“Friends?”
Rachel blinked several times. “He tutored me.”
Dana laughed out loud and rolled onto her side on the sofa.
“Tutored?” I asked.
Rachel looked down at her feet. “Sorta.”
I took another deep breath and tried to relax. “Look, Linc is missing. I’m trying to find him. He’s not in trouble. And I don’t care about the pot or anything else you two probably have stashed in here. Just be straight with me.”
It was quiet for a moment while they tried to process what I’d said.
“Just tell him,” Dana finally said.
“Shut up,” Rachel said, looking at her.
“He’s not from the school,” Dana said, frowning at her friend. Then she looked at me. “Right? You aren’t some kinda school cop?”
“I’m not.”
She looked back at Rachel. “See?”
Rachel frowned at her friend, but didn’t say anything.
Dana turned back to me. “Linc wrote papers for her.”
“Dana! Shut up!” Rachel said, her cheeks flushing slightly.
“And she fucked him in return,” Dana said, smiling.
“You bitch,” Rachel said, shaking her head.
College had apparently changed since I’d been enrolled.
“It wasn’t just like that,” Rachel said to me.
“Okay,” I said. “I’m not looking for an explanation. I just want to find him.”
Rachel’s cheeks continued to flush. “I mean, I can’t write very good. He offered to help. And it just kinda… happened.”
“Just once?”
Dana laughed.
“Well, no,” Rachel said. “A couple times. But not recently. The last time was like two months ago. I swear.”
“Okay. When did you see him last?”
She thought about it, lines forming above her perfect eyebrows. “Two days ago.”
“Any idea where he might be?”
She shook her head slowly. “No. Do you think he’s in trouble?”
“No idea,” I said, wishing I hadn’t knocked on their door. I pulled a card from my pocket and held it out. “If you hear from him or think of anything, call me.”
Dana lurched off the sofa. “Can I get one of those?”
I reluctantly withdrew another one and handed it to her.
She smiled at it, then winked at me. “Thanks, stud.”
I left before my head exploded.
Three
I walked out to the parking lot to find a scowling, heavyset man next to my Jeep.
He was looking into the driver’s-side window, a Louisville Slugger dangling from his right hand.
“Need a ride?” I asked.
He turned around. About five-eight with more than his share of weight around his gut and his neck, rings of sweat staining the armpits of his gray T-shirt. The brown hair on his head was almost gone. Sweat beaded down his wrinkled forehead into his small, dark eyes. A flat nose and a crooked mouth didn’t improve his appearance.
“You a friend of that kid’s?” he said, raising the bat up and pointing in the direction of Linc’s apartment.
“No.”
“Then why were you at his door?”
“Why do you care?”
The small eyes narrowed. “You getting smart with me?”
“I was smart before I got here.”
He looked confused.
“I’m not a friend of his,” I told him. “I’ve never met him. I’m looking for him.”
The man relaxed and lowered the bat to his side. “You and me both.”
“I’m Noah,” I said, offering my hand.
He shook it, leaving a film of perspiration on my palm. “Sam Rolovich. Kid owes me rent.”
I casually wiped my hand against my shorts. “You the super?”
He frowned, like I’d insulted him. “Property manager.”
“Sorry. He owes you?”
He nodded, glancing up at the apartment. “Two months’ worth.” His eyes shifted and he was looking at me with suspicion. “Why do you care?”
I pulled a card out of my pocket and handed it to him. “Linc’s brother asked me to help him find him.”
He studied the card. “Hmm. A private eye. For real?”
“For real.”
“Never met one of you before.”
“Right. The rent thing-is that a regular deal for him?”
“No,” Sam said, hitching up his jeans with his free hand, exposing decade-old flip-flops on his feet. “Kid’s lived here a year and always paid ahead a time. Last month, he gave me some story about having to pay tuition, said he was gonna be late.” He shrugged. “Me, I’m a nice guy, so I let it slide. I know where he lives, you know?”
Sam looked like anything but a nice guy, but I played along. “Sure.”
“So, then when I didn’t get this month’s rent on Friday, I came looking for him. He wasn’t there. Then his brother showed up and said he didn’t know where he was, either. Promised to find him.” He frowned and wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Haven’t seen the kid or his friends yet.”
I nodded at the bat. “Maybe he’s scared.”
Sam looked at the bat, then looked embarrassed. “Hey, you never know who you’re gonna run into.”
So true.
“You said friends. I thought he lived by himself.”
He made a face and the crooked mouth got more crooked. “He does, but all those fucking bangers are always hanging around with him.”
“Bangers? As in gangbangers?” I said, not sure I’d heard him correctly.
He nodded. “Yep. One of them used to live here, but I kicked his ass out. Got tired of all the bullshit.”
“Remember his name?”
A plane roared over us, headed to Lindbergh, the engines quickly fading in the distance.
He pointed toward the office. “Come on. Let’s go take a look.”
I followed him to a door just off the side of the building. The room was about the size of a small closet. An old wooden desk sat in the middle, surrounded by two metal filing cabinets and two metal folding chairs. The desk was covered in piles of paper and manila folders. A calendar with a busty woman in a bikini leaning over the hood of a car hung on the wall behind the desk. An aroma of old popcorn and stale beer clung to the air.
“Have a seat,” Sam said, waving at one of the chairs. He stood the bat up next to one of the cabinets. “Ignore the mess.”
I wasn’t sure what my other choice was, so I didn’t say anything.
He opened up the middle drawer on one of the cabinets and rummaged through it for a moment, then yanked out a thin red folder.
