I was feeling so good, I almost didn't see the black Toyota pickup pull into traffic behind me. It was the same Toyota with the Tattooed Beach Sluts sticker. A few seconds later, the Foo Fighters' blue Mustang appeared a few cars behind.

Ivy Casik's address would have led me into the low foothills near the Hollywood Bowl, but I drove south through West Hollywood in a loose circle around the Farmers Market, watching my rearview mirror.

The Mustang tightened up on the truck, then the truck turned off. A few blocks later, the truck was waiting at a cross street ahead of me. As I drove past, the truck turned in behind, and the Mustang disappeared. We went on like that, leapfrogging through the city, with one or the other of them always behind me but never for very long. They were using radios or cell phones to coordinate their moves.

When I was certain they were following me, I took my pistol from under the seat, put it beside my leg, then called Pike. He was still watching my house.

Pike said, You get a tag?

Mud on their plates. Nice trick, seeing as how we haven't had rain in five months.

You think they're police?

The Foo Fighter seemed pretty young for an officer, but a lot of guys in their early twenties looked younger.

Could be. Bastilla was pissed off when I told her I was looking for Tomaso. Maybe they're the same guys who searched my office.

Pike grunted.

An officer wouldn't piss on your chair.

Crimmens phonied a confession in a capital crime. He would piss on a chair if he thought he could cover the search by making it look like vandalism.

Okay.

I'm on my way to see a woman named Ivy Casik up by the Bowl. When you're on them, I'll lose them, then you can follow them home.

I'm all over it.

Thought you might be.

I turned north toward the hills and maintained an easy, meandering pace, watching them drift in and out of the mirror. Sometimes I didn't see them for blocks at a time, then one or the other would reappear.

I slipped into a shoulder harness, then covered it with a light cotton jacket. The day was too hot for the jacket, but the jacket covered the gun.

Sixteen minutes later, Pike called.

I'm on the Mustang.

Good hunting.

I closed the phone and picked up speed.

Chapter 14

I TURNED up Hillcrest into an older residential area with winding streets, high curbs, and plenty of sturdy palms. When I climbed into the curves, the truck and the Mustang were easy to lose. They would probably circle for a while, blaming each other for losing me, but then they would head for home, unaware Pike was with them. After I finished with Ivy Casik, I would join him, but they wouldn't know that, either. Then we would talk.