The Lock Artist

Responding to the call on the white pager, Mike prepares to travel from New York to Los Angeles. Wary that he is a wanted man after escaping the security guards in Greenwich, he cuts off his hair and buys new clothes and sunglasses to alter his appearance. He contemplates abandoning the yellow pager after his disastrous experience with that crew in Connecticut, but he ultimately brings it with him. He travels to Los Angeles by bus—a two-day journey. The Ghost has previously assured him that the criminals who call on the white pager are “money in the bank. True professionals. The best of the best” (84). They have given him the address of a motel, and he spends two days there before the gang arrives.

On the third morning, the crew of four arrives: Julian, “obviously the leader of this outfit” (86); Ramona, reductively described as “very attractive […]. Young, Hispanic. Full lips and big dark eyes” (85); Gunnar, who is “[r]ail thin” and looks like he has “seen a lot more hard miles” (86) than Julian or Ramona; and Lucy, who appears to have “even more miles on her” but nonetheless possesses “a raw animal beauty that couldn’t be erased” (86).