The action’s moving to a real playing field

Today’s winning entry is by

Philip Garrett Panitz

Calabasas

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Where we left off: Ernesto? We’ve just learned that he’s an undercover DEA agent. Congressman Falco? Turns out he’s been singing like a canary to the feds. Charlie and Genie? Reeling from the recent revelations. Hermann Hauser? Still dripping blood on Falco’s front lawn. Steve Lopez? Sitting at his desk unaware of what’s about to hit.

Carmen sat in her car, watching her apartment complex. After satisfying herself that the coast was clear, she briskly crossed the street and bounded up the stairs to her second-floor apartment, looking back constantly to see if she was being followed.

Once inside, she ran to the hamper and dug deep into the pile of dirty clothes. It was exactly where she had left it. She looked closely at the name on the front: Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times. She had no idea who he was, but if Tony trusted him, that was good enough for her.

Suddenly, her phone started to vibrate. She had switched it to silent mode and had forgotten all about it. The vibration made her jump, and the number in the display did nothing to alleviate her fear.

“This is Carmen,” she said loudly, hoping to mask the anxiety she was feeling.

“Carmen. This is Palmieri. We need to meet, and we need to meet now. Where are you?”

There was no way Carmen was going to let him know where she was.

“I’m on my way to Dodger Stadium,” she blurted out without thinking. “I’m meeting some girlfriends there.” It was a complete lie, but she hoped it might put him off. It did not.

“Great, I’ll head there, too. Where are your seats?”

“Uh . . . my girlfriends have the tickets. I don’t know yet.”

“You’d better not be playing me, Carmen. Meet me at the Stadium Club at exactly 6:30. If you don’t show up, let’s just say that your mother won’t recognize you when they find you.”

“I’ll be there.” She snapped the phone shut and cursed under her breath. Carmen debated her choices. If she didn’t meet him, moving to Costa Rica might be her only option. But first . . .

She called information and got the number for the Los Angeles Times. Once connected, she asked the receptionist for Steve Lopez. The receptionist asked for the spelling, and Carmen, shaking her head in disbelief, spelled out, “L-O-P-E-Z.”

“I’ll connect you,” the receptionist said at last, putting Carmen on hold.

“This is Steve Lopez,” a voice finally said.

Like a machine gun spraying bullets, Carmen blurted out her tale of woe starting with her affair with Falco, then onto the attack and, finally, to the very important package she now cradled against her breast.

“Who is this, again?” Mr. Lopez asked.

Carmen had to make him understand. She was scared for her life, she explained. And now she was supposed to meet Palmieri in the Stadium Club at Dodger Stadium. She pleaded with the columnist to meet her there so she could deliver the package to him in person. Besides, she said, Palmieri wouldn’t do anything to her in the presence of a newspaper reporter.

“Dodger Stadium? OK, now we’re talking,” Lopez responded.

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Prior to writing a winning Birds of Paradise chapter, Philip Garrett Panitz’s accomplishments included marrying his wife, Molly, arguing -- and winning -- a tax case before the Supreme Court and taking a pass from Gordie Howe in a hockey exhibition.