Trifecta (15 page)

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. 

As she watched Quijada fingering through the manuscript,
she felt herself growing excited.  She would write it in the first person, telling
about how she had found her brother in the county hospital and of his tragic death. 
Then Brian's manuscript would be the middle of the book.  In this new book she would
clearly show where Brian had ended his writing.  Then there would be the clues Brian
had left in his message to her on the computer.  Robin, the mechanic, could be the
hero, tracking the drug dealers.  Then the final story about the conviction of Quijada,
on murder and drug charges.  It would be a whopping tale.  Julia could hardly wait
to begin. 

Of course, first Quijada would have to be legally tried
and convicted.

"Are you all right?  You look rather pale," Quijada
said, snapping her back to reality. 

Julia nodded numbly and shifted the camera bag.  It was
light, but her knowledge of what it held inside made the bag feel heavy as lead
and very clumsy.  "We can send as much of the manuscript as you approve."

"I'll start reading, right now.  We can have a meeting
in the morning, around nine.  If any changes are required we can go over them and
make the revisions."

"It should take only a week or so."

"Good," Quijada said, rubbing his hands together. 
He hadn't blinked in several minutes and Julia felt pinned by his black eyes, like
a frightened butterfly.  "We're ahead of schedule. Perhaps we can have the
book out in time for Christmas."

"That's entirely possible," Julia agreed, anxious
to leave.

"Right then.  I'll see you at nine."  He was
sitting down with the manuscript in front of him, prepared to read. 

Julia had been dismissed and she hurried down the stairs
and into the kitchen.  She waved to Rosa and murmured something about having to
rush because she had a lunch date.  Rosa nodded and smiled.

This was a disaster, Julia though, as she went past the
pool.  Now she could never replace the copied material back in the safe.  And Quijada
had the manuscript. 

There was nothing she could do about it until tomorrow. 
By then, if he looked in the safe, she would be his prime suspect.  But she had
to make that meeting tomorrow or she couldn't get the manuscript back.  She would
never know until tomorrow morning, when she was in his very clutches, if he had
opened the safe.

As Julia went toward the cottage she could hear Bruno whining,
but it didn't sound like he was inside.  She hurried faster.  Maybe someone was
already on the grounds with orders to get rid of her.  It felt silly to be so scared
on this beautiful sunny day, at noon, but she had never heard Bruno sound like that
before.  It was a sad, lost noise.  He was whining, but as she listened, it turned
into a howl.

As Julia opened the door to the cottage, an awful idea
swept through her mind.  Bruno's whining had not been from inside the grounds, but
from somewhere outside the walls.  Bruno would have run to her if he had been able
to, but she had been too miserable about the manuscript to think clearly.  Suddenly
she was  frightened.  Robin was outside.  Maybe Quijada set the dog on him.

Julia dropped the camera bag and started out the door at
a run, when a voice stopped her.

"Julia!"

She turned around so fast she almost fell over the doorstep. 
Then she hurried back inside, slamming the door behind her.  She was so relieved
to see Robin that her legs gave out and she sank to the floor.

Robin crawled over to her so he wouldn't be seen from outside. 
He was on hands and knees in front of her.  "Are you all right?"

"Damn.  I thought Bruno got you," Julia said,
shaking with relief.  "I heard him outside the gate and almost had a heart
attack."

Robin knelt before her and cupped her face in his hands. 

"That's nothing compared to the shock of seeing Quijada
here. With you inside.  I was beside myself, thinking he would catch you opening
his safe.  I can't tell you how glad I am to see you."

Julia smiled at him.  "I got the stuff.  It was too
late to put it back."

"No!  I can't believe it."  He realized he still
had her face in his hands and he let go.  The he clasped her face again and kissed
her gently on the forehead.  He would have liked to make a try for the smiling lips. 
She looked a little dazed as it was.  "You're a very brave girl."

"I was terrified," Julia said.  Now she seemed
almost manic with relief.  "The stuff's in the camera bag.  I had to leave
the manuscript with Quijada.  But we have a meeting tomorrow, and I'll take it back
then.  To do revisions.  Maybe I can replace everything from the safe then, too."

Robin shook his head.  "You can't.  This changes everything. 
What if he opens the safe, Julia?  It's too risky.  Besides, we were betrayed by
the police.  When I called to make sure you would have time to open the safe and
take the documents, they said Quijada was still at work.  So the police were lying. 
Quijada could come for you at any time.  You have to leave.  Right now."

"Not without my manuscript," Julia said implacably. 
"You don't understand how hard I've been working."

They both were silent for a moment.  Bruno was making an
unbelievable racket outside the fence, yowling in misery.

"You have to.  Quijada's suspicious as hell.  He's
having you followed," Robin said.  "And we were both betrayed by the police. 
The same ones who were supposed to keep surveillance on him today, were the ones
who were informed about my meeting with Quijada's drug people last night."

