Trifecta

by Pam Richter

Julia sighed. "You can't do the whole thing alone, Robin."

  "I just need a little more evidence," Robin said, "and then I can go to the district attorney."

  Julia stretched up and was staring inches from his face. "I know the information you need is in that safe. It's upstairs, in his study. If I can get it, I think you'll have what you need."

  "I don't want you going back there."

  "I'll get it today," Julia said firmly, as though the subject was closed.

  "No you won't," Robin said, staring at her fiercely.

  "You don't know where the combination is, and I do. And the dog would kill you if you tried to get it, anyway."

  "Illegal seizure," Robin said, sighing.

  "Even the police can't do that kind of thing. But then I can copy the information and put it back. That was the original plan."

  "Your plan. But you're not going back there. It's too dangerous. Quijada already has a guy following you around in a big black Mercedes. He followed you into Brentwood, where you rented the studio for the photography lab, several times. And he followed you here, last night."

  Julia flopped back down onto his shoulder, "I thought someone was following me from Quijada's place, but I was just nervous because he caught me trying to open his desk drawer."

  "He what!"

  "You don't have to yell at me," Julia complained. "I was looking around the desk because that's where Rosa said the combination was. And I think it's taped to one of the legs. When I was crawling on the floor, I saw a piece of paper stuck there."

  "When I get enough evidence, we can legally have a search done. You have to get a search warrant from a judge, after you convince the city attorney."

  "By that time Quijada will destroy the evidence. Or move it where you can't find it. Brian's note said to give the items to our attorney in Boston. There may be people working with Quijada on the police force who would tip him off."

  She felt rather than heard Robin sigh.

  "You know I'm right," Julia continued. "And if I don't go to work today, it'll look suspicious. I have to act like nothing's wrong. Then, if it's safe, I'll get the stuff."

  "You know, you look just like a little angel when you're asleep. And your hair got all curly," Robin said. He was smiling down at her.

  "Won't work, Robin," Julia said, smiling back, and noting that she was now perfectly comfortable in bed with him. "The fog curled my hair. And I know what you're trying to do."

  "What?" Robin asked, obviously feigning innocence.

  "You think you can distract me and I'll forget entirely about going to Quijada's. It was a marginally good plan," Julia said, shaking her head judiciously, "because you are very handsome, but I have to go to work."

  "You won't let me seduce you right now?" Robin asked.

  "Not ever," Julia said.

  "You sounded a little sad when you said that."

  "I did not," Julia said, frowning at him. "What I want to know is how you got that drug connection from the pictures I gave you."

  "Now you're trying to distract me," Robin said. He gave a gigantic sigh and Julia knew he was trying to act extremely disappointed. She laughed. He was a very nice man, but she'd have to watch out for him. It was entirely too much fun being with him, she thought sadly. In retrospect, even picking him up under the pier last night had its bright moments. She smiled when she thought of his disguise.

  "Since I've been fired, I'll need a reward to tell you about all the trouble I went to," Robin said.

  She wasn't about to get pulled into something like that. Not here in bed with Robin. "Tell me. I'll decide whether you deserve anything."

  Robin told Julia that he had taken her photographs to the West Hollywood sheriff's station. There he had gone through mug books looking for Mexican nationals, dealing with drugs in the Los Angeles area. He found one of the pictures Julia had taken of a man entering Quijada's home, which matched a known felon, Juan Carlos.

  Robin had also taken the duplicates of the pictures from Quijada's albums which showed some of Quijada's relatives. There was a connection between Quijada's cousin, who lived in Guadalajara, and the felon from the picture.

  Robin traced Juan Carlos through numerous phone calls both here in Los Angeles, with the police, and through calls to Mexico.

  Robin spoke Spanish, so he called Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, across the border from El Paso where he had tracked Juan, and explained that he was a friend of Aaron Quijada's and had access to distribution smuggling routs into the United States, through the southern tip of Baja California and also through Tijuana that he wished to share if they had product, meaning heroin, cocaine and marijuana.

