“Hope so, sir.” I paused, wishing I knew where to find the guy. “Maybe I’ll go and look for him once I leave the station. It was my fault he got hurt.”
“No, my friend. It was the robber’s fault. Don’t put blame where it isn’t due. You know that kind of thing has consequences.”
I did. “Aye, Candy.”
“In fact, you might want to give Greg a call.”
“I’ll do that, boss.”
“Don’t worry about work. If something comes up, I’ll call you.”
“Thanks.”
“No, thank you for calling to let me know what happened. Good night, Patsy.”
“Night, boss.” I hung up the call and glanced back over to the group of officers. Two of them were pulling the gunman to his feet. He’d finally woken up and was complaining loudly abouthow I’d assaulted him, leaving out the fact that he’d been in the process of robbing the shop at the time. I snorted at the sight of the bruises coming up on his cheekbone where his left eye was swollen nearly shut.
I stood with Rami and Raj as we watched the police loading him into one of the patrol cars out the front, holding an evidence bag with the man’s weapon inside. Though we’d all been asked to go down to the station to give our statements, I wanted to get more than just a name of the man who’d been shot. It might make it easier to find him. I turned to the brothers.
“So, this guy, Weston. What do ya know about him? He’s homeless, right?”
They nodded. “Oh, yes, he is,” Raj said. “He’s a very nice man, though. He comes in sometimes, not to beg like a lot of them, but to buy an egg or an apple.” The convenience store sold not only booze, junk food, and milk, but they also had a basket of hard-boiled eggs and fruit on the counter near the hot dogs and pizza. I frequently grabbed a banana on the way to work in the morning to go with my tea.
I nodded. “Do ya know where he lives or…sleeps?”
Raj shook his head but Rami nodded. “I’ve seen him sleeping in his car over on Sunset.”
“He has a car?”
“Yes,” Rami said, turning to his brother. “And he’s not technically homeless since he has a car.”
I’d beg to differ, but I didn’t reply to that. “Do ya know if he’s workin’?”
Rami shook his head. “Not right now, but tonight he told us he has a new job.”
“That’s good,” I said. “Do ya know what kind of job?” From his appearance, he could be anything from a day laborer to a dishwasher.
“I know the company is in Pasadena.”
“In Pasadena,” I repeated. “Where? Do ya know?”
“Caltech Seismological Laboratory,” Rami said, smiling broadly.
I felt my eyes widen. Caltech was the leading center for earthquake research in the country. I had to admit, I was impressed. Mind you, he could still be doing the dishes. “Really?” I pointed to the car park where the man had run off. “What doing?Thatguy wants to work for Caltech?”
“Yes,” Rami said with a big smile on his face. “He didn’t explain what kind of job but he was very excited when he told me he needs to get a haircut now that he’ll be working in an office.”
I laughed. He didn’t have a whole lot of hairtocut, but I thought he wouldn’t look so scruffy if he’d trim his beard and shave what hair remained down to stubble. I thought for a second. “Ya said he sleeps in his car? Do ya know what kind of car?”
“It’s big and brown, like a—” Rami turned to Raj and said something in Punjabi.
“Station wagon,” Raj said as both of them turned to me.
“That’s it. He sleeps in a big, brown station wagon on Sunset near Gower,” Rami confirmed.
“Thank ya, guys. That’s grand. I’ll try to find him, so I can get him seen at the hospital.”
“Are you three finished? We really need you to come down to the station.”
