there?” I said before I could think better of it.
Her irritation was nearly tangible through the phone. “Don’t be an ass.”
“Who’s being an ass?” I said, taking a little enjoyment at her annoyance. “Just wondering if your new boyfriend’s gonna be there.”
“I’m trying to do you a favor, Noah.”
I laughed. “Oh, yeah? How’s that?”
She paused again and I half expected her to hang up on me. Part of me wanted her to do just that and part of me wanted to start the conversation all over again.
“Your mother’s here,” she said. “In lockup.”
My throat tightened and goose bumps formed on my forearms. I squeezed the phone so hard I thought it might shatter. I shut my eyes, wishing Liz had said anything other than what she had.
“I’ll be right there.”
Seventeen
I sat in the Jeep, staring at the police station.
I’d told Carter about the phone call and he waved me out of the diner. He and Dana would find their own way home.
He understood.
I didn’t want to go in angry, frustrated, and disappointed, but I knew I didn’t have that much self-control. I just wanted to corral all three of those emotions before facing my mother for the first time in nearly four years.
I struggled out of the Jeep, cursing the fact that my body was still hurting. All the driving I’d done hadn’t helped, either. The traffic on Pacific Coast Highway roared behind me. I walked up the steps to the SDPD building