  "The interesting thing," Robin went on, "is that this doesn't only involve Mexico. These people, in the Mexican drug federation, have personal contacts in the Colombian cocaine cartels. They've bought protection from Mexican police and politicians. Quijada's name was all I needed to get the meeting. It was just a couple of low men on the totem pole, whom I met with last night, but I recorded the meeting so I have it all on tape. I named the people I knew Quijada is involved with. They didn't deny anything, but they didn't actually say that they were working with Quijada."

  "Unbelievable," Julia said. The famous movie mogul was also an international drug dealer. It was mind boggling. She couldn't understand the motivation to sell something which caused such great harm for mere profit. The man was a dangerous sociopath. And a murderer.

  "They gave me some product and the injection. I'll notify the police of the date of the next meeting, so these people will be arrested, but I want more information, to give to the police so they can get more details. If we know enough, we can bring Quijada down with what they will admit to for immunity."

  "I want Quijada to go down for the murder of my brother," Julia said fiercely.

  "I don't know if we can get that, Julia. But Quijada may have used some of these underworld thugs for the murder. Again, they may be willing to talk if we give them some form of immunity from prosecution on the drug counts. If they are involved in the murder, themselves, they will deny everything. That would put them behind bars here in the United States for the rest of their lives. On the other hand, if they know who did the murder, they might be willing to spill for promise of immunity or a lesser sentencing count during prosecution and trial."

  Now Julia knew she had to get the stuff out of the safe. "Yes. But they'll be frightened, if these men in the Mexican drug federation are as deadly as you say. They might be too scared to talk."

  "We won't give them any alternative," Robin said with a frown. Julia wondered about his use of the word 'we.' Maybe he was an undercover cop himself. He certainly seemed to know a lot.

  "How did you get all the information about prosecution and immunity?" Julia asked.

  "You hired me. I'm just doing my job." Robin was smiling down at her again. She knew he was hiding something.

  Robin went on. "Now you understand why all of this is so dangerous. We're dealing with international drug dealers, and Quijada might be one of the kingpins. This isn't just a local problem, although he's probably behind the sale of filthy drugs on the streets to school children in Los Angeles. But this goes way beyond Los Angeles, right into the heart of the powerful drug cartels in Columbia. The DEA will be in on this, as well as the police in several countries. I might have to keep the next meeting, with police surveillance, to keep up their confidence."

  "I just wanted justice for my brother," Julia said slowly. "But you're right. We can get Quijada. And maybe find out what happened to Brian."

  "So you won't go to work today," Robin said, as if the subject were closed.

  "Yes, I will. And I'll get that information. You've convinced me how essential it is."

  He surprised her by stroking her hair, very gently. He had not made a move toward her before. Even the arm he had around her was just holding her in place. "No, Julia. You're very brave. I already know that. I want you safe."

  It was hard to argue when he seemed genuine
ly concerned. "I'll be careful. You've taken dangerous drugs to get Quijada. You risked your life. And you know what?"

  "What?" Robin asked.

  "I think they gave you pure heroin. But they overdosed you, because they thought you were fat, and were going by a weight estimate."

  Robin threw back his head and laughed. "You're right. Probably believed I weighed three hundred pounds."

  "They could have killed you. It's not funny."

  "Well, I was kind of concerned that they would find my recorder. Or figure out that I was wearing padding. But they didn't even frisk me."

  "That seems unprofessional."

  "You watch too much television. They were just feeling me out. They sent underlings to meet with me."

  "I bet they were armed."

  "Oh, they were. They made sure I knew it, too."

  "Really?"

  He nodded. "So what do you think?"

  "I think you're in way over your head. You have to go to the police now."

  "I already did, before the meeting. I was talking about the reward."

  Julia inched back. "What did you have in mind?"

