“I’ve seen that look before,” Dino said. “He was spooked.”
“Was it something I said?”
“Everything you said spooked him,” Stone said. “But I don’t think that’s why he left.”
“Neither do I,” Dino said.
“What then?” she asked.
Stone tapped Dino on the arm and stood. “How about we find out?”
“I’m coming, too,” Monica said.
After dropping money on their tables, they exited the bar. Tristan was nowhere in sight.
“You check the exit onto Hollywood Boulevard,” Stone said to Dino. “We’ll take the parking lot.”
They parted ways in the lobby.
When Stone and Monica reached the passenger drop-off area, Stone caught the attention of a valet. “Did a guy just come through here? Late twenties, thin, a few inches shorter than me.”
“Yeah. He ran that way.” The valet nodded toward the street.
“He wasn’t parked here?”
“If he was, he left without his car.”
Stone gave him a ten. “Thanks.”
Before he and Monica could take a step, the valet said, “There was a guy chasing him, too.”
“What guy?”
“A big one. Wore a suit and moved great for his size. Didn’t see his face, though.”
“Which way did they go when they reached the street?”
“To the right, away from the boulevard.”
Stone and Monica raced from the parking lot and turned down the sidewalk. Parked cars filled nearly every available spot for as far as they could see, but the sidewalks were empty.
At the end of the block, they stopped. Stone scanned both ways down the intersecting road but saw no sign of either Tristan or the other man.
Stone’s phone vibrated. It was Dino.
“I’m betting you didn’t find him,” Stone said.
“Did you?”
“No, but the valet told us he came this way. He also said Tristan was chased out of the parking lot by what he called a big man.”
“And do we know who this man is?”
“We do not.”
“I see two cameras from where I’m standing. I’ll bet you there’s some in the parking lot. May I suggest a visit with hotel security?”
“Excellent idea.”
“I’m sorry,” the nighttime security manager said. “Without a warrant, I can’t allow anyone to view the footage.”
“Even if a person might be in danger?” Stone asked.
“In danger how?”
“He was chased from your parking lot by someone. When we looked for them, they were both gone. Keep in mind, we were no more than a minute behind them.”
“A minute is a long time.”
“It is. Which is why we are concerned. A lot could have happened to our friend in that time.”
She grimaced, unsure what to do.
“If something does happen to him,” Stone said, “the police will find out his attacker chased him from here and will wonder why you didn’t report it.”
Her discomfort grew but she still didn’t relent.
“As a member of law enforcement, I can confirm what my friend has said,” Dino chimed in.
“You’re LAPD?” she asked.
“New York City.”
“He’s the commissioner,” Stone said. “That means he’s the top cop.”
“But not here,” she said.
“That’s correct,” Dino said. “But I know the top cop here. Would you like me to call him?”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” Monica said. “A man is in trouble. Please, just let us look at your video.”
The woman sighed. “Follow me.”
She took them to a room where another security guard sat behind a desk, looking at several monitors.
“I need you to show us the main parking lot cam from about ten minutes ago,” the head of security said.
“You mean when those two guys ran away?” he asked.
“You saw that?”
“Sure. I flagged it in case they were running out on a bill.”
“Show it to us.”
He tapped a few keys and the video popped up on the center screen. Tristan raced out of the lot first, and then the big man followed. The angle only provided views of their backs, however.
“Do you have another camera that could have caught their faces?” Stone asked.
“Sure,” the man said. “I marked those, too.”
The first clip he brought up was of Tristan sitting in the bar with Monica.
“And the other guy?” Stone asked.
The next clip showed the big man sitting in a chair outside the bar.
“Anyone recognize him?” Dino asked.
“Not me,” Stone said.
“Me, either,” Monica said.
“Is there any chance you can take a still of him and send it to us?” Stone asked.
“No problem,” the guard at the controls said.
“Wait a minute,” his boss protested. “We can’t just—”
Monica leaned forward and took a photo of the screen. She showed the image to Stone and Dino.
“There. Nobody has to send anything.”
Chapter 29
Once again attired as a sheriff’s officer, Benji pounded on the door to the house containing their newest target. “Anyone home?”
Nothing happened.
“I think they’re gone,” Devin said. He was in a uniform, too.
“What about the light?”
A light that had been shining in a second-story window had suddenly gone out twenty minutes earlier.
“Probably on a timer.”
Benji frowned, unsure.
This was the problem with doing a rush job: no time to prep. By the time they’d arrived on-site yesterday, it had been one a.m. and the house had been dark. So they were winging it instead of taking their usual few days to discover any patterns.
Benji had even called Simon that morning to beg for extra time, but his brother had insisted, “You will get it tonight and come back. There’s another job I need you for.” He hung up without letting Benji say anything else.
The house sat on ten acres of scattered groves of ponderosa pines and meadows of long brown grass. From the front stoop, Benji could see the glow of flames in the meadow from the fire Sticks had set off. It seemed larger than it should have been at this point, and he was getting nervous they might not have as much time as planned.
“Screw it,” Benji said as he stepped aside. “Open it.”
Devin swung a handheld battering ram into the door. The second the door swung open, the shrill of an alarm filled the air. It didn’t matter. By the time anyone showed up they’d be gone, and the house would be burning.
“I got this floor, you take upstairs,” Benji said.
He made a mad dash through the ground floor, searching for the Matilda Stone painting that was supposed to be there. It was the second Stone in a row they were snatching, which seemed kind of odd. But who was Benji to question his brother’s whims?
He found the painting in the library and was about to let Devin know over their walkie app when Devin’s voice came over his earbud. “We have a problem.”
“What kind of problem?”
“Who the fuck are you?” The voice that came over the radio was not Devin’s.
Someone else was in the house.
“Shit,” Benji hissed.
He retrieved his pistol and ran up to the second level.
Devin was standing in the doorway to the master bedroom, while a few feet inside stood a man in his fifties or sixties. He was tall and wore only a pair of red-and-black-checked boxers, which left his significant paunch on full display.
“I said, who the fuck are you?” he slurred. His hair was disheveled, and he was weaving slightly.
“We’re with the sheriff’s department,” Devin said. “There’s a fire heading toward your house. We’re here to evacuate you.”
“Fire? Nobody told me about any fire.”