Nick lured the security guard into his room with his innocence and pleas for company but he kept the guard in his room with quick wit and endless tales of “Girls Gone Wild On A Cross Country Tour Bus With Five Guys.”
At first, the guard just leaned in the doorway of the room chuckling mildly as Nick told a story about the time two sets of twins boarded the tour bus after a concert one night.
“I was so damn drunk I couldn’t even see straight.” He said rolling his eyes around with a goofy smile. “But man those chicks could have cared less. They grabbed my hands and headed us straight for the big room in the back of the bus whispering sweet nothings in my ear.”
By the end of the first hour the guard had slowly worked his way over to the chair beside Nick’s bed. Sitting there, elbows on knees, he stared wide-eyed at Nick. Listening as he told him about the time A.J. and Howie had taken two hot girls up on top of the tour bus, traveling eighty five miles an hour down a stretch of highway in the middle of nowhere U.S.A., to do the deed.
“I would have gone up there too but I was scared shitless that I would end up roadkill!”
“I would have gone up there in a second.” The guard said slapping his leg.
“No way.” Nick shook his head.
“Bet me man. ” The guard stuck his hand through the railing as he and Nick shook hands. “I mean how often do you get a chance to say you had sex on top of a moving tour bus?”
By the end of the third hour the guard had his feet kicked up on the guard rail of Nick’s bed, roaring with laughter, as Nick recalled the time he and A.J. came back to the bus after a show in Phoenix or was it Los Angeles….. to find three blonde girls in ponytails covered in nothing but head to toe pink glitter with huge grins on their ditzy faces.
“They said their names were Taffy, Sugar and Cookie.” Nick waggled his eyebrows at the guy with a wink as the guy winked back. “And man were they sweet!”
Okay, so none of those things had ever happened, at least not on any tour that Nick had ever been on but hey at least it was getting the guard to stay and keep him company for awhile which was step one of his plan.
“I’m starving.” The guard tapped on his stomach glancing around Nick’s room for some sort of snack.
“You already ate everything I have in here.” Nick said pushing his bangs out of his eyes and dropping his head back to the pillow as the guard surveyed the floor around him littered with empty boxes of chocolates, cookies and candy that people had brought as get well presents for Nick.
“Damn, you’re right. I’m going down to the cafeteria then. Do you want anything?” He said sliding his chair back and standing up.
“Nah, I can’t eat real food yet.” Nick motioned to the IV bags on polls beside his bed. “But thanks man.” The guard walked towards the door tapping his hand on the gun on his hip.
“Hey.” Nick called out. “You’re coming back right? I mean to hang out and all?”
“You betcha buddy. You tell me some more stories like that and I’ll hang out with you all fucking night.”
* * *
Working on a tip from a woman Dan found walking by the same gas station where Nick and Brian had been seen the day of the shooting, Dan was now pulling his car into the parking lot of the Bowl N’ Beer. Sliding into a spot between two semis he shoved his cell phone and notepad in the pocket of his jacket and headed for the entrance of the place.
Walking across the parking lot he could see that there was a fairly rough crowd milling around outside. And everybody seemed to look him over twice in his Ralph Lauren golf shirt and dark pressed jeans as he made his way inside, ordering a beer and sitting at a table in the corner of the darkened lounge.
The woman he had spoken with earlier at the gas station said that while the name Mo did not ring a bell the description Dan gave her did. She had been more familiar with Gus Monroe, although on the streets most people knew him as ‘Monty’. And she did recall seeing ‘Monty’ several times with a “a guy with big muscles and a square jaw.” She also thought that she remembered seeing that same guy coming out of the bowling alley a few times since ‘Monty’ had been killed.
“Hey there.” Dan winked at the waitress who now stood wiping down his table with a big dirty rag that he was sure harbored fifty kinds of airborne illnesses that could kill him.
“Hey.” She slapped down a bowl of peanuts on the table and cocked out a hip. “Do you want another beer?”
Dan looked down at the full bottle of beer in his hands and smiled. “Not quite yet thanks. Do you-“ She turned and started to walk off.
“Um yes, yes I’ll have another beer?” Dan shouted. “If you’ll come over here and talk to me for a few minutes.” The woman walked back to his table narrowing her eyes at him.
“This ain’t one of those kinds of places. I’m not some stupid whore that will give you a lap dance for a couple bucks and a beer.”
“I never said you were.” Dan set down his beer raising his hands in the air. “Honestly Miss, I just wanted to ask you a few questions.”
“Are you a cop?” She was talking to Dan but her eyes were darting around the bar scanning for the bouncer who was probably in the bathroom taking a piss. He was never around when she needed him.