  "When I was a little boy I had a dog named Scooter. It was a girl dog, and I slept with her every night, to my mother's profound distress, I might add. Anyway, this morning when I woke up, I thought I was hugging my dog Scooter. It was like a childhood regression, you know? Kind of a youthful deja'vu?"

  Julia smiled. "That's kind of nice."

  "Oh, it was," Robin said. "She's the only girl that's ever slept with me, all night long. Except once. Which was a mistake."

  "Oh. I'm the mistake?"

  "No."

  "Sarah. The woman at the restaurant," Julia said, suddenly sure her guess was right, remembering the predatory and sulky red-head who behaved like she owned Robin.

  "I saw that little wave you gave her, when we left. That was wonderful," Robin said, laughing. "Now, to the reward. Do you think I deserve it?"

  "Well, let's see," Julia said, smiling and playing along. After all, she had fired him. "You tracked down the thugs. Had a meeting with armed dealers. Risked your life taking dangerous drugs. And that costume was inventive. Hummm... Yes. A small reward is indicated."

  "Okay. You're granting the reward, since I am now unemployed, and you have two alternatives. One choice, which is the one I urge you to take, is that you stay away from Quijada and never go back to his place again."

  "That's no choice," Julia said indignantly.

  "The other one is that you let me hug you for a couple of minutes before we get up."

  "Shall we synchronize our watches?" Julia asked. "Two minutes only, Robin."

  "I sure worked hard for two minutes," Robin complained. "I'll pretend you're my dog Scooter."

  "I come in second place to the memory of a dog," Julia commented. "But hey, that's okay."

  "Don't knock it. I loved that dog more than anything in the world, at the time."

  "Do you still have her?" Julia asked.

  "You're stalling, Julia," Robin said. "Come here and get hugged."

  "Only a matter of inches anyway," Julia muttered.

  Robin turned over on his side toward her, and Julia moved forward. He was again exuding warmth, and he smelled of soap and clean skin. He pulled the sheet, which had fallen between them away, and she felt his arms folding around her back and pulling her right up against him. She leaned her forehead against his chest and put her top arm up around his shoulder.

  "I don't have her anymore," Robin said.

  "We can talk?" Julia asked, surprised.

  "I didn't make any rules." She could feel him laughing rather than hear it in his voice.

  "Well there should be rules," Julia said, remembering that she wasn't wearing a bra under the thin tee shirt. No rules was dangerous. Two minutes could be a very long time without any rules.

  "Only rule is that it's two minutes," Robin said.

  "How can we tell when the time's up?" Julia asked.

  "I'll know."

  "But will you tell me?"

  "You said you trusted me, once."

  "Yeah. Maybe you should count."

  "That would take away all the fun. Now, to answer the unasked question, I'm not going to do anything to you. So you can relax. You feel stiff as a board, and you're shaking. But you never have to be frightened of me. I would never hurt you in any way."

  Robin was truthful. Julia was a very tempting female in every way. She was smart and beautiful and he thought he had never hugged such a gorgeous body. But he had only to remember that he wanted this woman for the rest of his life, and this space of time was nothing in that context. He could control himself easily when he thought of the consequences, if he got aroused or scared her. He might never get an opportunity like this again to prove to her that she could trust him perfectly. This type of situation would convince her that when he made a promise he could be relied on.

  Julia took a deep breath and tried relax and act nonchalant. "What happened to Scooter?"

  "I got her when I was five. Now I'm thirty-five. I would have loved to keep her forever, but unfortunately dogs don't live that long. She was a mutt, but she was smart and fun and affectionate. So I kept her daughter, who was Scooter Two. And now I have the granddaughter, Scooter Three."

  Julia smiled.

  "I felt that."

  Julia could feel a lot too. He was a little aroused, but not much, she could tell from the soft mass between his legs that pressed her lightly on the legs. He was breathing normally, not quickly at all, and she could see the pulse in his throat. She had to admit, he felt absolutely wonderful. She could have stayed there, warm and comfortable and safe, forever. It would be tempting to just forget about Quijada and the danger and drugs and justice for her brother.