"Oh, no!" Julia exclaimed.

"I had a disguise on.  I don't think they could recognize
me.  And they'll never put the two events, the theft from the safe and a drug buy,
together.  Now lets go!  We have to get out of here."

"They'll be looking for a fat man with brown eyes,
so you'll probably be safe.  But if he has the manuscript, I'm expendable."

"If you take it, you're dead," Robin said flatly. 
"He paid for it.  He thinks it's his property.  It's the publicity Quijada
needs to propel him into the governor's mansion in Sacramento."

"Paid for or not, it was Brian's book.  I'm his next
of kin.  The book is mine."

"Lets not argue.  We have to get Bruno inside and
ourselves outside, or that dog is going to raise the whole neighborhood."

Julia nodded, knowing Quijada could come out at any second
to see why Bruno was making such a racket.

"I'll go climb on top of the fence.  Then you let
the dog in," Robin said.  "And you better come with me, out the back gate. 
If you don't, I'll come back inside and get you, Julia, dog or no dog."

"Carry me, kicking and screaming?"

"If necessary."

"I'll meet you on Sunset Boulevard.  I have to get
my car."

"Forget the car.  If he's looked in safe, he'll never
open the gate and let you out.  I'm not kidding.  If you're found dead somewhere,
there's no one who will know what happened to your brother."

"All right.  But it's too dangerous for you to get
on top of the fence.  Bruno can jump that high.  I'll let him inside here.  You
can go out the back door and wait for me."

Julia got up and hurried out before he could argue.  She
looked around but no one seemed to be observing.  She went to the back wall and
opened the gate.  Bruno bounded in, slobbering all over her hands, thrilled to be
inside again.  Then he ran directly to the cottage and stood there whimpering and
quivering with excitement.  Julia knew that with his olfactory ability he could
smell Robin.

Julia slipped into the cottage.  Bruno tried to nudge her
aside, so he could go in too and she bade him stay outside.  As she slid in, Julia
could hear the intercom to the main house ringing. 

She shot a glance at Robin and he nodded at her, so she
picked up the receiver.  "We can make a run for the back gate if he knows,"
Robin whispered.

"Julia?"  It was Quijada's voice.

"Yes.  I'm here."  She sat on the floor beside
Robin and held the receiver so he could listen.  Robin put his arm around her and
lowered his head close to hers.  Julia was glad to have him there.  She realized
she was frightened, just knowing she had possession of Quijada's property.

"I was going over the manuscript and I want to ask
you a few questions."

"I'll come right over," Julia said, taking a
deep breath.

Robin was shaking his head at her, frowning.

"No," Quijada answered.  "I'll come outside. 
I heard Bruno barking and wanted to check it out anyway."

"I heard him, too.  So I let him in here with me,"
Julia said.

"I'll be there in a minute," Quijada said.

Julia hung up and looked at Robin.  "You go outside
and listen.  We can see what he wants."

"If the police tipped him, he may already know that
you were in his safe," Robin argued.

"If he has the manuscript, we can take it with us,"
Julia countered.  She went to the door to let Bruno in, forcing Robin to go to the
back door.  She started talking to Bruno through the door to keep him at the front
of the cottage, and nodded at Robin.  He slipped out and she let the dog in.

Robin hurried to the side of the cottage and ducked behind
some bushes.  In a few moments he saw Quijada leaving the house.  He stopped for
a minute beside the pool, and Robin had a terrible sinking feeling when he saw a
small man come from the side of the house to join him.  It was Juan Carlos, the
man who had been following Julia in a big Mercedes.  Robin knew Juan was one of
Quijada's dealers.  A man with a minor criminal record and a major reputation with
the Mexican drug gangs in Los Angeles.  The man who fit the description of the orderly
who went into Brian's hospital room, the day he died.

Julia was sitting at the computer, outwardly calm, when
Quijada walked in with Juan Carlos.  Robin was situated so that he could see the
interior of the cottage and he watched as Quijada introduced Juan to Julia.  He
couldn't hear what was being said, but Quijada didn't have the manuscript with him,
so the visit seemed ominous. 

Robin went to the front door of the cottage and knocked
loudly, calling, "Julia."  He would probably have to give up his mechanic
masquerade, but if Quijada was presenting Julia to Juan Carlos, then the little
man's role of furtively following her had ended.  Robin would have to assume the
worse; Quijada did know about the theft.  Now the only important thing was to get
Julia free from their clutches.

Quijada answered the door and Robin smiled at him brilliantly. 
"I have a lunch date with Julia, Mr. Quijada.  I hope you don't mind my coming
directly here?"

Quijada looked surprised for only a moment.  "Mr.
Robin Chavier.  What a surprise.  Come in.  I didn't know you and Julia were friends." 
He stood aside as Robin entered.