The Spinoza Trilogy (2 page)

“
A week ago. Six days ago, to be exact.”

“
Who told you I could help you?”

“
Detective Hammer. He said it wouldn’t hurt to see you. That you had a knack for this sort of thing.”

I did. When it came to finding missing children, one needed to be dogged and relentless. No stone left unturned. Having good instincts helped, too. But the funny thing about instincts was that one never knew when they would kick in. That’s where the dogged and relentless part came in.

“How old is your granddaughter?” I asked. Always use the present. Never, ever refer to a child in the past tense.

“
Sixteen or seventeen. I’m not really sure. Her birthday is next month.”

My son’s birthday would have been next month, too, but I didn’t say anything about that. There was enough heartache in this room without bringing that up. He would have been thirteen. Instead, he died when he was nine.

At the thought of my son’s birthday, my breath caught, and I was briefly back in the forest, sitting in the short grass, holding his charred hand as the nearby water bubbled with life.

Presently, a small breeze made its way through the open window behind me. Los Angeles smelled of exhaust and oil and burned rubber.

“Has she run away before?” I asked.

“
No.”

“
Do you have a photo of her?”

“
Yes.”

She reached into an oversized purse and pulled out a manila file. “At Detective Hammer’s suggestion, I put together a package for you. Everything about her is in here, pictures, friends, her likes and dislikes, favorite places to hang out, anything and everything I could think of. There’s even a list of her favorite books. All vampire books.”

I took the proffered file, flipped through it. I got to the list of vampire books. She seemed to prefer one author in particular.

“
Thanks,” I said. “This will help a lot.”

Gladys nodded. “I have some more information that might help you, Mr. Spinoza.”

I waited.

“
Her parents were killed three years ago. She’s lived with us off and on ever since.”

She waited, as if expecting a reply. None came. She went on awkwardly. “Yes, well, there’s something else you should know about her. Something that worries me a great deal.”

I waited some more, although I did nod encouragingly.

She went on, “Veronica is a little...different.”

“Different how?”

I was imagining a slower child. Perhaps one with autism. Some sort of disability. Gladys was looking increasingly uncomfortable. She took in some air and leveled her stare at me.

“She sort of lives in her own fantasy world, Mr. Spinoza.”

“
What does that mean?”

“
She calls herself a slayer.”

“
A slayer?” I said. “As in dragons?”

“
No, as in vampires.”

Gladys blinked slowly, but didn’t look away. I think my mouth might have opened, but no words came out. Finally, I nodded.

“You mean like in
Dungeons & Dragons
,” I said. “Or that
World of Witchcraft
, or whatever it’s called. A slayer is like her—what do they call it?—her avatar?”

Gladys smiled gently. “I’m not sure I understood half of what you just said, Mr. Spinoza, but what I do know is that she really thinks she’s a vampire slayer.”

“Do you have her on any medication?”

Gladys shook her head. “She won’t see a doctor, and won’t go to school.”

“So she just stays with you?”

“
Yes.”

I thought about that. “How did you meet her, Gladys?”

“Veronica just...appeared at our house one day. Bloodied and in a horrible mess. She always refused to talk about where she came from or what happened to her. But I later understood her parents had been in a horrible accident.”

I rubbed my temples. If I had known that by putting a simple ad in the Yellow Pages I would be meeting the world’s whackos, I might never have gotten into this business.

Not true,
I suddenly thought. Getting into this business was something I
had
to do.
Needed
to do. Looking for the missing was, in fact, the only thing I
could
do.

I asked, “Are you on medication, Gladys?”

“Many,” she said, smiling. “But not the kind you’re thinking of. I assure you, Mr. Spinoza, everything I have told you is true.”

“
And this girl is sixteen?”

“
Give or take a few years.”

“
What does that mean?”

“
She would never tell us her exact age.”

I thought about that. “When she appeared at your house, did you report her to the authorities?”

“She warned us that if we did, she would run away and we would never see her again.”

“
And you didn’t want her to run away.”

“
No. It was so...
nice
having someone in the house with us. Jack is in a wheelchair, you see, and she was always so helpful, even from the beginning.”

“
You enjoyed her company,” I said.

“
We loved having her around. She was a breath of fresh air, despite...despite her problems.”

“
Problems?”

“
You know, typical teenage stuff. Always sad, depressed. Of course, back then we didn’t know why she was so sad and depressed. But later we figured it was about her parents. We didn’t ask her too many questions. She didn’t like questions.”

“
And you didn’t want her to run off because you liked her company.”

“
We loved her company. We loved her. She was like a real granddaughter to us.”

“
Do you have any kids, Gladys?”

“
One. But we do not speak anymore. She disowned us decades ago. All over a fight. One single fight.”

And now she did weep again, although softer than before. I shifted uncomfortably in my chair, which squeaked under my considerable weight.

“Veronica was our last chance to do it right, and she was our gift from God.”

We were silent. Outside my office window, the streets of Los Angeles weren’t silent. I studied Gladys. She seemed sane enough. But I have been fooled before.

