Page 152 of Crow
Crow fell to the ground and rolled away from Josh when he got closer. Then he jabbed his knife into Josh’s calf.
“Fuck!” he screamed, pain lacing his tone. He fell to the ground, cursing and screaming.
Crow kicked the downed man hard in the leg and was ready to strike him again when he heard the wail of sirens fast approaching. He wiped the blood from his mouth and nose with the back of his hand. He kicked Josh’s knife across the room. Crow reached down in his boot and pulled out a .357 Magnum and then handed it and his knife to Benny.
“The badges won’t search you.”
Benny quickly stuck them in his sportscoat pockets, then slumped against the wall. Josh lay on the floor groaning and bleeding.
A sudden barrage of heavy footsteps thundered down the hall, followed by banging on the front door. Stu jumped in the air, and if Crow weren’t so angry, he would’ve laughed. Benny crossed the apartment, opened the door, and tons of badges flooded in.
“What’s going on?” Wexler asked, his gaze shifting from Crow to Josh.
“Not much. You’re gonna want to check out that back room,” Crow said, pointing behind him.
“And the duffel bag,” Benny said in a low voice.
One of the suits bent down and hauled Josh’s ass up, and the fucker cried out.
“We had him under surveillance,” the sheriff said.
Josh glanced up, an incredulous look spreading across his face.
“We’ll need to take your statements.”
Crow shook his head. “We hadn’t heard from Josh in two weeks, so we came by to make sure he was okay. The door was open—”
“That’s a fuckin’ lie. They broke in,” Josh said.
Crow gave him a sideways glance, then resumed speaking. “Like I said, the door was open, and we walked in, thinking he was hurt or something.” He laughed dryly. “We even thought he might’ve been the shadow man’s next victim.”
“We went into the back room and found all these photos and the duffel bag.” Benny looked like he was going to be sick.
* * *
Crow softly knockedon the hotel door three hours later.
“It’s me, babe.”
As soon as the door swung open, he walked in and pulled Angie into his arms. He still couldn’t believe Josh was responsible for so much horror and sadness. When he thought about all the years the four of them hung out together back in the old neighborhood, he never would’ve imagined their lives turning out the way they did. Crow had no idea Josh had resented and hated him so much.
“You didn’t call me. I kept trying to get a hold of you, and I was frantic.”
“I’m sorry, babe. I wanted to call, but I couldn’t.” He bent down and kissed her. “Don’t roll your eyes at me. When I tell you the reason, you’re gonna understand why I was tied up.”
“It better be good,” she said as they walked to the couch in the sitting area.
“It is. It’s better than a fuckin’ novel. I promise you that.”
They sat down, then Crow put his arm around her and started from the top.
