Gleaners (eBook)

CHAPTER THREE:
Warehouse Penthouse

Six months later, Sergeant Leo Moore was back on the street once again. His patrol car moved slowly through a run-down industrial section of central Los Angeles, near Union Station. The makeshift shelters and tents of the homeless were everywhere. What people could be seen lay on the pavement, sat despondently on outdoor chairs, or shuffled aimlessly down the street—oblivious to where they were. Moore turned to his partner, Ed Lonnegin, who drove their patrol car. “Your first tour of the neighborhood, Ed?” he asked.

Lonnegin grimaced. “First and last, Leo,” he said between clenched teeth. “I’m calling up my old watch commander as soon as this shift’s over. I’m gonna beg him to give me another chance. I’ll do anything the sumbitch says, if he’ll pull me outta this toilet.”

Moore smiled. “Come on, Ed,” he said. “This isn’t so bad. I’ve been here since before the COVID. Seems downright peaceful today.”

“What’d they do to you in that hospital, Leo?” his partner grumbled. “Remove your fuckin’ nose? This place stinks. If I ever get outta here, I’m gonna have to burn every uniform I got! And these people…”

Moore laughed and shook his head. “They are a tad threadbare, ain’t they? That’s what comes from living on the street. These guys haven’t seen porcelain for a long time! None of them! I tell you…” he stopped his soliloquy in mid-sentence to stare out the car’s window, then abruptly pulled on his partner’s shoulder. “Stop the car,” he said. “Back up!”

Lonnegin complied, frowning. “What’s going on, Leo?” he asked. “What’d you see?”

Moore opened his door and jumped from the patrol car. “Somebody who shouldn’t be here, Ed. Stay put and wait for me.”

Elizabeth Wyler, the person Moore had noticed, walked down the shabby street in her white lab coat—seemingly without care or concern. After sprinting most of a block, he caught up to her from behind, grabbed her by the shoulder, and turned her around. “Let go!” the surprised psychiatrist exclaimed as she struggled. “What do you… Leo! It’s you!”

Moore bent over, put hands to his thighs, fighting to catch his breath. “Doc!” he gasped. “Sorry to come up on you that way, but what are you doing here? This is no place for you.”

Beth chuckled. “Thanks for your concern, Leo,” she said, “but I’ll be just fine. Most of these people are harmless, and I’m well-armed.” As evidence, she pulled a large can of pepper spray from her lab coat pocket.

“That may stop some of them, but not all of them, doc. Why do you think we patrol this place? There was a murder near here, not two days ago. It’s not the first, either.”

Beth looked around, as though suddenly aware of where she stood. “I get your point,” she said, nodding. “Look, maybe you can help me, Leo. I’m looking for two homeless men…”

Moore couldn’t help laughing. “That’s all we’ve got down here, doc,” he said. “Anybody special in mind?”

“A tall, skinny man who calls himself Carl,” she said. “He’ll have a bandaged leg, walks with a limp. He’s always with a smaller guy, a man with a beard…”

Moore snapped his fingers. “Steve!” he said. “I know them both. They’ve set up housekeeping a few blocks from here. Come on, get in the squad. I’ll take you there myself.”

Once in the car, Moore directed Lonnegin down a grimy side street—its sidewalks thickly lined with tents and other shelters of various kinds and sizes. The patrol car stopped in the middle of the block, in the shadow of an anonymous warehouse.

Moore left the car and opened the door for Beth. “Here we are, doc,” he told her. “Last time I saw those two, Carl and his little buddy were residing in that lean-to over there.” The psychiatrist immediately began walking toward the canvas and cardboard structure he’d pointed out. Moore held her arm to stop her.

“Whoa!” he cautioned. “Just a minute. What’s so important you have to come all the way down here to find these guys?”

Beth reached again into her lab coat pocket, pulling out an amber plastic vial of pills. “I started Carl on these when he was in the hospital,” she explained. “He’s stopped coming back to refill his prescription. Some of our staff don’t treat homeless people very well.”

Moore nodded. “I know what you mean,” he said. “Some medics let their sense of smell get in the way of their Hippocratic Oath.”

“If Carl stays on the medication long enough, he’ll start to get his head clear,” Beth explained. “I think he could begin to put his life back together.”

