PULP & POPCORN

Page 22
“In my house. In my room.”
“And in the morning?”
“Yes. In the morning.”
“… they were gone.”
“He didn’t even close the case where I kept them. It meant that little to him. He
knew I couldn’t tell anyone.” One tear finally escaped, and she wiped it away quickly, angry
at herself for being weak. Felix gave David a skeptical look, not sure he bought what she was
selling. David nodded. Felix shook his head at him, just once. David nodded again. He was
in, for whatever reason.
“Okay. So you want your family jewels back.”
“Yes.”
“Do you know where he is now?”
“Here. LA. This is where he came from, and about a week after…” She blushed,
unable to finish the sentence. “… I heard he came back here.”
“You’ve got his address?”
She offered Felix two more envelopes, one letter-sized, one oversized manila.
“Please,” she said. “Will you help me get back what belongs to me? That’s everything I
have.” David took the oversized envelope and opened it. There were photos of Maruf, of the
jewelry, of the building where he supposedly lived.
She handed Felix the other envelope, and he looked inside at the money, mostly
larger bills. He saw at least $500 total. “If that’s enough for a retainer, I’ll get you more as
soon as I can.”
“Come on,” David said, unable to stay quiet. “She practically gift-wrapped it for us,
Felix.” David couldn’t stop smiling now. “We’ll end up owing you some of this back if it’s as
easy as you say.”