By the time we got back to the building, the sun had dropped behind the skyscrapers to the west so that a purple sci-fi glow softened the stone exterior. There is a natural but theatrical order to things here in Los Angeles. The cinematographer’s golden patina of afternoon. Then the pink or orange sunset made glorious by smog. Purple. Fade to black. In the parking lot where I’d left my car next to the movie theater, a film crew was beginning to set up a ring of tungsten lamps, framing a shot. That happens here, the conversion of street corners to sets. A certain unreality of location, an uncertainty of time.

All the doors were locked except the one at the far south of the building. A straight-back chair was pulled close to the door. The security guard I’d seen earlier wasn’t there, but he’d probably only gone to the can or across the street to pick up some tacos. I hurried inside, gesturing for Lupe to stay out on the sidewalk where she was. She pulled her attention away from the crew across the street.

“It’s only television,” she said, shrugging, then she slipped through the door after me.

I’d tried to make it clear I didn’t want her on my tail, but I didn’t want to waste time arguing with her. I ran up the stairs on tiptoes so I wouldn’t make any noise. Lupe must have taken off her sandals, because I didn’t hear anything except the sound of our breathing until we got to the third floor. Nearby the elevator rumbled to a stop. I began to imagine being taken into Division 82 through the back door, the end of my brilliant career. Was it breaking and entering if one door downstairs was unlocked? The elevator doors opened. I pushed myself flat against the wall of the stairwell, pinning Lupe beside me with one arm. We looked at each other sideways like people edging around a ledge. I could feel her breasts rising and falling under my arm. The elevator doors closed.

“Stay on the stairs. Keep an eye out.” I pulled my arm away quickly, embarrassed. If anyone did come along, she was smart enough to say she worked in the building, that she had worked late, that she was on her way to meet her boyfriend.