Moore shrugged. “You’re the doctor,” he said, as Lonnegin yelled from the patrol car. “How much longer you gonna be, Leo?” his partner asked loudly.

“You got a social engagement to attend, Ed?” Moore replied. “Hold your water. This won’t take long.”

He turned back to Beth. “You stay behind me, doc,” he told her. They both crouched and entered the lean-to. Its cardboard and plastic sheeting fronted a ragged hole in the warehouse wall. Moore shined his flashlight into the building’s interior.

“I guess these guys have more living space than I thought,” he said. He climbed through the large opening and helped Beth after him. “Watch your step,” he told her.

The two looked around. They stood in an enormous space, dimly lit by dirty skylights more than fifty feet above. Row after row of anonymous crates and boxes stretched into the shadowy distance, finally disappearing into the gloom. Moore cast the beam from his flashlight around them.

“Wow,” Beth said, and heard an echo.

“Yeah,” Moore agreed, nodding. “Some penthouse. Hey doc, are you sure you want to go any further? We really shouldn’t be in here.”

Beth shrugged. “We’ve come this far,” she said, “but I don’t have time to search this whole place.”

Moore continued to search the rows of crates to their front with his flashlight. “I can see what you mean,” he said. “They could be anywhere. Look, why don’t you try calling to them? If they’re around and they want to see you, they’ll come out.”

Beth nodded and cupped her hands to her mouth. “Carl?” she shouted. “Carl? It’s Doctor Wyler, Carl. I need to see you! It’s important! I’ve got some more medicine for you. Carl?” The pair listened for a few moments, but heard nothing. The psychiatrist sighed in resignation.

“I guess it was a silly idea,” she said, “like trying to find a needle in a haystack.”

“Hey, doc,” Moore consoled her, “you did the best you could. Most people wouldn’t have tried at all.” He turned to leave. “Come on, let’s go,” he said.

Beth turned, took a step, and almost knocked over Steve. The little man had appeared behind them, out of nowhere. “Jesus!” she exclaimed.

“You always say that when you see me,” Steve said. “Are you religious?” Carl’s friend looked much the same as he had the first time Beth had seen him, neatly dressed in overalls and a checked shirt. Beth surmised that he must get children’s clothing to fit him.

“Steve, do you know where Carl is?” Beth asked, ignoring the small man’s question. “It’s important that I see him.”

Steve nodded. “Sure I do, Doctor Wyler, but he’s busy right now. Can you come back later?”

“No, Steve,” Beth said firmly, “I need to see him now. I have some more of his medicine for him.”

Carl’s small companion remained silent for a moment, struggling to make up his mind. “Well, alright,” he finally said. “Those pills you got him helped Carl a lot. He hasn’t seen the saucer men at all, for a while now.”

Steve walked closer to Beth, and drew her head down to his. “Does the policeman have to come?” he whispered loudly.

“He’s more than just a policeman, Steve,” Beth said as she straightened up smiling. “He’s a special friend.”

“Besides,” Moore noted, “I’ve got the flashlight.”

Steve nodded and led the two further into the dark warehouse, several hundred feet down a long row of crates. Then he halted, and darted from sight. “Wait here,” he called.

“I don’t like this much,” Moore said, as he shined his flashlight around them. “If he’s not back pretty quick…” Steve, now accompanied by Carl, appeared at his side before the completed thought escaped his lips.

The two homeless men walked quickly to Beth. “Hi, doc,” Carl whispered. “Steve said you’ve got some pills for me.”

“Yes, Carl. I…” Beth began. Before she could finish her sentence, both men raised index fingers to their lips and signaled silence.

“I brought you some more of the medicine you were getting,” Beth continued, whispering now. She pulled the large vial from her pocket and handed it to him. “Why are we whispering?” she asked.

“I don’t want to wake the man back there,” Carl whispered to her. “He’s hurt. He needs to rest.”

“Maybe you should let me see him,” Beth said quietly. “I am a doctor. Maybe I could help.”

Carl shook his head. “We promised we’d keep his secret,” he continued. “He said not to tell anybody.”

“You know I keep your secrets,” she told him. “I promise, I won’t tell anyone.”

Steve...