“Hey!” Glide said shaking our hands, still smiling, “I’m Brett. It’s really great to meet you guys. You have a good trip out? C’mon, let’s get you guys out of this sun.” He led us back to one of the pavilion tents. A twentysomething production assistant with a trucker cap and a truly majestic hipster beard handed Glide a small bucket full of ice and bottled water. We joined Glide in folding director chairs in the shade. Glide offered us each a water, and I took one from him, careful to hold it near the neck and cap as I sipped it. Glide leaned forward in his chair, clasped his hands, and looked earnestly from one of us to the other. “So, you guys want to know about Crystal, right?”
“Yeah,” I said. “How did you know to expect us?”
“Lexi,” he said, “Elextra. She texted me last night that you were like P.I.s or something, looking for Karen, Crystal. I’ll help all I can. I’ve often wondered what happened to her. I didn’t figure she would ever go home, so I kinda thought it was something worse. Nature of the business and the town.”
“Why would she never consider heading back home?” I asked. I felt an odd shiver in my Ajna, my third eye. I glanced to my old partner, and Dragon nodded slightly to me. I narrowed my eyes and studied Glide as he took a swig of water and then replied.
“Your accent’s cool, man. What is that, North Carolina? Y’know you could totally get work out here just on your voice.”
“West Virginia,” I said. “I’ll keep that in mind. Why would Karen never want to go home?”
“Her mom was dead, and her dad was an asshole,” Glide said. “I know that sounds way judgmental, but he was always busy with work, and it got worse after her mother passed on. I think he may have tried to … y’know, abuse her somehow.” I looked to Vigil and saw the knight’s jaw set, his eyes darken. “She didn’t want to talk much about her life before L.A. I’d be really shocked if she had gone home. You guys, you aren’t working for her old man, are you?”
“No,” I said, and I could tell Glide sniffed the lie on me, but he nodded and kept smiling. Far out, man.
“How much did you know about what she was getting into?” Dragon asked.
“You mean the gonzo work?” Glide said. “The grotto stuff? Yeah, I knew. That was near the end of the time we were together. I tried to get her to take more healthy gigs…”
“Healthy?” Vigil broke his silence. “You think any part of this business is healthy for a kid who may have gone through the ordeal she suffered?” I saw a flash of something hard in Glide’s eyes, just for a second. It read like anger. I shut up for a change and watched.
“Tell me, friend, what’s your name again?”
“I didn’t give it to you,” Vigil said, “and you are not my friend.” Glide nodded and held up his palms.
“Okay, okay, it’s cool. I know this is a messed-up business. I’ve been in it since I was a kid. It does chew you up, and it changes you. But, hey, isn’t that life? I’ll bet if you took away all the pain and the struggle from your life, you wouldn’t be the man you are now. You like the man you are, right?” Vigil was silent and Glide continued. “The folks who stay, who survive and thrive in my world, they make it by being professionals, by doing the job, getting the check, and putting most of it in the bank. That wasn’t Crystal. I think she saw this as some kind of ordeal, a trial. That if she could handle the worst the beast could give her, be broken down by it and still endure, still survive, she would be … purified … reborn?”
“That’s a real poetic way to describe using damaged people to make yourself rich,” Vigil said. “There’s nothing noble in suffering; ask anyone who’s really done it. You don’t learn from it; you learn in spite of it. I think you, your ‘industry,’ and all your buddies are a bunch of parasites.”
“The parasite has its place in nature too,” Glide said. “Look, I won’t try to defend our business. I can’t. All the freedom of speech and expression arguments aside, this is a high-stress, high-risk industry, and it does tend to attract damaged people. I do what I can to help the people who come into my orbit, and I even end up loving a few of them. I loved Karen. I wanted to help her. Some people don’t want to be helped.” He turned his sincere gaze from Vigil’s sunglasses to me. “Wouldn’t you agree, Mr.…”
“Ballard,” I said, “Laytham Ballard.” I
