Hollywood Pharaohs by Andrew Mayne

Author:Andrew Mayne [Mayne, Andrew]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2013-12-07T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Skyhouse

Theresa bounds up the side of the hill like a gazelle. I try to keep up, but the rocks on the slope follow different rules of gravity for me. The thick branches of the shrubs that hold the soil into the cliff are the only thing keeping me from falling.

"Come on," she shouts back to me. "I thought you did all of Alex's hard stuff."

"Only the things he wants to take credit for," I reply, wiping the sap from the branches onto my jeans.

Harrison's Los Angeles estate, Skyhouse, looms overhead, silhouetted by the dark blue night sky. Just over a ridge behind us, the lights of the city glow. Even from here you can tell Harrison's estate has one of the best views of greater Los Angeles to be had, short of standing on the Hollywood sign.

We left the motorcycle in a hedge just outside the grounds for the parking lot below the tram line to the museum. I got the impression Theresa didn't care if anyone found the bike. It was just another disposable toy that became an inconvenience the moment she no longer needed it. I try not to think about how much a limited edition Italian racing bike is worth. A lot more than a year's rent for me, that's for sure.

Theresa reaches a patch of level ground and waits for me to catch up. "The website said he built this place back in the early '50s. He abandoned it by the end of the decade and never came back."

"Never?" I ask, trying not to act out of breath.

"Never. Kind of crazy just to leave something like this."

I don't mention her motorcycle at the bottom of the hill.

We freeze when a security guard driving a golf cart passes the other side of the bushes. He's going down the mountain on a roadway that parallels the tram that takes tourists to the top. Theresa waits for my signal before we start walking again.

"How many guards you think they have here?" she asks in a low voice.

I'd been trying to do the math myself. "There was the one at the bottom of the hill at the gate shack. The one who passed us may be a relief. So count on someone coming back up in a few minutes. There will be another watching the back road that leads to the estate. Probably two inside. Maybe another walking the grounds. Does it sound like a horrible idea yet?"

She shakes her head and smiles. "Come on. We're only looking."

I step over a rock. "Then there are the video cameras. I imagine the place is filled with them. We're not going to make it a hundred feet before someone sees us. Our best bet is to stay away from the buildings and close to the trees. Not that it will work."

"Alex doesn't talk that negative," she taunts.

"Alex and you don't live in the same reality I do."

Theresa stops, puts her hands on her hips, and gives me a cross look. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing.

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