  "You desperately needed a hug, after all you've gone through," Robin said. "And you know, everyone talks about making out, or having sex, but really, people basically just need to be hugged every once and a while. I got the impression that your Grandmother Charlotte is not a very affectionate person. And excuse me, but that doctor friend of your's, Alexander, is a real prick."

  Julia started laughing.

  "Am I right or what?" Robin asked, glad Julia had had that response.

  "What makes you say that?"

  "It's a guy-thing. I can tell a prick at a glance."

  "Really?" Julia said. "Alexander is a very nice person. He's smart and he likes me a lot." Julia's planned defense for the attraction she had felt for Robin, ever since she had come back to Los Angeles, and even before that, she realized, had been to tell him that she was engaged to marry Alexander. She didn't want to lose that scheme, because Robin's appeal was powerful.

  "What about your girlfriend, Sarah?" Julia asked. "She is very pretty."

  "She's not a girlfriend," Robin said.

  "So you just sleep with her?" She was trying to keep her voice neutral, as though she was just seeking information and not pissed off that he was going with a person who really wasn't even in his class. She knew it was irrational to think that Robin was too classy for Sarah, because he was a mechanic, which meant he probably was not an intellectual person. She was a snob about education, but she liked to be with intelligent, educated people. She also knew that Sarah couldn't hold a candle in matters of class to Robin.

  "Don't be bitchy."

  "I was just seeking enlightenment. Men seem to sleep, rather haphazardlessly."

  "So you have a bad feeling about Sarah. And it's a girl thing. Like I have a guy feeling that Alexander is a piece of shit. Excuse the language."

  "We should introduce them," Julia said, not caring that she was bitchy. "The two would probably be a perfect match."

  "What an extraordinarily good idea," Robin said laughing. "I can see it now. Sarah would go for the Boston accent and the point that he is a doctor. She would overlook the fact that he's going bald and is a totally boring nerd."

  "And Alexander would look at Sarah sideways, like he always does whe
n he's checking someone out, but trying to act like he's not looking. He doesn't fool anyone, but he thinks he does."

  "They would come to wordless accord. He would want her for sex..." Robin said.

  "And she would want him for the bank account, nerd or not," Julia finished for him.

  She had been trying hard to keep from laughing herself, but now she couldn't help it.

  They clung and laughed hysterically, picturing the match.

  After a while Julia sighed. "I think the two minutes is up."

  "Yeah. Guess so," Robin said. "It was better than watching a movie and eating popcorn."

  "Better than ice cream?" Julia asked.

  "Much. Even better than racing your car with the top down, singing with the oldies on the radio at the top of your lungs."

  "Better than slow dancing?"

  Robin nodded. "Depends on the music. And the partner. But yes, I think so. Better than a hot shower on a cold morning." "Better than walking on the beach at night in the moonlight?"

  He nodded.

  "Better than watching a sunset?" Julia asked.

  "Better than skiing. And I love to ski," Robin said.

  She loved skiing too, but didn't say anything. "I think it is better than sex," Julia said consideringly. She was just talking out loud, because sex for her had not been too wonderful. It was confusing because she could have the urge, like she had right now, lying here with Robin, and then she would be disappointed when it was over.

  Julia had not slept with Alexander, but she had slept with men just like him, and bells had not rung, the earth had not moved and she had been secretly frustrated. She had decided she wasn't a very passionate woman. Julia also thought it had all been experimental and when she met the right man, and really loved him, it probably could be very nice.

  "Better than sex?" Robin repeated. He sounded like he couldn't believe she'd said that.

  Julia made the mistake of looking up at him. He was laughing. Here she was, having a wonderful time being hugged in a platonic way, and he laughed when she said it was better than sex.

  "You poor thing. You must have been with the likes of Alexander."

  "The two minutes are definitely up," Julia said in her most authoritative manner. She tried to move back but he was still holding on.