INTERLUDE

While Janeth is locked up, Ivy and Pedro remain at large. The Los Angeles City Council is offering a $50,000 reward for “information leading to the identification and arrest of the persons responsible for the murder of Andres Ordonez.” Rewards like this are rarely offered in local homicide cases, but these were unusual circumstances and, as the motion noted, “What happened to Mr. Ordonez was an especially disturbing crime.”

In the meantime, Elie has uncovered more details surrounding the LAPD investigation. “This doesn’t look so good,” she warns me before sharing the most damaging information. Evidently, gang detectives from Rampart Division arrived on the scene soon after the shooting and recovered three shells that could be traced to a semiautomatic weapon, along with a spray-paint can near the curb. Janeth’s fingerprints and DNA were on the can. The detectives also picked up a broken beer bottle from the gutter close to the spray-paint can, and this had Ivy’s fingerprints and DNA. On top of that, graffiti on the wall included three names: Wicked, Looney, and Ivy, along with the words “Fuck Tampax”—“Tampax” being code for the Temple Street gang.

Elie is right, none of this looks good. The rumors are flying that Pedro and Ivy have gone to Mexico in Ivy’s BMW. Then a homie tells me that Pedro forced Ivy at gunpoint to sell the BMW to finance their escape. The women in the café are worried about what Pedro is doing to Ivy now. “He used to beat her, and we knew it,” Carla, a young homegirl, tells me. “Pedro was mean, we kept telling her to leave. Ivy didn’t want to, she thought she needed him. Ivy acted strong but she really didn’t think she could make it without a man. She hadn’t learned she was beautiful, just alone, without anyone.” I’m thinking about what Carla said and what kind of trauma would keep her tied to Pedro. And I wonder if the couple will disappear permanently in Mexico. Elie doesn’t think so. “Trust me,” she says quietly. “They’re going to find them.”