In front of me, the ocean was sluggish. Ghostly palm trees, fronds sharp as scissors, cracked apart the asphalt of the empty parking lot. In a few hours, a gaggle of sticky little waders circled by inflatable red tubes making a toilet of the ocean would descend upon the beach, and then you’d never find the space in your own head to not think about things. Far in front of me, the waves blued the air with salty reaching fingers.

Somewhere else, perhaps not very far away, Lou waited for the sun to rise, the black silk dress tossed over the chair next to her bed. Or maybe she was asleep still, nestled in someone’s arms. From the beach to the hills to that canyon in no time at all—some spandexed do-gooder chasing a bichon frise would find her way to Ellen and the car soon. If they hadn’t already. I could almost picture the scene—the puffball of a dog yapping at the edge of the canyon, pissing as it ran. It would know before anyone else did; it would know what a body looked like after six hours cooking in the new-morning sun.

For God’s sake, be human, Jo.

At some point, I’d started crying and I hadn’t even realized it. One of the signs of cracking up. I was going to go crazy, sitting there with nothing but my thoughts.

Lou picked up my call on the third ring.

“I can’t stand this. Why didn’t you stay last night?”

A pause. “Jo, where are you?”

“I mean, what’s my alibi? We should’ve watched movies all night or something. Made a prank call to Jackal. Something with a time stamp.”

A longer pause. Mentally, I put together my to-do list: 1. Alibi. 2. Make nineteen grand in a day. 3. Laundry. I choked back a giggle. There was always the possibility I’d lose my mind before I found money for the bribe, and then I wouldn’t have to worry about anything at all.

Lou’s voice was soft, a little tired. “I was with someone else last night. As far as he knows, it was the whole night.”

“Oh.”

“It’ll raise more questions if I have to tell him something else later.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Where are you? Let me come get you and we can discuss it,” Lou said.

“I’m sure you already have plans with Mr. Alibi. I’d hate to intrude.”

“I’ll pick you up. We’ll grab a drink.”

I wanted to believe the worry in her voice was for me, that she’d realized she’d made a mistake. That she should’ve stayed with me. I said yes, a drink would be nice. I gave Lou the name of the convenience store I’d left, and she told me she’d be there in twenty minutes.