Trifecta

by Pam Richter

  "Wait a minute," Robin said. "You really believe being hugged is better than sex?"

  "I don't want to discuss this," Julia said, but she noted that he sounded concerned.

  "They didn't hurt you or anything?" Robin asked.

  She looked up at him and saw him frowning and hoped he wasn't feeling all protective. "No, Robin. It was nice hugging you, but we have to get up."

  The way she had closed off when they discussed sex was upsetting to Robin, but he decided to lighten up. He'd been afraid that she had been hurt or raped, but it had probably just been men who were impotent or moved too fast for her. And he understood that she was angry when he laughed. But he thought she was kidding. She had greatly surprised him with the pronouncement that hugging was better than sex. "I liked hugging you Julia. And it was like hugging Scooter. Maybe even marginally better." He smiled at her and eased his arms from around her. "If I could tie you to the bed and keep you from going to Quijada's, I might just try it. But you'd get mad. And probably find a way to get loose."

  Julia was glad he had changed the subject. She always felt inadequate when people talked, even in a joking way about sex, because they all seemed to have a glorious secret. She was suddenly sad as she removed her arms from around him and moved back to cover herself with the sheet.

  "You want to shower first or second?" Robin asked. "Or we could shower together. Just get clean and save water at the same time."

  "I've read all about the drought here in Los Angeles, but you can take the first shower. And alone." She only had a pair of underpants and a tee shirt. She didn't want to get out of bed.

  Robin evidently didn't have any of her reservations. He got up, wearing only a pair of brief white underpants. He was tan, with long legs. His shoulders were wide, but perfect for his height, and his stomach was absolutely flat. To see him standing practically without any clothing almost took her breath away. He looked better than any statue she had ever seen in Italy. Julia thought he was gorgeous as he turned around, flipped the covers over her, gave her a smile with dimples, and went into the bathroom.

  CHAPTER 15

  Julia sat in the small cottage and printed out the last two chapters of Quijada's autobiography. She patted the thick pages together and put it in a manuscript box. It was done; at least as much as she was able to complete without the revisions Quijada might request.

  When she looked out the window there seemed to be people all over the estate; men trimming the trees, gardeners, a pool-man. A team of domestic workers had gone into the main house.

  During each of the previous days she had worked here, Julia had put in about twelve hours of labor on the manuscript. Now she had doubts she would ever finish it.

  Quijada was a murdering drug dealer, and she felt a sense of urgency to get the material out of his safe and prove it. Robin could use that information to put pressure on the drug dealers when they were arrested. Maybe they knew who killed her brother.

  Most important though, Julia had to get Quijada's copy of Brian's original manuscript. As long as he had possession, Quijada could have it finished by another author. Then she would be vulnerable to anything he decided to do to her, just as her brother had been. Quijada was already suspicious of her, so it had to be now. She turned off the computer, took out the disc on which she had transferred the work, and put in her purse.

  Julia got her cell phone out of the camera bag and called Robin's car phone. "I'm going in," she whispered softly, when he answered.

  "I'm coming up on the estate myself, right now. Quijada's still working at his production office. I just called to make sure. Keep your telephone line open. I'll be at the back gate. If anything goes wrong, scream bloody murder and I'll come over the wall."

  "Okay. The dog's here with me. I'll lock him in the cottage, just in case."

  She put the phone back into the camera bag and lifted it onto her shoulder. The bag was light, almost empty because she would be transferring the material from the safe, and also Quijada's copy of Brian's original manuscript into that bag. She had not brought her cameras today; in case anything went wrong she didn't want to lose them.

  Julia bent over and patted Bruno's head. "You be a good dog and stay here for a while." The big dog yawned and settled back to sleep under the desk. She picked up the box holding the revised manuscript. It was her excuse for going into Quijada's office.

