I nodded slowly.

“And I came here to see if I could talk some sense in to you and tell you to stay away from Valdez. But you know what?” He shook his head, looked at me like he felt sorry for me. “Do what you want. They find your head in a box somewhere, oh well.”

He walked past me down the deck, leaving me to think about that.

THIRTY SEVEN

I sat there for awhile, nursing my second beer, watching the ocean and thinking about Mike’s reaction.

I’d stunned him. Unless he was the world’s greatest actor, I’d stunned him with what I’d asked him. And angered him. Which I understood, especially if I was out of line. But I wasn’t sure where the line was anymore. I felt like everyone was fair game for me to find the answers to Elizabeth’s disappearance. Even people who I had always considered allies. If I’d had to question Lauren at that point, I would’ve. I didn’t care. The only thing that mattered to me was finding the truth and moving forward. If relationships fell by the wayside as collateral damage, then so be it.

I wanted the truth.

I finished my beer, dropped some cash with the bill and left the hotel. I walked home, glancing at the Coronado police building as I passed. I wondered if Mike was inside, stewing or setting up surveillance on me or something else I had no clue about. I shook my head. I knew Mike. He’d gone home to have a beer of his own and think hard about what I’d asked him. If he’d really had nothing to do with Elizabeth, I’d heard from him when his head cleared. If he had been involved…well, then I wasn’t sure what was going to happen.

I made it back to my neighborhood and slowed as I turned the corner.

Bazer was parked in my driveway.

I shook my head, crossed the street and walked up the drive.

He got out of his car, dressed in jeans and a long sleeve button down shirt. Late day stubble dotted his chin and sunglasses rested on top of his buzz cut.

“Joe,” he said. “I was just about to leave.”

“Don’t let me stop you.”

The corner of his mouth twitched. “I just came by to see how your daughter was doing.”

“She’s fine. We’re all fine.”

“I heard she went back to Minnesota.”

“And where’d you hear that?”

“Just chatter.”

He could’ve been telling the truth or he could’ve been lying through his teeth. I’m sure everyone was whispering around us and people did know that Elizabeth and Lauren were gone. For all I knew, Blundell had spoken to Bazer. I had no idea. But I didn’t like hearing it come out of his mouth.

“She and Lauren are there,” I said. “They’ll be home tomorrow.”

“Any trouble?” Bazer asked.

“Nothing we can’t handle.”

He nodded slowly. “You make any headway? You learn anything more?”

I hesitated a moment, then said, “Yeah, actually we have.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Yeah?”

I nodded.

We stood there in silence for a minute. I’m sure he was waiting for me to share what I’d learned, but there was no way I was telling him anything. For the same reasons I’d been wary of Mike, I wasn’t going to lay my cards on the table with Bazer. I didn’t trust him.

He put his hands on his hips, glanced down the street, then looked back to me. “Okay. If you need help, let me know.”

I tried not to laugh. “Yeah. Will do.”

“I’m serious, Joe,” he said, staring at me. “If you need anything, let me know.”

I wasn’t sure if he was trying to play me or if he was guilty or what the deal was, but he was confusing the hell out of me. But if he was offering to help, I thought I might be able to leverage that a bit.

“What’s going on with Mike?” I asked before I could think better of it.

He raised the eyebrow again. “Lorenzo?”

I nodded.

He blinked several times, then made a face. “He hasn’t really been himself lately. Distracted. Took a couple days off because he was sick. Not sure what the deal is.”

“He was sick?”

“Well, he called in sick. I’m not sure if he was or not.”

In all the time I’d worked with Mike, I couldn’t him remember him taking a single sick day. “What? You think he was calling in for some other reason?”

Bazer shrugged. “I don’t know. Just seemed odd. Like I said. He just hasn’t been himself, so I’m not sure what his deal is.”

I knew full well that Bazer could’ve been feeding me a line of crap. Mike could’ve been just fine and I wouldn’t know any better. If he was trying to drive a wedge between Mike and myself, he could certainly do it by helping to create doubt in my head about Mike and his intentions. But I was still wary. I didn’t like that Bazer was just showing up at my home and offering up information about a guy I’d trusted implicitly for years.

It was like walking through a maze with a blindfold on.

Bazer slipped the sunglasses from the top of his head over his eyes. “I don’t wanna take up more of your time, Joe. I really did just stop by to make sure you were doing okay. You and Elizabeth.”

I didn’t say anything.

“And I meant what I said,” he continued, opening the door to the car. “If I can help, let me know. If you’ve got information that you need ferreted or whatever. You let me know. I’ll help however I can.” He forced a smile onto his face. “Tell Elizabeth and Lauren I said hello.”

I stood there and watched him back out of the drive. He gave a quick wave as he drove past the house and I watched him turn at the corner, his taillights disappearing.

I stood there, once again staring at the grass where Elizabeth had been taken from. I felt like I had more information than I’d ever had but I was no closer to knowing the truth. Every single person I spoke with confused me further and I couldn’t find it within myself to trust anyone I came in contact with. It seemed like I could make anyone a suspect if I worked hard enough at it.

I didn’t want to be that guy, the one who couldn’t leave the past behind, who was cynical about everyone and everything. I’d already been him, to some degree. I’d done my time. I just wanted it to go away so I could be a dad and maybe a husband.

I felt like there was one person who could really give me the answer I needed, only he was keeping his mouth shut. A cold, hard knot formed in the center of my gut as I thought about it. Maybe I’d been too nice. Maybe I’d lost my edge. I’d been relentless looking for Elizabeth and others I’d been hired to find. But maybe getting Elizabeth back had softened me.

Maybe I was taking no as an answer too easily.

Maybe it was time to find that edge again.

THIRTY EIGHT

“I was starting to think I wasn’t going to hear from you,” Chuck Winslow said.

“Just takes me some time to take people up on their offers,” I said.

Darkness hovered over the eastern edge of the California desert and I could see the lights in Brawley off in the distance as we crested the highway and descended down into the desert valley.

“You gonna tell me what we’re doing?” he asked.

“No,” I said. “Do I need to?”

He shook his head. “Nope. Just tell me what you need from me.”

I’d sat in the darkened living room for awhile, thinking about my options. I hadn’t called Lasko because I didn’t want him to talk me out of going. And I also didn’t want to get him into any more trouble than I’d already managed. But I didn’t want to go to Brawley alone, either. I was trying to be smart. At least as smart as I could be.

So I’d finally taken Chuck up on his offer to help.

I called him, asked if I could come pick him up, then jumped in the car and headed out before I could talk myself out of anything. True to his word, Chuck was ready and got in the car, ready to help however I needed him. I wasn’t sure yet how I was going to need him, but if anything, it was nice to have the company.

“It won’t be much,” I said. “And I’ll keep the ugly stuff away.”

“You don’t have to keep anything away, Joe.”