“More impressive?” If Simon hadn’t had doubts about Petry’s intentions before, he did now.
Nico whispered in his boss’s ear.
Petry rolled his eyes, then said to Simon, “I meant, sure, it’s impressive. Love it. Where’s the special one?”
“The special one?”
“From the list,” Nico clarified
“Right. It’s stored elsewhere. We can set up a time to see it later, if you’d like.”
Petry nodded at the painting on the coffee table. “It’s like this one, right?”
“Well, no. The subjects are completely different.”
Nico started to lean toward Petry again, but Petry waved him off. “I know they’re different. I just meant— You know what? Never mind.”
“So, you don’t want to see it?”
Nico smiled. “What Mr. Petry means is he can wait until you have all three.”
“Of course.” It was actually a relief to Simon. The less time he spent in these men’s company, the better.
“You only have forty-eight hours left,” Petry said. “You damn well better get the last one in time.”
“Have no fear. It will be here by then.” Simon could feel Benji’s surprised gaze on him, but he kept his attention on his clients.
“When should we come by to pick them up?”
“I can’t give you a specific time yet.”
Petry looked over at Benji, Devin, and Sticks. “These your guys?”
Sticks snorted. “I’m nobody’s guy.”
“No disrespect intended. I meant, you’re the ones who do the stealing, right?”
Sticks sneered at Simon. “You think he has the balls to do it?”
Petry smiled. “Oh, I like you. Do you do all his dirty work?”
Having heard more than enough, Simon stood. “Mr. Petry, Mr. Savage, thank you for coming. I’ll let you know when you can collect your paintings.”
He motioned to the door, but Petry remained seated, his attention still on Sticks.
“I’m curious. I gotta think there’s a lot of security around these things. How do you get around that?”
Simon shot Benji and the others a warning gaze, then said, “Mr. Petry, how we conduct our business is none of your concern. Please.” He motioned toward the back door. “I have many things I need to deal with this afternoon.”
Petry’s attention stayed on Sticks for another moment, then he stood. “I look forward to our next meeting. We can see ourselves out.”
“What the hell was all that?” Simon yelled as soon as Petry and Nico were gone.
“Sorry,” Benji said. “Sticks didn’t—”
“I told you to say nothing!”
While Benji was cowed and kept his mouth shut, the same could not be said for Sticks.
“I don’t see what the big deal is.”
“Of course you don’t, because you don’t understand the bigger picture. If I tell you to keep quiet, then you keep quiet.”
Sticks made an exaggerated bow. “I’m sorry, boss man.”
“That’s right. I am the boss. Don’t forget it.”
“Kinda hard to do when you—”
“Sticks,” Benji hissed.
Sticks mimed zipping his mouth shut.
Simon shook his head in disgust, then turned and walked toward his office. “Benji, come with me. We need to discuss the next job.”
Once Simon and Benji disappeared into Simon’s office, Devin plopped down on the break-area couch.
“Might as well take a load off,” he said to Sticks. “Who knows how long they’ll be in there.”
Instead, Sticks headed for the back door.
“Where you going?” Devin asked.
“Out for a smoke.”
“That stuff will kill you.”
Sticks flipped him off without looking back, then stepped out into the parking lot.
He leaned against the wall and pulled out his cigarettes. As he was knocking one out of the pack, he heard the hum of a car window opening.
“Hey, buddy.”
Sticks looked over.
The younger of the two men who’d just met with Simon was smiling at him from inside a black BMW 530i.
“You got a minute?”
“Maybe,” Sticks said.
“Easier to talk if you come over here.”
Sticks put the unlit cigarette behind his ear and walked over to the car. “What’s up?”
“My boss would like to have a word with you.” The guy motioned to the back seat. “In private.”
Sticks glanced back at the gallery’s rear door, then shrugged. “Why not?” He climbed into the back seat.
The older guy, the one who’d done most of the talking earlier, held out a hand. “Winston Petry.”
Sticks shook it. “Sticks.”
“Nice to meet you, Sticks.” Petry motioned to the driver. “That’s Nico Savage. He’s one of my lawyers.”
Sticks and Nico exchanged nods.
“I’m here. What do you want?”
“You seem like a man who could help me out.”
“Help you out how?”
“I’m based out of New York. Which, unfortunately, means I don’t have a lot of connections out here. Specifically, connections that are not averse to breaking the law. You know what I mean?”
“Yeah. I get you.” Sticks didn’t mention that he wasn’t from L.A., either.
“I knew you would. See, I have a delicate task that I need taken care of, and my gut tells me you could connect me to the right person. If you can, I’ll pay you a finder’s fee.”
“What kind of fee?”
“How does five thousand dollars sound?”
That was more than Sticks earned per job for Simon. But if there was one thing he knew in his world, it was never to take the first offer. “Ten sounds better.”
Petry laughed. “You get me the right guy, and you’ll have your ten. But this conversation can never get back to Duchamp.”
“Like I’d tell him anything.”
“Your buddies might.”
“Not if they don’t know.”
Petry sneered. “So, we have a deal?”
“You haven’t told me what you want yet. I might not know anyone who can help you.”
“The worst possible outcome would be you don’t make any money.” Petry held out his hand.
Sticks took it and said, “Deal. So, what’s the job?”
As Petry explained what he wanted done with the paintings, Sticks couldn’t keep a grin from spreading across his face. He didn’t give a crap about art. But destruction, that was something to get excited about.
When Petry finished, Sticks said, “Shit, man, that’s diabolical. Make sure Simon doesn’t find out. I accidentally brushed a finger against one of his precious paintings once, and he freaked. Said I was getting oils all over it. If he knew what you’re going to do, he wouldn’t give them to you.”
“He’s not going to find out from me. But even if he knew, what’s he going to do?”
“I take it you haven’t met Phillip yet.”
“Who’s Phillip?”
“His muscle. Big as a tank and smart. I avoid him whenever possible.”
“Nico?”
“I’ll look into it,” Nico said.
Petry smiled and returned his attention to Sticks. “Back to getting someone to help me. Does anyone come to mind?”
“Oh, yeah. I know the perfect person.”
“See, I knew I could count on you.”
“I’ll need to know how much you’ll pay him.”
“What do you think is fair?”
Sticks pretended to consider the question. “He’d probably do it for twenty-five K.”
Petry thought for a moment, then nodded. “Done. How do I contact him?”
“You already have.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re looking at the perfect guy right here.”
Chapter 34