I didn’t disagree with him, but I didn’t tell him that. Having seen her agent’s office and the nude photos of her, I could well imagine Cathy Vega picking up a gun.

“What are you going to do now?” he asked, nervously shoving his hands into his pockets. Cars whistled by on Melrose.

“I have another appointment. We’ll be in touch with you.”

He watched me walk away. I hoped I had scared him. I hoped he thought I was on my way to meet with dangerous drug dealers with whom I was on close personal terms. I tried not to hurry. He would, I knew, go inside as soon as I was down the block and call Casa Guatemala to report what had happened. Was he supposed to follow me? If they didn’t already know where Monica Fullbright was, they were about to find out unless I was very careful.

Glancing at my watch, I saw it was nearly two. I looked back toward the studio gates before turning the corner to Van Ness, where I had left the car. Tommy Hutchings was gone. I still had time to go to the Cuban’s if I hurried. Was he the Cuban who had been in Mexicali? I wondered again. My car had only a quarter tank of gas left, but I didn’t want to waste time or be spotted stopping at a filling station. I would use the drive over to the Cuban’s to shake anyone who might try to tail me.

“Come on, big boy.” I turned the ignition key. “Talk to momma.”

The engine purred in return and I headed for Van Ness south to Third. I kept my eyes on the rear view mirror but I didn’t see anyone. Grungy apartment buildings rented to Salvadorean and Guatemalan refugees line Van Ness and the air is filled with latin music and the ringing of ice cream truck bells. A market painted blue and white proclaimed Productos Guatemaltecos focoyos, licoros, guanabanas. Foods I had never heard of. My stomach rumbled. I wondered if Lupe was a good cook. If she would cook me a Mexican dinner when this was over. Then I remembered something my father had told me: never travel without a Hershey bar in your pocket. This had been good advice for me and my mother. When we took a vacation, he would drive all day and all night without stopping to eat. There was a candy bar in the glove compartment, I remembered. I tore the wrapper open and bit into it hungrily. If my old man could only see me now!