Chapter 15
Gustavo Vila Nova exited his car in a distant corner of a parking lot shared by a 24-hour pancake restaurant and physical fitness gymnasium on Sunset Boulevard near La Brea Avenue. He swiftly hauled his duffel bag through alleys and parking zones, hurdling concrete walls, moving eastward past homes and businesses. His friend was waiting for him at the gated pedestrian entrance to a bungalow court on Formosa Avenue.
"Thank heaven for you!" Gustavo said, racing toward her.
"Are you sure you were not tailed?" Lavonne Tejada asked, unlocking the steel gate and admitting Gustavo.
"No one could have followed me."
They scurried through a cobblestone courtyard shared by four tiny houses. Reportedly created by Charlie Chaplin, the superstar of the silent film era, the shingled-ro
