I brush shattered glass off the seats. It’s a wonder I didn’t shred my ass when I jumped into the car. The Caddy’s a convertible. There’s nowhere to anchor anything at the top, so I can’t even get plastic and duct tape to cover the windows.

Just as well. The air conditioner’s shot and in this heat I’m driving with the top down most of the time, anyway. But at least it gave me the illusion of keeping all the brushfire smoke out of my lungs for a bit.

“I’m not sure what surprises me more, that you’re still driving it, or that it’s still drivable,” Vivian says. I didn’t hear her come up behind me. To be fair, I was around gunfire earlier. My ears are still ringing a little.

“Hey, this car and I have seen a lot together.”

“I’m sure you have,” she says, an edge in her voice.

“Oh, there it is.”

“What?”

“The disdain. I thought we were past that. Or at least I thought we weren’t going to bump into each other again, so it didn’t matter. What happened to your plan for leaving L.A.?”

She wraps her arms around herself as if to ward off a chill in this triple digit heat. “I’m still going. I just haven’t, yet.”

“Okay, sure. None of my business. Might want to do it sooner rather than later, though.”

“What’s happening?” she says. “You show up at Gabriela’s bleeding out and poisoned and then the two of you have some hushed conversation when I leave the room. Something’s going on.”

“No shit,” I say. “Honestly, I don’t know why she wanted you kept in the dark. She’s funny that way. Here’s the short version. A pissed off Aztec wind god is framing me for multiple homicides and arsons, probably just to fuck with me, and is probably responsible for most of the wildfires going on right now, too. Anybody near me is going to get caught in the shitstorm. I’d really rather you not be one of those people. Again.”

She doesn’t say anything for a long time, her eyes getting that thousand-yard stare. “I’m afraid to leave,” she says. “Except for college and med school, I’ve spent my whole life here. All of my memories about Alex are here. I’m afraid if I leave I’m going to lose all of them. I have to look at his picture every day to remind myself what he looks like.”

I wasn’t expecting that. It comes out of her like water from a burst pipe. Things must be bad if she’s telling me this.