Chapter 51

That afternoon, Phillip broke into a house not far from where Simon had dropped him off. He washed away the dirt and blood, patched himself up, and donned some clothes he found that fit him well enough. The one thing the place didn't have was a vehicle he could steal.

He checked several more homes in the area and finally found something that was even better than a car. The Yamaha Supersport motorcycle allowed him to zip through traffic and reach the Four Seasons Hotel in plenty of time to see Petry and his son-of-a-bitch lawyer leave for dinner.

Phillip's plan was simple: make the two men pay for ordering his death.

He was surprised, but not particularly shocked, that when the two men left Crustacean, an SUV began following them. Obviously, Phillip wasn't the only one interested in the pair.

The unofficial motorcade made its way into West Hollywood and then into the hills. When they reached the crest, they turned onto Mulholland Drive and traveled west for several minutes before veering onto a side street.

At an intersection a quarter mile on, Petry and Nico turned right, while the SUV unexpectedly turned left.

Phillip checked his mirrors, in case another car had taken up the chase, but the road behind him was empty. He glanced at the sky, wondering if there might be a drone keeping an eye on Petry. If there was, he didn't see it.

The SUV was intriguing, but Petry was his prey, so Phillip went right.

Less than fifty yards in, the road curved and Petry's sedan moved out of sight. Immediately, brake lights spilled onto the road.

Phillip pulled onto the shoulder and cut his engine. He could hear the sedan idling just around the curve along with what sounded like voices.

He propped the motorcycle on its stand and sneaked through the brush until he could see Petry's vehicle. Someone was leaning against the driver's window on the other side.

When the man stood, Phillip huffed in amusement.

It was Sticks.

Simon had told him of the arsonist's defection and that he was doing something "unsavory" for Petry with the paintings. Given Sticks's presence, Phillip figured whatever that was must be about to go down.

Sticks pointed ahead and said loudly enough for Phillip to hear, "You'll be fine there."

After the sedan parked, Petry and Nico joined Sticks and headed into the woods on the other side of the road.

Phillip moved the Yamaha to a less visible spot, then followed the trio on foot.

"Where?" Petry asked.

Sticks handed him the binoculars. "Standing by the table on the far right. You can't miss him."

Petry swept the binoculars across the crowd until he found Barrington. He was talking to the movie star Tessa Tweed.

Petry started to sneer, then froze. Standing so close to the lawyer that they appeared to be at the party together was the woman he'd met at the bar Thursday night.

He couldn't remember her name. Something starting with an M, he thought. If she had such bad taste that she'd go out with Barrington, then there was no way Petry would waste his time on her.

"Are we doing this or not?" Sticks asked.

Petry lowered the binoculars. "We're doing it. Right now."

"Have any of you read Peter's latest script?" Tessa Tweed asked.

"Finished it during the board meeting," Dino said.

"You were supposed to be listening during the board meeting," Stone said.

"I was listening."

"And reading?"

"And reading."

"Did you absorb either?"

"The script is great."

"And the meeting?"

"Like I said, the script is great."

"How about you, Stone?" Tessa asked.

"Unlike your father-in-law, I paid attention during the meeting. The script is waiting for me on my nightstand."

Monica raised an eyebrow. "I can think of several better things we can use the bed for other than reading."

"Did I say nightstand? I meant my desk."

"That's better."

Tessa grinned. "I see she already has your number."

"Why, Tessa, whatever do you mean?"

Before she could reply, Billy walked up with Ben.

"I hope you all don't mind if I borrowed my wife for a few moments," Ben said. "There's someone I'd like her to meet."

"Not at all," Stone said.

As soon as Ben and Tessa walked off, Billy said, "Petry and Savage arrived several minutes ago."

"Are they with Sticks?"

Billy nodded.

"Then whatever they have planned is—"

Billy held up a hand and listened to something coming through his radio earpiece. He activated his mic and said, "License number?" He listened again. "Tell them you're clearing a place for them to park and hold them there until I give you the word." He looked at Stone and the others. "There's a truck at the entrance, says they have a gift from another studio, congratulating Centurion on all its success."

