“You’re like her,” she said.
“What?”
“Sad. You hide it good; she did too, especially for the cameras. Like you ain’t got a home to go to no more, no anchor.”
“Anchors can pull you under,” I said, “drown you.” Elextra smiled a sad, almost pitying smile at me.
“You’re already under, aren’t you, sweetie?” She touched my hand briefly, squeezed it. “It takes one to know one.” We didn’t say anything for a minute. Just listened to the music and the crowd.
“You said she left her stuff with you,” I said. “You know what happened to it?”
“Yeah, I kept a lot in storage,” she said. “I had to, y’know, sell some of it to make the rent, but all of her personal stuff, it’s in boxes in me and Georgie’s storage. I could get it for you tomorrow if you think it would help?”
“That would be terrific,” I said, “and could you tell me how to get in touch with Brett Glide?”
“Sure!” Elextra said. “Y’know, I was up for a legit part when I first got here. It was like a plucky college girl detective pilot for a TV show. I didn’t score it, obviously. I always wanted to be a plucky girl detective.”
“Okay, Nancy Drew,” I said, “you got your first case. Find me Crystal’s old stuff and think up anyone else who might have an idea where she is now.”
I walked Elextra out of the club, and she gave me the name of Glide’s production company and her and Georgie’s address out in Laurel Canyon. I found Vigil outside on the phone. He finished his call, hung up, and walked over.
“Where’s Georgie and Dragon?” I asked. Vigil smiled.
“She took him around the corner for a heart-to-heart,” the knight said. “I heard an ‘eek.’”
“A what?” I said, beginning to walk toward the corner, a little afraid of what I’d find.
“An ‘eek,’” Vigil said, “the sound, a terrified ‘eek.’”
“Oh, that’d be Georgie,” Elextra said. “He ‘eeks’ sometimes when he’s scared.”
As I was about to round the corner, Dragon walked into view, a look on her face I knew all too well.
“All done?” my former partner said. “Great! Let’s be on our way then.”
“Where’s George?” I asked. “What did you do?”
“Nothing,” Lauren said, still grinning at her own secret joke. She handed a wallet and car keys to Elextra. “Here you go, dear. George said he’d meet you back at the house. Here’s his wallet and the keys to the Porsche. He said he wanted to walk and reflect on a few things. He’s a very deep guy.”
“Georgie?” Elextra asked. “He hit his head or something? He takes the car to pick up the newspaper at the end of the drive.” She turned to me and hugged me. She smelled of honey and menthol cigarettes. “Nice to meet you and your angels, Charlie,” she said. I laughed. “I’ll see you tomorrow night, and I’ll have anything that will help together for you.”
“Thanks, Elextra,” I said.
“Peggy,” she said, “my name is really Peggy. It sounds weird to say it after so long.”
“It’s a real pretty name, Peggy,” I said. “I like it. Thank you.”
“See ya!” she said, smiling and waving bye to all of us. She walked half a block down, got into her car, and drove away. I turned back to Dragon, standing with her arms crossed.
“Okay, fess up. What did you do with George?” She smiled wider, showing some teeth, but said nothing. “Oh, man! Tell me you didn’t…”
“Eat him?” Dragon said. “Of course not! You know I hardly ever eat meat anymore, Ballard. I’m very careful about what I put into my body, unlike some people, thank you very much! Who knows where that filthy old degenerate has been?”
“A vegetarian dragon?” Vigil said. “Yeah, this is Cali.”
“So where is he?” I asked.
“Probably trying to find a clean pair of pants on his walk back to the canyon,” she said. “I just had a little chat with Georgie in private, told him to rethink some of his attitudes and behaviors, especially when it comes to … Peggy. I may have allowed him to get a glimpse of me, the real me, when I was doing that, and I may have sort of implied that I was … the Devil.”
“The Devil?” I said. “Really?”
“Don’t get that tone with me, Laytham Ballard,” Dragon said. “If there is any person on this planet that should not give me attitude about the Prince of Darkness, it would be you.”
“Point taken,” I said. “Okay, Roland Blue is mixed up in this somehow, so we need to put him on our itinerary, and now we’ve got a lead on Caern’s old boyfriend and employer. I think I should pay him a visit tomorrow.”
“We should,” Vigil said. Dragon nodded.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I said.
“As far as I’m concerned,” Dragon interjected, “this is now a Nightwise investigation into our old cold case. “If Roland may be involved, he’s my beat, and I got you those homicide files you gave to Grinner. So I’m in it now too, like it or not, Ballard.”
“Fabulous,” I said, walking to the jeep. “We’re a fucking TV show, the Bastard Squad.”
“I know a guy who knows a guy at a studio,” Dragon said. She fell into step beside me. “You should pitch it.” I shook my head.
Vigil was now on my other side. “Midseason replacement,” he said to Dragon, “at best.”
SIXTEEN
Brett Glide’s adult entertainment empire had its global HQ in a warehouse on Del Sur Street in the San Fernando Valley. The warehouses in San Fernando were once the major production studios for most of the pornography produced in Los Angeles. It gave rise to the nickname, Porn Valley, or, if you prefer, the San Pornando Valley.
The porn industry’s refusal to use condoms, apparently
