Baca

She didn’t say yes, but she didn’t disagree anymore. We were silent as Hondo drove us to the office, where Hunter got out and Hondo turned toward West Hollywood.

**

Mickey’s house was small white stucco on the corner, with a large eucalyptus tree in the front yard whose roots were cracking the sidewalk. We parked in the drive and walked to the door. I tried the knob.

“It’s locked.”

Hondo moved me out of the way and fiddled with it for several seconds and the door opened. He said, “Nah, just stuck a little from the humidity.” I didn’t remind him we were in the middle of a drought.

The inside was neat, with peach colored walls and a white leather sofa and armchair. The floor was tile and the kitchen had a six-foot bar with barstools around it for the eating area. A tall, wide computer desk and filing cabinets took up the place for the dining room table. Hondo turned on the computer and we watched the screen come up with a floating message of hot pink script letters: Give yourself a Great Day!

Hondo punched some keys and the Windows screen came up. I said, “Go ahead. I’ll look around the rest of the house.” Hondo nodded and I walked down a hall and into the single bedroom. There was a canopy bed made in soft pinks and whites, with furry teddy bears lying on the made-up bed. I went to the nightstand beside the bed and opened the drawer below the phone. Inside was a diary with a lock.

I took it out and found the tiny key underneath the book. I opened the lock and flipped through the pages until I got to the last entries and started with three days ago.

Dear Diary, I got a call today from the Sheriff’s Department to go to Bobby’s Malibu home and pick up some things they wanted out of there. I thought about calling Ronny and Hondo, but felt I could do it on my own and show them I’m good for something. I admire them so much. They are the finest, most noble men I have ever known. Bob is a great person and I love him with all my heart (Yes Dear Diary, even if we haven’t kissed!), but Ronny and Hondo are so...well, Heroic. But they aren’t stiff or anything, just funny and warm and kind. If anybody can find Bobby, they will. Oh, I hope so!

The next entry read:

Dear Diary, What a great discovery! I can’t believe it was in front of us all this time. It will be so easy now to get Bobby! I’ll have to be careful, though. I saw The Ghoul driving by my house again today, and this time he stopped in front and sat in his car for over an hour. He scares me sooo much! I’ve decided not to tell Ronny about this and am going to find my Bobby without them. I need to show them I’m not helpless, not a twitter head. I need to see myself as more in their eyes. For me.

The last entry was scribbled in a hurry:

Dear Diary, I’m going today. The Ghoul followed me yesterday when I left, and I wonder if he didn’t follow me when the Sheriff’s Department let me pick up things from Bobby’s Malibu home. He is totally frightening.

Going now. Called Ronny’s office and left the message. (Dear Diary, they will be sooo impressed!) I’ll go out the back and over the fence so The Ghoul doesn’t see me (Yes DD, he’s sitting across the street). I’m so scared I’m shaking all over, but am going through with this anyhow.

PS: I wish I was like Hunter Kincaid, so beautiful and not afraid of anything---I can’t wait to see my Bobby!

I put the diary down and stood in silence for a minute.

Hondo called from the other room, “Sheriff’s department just pulled up out front.”

I wiped down the drawer and the diary and key and put it back, then went into the walk-in closet to see if what Mickey had brought from Malibu was there and saw dozens of framed photos leaning against the wall. They were of Bob Landman with other actors and several politicians. Further down were a dozen or so of Valdar’s paintings stacked against each other. I started toward them when Hondo said behind me, “Time to go.”

I followed him to the kitchen and we went out the back door only seconds before we heard the front door open. Hondo led us across the tiny back yard and into the alley, where we went up several blocks and found a convenience store.

We thumbed through magazines, drank coffee, and read the newspapers from cover to cover as we waited for the investigators to finish with Mickey’s house, not to go back inside but to get to our car, which so far had escaped their notice. The store manager was eyeing us as I paid for two cokes and two bags of peanut M&Ms. We’d been in his store for an hour and he wasn’t sure if we were homeless or were going to rob him.

Hondo walked up the street and glanced toward Mickey’s house. As I watched through the storefront window, Hondo gave me the Come-On hand wave.

I picked up a pack of Doublemint gum and took it to the manager at the counter. “You passed,” I said.

He frowned and his mouth opened a little.

I pulled out my identification and flipped it in front of his face too fast for him to get anything more than a glimpse. “Company investigators, Quality Control. You did a bang-up job working the register and dusting. Good finger skills,” I winked at him, “We’ll be dropping your name in for Manager of the Month.”

A big smile broke out on his face. When I tried to pay for the gum, he waved a hand at me and said, “On the house.”

I took the gum and went outside. Hondo was already at his car and I walked halfway down the street before he drove up and I got in. I gave him a stick of gum.

“I have to peel it, too?”

I took it back from him, peeled the paper, and gave it back. “You find anything on the computer?”

“I took her thumb drive and downloaded some of the last things she had run, but I didn’t have time to get everything. I figure it’ll be safer to check when we’re at the office. You find anything in the bedroom?”

I told him about the diary and he nodded as he put on his sunglasses. He said, “In front of us all the time. What is it, you got any idea?”