"It wouldn't be a cube truck, would it?" Monica said.

"It is, and it's the right license number, too."

"Dino," Stone said.

Dino pulled out his phone to call the police stationed nearby and told them to move in. Before he could punch the number, an engine roared at the front of Billy's property followed by shouts at the gate.

"He's not waiting," Stone said. "Viv, have your people move everyone to the terrace." It was the farthest place from the parking area.

Strategic Services personnel began herding the guests to safety, while Stone and his friends remained behind.

The truck came into view as it careened off the side of a Mercedes. It banged over a curb and raced into the area near the tents. Grass and dirt flew into the air as the driver jammed to a stop.

Triggered by controls in the cab, the back door of the storage cube rolled up, and its front end began rising via hydraulics, like a dump truck.

Pieces of wood began clattering onto the ground, bringing with them the strong odor of lighter fluid. The box Rudy had built fell out next, cracking loudly as it hit the ground. And then the three forgeries slid out of the truck and landed on top of the wood.

"That's it," Benji said over the radio from inside the truck. "I'm out of here."

Down at the party, Petry could see Benji jump out of the cab and run toward the wooded end of the property. He focused back on Barrington. The lawyer was looking at the pile upon which his mother's paintings lay.

"That's right. Nothing you can do now."

"Shit," Sticks said.

Petry lowered the binoculars and looked over. Several police cars were rushing onto Billy Barnett's property, their lights flashing, and right behind them came two fire trucks.

Petry glared at Nico. "How the hell did they get here so fast?"

"I—I—I have no idea."

Sticks pressed a remote, setting off a trio of ignition devices he'd hidden among the wood scraps in the truck, then jumped to his feet.

"It's done."

Without another word, he ran back toward the road.

"We should go," Nico urged.

"No, not until we're sure they catch fire," Petry said.

"If they don't, there's nothing we can do about it, so what does it matter?"

"It matters because I said so."

Petry watched the fire through the binoculars. The flames had started to spread, and the corner of one of the pictures had begun to burn. He smiled and then switched his focus to Barrington.

The lawyer was not looking at the fire anymore. He was staring straight in Petry's direction, as if he knew he was there, and he was smiling.

That wasn't right. He should be screaming, panicked, and trying to rescue his mother's work, but the blaze didn't seem to faze him at all.

Three people ran up to Barrington, each holding something in their hands. At a word from Barrington, they turned so Petry could see what they were carrying. Each held one of the paintings that Petry had bought, the same paintings he could see burning on the fire.

That's when the realization hit him. Duchamp, who had been horrified at Petry's plan, must have teamed up with Barrington to make Petry the fool.

That arty son of a bitch was going to pay for this. "Let's go."

They got up and turned for the path back to their sedan but didn't even make it a step. Standing in their way was the giant frame of a man who was supposed to be dead.

Phillip raised the pistol in his hand. "Going somewhere, gentlemen?"

"Nico," Petry said. "What's he doing here?"

"Uh…"

The corner of Phillip's mouth ticked up. "Your fixer isn't so great at fixing things, I guess."

"Hey," Nico said. "There's no need for this to get ugly. I told you, it wasn't personal."

"It felt personal to me."

"Look, we can work something out. Mr. Petry is a very rich man. What will it take so that we can all walk away from here?"

"You think buying me off is going to save you?"

"Everyone has a price. Name yours and I'll make it happen."

Petry watched Phillip's eyes, waiting for them to focus solely on Nico.

The instant they did, Petry shoved his lawyer in the back, sending him sprawling toward Phillip, then he sprinted into the cover of the brush.

Phillip's gun went off. Petry kept running, expecting a bullet to tear into him, but it didn't.

Another shot hit the trunk of a tree as he passed it. He zagged right and moved deeper into the brush, then headed in the direction he thought would take him back to his car.