“No, I’m not a cop. I’m a rep…. a writer. I’m a writer.”
“So what the hell do you want to ask me questions for. I don’t got nothing to say that is worth writing about?”
“Well,” Dan reached in his jacket pocket and pulled out the photograph of Gus. “Actually I am doing a story on this guy.” Dan slid the picture across the table.
“Monty?” She tapped a hand on the picture. “He was a real nice guy, it’s a shame what happened to him.”
“Did you know Gus- I mean Monty?” Dan noticed her facial features soften when she spoke about Gus.
“Yeah I knew him. I knew him really well. And I’d probably still know him if he hadn’t have gotten mixed up with that big fuck.”
“What big fuck.”
“I don’t know his name. He was just some guy Gus hung with.”
“When was the last time you saw this guy, the ‘big fuck’?” Dan could feel his pulse quicken, he was getting closer he could feel it.
“I dunno. The other day I guess. I usually work the early shift but I traded with Cecelia cause her daughter was having a baby and he was here that night. Sitting right here at the same table you’re sitting at now.” Sitting up a little straighter Dan shoved the photo of Gus back into his jacket pocket and grabbed for his notebook.
“Did you talk to him?”
“No, I ain’t got nothin’ to say to him. Besides he’s all fucked up. Somebody said they saw him hanging around with some little Latino kid after Monty died. It’s like he had to go and hurry up and replace Monty or something.”
“A little Latino kid?” The homeless guy’s words played over and over in Dan’s head.
“So you know who he is then, this guy Mo?” Dan stood arms length away from the guy trying not to inhale the foul stench of body odor mixed with cigarette smoke.
“Nobody really knows Mo.” The old man replied scratching at his chin before grabbing at some unseen thing in the air.
“What does that mean?” Dan rubbed at his eyes wondering what the hell time it was and how much longer he was going to have to play quiz games with the great unwashed on the Los Angeles City streets.
“Well nobody but the kid, maybe the kid knows Mo.”
“What?”
“The kid would probably know him better then anybody.” At the mention of a kid Dan grabbed for his pen and notepad.
“You keep saying there is a kid? What like a little kid, or a big kid?”
“Yeah the kid had that spooked look in his eyes so he definitely knows Mo more then you and I know Mo.”
“Well I mean he isn’t really a kid I guess. People said he was maybe in his twenties or something so I guess that can still be a kid?” The waitress shifted her weight from one foot to the other impatient with the whole conversation.
“Who saw him with the kid? I have to know.” Dan grabbed for her wrist but she pulled away.
“Hey, you gotta calm down man or I’ll have you thrown out of this place.”
“Look, you have to tell me who saw this guy and the Latino kid and you have to tell me right now. It could be a matter of life and death.”
* * *
“Okay do you know how to play poker?” The security guard returned to Nick’s room with a tray of fried chicken and mashed potatoes ‘hospital style’. Which meant it smelled like total shit and probably tasted about the same. But the guard didn’t seem to care as he gnawed the chicken down to the bones licking his fingers as Nick dealt the cards out onto his lap.
“I kind of know how to play.”
“Okay well you either know how to play or you don’t. There isn’t a kind of?” The guy said swiveling his security guard cap backwards on his head.
“Hmmmmm.” Handing the guy his cards Nick laid the deck on his food tray. “Okay then I guess I know how to play.”
“Okay then, let’s play five card stud aces wild.”
* * *
Mo pulled his car into the underground hospital parking lot pulling into a sweet spot that was close to the elevators before killing the engine and the headlights and placing the security guard cap on his head.
Running a hand across the faded dash of the Ford Escort he now drove, he sure missed the fancy BMW with its’ CD player and plush leather seats.
Despite the fact that he had long ago changed out the license plates it had gotten too risky to drive after reports hit the news regarding the missing vehicle that Brian Littrell had been driving the night he was killed. So Mo had been forced to sell the car for a nice price to a guy he knew that fenced stolen cars in Encino.
Stepping out of the car, straightening the collar of the generic security guards uniform he now wore, Mo headed to the elevators nearly bumping into a young man who reached out to push the up button at the same time he did.
“Sorry.” Kevin backed away from the button signaling that Mo could go ahead and push it. Mo pushed the button standing back and folding his arms across his chest as he tapped the heel of his boot on the ground.
“Nice boots.” Kevin nodded to the shiny black leather boots with the intricate tooling peeking out from beneath the cuffs of the man’s pants.
“Thanks.” Mo nodded with a smile as the elevator doors opened and both men stepped inside.