Making the Rent the Hard Way - 7

 

The address corresponding to the one on Luca's driver's license was a weed-infested vacant lot in a run-down part of town, flanked by a near-new shop and one that did auto repairs. When I went into the repair shop, a grizzled-looking man behind the counter asked if he could help me. The name on his shirt said he was Nick.

"I was wondering about the lot next door," I told him. "Someone told me they lived there." I chuckled. "And they weren't homeless, so…"

Nick nodded. "Used to be a cheap hotel there until it got torn down about…hmm, three years ago. A real dive, from the look of some of the people who stayed there." He almost smiled. "Fit right in with the rest of the neighborhood."

"Well, hell. Okay. Sorry to have bothered you."

"No problem. Not like I got much else going on. If I didn't own this property, with no hope of selling it for a decent price, I'd have moved out a long time ago." He eyed me. "Who you looking for? And don't say you're not. I'm not a dumb as I look."

I laughed. "Got me." Taking out Luca's picture, I showed it to him.

He stared at it, then at me. "Why are you looking for Luca?"

"You know him?"

"Knew him. He was one of the others." That's what a lot of human's call shifters. "Nice enough, for one of them, I guess."

"How did you know he was?" 

"He had a rattletrap car back when he lived there, maybe five years ago, give or take. Brought it in for me to work on. We got to talking. I got nothing against them." Nick grinned. "Others, I mean, not cars. Anyway, he said something that clued me in and, when I asked, he said he was. Not what kind, just that he was. I can't say we became friends, but with as much trouble as he had with the car, we saw a fair amount of each other. Then, last time he was in here, he said he'd come into some money and was moving to a better place."

"How long was he around here before that?"

"Hmm. A year, maybe? Like I said, it was five years ago when he first brought his car in. I can't say when he moved into the hotel."

"Did he ever talk about family or friends?"

"Nope. And I asked." Nick looked at the picture again. "Nice kid but lonely acting. Must have been, to spend time with me. Why you looking for him?"

"He's missing and someone who says he's a friend of Luca's is worried."

"You don't trust him?"

I smiled. "You're one smart man. Let's just say, if I do find Luca, I'm not telling the guy who hired me without Luca's say-so."

"Good. There's folks out there who have no love for others and would just a soon see them all dead or incarcerated as walking free." He slanted me a look. "You ain't one of them, are you?"

"A hater? Nope. Not a shifter, either. Just a second-rate private eye."

He laughed. "That works. Hope you do find him. Like I said, he was nice enough, for being an other. Keep in touch. Let me know if you find him. And if he shows up here… Give me your number and I'll call if he does."

We exchanged numbers and names. His was Nick, like the tag on his shirt said. Nick Allen. "That's why it's Allen's Auto Shop," he said, pointing at the sign on the far wall.

After that, I left. I stopped in at the near-new shop but the woman running it said she'd only been in business for two years and the hotel had been gone by then. "Now, if they could do something about the lot," she grumbled. I thanked her, then headed back to the office.