Jamie Brodie 02 - Hoarded to Death

coat. "You do have a weapon stashed somewhere, right?"
    "Yep." He winked at me. "Okay. You guys ready?"
    "More than ready."
    "All right. Let's go."
    Todd went to his unmarked; he was going to follow us. I went with Jon to his Civic and we got in. We drove to the tennis courts and pulled around behind them. Jon turned off the engine and sat for a minute, looking. The area was not well lit. There was a streetlight at each end of the alley, but nothing in between. But it was the heart of the city; it wasn't completely dark. I didn't see anything threatening.
    After we'd sat there for about thirty seconds, a couple of figures detached themselves from the wall of the building next to the courts and walked toward us. Jon said, "Okay, here we go. Jamie, as we're talking to them, get as much of a description of them in your mind as you can. Anything that might help in identification."
    "Yes, sir." We got out of the car and closed the doors. Todd hung back as instructed. Jon and I walked toward the two people. As we got closer, it became clear that it was two women. Or, it might have been more correct to say two girls. They looked very young. One was tall and thin, one was short and plumper.
    The two girls approached. They didn't seem to be carrying anything with them, although they were both wearing hoodies. The taller one spoke. "You're the UCLA guys?"
    I said, "Yeah. I'm the one you talked to on the phone. This..." I pointed to Jon. "...is our donor's representative, and our expert is back at his car."
    "Why's he back there?"
    "Because we weren't sure you'd have anything to show us."
    The girl sneered. "Oh, we've got something to show you." She waved her friend forward. The friend reached inside her jacket, and Jon's hand went to his jacket as well. I prepared to hit the deck, but the friend pulled a sheet of paper out of her jacket and handed it over.
    I took it. It wasn't the section of the torn page we were looking for. It was torn from something, though. It looked like it had come from a very large, fancy Bible. Not an illuminated manuscript, but a Bible that had been printed to look like one.
    I handed it to Jon. He turned it over a couple of times, then said, "Where did you get this?"
    "Never mind where we got it. How much will you pay for it?"
    "Nothing." He handed it back to her.
    " What? "
    The shorter girl whined, "I told you."
    Tall Girl hissed, "Shut up." She waved the paper at us. "This is the paper you're looking for. The rest of the one you were showing around."
    I said, "No, it's not. That's not even a genuine illuminated manuscript. You tore that out of the altar Bible of some church."
    Short Girl huffed and rolled her eyes at her friend. "I told you. These guys are experts. I told you they wouldn't go for it."
    "Shut. Up ." Tall Girl turned back to us. "Fine. You don't want to buy it, we can find someone else."
    "Sure. Good luck with that." I backed off, and Todd came forward. Jon, in one smooth move, whipped out his cuffs and grabbed the arm of Tall Girl. "You're under arrest."
    "What?! You're cops?!"
    Short Girl was stunned just long enough that Todd was able to grab her too. Tall Girl was squirming and tried to kick Jon. Todd said, "I think we can add resisting arrest to the charges."
    Short Girl was livid. "You stupid bitch! I told you this was a stupid plan! But noooo, you thought you could fool the guys with Ph.D.s. You're a moron . And so is your friend Paulie."
    Jon gave me an "aha" look. "Paulie?"
    "Yeah. The guy that works for that creep."
    Tall Girl was furious. She was now trying to kick her friend. " Shut! Up! "
    Short Girl was having none of it. "My dad's a lawyer. I'm gonna tell these guys everything, and then my dad'll get me out of this."
    Tall Girl sneered. "Your dad's an entertainment lawyer. He doesn't know anything about criminal stuff."
    "He went to law school, he knows enough. And he's not lifting a finger to help you , you stupid bitch."
    "You slut! As soon as I get my one phone call, I'm gonna call Dakota Freeman and tell him how you've been cheating on him with half the basketball team, and he's gonna know what a fuckin' slut you are..."
    Short Girl screeched and lunged at Tall Girl. Jon dragged Tall Girl out of range. "Ladies, enough. Let's go." He hauled Tall Girl to the back of Todd’s car and tossed her in. Todd was laughing and shaking his head. He wrangled Short Girl to the other side of his car and secured her. We reconvened at the front of Jon's car. Jon put his hands on