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“Stark? What’s going on? I’m in a meeting.”

“Fuck your meeting. I found your kid.”

“Nick?”

“No. The ghost of Jackie Coogan. Who do you think I mean?”

“All right. Calm down. Where did you find him? Are you with him now?”

“Burgess has him. Geoff goddamn Burgess. I saw him there not ten minutes ago, but I couldn’t get to him. Now the place is going to be crawling with cops.”

I can hear Abbot breathing at the other end of the line.

“All right, listen to me. Do nothing. Do you hear me? Nothing. Let me handle this.”

A cop car cruises slowly down Sunset Boulevard. I keep the phone up, blocking my face as it goes by.

“Stark, did you hear me?” says Abbot. “If you do something stupid, it could put Nick in jeopardy. Do you hear me?”

“Yes. I hear you. You know everything I just told you is worthless now, right? By the time you can do anything, they’ll have moved the kid.”

“Let me worry about that. You did a good job tonight. Let’s keep it that way. Go home. I’ll call you when I learn anything new.”

“You told me Nick was with his father in Long Beach. What the hell is going on here?”

“I don’t know. Sit tight and let me handle this.”

“Sure. You do that.”

I hang up and dial Julie.

“Stark. What time is it?” she says with a voice thick and slow. “I must have fallen asleep.”

r /> “Well, wake up. That kid you’re looking for for Abbot? I found him. He’s in Beverly Hills, at the home of Geoffrey Burgess.”

“Burgess? Where do I know that name from?”

“He’s a heavyweight at a talent agency called Evermore Creatives Group. But trust me, he’s into worse stuff than boy bands.”

“Right. You went after them before I fired you. Why are you bothering Burgess now?”

“I told you. I found the kid there.”

“You were looking for the kid? Dammit, Stark. That’s not your case.”

“I wasn’t looking for anyone. I just found him, which means I solved your case, so do something about it. Burgess is into some weird shit and that kid shouldn’t be around it.”

“Listen. You stay out of this. After the stunt on Hollywood Boulevard the other night, no one wants to hear from you. I’ll call some contacts in LAPD and get them to look into it.”

“Look into it. Well, I feel better. I’m sure the kid’s parents will be thrilled to know you’re looking into it.”

“Calm down and go home right now. I’m sorry if I don’t sound eternally grateful, but you have a way of making any crisis worse.”

“Burgess is in bed with some pretty bad people. They probably have contacts in the police force.”

“So do I. Go home. I’ll have Chihiro call you later with any updates.”

The line goes dead.