Guerrero stuck to me as I pushed my old car up the hill. The trees were tall enough to block the sun. Past illegal families spreading blankets for picnics. Past the glens of Ferndell, where kids fished for crayfish in the polluted water and carved their names into the elderly eucalyptus. The road widened at the Greek Theater and Guerrero had to drop back when a car backed out from the theater’s box office area. I sped on through a tunnel, then the road forked in three directions; down to Burbank, left up to the observatory and east. I didn’t know where the east road went, but I spun the wheels in that direction.

“He’s still back there!” yelled Monica, twisting in her seat to see out the back window.

“Of course he’s still back there. What did you think you were going to get for a thousand bucks? James Bond?”

I hit a bend too fast and the back wheels spun in the sandy dirt. Although it was the middle of the afternoon the road was deserted. I swerved over the centerline, pulling myself off the curve.

“Cathy ripped you off,” I crowed to Monica. “She spent your money in Mexico. She never planned on seeing you again.”

“I don’t believe you!” Monica shouted.

“You don’t have to. But that’s why that guy’s following us.”

The road started up again and toward a broad sweep that looked out in the direction of downtown and the court buildings. I threw it into low once more, and the engine sounded as if it were eating itself alive. The road made an S and started to go down. I couldn’t see Guerrero at the back of the S.

“Jump out,” I said to Monica.

“What?”

“Jump out. When I get to the bottom of the curve, I’m going to swing onto the shoulder.”

“You’re crazy!”

“I said you’re on your own now. The man who’s following me, I don’t know if he’s interested in you or not. You’ll have to find out. I’m through being your girl.”

The car slid into the downside of the S.

“I can’t!” she cried.

Hitting the brakes, I turned and swung at her, connecting with her jaw. Her head snapped back. The car’s speed dropped to about twenty-five. I leaned past her, threw open the door, and hit her again with everything I had in my right arm. I don’t know if I pushed her or if she jumped. I saw a blur of red tumbling from the car, but I didn’t look back.