  Julia heard a roaring in her ears, like the ocean crashing to shore, as she left the cottage and started toward the back door of the mansion. It was the signal her body made when she was really frightened. She felt dizzy and out of breath already, the strange sensation that she was out of her own body and objectively observing herself walking toward the mansion, just knowing that in a few minutes she would be stealing hidden information. It seemed silly to be so frightened in this warm glorious sunshine. The black of night would have been more appropriate. She took a deep breath when she knocked on the back door.

  Rosa answered and insisted that she sit down for a cup of coffee and her special desert tortillas in the kitchen. Julia wanted to get the theft over with, so nervous she felt like screaming, but it would be rude and look suspicious if she didn't at least talk to Rosa for a few minutes. She wondered if Robin was listening to their conversation.

  "What do you have in the box?" Rosa asked curiously, sitting down too, and sipping her coffee. Julia told her it was the revised book.

  "Can I look?"

  Julia nodded and smiled, glad she hadn't packed the box with blank paper, as she had planned to do earlier.

  "Oh, so professional to look at," Rosa exclaimed when she opened the box. "And it is so big and heavy." She had picked up the box and hefted it in her hands. "Such a lot of work you have been doing. Senor Quijada will be very happy to see this."

  Julia nodded and felt melancholy. It had been an enormous amount of work. And it would never be published. Her dream of having a final work written by her brother was coming to nothing.

  After a few more minutes of small talk Julia said she would replace Quijada's old manuscript with the revised one, if it was all right to go into his study.

  Rosa said sure, to go right ahead, and Julia felt the roaring in her ears again, like she was in another environment swimming under water, as she quickly went up the staircase to the second floor. She knew she would have to be quick or Rosa would wonder why she was taking so long just to place the revised book on Quijada's desk.

  When Julia got inside the office she ran to the desk and knelt on the floor. A little slip of paper was taped to the inside right front leg of the desk, just as she had thought, and she peeled it off carefully. She would probably be leaving her own fingerprints on the scotch tape and on the safe itself. She should have thought to bring gloves, she reflected, as she memorized the three numbers and replaced the slip of paper. She rubbed it with her sleeve, hoping she could smear the prints, if she had left any.

  Julia ran to the doorway of the study and looked outside in the hallway. No one was there and she closed the door and locked it. Then she ran to the safe. She spun the dial a few times to the right and went to the first number. Her fingers were clumsy with fright.

  Then she turned the dial around to the left to the second number. As she was turning the dial the third time, her trembling fingers jerked over the mark and she had to start all over again, first clearing the dial by rolling it to the right all the way around a few times.

  Julia went through the combination and pulled on the latch. Nothing happened. She took a deep breath. Maybe she had to go around two times after the first number. Many combinations were like that. She started over, trying to be calm, but it felt like she had been working on the combination for hours. She wondered how anyone could make their living as a thief. This tension was going to give her a heart attack. Her heart was beating so hard she could feel the blood throbbing in her fingertips, which seemed sensitive as tuning forks as she finally pulled on the latch. It clicked. The safe was unlocked!

  The door
was several inches thick and very heavy as she pulled it open and looked inside. There were ledger books with black bindings on two shelves. Another shelf held what looked like a dozen movie videos. The covers of the videos were blank so she thought perhaps they were Quijada's old films. She would take some anyway. Brian had mentioned them in the message that he had left.

  There was a legal sized manilla envelope and Julia opened it. Packs of hundred dollar bills were inside, bound with rubber bands. She replaced the envelope carefully. Only one thing was left and Julia opened a large black box. A fortune in jewelry twinkled back at her. It must have belonged to Quijada's wife. She replaced it on the bottom of the safe.

  Julia ran to get the camera bag, which she had dropped by the desk. Then she ran, panting with terror, to the safe. She picked a few of the ledger books and some of the videos, hoping it wouldn't be noticeable that a part of the contents of the safe was missing. She slammed it shut. Then she raced to the door of the study, cautiously opened it and peeked out. No one was in the hallway.

