She nodded. “I went to Cal State L.A. and met my husband. He’s a fourth-year dental student at the U. We live in Westwood. Dr. Park’s one of Jim’s professors. I’m supporting us until Jim gets out.”

“Nestor got out of the Youth Authority three months ago,” said Milo. “Where did he live?”

“First with my mother and then, I don’t know,” said Anita Moss. “Like I said, we weren’t close. Not just Nestor and me. Nestor and the whole family. My other two brothers are good guys. No one understood why Nestor did the things he did.”

“Difficult kid,” I said.

“From day one. Didn’t sleep, never sat still, always destroying things. Mean to our dog.” She wiped her eyes. “I shouldn’t be talking about him like this, he was my brother. But he tortured my mother— not literally, but he made her life miserable. Two months ago she had a stroke and she’s still pretty sick.”

“Sorry to hear about that.”

She frowned. “I can’t help thinking Nestor living with her contributed to it. She had a history of high blood pressure, we were all telling Nestor to go easy on her, don’t stress her out. You couldn’t tell him anything. Mom wasn’t naive. She knew what Nestor was up to and it really upset her.”

“Drugs.”

“And everything that goes with that lifestyle. Out all night, sleeping all day. One week he’d be working at a car wash, then he’d get fired. He’d just disappear without a word, then he’d show up at Mom’s with way too much money. My mother was a religious person, she had a real problem with money you couldn’t explain.”

She plucked at her badge. “One time he threatened my husband.”

“When did that happen?” I said.

“Maybe a week after he got out. He showed up at our place late at night and demanded we let him crash there. Jim offered him money but wouldn’t let him come in. Nestor got mad and grabbed Jim’s shirt, really got in Jim’s face. He told him he’d be sorry. Then he spit on Jim and left.”

“You call the police?”

“I wanted to but Jim didn’t. He thought Nestor would calm down. Jim’s a really even person, nothing fazes him.”

“Did Nestor calm down?”

“He didn’t bother us again and a week later he showed up at the office and begged me to forgive him. He claimed he was clean, this time he was going to go straight, he needed a real job. I know a woman who runs a food stand down the block and I asked her if she’d give him a chance. She agreed but he screwed that up.”

“How?”

“Bad attitude, poor attendance. Now I don’t even go there for lunch.”

“Being Nestor’s sister was a challenge,” I said.