I’d been keeping watch for the gray Sentra, but it hadn’t surfaced. It could be in a nearby garage. Or it could be in Mexico. A rusted fire escape precariously clung to the back of the building. The ladder had been dropped and hung just a few inches from the ground. “I could go up the fire escape,” I said. “Then I could look in the window.”

“Now you’re the nut. That thing’s falling apart. No way I’m going up that rusted-out piece of junk.”

I grabbed a rail and pulled. The rail held tight. “It’s in better shape than it looks,” I said. “It’ll hold me.”

“Maybe. But it sure as hell won’t hold me.”

Only one of us needed to go anyway. I’d be up and down in a couple minutes. And I’d be able to see if there was any indication of Singh or the dog. “You need to stay on the ground and do lookout anyway,” I told Lula.

FIVE

NOTHING VENTURED, nothing gained. I went hand over hand up the ladder and pulled myself onto the first level. I climbed the second ladder, steadied myself on the third-floor platform, and looked into Howie’s window. Howie lived directly under the roof. There were rafters where the ceiling should be and the floor was chipped linoleum. Howie had a sofa that was lumpy and faded, but looked comfy in a dilapidated sort of way. He had a small television and a card table and two metal folding chairs. That was the extent of his furniture. A sink hung on a far wall. A half refrigerator had been placed beside the sink. There were two wood shelves over the refrigerator. Howie had stacked two plates, two bowls, and two mugs on one of the shelves. The other shelf held condiments, a couple boxes of cereal, a jar of peanut butter, and a bag of chips.

When you come right down to it, this is really all anyone needs, isn’t it? A television and a bag of chips.

I could see the front door and a doorway leading to another room, but the second room wasn’t visible. The bedroom, obviously. I tried the window, but it was either locked or painted shut.

“Coming down,” I said to Lula. “No dog biscuits on the kitchen shelf.” I put my foot on the ladder and it disintegrated in a shower of rust flakes and chunks of broken metal. The chunks of metal crashed onto the second-floor platform and the whole thing pulled away from the building, and with more of a sigh than a screech the entire bottom half of the fire escape landed on the ground in front of Lula.

“Hunh,” Lula said.

I looked down at Lula. Too far to jump. The only way off the platform was through Howie’s apartment.

“Are you coming down soon?” Lula asked. “I’m getting hungry.”

“I don’t want to break his window.”

“You got any other choices?”

I dialed Ranger on my cell phone.