  As she was leaving she heard Robin, on the cell phone, yelling, "Get out of there. Right now, Julia. He's back."

  Robin had been peering over the stone wall, uncomfortably perched in a tree behind the back gate, waiting for Julia to come out of the mansion. The foliage was thick and he didn't believe he could be seen as he waited impatiently. She had been in there a while. He had heard the conversation with Rosa. Then all was silent. He knew they were still connected because of the tiny red light on his phone, indicating it was in use. He hoped Julia would hurry because the plan was to have her transfer the material from the safe over the back fence to him. He would go copy it and then bring it back, with the hope that Julia could replace it before Quijada got home from work.

  Robin sat and daydreamed about Julia for what seemed like a long time. When he took off her jeans and jacket last night he did not mean to look, and he had tried to keep the covers over her while he was doing it, but it was hard not to get glimpses of her body while he was pulling off her jeans and notice how beautiful she was. Her legs were long, well muscled and very slim. He didn't want to think about the breasts he had glimpsed under the thin shirt she was wearing, because the thought might cause him to act inappropriately when he was with her, but it was obvious that although she was thin, she was well endowed and didn't have to wear a bra.

  Robin was back on her payroll again with the new plan they had devised. He was thinking dreamily about the morning hug, when he saw Quijada rapidly walking around the side of house. Robin couldn't believe his own eyes for a second and he blinked to make sure, thinking he was having an hallucination, but he couldn't mistake the heavily figured man with black hair.

  The word betrayal flashed in his mind. The police who were supposed to be helping him must have tipped off Quijada. Robin watched him whistling for his dog and looking around the estate. The police had to be on Quijada's payroll. Now Julia was in grave danger.

  As Robin watched, Quijada went directly to the cottage where she had been working. He opened the door and Bruno, all hundred and fifty pounds of mean dog, bounded out and jumped around the movie producer. "Oh shit," Robin whispered.

  He would have to take the chance that Julia was alone. There had not been a sound for several minutes. He put the phone to his mouth and spoke urgently, telling her to get the hell out of there. He hoped she had not opened the safe yet and could just slip out without Quijada catching her in the act of stealing his private, secret documents.

  Quijada was wiping his feet at the back door now. Robin was silently praying he would take the dog into the house with him, but he left Bruno outside. Probably because the gardeners had been watering and the ground was still wet. Quijada wouldn't want Bruno's muddy paw prints on his carpets.

  Robin knew the back gate near where he was situated was locked from the inside, but it was a simple latch, and he had to get inside in case Julia needed him. They also might need a fast exit. He would have to get the gate open before the dog discovered him. Robin climbed down from the tree and approached the six foot wall. He jumped and got his waist bent over the top. Bruno was still sniffing around the back door. He levered himself over the fence and jumped down into the thick foliage on the inside of the wall.

  Robin unlocked the latch on the gate and took off his jacket. He hated the thought of sacrificing his favorite brown leather bomber jacket, but it was better than a part of himself, like an arm or a leg.

  Then he gave a low whistle. He watched the dog turn around with almost uncanny speed and start bounding toward him. Robin would have to pretend he was a matador, and the thought was daunting. The dog looked big as a bull and thrilled to see someone strange lurking in the undergrowth. Someone he could tear apart.

  Robin held on to the gate with his left hand, standing right in front of it. Bruno stopped about five feet away and was growling low in his throat. His teeth were very white with the black lips pulled back, wrinkling his snout and revealing long, sharp fangs. His head was lowered, ready to charge and destroy the invader.

  Robin waved the jacket in front of him and the dog went for it, leaping and grabbing at the leather fluttering in front of his nose. Robin pushed the gate open and threw the garment through the opening. Bruno went after it for a moment and grabbed it. Then his tiny brain must have figured he did not have flesh and blood between his teeth and he turned around, but Robin shut the gate right in his face, almost catching his big head.

