Laurie’s mind was an overactive toddler all of a sudden: Holy moley, wow wow wow, it’s in his truck right now, they are leaning on the truck and it’s right in there. The undoubtedly very nice man behind the table with the rings looked like he might try to talk to her, so she turned away from him and made herself look preoccupied by doing the very first thing she could think of: googling “famous ducks.” She continued to listen.
“And what price did the two of you agree on? Right, right. And you understand it doesn’t come with documentation, you’re buying it as an art piece, as is, yes?…Oh, it’s a great example, no question. I think she’ll love it.” He looked at his watch. “Oh, wait, you need it today? Oh, I see. I see. Her party is at six-thirty?” Again, looking at his watch. “Well, that’s a little bit of a problem, because I’m here at this event until six.”
Ryan—“John”— broke in to say in a stage whisper, “I can take it to him.”
“I’d really rather handle it personally, to tell you the truth,” Rocky said into his phone. “Maybe I could come by with it during the party, make it a surprise?” Putting away her phone, Laurie moved to a table of scarves staffed by a young woman who seemed engrossed in her book and unlikely to try to chat. She pictured Nick with the front desk phone cradled in his shoulder, emphatically repeating that he absolutely had to have the piece by 5:30, or there was no deal. “Hang on a minute,” Rocky said. He muted the phone, then went back to talk to Ryan. “I don’t like it, I want to be there, I want to see the money.”
“He’s a librarian,” Ryan said. “He likes books. He tells people to stop talking for a living. What do you think, he’s lying?” Nick would undoubtedly say that Ryan was enjoying this a little bit too much. Putting a little too much mustard on it, as Laurie’s dad used to say.
Finally, Rocky went back to the phone. “Okay. John’s going to bring it by your work and pick up the money…yes, good working with you too, I hope she gets a lot of enjoyment out of it. I’ll speak to you later.” He hung up and slid his phone back into his pocket. “That’s that, I guess.”
Laurie looked over at the truck, where Ryan was standing by the back wheel on the driver’s side. Rocky walked around and opened the passenger door again, and he took out a canvas bag. He walked over to Ryan, and she could see it. Her duck. She could see her duck, as Rocky put it in Ryan’s hands. “Take good care of it,” he said. After a minute, he handed over the canvas bag, too, and Ryan put it inside. “Might as well take the whole thing. How are we meeting up so I can get my money?”
Ryan took out his phone. Well, not his phone—his burner phone. The one he used for anything where he didn’t want somebody to have his personal number. He had considered it a delightful marker for fame when his agent had told him it was time to get one. “Gimme your cell number,” he said. Rocky rattled it off, and Ryan typed it into his phone. “Here, I’ll text you, and now you have my number. Text me where you want to meet in a day or two, and I’ll have the money.”
Rocky nodded. “What am I going to tell Matt?”
Ryan shrugged one shoulder. “Tell him somebody broke into your truck. What’s he gonna do? Call the cops?”
“He’ll be pissed.”
“He’s not Al Capone,” Ryan called out as he slung the bag over his shoulder and started to walk away. Just as he passed the tables, just as he passed probably ten feet from Laurie, a voice rang out.
“Oh my gosh! You were on Halls of Power!”
Ryan froze. He turned to look at a woman, probably in her twenties, who was holding a painted teapot in both hands. “What?”
“You were the guy from the congressman’s office! I just rewatched that one!”
As Laurie stood, frozen, Rocky started to walk toward them. “Oh, I’m sorry,” Ryan said to Teapot. “I think you’re thinking of somebody else, but I’m very flattered.” He turned toward Rocky. “See? One of those faces.” He shrugged. Teapot frowned, watched him for a few seconds, and went back to her shopping.
Laurie spent an interminable couple of minutes browsing at a glassware table, and then she tried so very, very hard to mosey in a relaxed way across the slightly sloped lot and down to the sidewalk. Down the sidewalk to her car, which Ryan was already inside. She slid into the driver’s seat.
“Did you hear that? She recognized me.”