Page 165 of Stuart Woods' Smolder

The SUV was intriguing, but Petry was his prey, so Phillip went right.

Less than fifty yards in, the road curved and Petry’s sedan moved out of sight. Immediately, brake lights spilled onto the road.

Phillip pulled onto the shoulder and cut his engine. He could hear the sedan idling just around the curve along with what sounded like voices.

He propped the motorcycle on its stand and sneaked through the brush until he could see Petry’s vehicle. Someone was leaning against the driver’s window on the other side.

When the man stood, Phillip huffed in amusement.

It was Sticks.

Simon had told him of the arsonist’s defection and that he was doing something “unsavory” for Petry with the paintings. Given Sticks’s presence, Phillip figured whatever that was must be about to go down.

Sticks pointed ahead and said loudly enough for Phillip to hear, “You’ll be fine there.”

After the sedan parked, Petry and Nico joined Sticks and headed into the woods on the other side of the road.

Phillip moved the Yamaha to a less visible spot, then followed the trio on foot.

—

“Where?” Petry asked.

Sticks handed him the binoculars. “Standing by the table on the far right. You can’t miss him.”

Petry swept the binoculars across the crowd until he found Barrington. He was talking to the movie star Tessa Tweed.

Petry started to sneer, then froze. Standing so close to the lawyer that they appeared to be at the party together was the woman he’d met at the bar Thursday night.

He couldn’t remember her name. Something starting with anM, he thought. If she had such bad taste that she’d go out with Barrington, then there was no way Petry would waste his time on her.

“Are we doing this or not?” Sticks asked.

Petry lowered the binoculars. “We’re doing it. Right now.”

—

“Have any of you read Peter’s latest script?” Tessa Tweed asked.

“Finished it during the board meeting,” Dino said.

“You were supposed to be listening during the board meeting,” Stone said.

“Iwaslistening.”

“And reading?”

“And reading.”

“Did you absorb either?”

“The script is great.”

“And the meeting?”

“Like I said, the script is great.”

“How about you, Stone?” Tessa asked.

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