  In the next few moments, Robin could hear Bruno bashing his body against the gate. He was afraid the dog would start barking, but when he peeked over the fence Bruno was taking out his rage and frustration on the jacket, biting and rending it with his enormous jaws.

  Robin crouched lower in the undergrowth and looked around. There was a ladder leaning against a tree not far away, so he got up and tried to casually walk over and pick it up like he was a gardener working on the grounds. He carried it through the back yard, over to the cottage where Julia had been working and placed the ladder against a tree, looking up as though contemplating a pruning job in case anyone from the main house was peering out of a window. Robin looked around but there didn't seem to be anyone observing him so he slipped around to the back of the cottage and went in the unlocked back door.

  He took the cell phone out of his back pocket and tried to listen. Then he noted the red light was off. Julia had disconnected. Robin knelt on the floor so he wouldn't be seen from outside. He crawled until he was by the big window overlooking the back yard and peeped outside. If they caught Julia and took her out from the front he would never know it, but he decided to wait a couple of minutes before trying to maneuver around to the side of the house and find a place where he could have a view of both the front and back.

  Robin called Jay's number as he kept watch. The surveillance on Quijada had been initiated by Jay, in the District Attorney's Office. Robin needed to know what had gone so terribly wrong. Jay had assured him that the police he was using were absolutely reliable. But the timing pointed to the fact that Quijada must have left his office even before Robin had made the call to see if he was still working at his production office.

  As soon as Julia heard Robin warning her that Quijada had returned, she pressed the button to hang up so no one would hear him yelling. She ran back to the safe and sat beside it for a moment. She had already closed the door and didn't know if she would have time to open the thing again, with that tricky combination, and replace the items. Quijada could come up the stairs at any moment. She got up and tiptoed to the door and listened with all her might. She could hear Rosa from downstairs talking to Quijada.

  This was absolutely unbelievable. Robin was evidently trusting the wrong people to help him keep track of Quijada. Robin would not sabotage her.

  She decided she would never have time to replace the items she took from the safe. She glanced inside the camera bag and tried to rearrange the stolen property so that it would appear as though her cameras were inside. To her, the lumps
looked suspicious as hell.

  Julia didn't want to leave the revised manuscript on Quijada's desk, but she had to. She had no other excuse for being here, and Rosa was probably telling Quijada that she was up here right now. She would have to come back for the book later. Quijada was far too suspicious to even try to use some lame excuse for taking both copies out of the house.

  Julia jumped up and down in place a few times. Adrenalin was pumping through her body and she had to get rid of the shakes. Then she picked up the old manuscript and went to the bathroom across the hall from the study and closed the door. When she looked in the mirror she appeared guilty as sin. Her face was flushed and she was visibly shaking. She did a few quick knee squats, hoping to use up the tension inside with physical exercise. Then she flushed the toilet and turned on the water in the sink for a while. Finally she felt calm enough to open the door.

  Quijada was already in the study and he turned around when he heard her. Julia didn't want to go in there and talk to him, but she didn't have any choice.

  "Ah, Julia. You've finished the manuscript already?" Quijada asked as she walked into the doorway. He took the book out of the box she had placed on his desk.

  "That's a first draft," Julia said, acutely aware of what she was carrying in her camera bag. "I'd like you to go over the last two chapters because I wrote them from the notes my brother left. I don't want it to be noticeable that there was a different author. I've also made editorial changes to the book and have indicated where each picture is to be located. But I need your approval before I do a final draft."

  "Can we send part of it to the publisher now?" Quijada asked, looking up at her with his black glittering eyes.

  Julia nodded. She didn't want any part of it to go to the publisher. Much as she had wanted it published, it would be a farce when Quijada was charged with drug dealing and murder.

  Julia suddenly understood that she could use the book herself, and write the real last chapters as they happened. The story of a man who had everything and let the power corrupt him completely, believing he was above the law. The story of a man without morals.