"What about Mrs. Childers?"
"Her and Gee were close. Pamela looked out for Gee when they worked at the bank in Kansas City together. She said Gee was pretty helpless when she first got there. She’d never had a job before and she was a nervous wreck."
"By the way, you said those pictures were taken the same day."
"And?" Felicia leaned forward and smiled.
"Who took the pictures?"
"I was wondering if you had picked up on that. I would have been disappointed if you hadn’t."
"Well?"
"Pamela did. Taking pictures was sort of her hobby."
"You think she took those pictures of Jake and LaShawn?"
"Maybe."
"You wanna tell me now?"
"Tell you what?"
"Why you left?"
"How long are you goin’ to be here?"
"I’d like to say until you tell me why you left. But it’ll probably be more like a couple of days."
"I don’t know if I can trust you."
"Well, Felicia, you can tell me about it and I can go back to New York and do something about it. Or you can stay on the run until whoever it is you’re running from, catches up with you."
"There in lies my problem, Nick. Even if I tell you, they still may come. I ain’t trying to testify against nobody and live my life in witness protection. No, no, not a life for me."
I looked at my watch.
"What are you gonna do now?"
"That depends on you, Ms Hardy. What are you doin’ the rest of the day?"
"Since you’re out here, and it’s your first time and all, I was gonna show you around. Maybe you’ll like it enough to come back. Look in on me every now and then. Make sure I’m still alive."
"I’d like that."
She caught me a little off guard with that one.
Maybe we did have a moment.
We talked about a little bit of everything while Felicia drove me around to all the tourist spots in LA. I felt comfortable talking to her. So for once, I let my guard down and opened up to her. "Listen, I know a quiet little spot on the beach."
"I’m not dressed for the beach."
"That’s why they made malls."
Felicia and I spent the rest of the afternoon and the early evening at the beach. Laughing and talking like neither of us had a care in the world. She sat with her head on my shoulder and watched the sun set. We drove to a Chinese restaurant in Torrance called Szechwan. I had Kung Pao. She ordered the Sweet and Spicy Shrimp. The food was excellent. After dinner, Felicia drove quietly back to her house. "I had a nice day, Nick," she said and got out of the car.
"I did too," I said as I walked her to her door. "But it’s early, I was hoping you’d show me some of that famous LA night life."