She went on, “Since we didn’t know her exact age, my husband and I agreed that she was at least eighteen, and so we felt comfortable about not reporting her. Of course, we would have preferred to contact the proper authorities, or her parents, but she wasn’t giving us many options. In the end, we wanted her safe and well fed and properly cared for.”

I nodded, wondering if Veronica’s best interests were really being considered. I looked down at my notes. “And Veronica has lived with you for the past three years?”

“Yes, sometimes.”

“
Sometimes? What does that mean?”

“
It means that sometimes she disappears for a few days and nights.”

“
Days and nights?”

“
Yes.

“
Where does she go?” I asked, and already I was dreading the answer. My feelings of dread weren’t unfounded.

“
Hunting vampires,” said Gladys. She said the words so calmly, so conversationally, so pleasantly, that I nearly burst out laughing. Hearing the words “hunting vampires” come out of this sweet, elderly lady nearly made me question my own sanity.

Maybe I’m the one going insane.

“That’s what I get for asking,” I said, mostly to myself. Gladys looked at me curiously.

“
Excuse me?” she said.

I waved off my comment. “Never mind. So when she’s not out hunting vampires, where do you think she really goes? A boyfriend’s house? Parties? Weekend drinking binges in Vegas?”

Gladys shook her head to all of the above. “No,” she said. “I believe she really hunts vampires.”

“
Of course you do.” I took in some air. I nearly asked her to leave my office. Nearly. “And she’s been missing a week?”

“
Yes.”

“
How long does it usually take to hunt a vampire?”

“
Three days, tops.”

“
Of course,” I said. “So this latest vampire hunt is lasting longer than usual.”

She nodded and reached a shaking hand into her purse, removing a badly wrinkled and very used tissue. Crazy or not, Gladys was a woman in need, and my heart went out to her. It always did. To everyone. I may not always be able to voice my concerns or sympathies, but I did the next best thing. I helped people with my actions. I knew in my heart I would help her. One way or another, I would give this crazy old woman peace of mind.

“Mr. Spinoza,” she said. “Veronica was a gift from God. An angel, if you want to know the truth. What she’s involved in, I don’t know. How she became involved with it, I don’t know, but I love that girl, and I need someone to help me find her.”

I sat back and steepled my fingers in front of me. I had two pending cases sitting on my desk. Both were cheating spouse cases. Oh, joy.

I had, of course, already made my decision.

“
I will do all I can to help you, Gladys.”

She nodded and smiled and cried, and finally I was able to force myself to stand and walk around the desk, and give the old woman a deep hug.

Chapter Two

I was sitting with Detective Hammer inside a donut shop on Glendale Avenue. Hammer seemed right at home in a donut shop, and I told him as much.

“
Very funny, asshole,” he said.

Hammer and I had been working missing cases together for the past few years, ever since I got into the business and had made finding missing children my specialty. Hammer was a lead detective at the LAPD Missing Persons Unit, and he was damned good at what he did. I happened to have a knack for it, too, and we made a good team.

We had also become friends, which is a rarity in the private business. Mostly, cops looked at us private dicks as irritants. Not to mention, I rarely, if ever, went out of my way to make friends, which was partly due to extreme shyness, and partly due to my desire to just be left the hell alone. The fewer the people who knew me, the fewer the people who could remind me about what a fuck-up I was.

Anyway, Detective Hammer and I were sitting in the far corner booth, which gave the detective a good view of the glass door, and the donut case behind me.

“How come I never get to watch the door?” I asked.

“
Because you’re not a real cop,” he said.

“
How do I know you’re really watching?” I asked. “And not just planning your next donut?”

“
Because I’m a highly trained detective in the LAPD. I can do both,” he said. “So far, the coast is clear, and I’m thinking I’ll have a maple bar next.”

And he did just that. A moment later, he returned with said donut and a chocolate milk.

I said, “When you’re done with that, there’s cubes of sugar over there that you can snack on.”

“
Maybe,” he said, and I wasn’t entirely sure he was joking. “So which case are you working on?”

I told him about it, although I left out the part about Veronica being a vampire slayer. Which was probably for the best, since I wouldn’t have been able to say it with a straight face, anyway.

Hammer nodded and took a bite of his donut. “The runaway who’s been living with the old couple.”

I nodded.

“We put this case on the back burner,” he said. “We’ve got more important things to do than look for a runaway who ran away again.”

“
Or so it seems.”

“
She’ll turn up alive and well, trust me. Probably out on some party boat in Havasu. She’ll come back to the old folks when she’s partied out.” He finished his donut and sucked on his fingers. “Anyway, to put the old lady’s mind at ease, I told her to go see you, since you’ve got nothing better to do.”

“
That, and I happen to be the best.”

“
Maybe, maybe not. There’s a guy here in town who gives you a run for your money. An old guy. Looks a little like Elvis.”

“
Lucky bastard.”

“
Tell me about it. Anyway, he’s pretty good, too. Maybe better than you.”

“
That’s one thing I don’t mind being second best at. Maybe he and I could touch bases sometime.”

“
Sure,” said Hammer. “I’ll give you his number. Then you and Elvis can solve crimes together—call yourselves
Starsky and Hubba-Hubba
.”