Decker reread the last two paragraphs. Now it appeared that Ruby was in Los Angeles. Or maybe at least, she had been in Los Angeles. He looked up at Karl. “Ernesto was up to something.”

“Yeah, he got in over his head, the dumb fuck!” Karl closed his eyes. “I loved my brother, you know.”

“I’m sure you did.”

“I admired Ernie a lot. But he had this way of being arrogant…it could really make you feel small. Ruby was the same way. Do you think she did it?”

“She certainly hasn’t been ruled out,” Decker said. “Any idea where she might be?”

“No. She never talked to me, Lieutenant Decker. Never said anything nice to me, never said anything mean to me. She didn’t even waste her time sticking it to me like she did Jake. I was just this…nothing to her. As far as she was concerned, I didn’t exist.”

29

We finally tracked down Darrell Holt’s old man,” Martinez said. “Philip David Holt. He just got back into town about three hours ago, according to his private secretary, but he’s willing to meet with us. He lives in one of the high-rises in the Wilshire Corridor. His unit takes up the entire twelfth floor.”

“What does he do?” Decker asked.

“Investment banking/money manager,” Martinez answered. “His main offices are in Encino and Beverly Hills. Does the name Holt Investments sound familiar?”

“No, but I’m not in the league where I need a money manager.”

“You probably wouldn’t know him even if you were in the league. He runs one of the largest West Coast mutual funds for African-Americans. He manages assets of close to a billion dollars. That’s a billion…with nine zeros.”

“Okay, I’m impressed.” Decker shifted the cell from one ear to the other. “Does his clientele imply that Mr. Holt is African-American?”

“Darrell says he has black blood in him, so I’d say that’s probably a good assumption.” Martinez paused. “He didn’t really look African-American to me. Darrell’s lighter than I am! And I’m not all that dark.”

“When did he say he’d meet with you two, Bert?”

“I told him we’d be there in about an hour. We’re still in the Valley.”

“So he’s home now.”

“Yes, he’s home.”

“Okay,” Decker said. “This is the deal. I’m already on the 405, almost at Sunset.”

“So you’re right around the corner,” Martinez said.

“Yes, I am. Give me the gentleman’s phone number and I’ll give him a call. In the meantime, since you did such a good job with locating evasive people, I want you to go back and pump Alice Ranger. I need to find out where Ruby is.”

Silence on the line.

Then Martinez said, “I really don’t like that girl.”

“You’re not alone. But this isn’t about congeniality. Just do the job.”