Page 19 of Renegade

“Will you follow me, please?”

“Of course,” Raven replied. We waited for Aston to lead the way back through the house to the foyer and then up the marble stairs to the landing, turning right to go down a wide hallway. After passing several closed doors, we came to a stop at the end of the hall at a set of double doors. He opened one and led us into a huge sitting room. It was so large; I was certain Raven’s entire house would fit inside. More bookshelves covered the walls on one side while a wall-to-wall abstract oil painting filled another. Couches, tables, lamps, and the largest silk Persian rug I’d ever seen outside of a museum, made up the tasteful furnishings in the room.

“Mrs. Flores’ bedroom is here.” We were led into a massive bedroom with a bed sitting on top of a raised platform. It was decorated in the same muted peach and white tones as the outer sitting room. He continued past the bed to an open door. Inside we found a bedroom sized closet outfitted with custom walnut cabinetry and rows and rows of men’s clothing. There wasn’t a stitch of women’s clothing in the room, and I realized that Mrs. Flores must have had a separate closet from her husband. At the end of one row of suits, was an open space and on the wall wasthe safe. It was larger than I imagined it would be. The door was open, the interior empty.

Raven and I walked over to it. He peered inside before reaching out and closing the door just far enough that we could get a look at the locking mechanism. Sure enough, it had a fingerprint keypad, just as we’d been told by Tawny Flores. Still, it was easy enough to break into, if a thief was clever enough. I’d done it more than once. It wasn’t the safe itself that was intimidating. It was the security. I exchanged a look with Raven before turning to Mr. Aston.

“Thank you. Would you introduce us to your security? I’d like to talk to them.”

Aston blinked. “We don’t have security here on the premises. It’s…handled off-site.”

“Who answered when we came to the gate?” Raven asked. I’d been thinking the same thing.

“Oh, that’s McNulty. He works for Mr. Flores…well, Mrs. Flores, now. He handles all her security,” Aston replied.

I frowned. “Off-site?”

“Yes, he has an office in Westwood, about fifteen minutes away.”

“Huh,” Raven said. “I guess I just assumed if someone gave the Flores’ trouble, they’d want someone here on the property to handle things.”

“Trouble?” Aston snorted. “This is Bel Air, Mr. Mathis, not the city. We don’t get much trouble here.”

I did my best to contain the eyeroll which threatened. The man had asked us whether we carried guns for shit’s sake. I was beginning to dislike the stuffy attorney in his bespoke suit. Why was it that all rich people could speak down to others in thatimperiously snobbish “do you know whoIam?” tone, when they wanted to?

“Well, I’d call it trouble when a two-million-dollar ruby is stolen in Bel Air, wouldn’t you?” I asked.

Aston glanced at me and lifted a manicured eyebrow. “Touché, Mr. Huerta.”

“If it’s all right with you, we’d like to go and speak to Mr. McNulty,” Raven said.

Aston turned to look at him. “Of course. I’ll write down his office address so that you can drop by. Will you be going today?”

Raven looked at me and I nodded before he turned back to Aston. “We’d like that.”

“Good.” Aston swept out his hand and we preceded him out of the closet and back downstairs. He led us back to the library where he walked over to an antique desk and wrote the security company’s address down, for Henry McNulty. He picked up a sealed envelope and handed it to Raven. “Also, Mrs. Flores asked that I pass this on to you.” The stationery was very nice, our names written on the front in calligraphy.

“What is it?”

“Mrs. Flores is hosting a black-tie event at the Getty for one of her favorite artists. If you’re free, she’d like you to attend as her personal guests. It’s my understanding that a lot of Mr. Flores’ long-time business associates will be there, and she thought it might help you recover the ruby if she introduced you to some of them.” He shrugged and answered my next thought as if he’d read my mind. “Who knows? One of them might turn out to be the thief.”

It was actually a great idea. The thief of the rubymightshow himself.

“We appreciate the invitation,” I grunted.

“Please tell Mrs. Flores that we’ll be there,” Raven replied in a nicer tone than I had. Then again, he was a nicer person than I was.

Aston smiled and held out his hand; we took turns shaking it. “Very good. I’ll let her know.” He turned and picked up a little gold bell from the desk, ringing it. The maid came in ten seconds later.

“Yes, Mr. Aston?”

“Maria, will you show Mrs. Flores’ guests out?”

She nodded and smiled. “Of course, Mr. Aston.”

“Thank you again, Mr. Aston,” Raven said before we followed the maid out of the house.

RAVEN

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