Joseph Wambaugh - Hollywood Hills

He didn’t know whether he should laugh in her face or play it differently. He sat back and said, “What could you possibly be thinking?”

Megan said, “I’m thinking that one hundred thousand dollars is a small price to pay for staying out of jail and completing the theft of the two paintings you stole from the home of Leona Brueger.”

She watched the blood drain from his face. When he went pale he looked older, and his mane of white hair almost seemed to fade to the gray of his flesh. She was aware that her own heart was hammering in her chest. She was suddenly very frightened of this man, and she said, “My partner is watching this gallery right now, and if I don’t walk out of here with the money, you’ll be in jail before the night’s over.”

When he could find words he said, “You little bitch. You fucking little bitch. What’re you talking about?”

“The Bruegers have paintings that’re worth a lot of money,” she said quickly, her teeth clicking together. “They have a very valuable collection.”

He thought he understood now. She’d seen the identification tickets that the framers had stapled to the stretcher bars. Perhaps she’d taken the paintings or photos of the paintings to someone who knew or thought he knew their provenance.

“Whoever you’ve consulted has grossly inflated the value of those paintings,” he said. “You can try to sell them, but you’ll get arrested when the art dealer calls the police.”

“We agree with the second part,” Megan said. “That’s why we’re selling them back to you.”

“Young woman,” he said. “You are being absurd. I truly don’t understand what you think you know about these paintings.”

Megan took a breath and said, “I think I know about the pictures in Leona Brueger’s house that are identical to the paintings that my partner has safely put away.” Then she said, “Well, not identical but almost. They don’t feel the same when you touch them, but you did a good job of reproducing them, however you did it.”

Nigel Wickland felt that he might faint. All he had to do was open the desk drawer and take out the gun. But there was the other thief, the fucking idiot partner.

She was terrified by the look on his face now. Her voice rose when she said, “Believe me, my partner is watching this gallery, and if I don’t return safely to his car, you’re finished, Mr. Wickland.”

He wished he had a glass of water. He loosened his necktie and unbuttoned his collar. He took the inhaler from his pocket and took a puff, holding it in his lungs for a moment, and then said, “Who are you?”

“I’m the partner of the man who has your paintings,” Megan said. “And you need them. And you need to keep your plans a secret. That’s okay with me. I don’t need to know anything about your plans. I don’t care how much you sell the paintings for. That’s your business. I agree that we’d get arrested if we tried to sell them to a gallery owner like you. So the best thing to do is sell them back to you. I’m not being greedy in charging you one hundred thousand.”

“You have been in the Brueger house?” He couldn’t believe it, but he said it again. “You have actually been inside Leona Brueger’s house?”

“Yes,” she said. “And her brother-in-law is in the hospital with a stroke. I believe his name is Marty. Would you like me to describe the house and where the fake paintings are hung?”

Nigel said, “And has your partner been in the house, too?”

“No,” she said. “And it’d be better not to talk to him about it if he calls you again. Just do all business through me.”

“Yes, I see,” Nigel said with a hiss. “You are the one with the brains. He is obviously a cretin. Yes, I shall deal with you.”

Megan almost jumped up and bolted when he opened his desk drawer. But he removed a fat envelope and tossed it across the desk. “A hundred and twenty hundred-dollar bills,” he said. “Just as your half-wit partner demanded.” Nigel added, “Before his ambitious little partner devised a way to increase the reward considerably.”

Megan picked up the envelope and put it into her purse, saying, “Thank you. Let me have your cell number, please, and wait for a call from me. If you get a call from my partner on your business phone, just disregard whatever he says and wait for a call from me.”

“I think I understand,” Nigel said. “Would you happen to know a man named Raleigh?”

“Mr. Dibble’s very nice,” Megan said. “I met him today.”

“Yes, I thought as much,” Nigel said. “And how may I reach you?”

“You can’t. Just wait for my call.”

“And your name?”

“Valerie,” she said.

“Does your partner know about your meeting with Raleigh?”

“No, I did it on my own,” Megan said.

“Well, Valerie,” Nigel said. “Since you and I both seem to be partnered with imbeciles, it does appear that you and I should exclude our partners from all future dealings. I take it that you will never see or speak to Raleigh again?”

“Of course not.”

“Then if Raleigh thinks that the paintings have been kept by the thieves and lost forever, nobody would ever tell him any different?”

“Not me,” she said.

“And not your partner?”

“He’s not part of my bonus plan,” Megan said. “He’ll be very happy to settle for the twelve thousand that you promised him. He believes the paintings belong to you and he knows nothing about the Bruegers.”

“And if I am able to get a mortgage on my home and manage to scrape together one hundred thousand dollars, that bit of business will remain between you and me, correct?”

“Correct. So whatever you get when you sell the paintings will not have to be shared with Raleigh,” Megan said. “But that’s your business.”

“It will take a couple of days, I’m sure,” Nigel said.

“Okay,” Megan said. “I would like the cash in one-hundred-dollar bills, no later than forty-eight hours from now, just before you close for the day.”

“I’ll know tomorrow if I can do it,” Nigel said.

“You’d better do it, sir,” Megan said. “I’ll call you tomorrow to see about your progress.”

“All right. Always use my mobile number,” Nigel said. He wrote his number on a notepad, tore off the sheet, and handed it to her.

Megan said, “And remember, someone will deliver me here and wait for me when I come for the money. My companion will be a hired driver, and he will not know anything about our arrangement. But if I don’t walk out of here in fifteen minutes, he will make a nine-one-one call and present the arriving police with a letter that I’ve written. You will be in way more trouble than you are in now if something bad happens to me when I come to this place of business.”

Nigel emitted a bark of a laugh for the first time and said, “You are truly a very bright girl, Valerie. Believe me, nothing is going to happen to you.”

“I used to be a bright girl,” she said. “And I’m trying to be a bright girl again. That’s why I’m here.”

Nigel took a hard look again at her undernourished body, nervous hand movements, and agitated watery eyes, and he said, “Drugs?”

She nodded and said, “You’re a smart person, too, Mr. Wickland.”

“Not half as smart as you, Valerie,” Nigel said. “I should hope that I won’t see you some time in the future when your drug money runs out. It would be a big mistake on your part to come at me again.”

“Believe it or not, Mr. Wickland,” she said, “I’ll be using a big chunk of the money to get out of this state and go to a rehab and get clean. And learn how to stay clean.”

“And the rest of the money?”

“I’m giving it to my mother.”