"Crais, Robert - Elvis Cole 08 - L.A. Requiem 1.1" - читать интересную книгу автора (Crais Robert)

I said, "Pretty."

"Yes. She is."

"You had to be seeing her, when, before you knew me?"

His eyes never left the picture. "I knew you, but I was still on the job."

I remember Joe dating back then, but the relationships seemed as they were now, none more important than any other. "I guess you were tight with this girl."

Joe nodded.

"So what happened?"

Pike handed back the picture. "I broke her heart."

"Oh." Sometimes prying is a lousy idea.

"A few years later she married and moved East to New York. It didn't work out, and now she's back here."

I nodded, still feeling small for prying.

I used Pike's cell phone to call Karen Garcia's number. She didn't answer, but I identified myself to her machine, and asked her to call her father if she got this message. Frank had provided Mrs. Acuna's phone, also, so I called her next, asking if she knew where Karen had gone to run. The dry winds were amping the air with so much static electricity that her voice sounded like bubbling fat, but I understood enough to get that the answer was no. "Is it possible, Mrs. Acuna, that Karen came home, then left again without your seeing her? You know, like maybe she came home long enough to get cleaned up, then went out with friends?"

"You mean yesterday?"

"Yes, ma'am. Yesterday after her run."

"Oh, no. My husband and I live right here by the stairs. Karen lives right above us. When she didn't come back for the machaca, I was so worried. Her father loves my machaca. She always brings him a bowl. I just been up there again, and she still isn't back."

I glanced at Joe. "You see Karen much, Mrs. Acuna? You two chat about things?"

"Oh, yes. She's such a sweet girl. I've known her family since before she was born."

"She say anything to you about maybe getting back together with her ex-husband?"

Pike glanced over.

"No. Oh, no, she doesn't say anything like that. She calls him' the creep.' He's still back in that place." That place. New York.

Still looking at Pike, I shook my head. Pike turned to the window.

"What about other boyfriends?"

"She sees young men. Not a lot, you know, but she's very pretty."

"Okay. Thanks, Mrs. Acuna. I'll probably drop around later on. If Karen happens to come home, would you ask her to phone her father? "

"I'll call him myself."