Chapter 41

It took a single slap to wake Rudy. He gasped and looked around, then tensed at the sight of Stone, Dino, and Teddy sitting on chairs next to the couch.

"Have a good nap?" Stone asked.

The forger tried to get to his feet but was quickly thwarted by the duct tape binding his wrists and ankles.

"Who are you? What are you doing in my place?"

"My friends and I have been debating what we should do with you."

"What do you mean ‘do with' me?"

"We could call the police and show them around your studio. That would be awkward for you. How are you going to explain why there are at least three stolen paintings here? That alone will get you a nice chunk of prison time."

"T-t-they're not mine."

"Which, I believe, is the definition of stolen," Dino said.

"I didn't steal them, I swear."

"Possession of stolen items is still a crime."

"And then there are the forgeries…" Stone said.

Rudy started hyperventilating. "But—bu—but—"

"You're very good, by the way. You've only had them for a couple days at most, and while they might not be perfect copies, they're close."

"Um, thank you?"

"You're welcome. Now, where was I?"

"You were going through his choices," Dino said.

"Ah, that's right. You could decide to cooperate with us, and by that I mean do everything we tell you to do. If you do that, when this is over, we'll put in a good word for you with the DA."

"That should knock a few years off your sentence."

Rudy stared at them, waiting for more. When it was clear nothing else was coming, he said, "Is there an option that doesn't involve me going to jail?"

"You could try to run, I guess, but you won't get far." Stone turned his head toward the stairs. "Lewis!"

The basement lights came on and revealed five unsmiling Strategic Services security officers standing near the stairs.

"Rudy, let me introduce you to my friend Lewis. He's in charge of your minders."

A man on one end stepped forward, nodded his head, and stepped back.

"My minders?"

"The day shift, anyway. Another crew will relieve them later."

Rudy looked from the Strategic Services crew to Teddy and Dino and then to Stone. The realization of how truly screwed he was was written all over his face.

"W-what do you need me to do?"

Their visit with Rudy had taken longer than anticipated, so Stone, Dino, and Teddy didn't reach Simi Valley until almost five p.m.

The location where Petry's car had stopped turned out to be a defunct car wash on the east side of town. The place was encircled by a chain-link fence that looked like it had been there for a few years.

They parked at the curb and climbed out.

"I don't think they came here to get their car cleaned," Dino said.

"What was your first clue?" Stone asked.

"Could be they parked here and walked somewhere else," Teddy suggested.

Across the street was an eight-foot-high cinder-block wall behind which stood a housing development. The closest road into the neighborhood was two long blocks away. If that had been their destination, any sane driver would have parked closer to it.

"Someone could have picked them up and they drove away in another vehicle," Stone said. "If so, maybe they got caught on a security camera."

Teddy looked around. "I don't see any here. Let's have a look around."

The fence enclosed the building but not the entire lot, allowing them to circle the structure.

"Take a look at this," Stone said.

They were on the side opposite from the street, hidden from the view of passing traffic. There was a break in the chain link held closed by several short lengths of wire, like stitches. Unlike the surrounding fence, the wires weren't weathered, so they couldn't have been in place for long.

"I'll be right back," Teddy said.

He went back to the car, then returned soon after with his duffel bag. From inside, he gave Stone and Dino each a pair of rubber gloves.

"Just in case we don't want anyone to know we were here."

He then used a pair of pliers to untwist the wires and open a gap large enough for them to get through.

"After you," he said to Stone.

The lock on the nearest door into the building had been busted long ago. It led into what had been the shop and waiting area, its walls now covered in graffiti, its floor littered with broken shelves and trash.

"Maybe whoever came here is a fan of street art," Stone suggested.

"Not sure if any of this qualifies as art," Dino said.

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

"If there's beauty here, I'm not beholding it."

"Always the critic."

Teddy disappeared through a door at the other end of the room, then called out, "Found something!"

As Stone and Dino stepped into what had likely once been an office, they were hit with the familiar metallic odor of blood.

Stone expected to see a body, but the smell was coming from several dark smears that arced around a chair in the middle of the room.

Teddy picked up one of four short lengths of rope that lay on the floor, then touched one of the chair's arms. He held up a gloved finger. On it were a few tan strands. "Rope fibers. Someone was tied to the chair."

"Whoever it was, he isn't having a great day," Stone said.

"If his friends who brought him here haven't killed him already," Dino said.

"I would also consider that a bad day."

"Fair point."

"The question is, does this have anything to do with Petry or not?" Stone said.

"No way to know for sure," Dino said. "But the blood's not completely dry, so I'd say there's a good chance his car was parked outside when whatever happened here happened."

"Agreed," Teddy said.

A search for other clues turned up nothing.

"Did you happen to bring a throwaway phone with you?" Stone asked Teddy. Even if this was unrelated to Petry, he wanted to tip off the police to what had gone down here.

"Do I look like an amateur?" Teddy asked, then pulled a cell out of his bag and tossed it to Stone.