Page 164 of Stuart Woods' Smolder

Billy shook hands with the men and kissed the cheeks of the women.

“This place is breathtaking,” Monica said, taking in the exterior of Billy’s house.

“I quite like it.”

She looked toward the open-air tents where the party was in full swing. “Wait, is that…?”

Billy glanced over his shoulder. “Victoria Salazar? It is.”

“I have all of her music!”

“I’ll make sure to introduce you to her.”

“I’m not sure I’m ready for that.”

“You’ve already helped take down a notorious art thief tonight,” Stone said. “Anything else you do will be child’s play.”

“If you say so.”

“I take it everything went well with Simon,” Billy said.

Stone nodded. “Like clockwork. What’s the situation here?”

“Sticks and his buddy are on the slope to my left, probably looking at us right now. Their truck is parked on a nearby street.”

“And Petry?”

“Last I heard, he was dining at Crustacean. Viv has a team watching him, so we’ll know when he moves. Which, given that you’re here now, will probably be any minute. In the meantime, grab a drink and introduce Monica to a few movie stars.”

“Yes, please,” Monica said.

—

Nico snatched up his phone and read the text that had just arrived.

“Barrington’s at the party.”

“Pay the bill.”

After Nico took care of the check, they retrieved their sedan from the valet and headed toward the hills, neither man noticing the black Acura SUV that pulled onto the road several car lengths behind them.

And neither those in the sedan nor the men in the SUV noticed the motorcycle that joined the back end of the chase.

Chapter 51

That afternoon, Phillip broke into a house not far from where Simon had dropped him off. He washed away the dirt and blood, patched himself up, and donned some clothes he found that fit him well enough. The one thing the place didn’t have was a vehicle he could steal.

He checked several more homes in the area and finally found something that was even better than a car. The Yamaha Supersport motorcycle allowed him to zip through traffic and reach the Four Seasons Hotel in plenty of time to see Petry and his son-of-a-bitch lawyer leave for dinner.

Phillip’s plan was simple: make the two men pay for ordering his death.

He was surprised, but not particularly shocked, that when the two men left Crustacean, an SUV began following them. Obviously, Phillip wasn’t the only one interested in the pair.

The unofficial motorcade made its way into West Hollywoodand then into the hills. When they reached the crest, they turned onto Mulholland Drive and traveled west for several minutes before veering onto a side street.

At an intersection a quarter mile on, Petry and Nico turned right, while the SUV unexpectedly turned left.

Phillip checked his mirrors, in case another car had taken up the chase, but the road behind him was empty. He glanced at the sky, wondering if there might be a drone keeping an eye on Petry. If there was, he didn’t see it.

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