Page 26 of Crow
Crow laughed. “Did you end up fucking in her car or on your bike?”
“I was planning to do it in her car, but she got cold feet. Citizens just don’t know what the fuck they’re doing. They want to hang with danger, but then they don’t. I mean, this chick was giving me mixed signals. She’s lucky it was me and not a fuckin’ Deadly Demon or Satan’s Piston.”
“You got a point there.”
“I was hoping she’d be down for a bit of fun. From what I could see, the chick was pretty fine.”
Crow took a swig of whiskey just as his cell phone rang. He fished it from his pocket and put it to his ear.
“Yeah?”
“I just found out why the police were across the street all morning,” Valerie said.
“What’re you talking about?”
“This morning there were a ton of cops across the street most of the day. None of us knew what the hell was going on. I was going to tell you about it when you came over, but you were so damn rude to Uriah that you pissed me off.”
“But having Noah watching that fuckin’ crap on TV doesn’t set you off? When are you gonna stop being a damn doormat with these loser guys you hang around?”
Eagle glanced over. “You know she’s hopeless, dude,” he said in a low voice.
“Who’s with you?” Valerie demanded.
“I’m at the club. And I know Uriah’s living with you. Is he worth getting your ass kicked out of your apartment?”
“He’s not living with me. He stays here sometimes. Why are you attacking me?”
“I’m not. I’m just trying to figure you out.”
“I didn’t call for a lecture. I called to tell you that some homeless guy was murdered last night across the street from where the kids and I live.”
Rubbing his hand on his jeans, he asked, “Who was the guy?”
“How should I know? Ginny told me about it just now. She said one of the cops she used to date told her.”
A tight knot formed in his stomach: He hadn’t seen Jim in a few days. When Crow had gone to the motel the day before to check in on him, the manager told him Jim had left. At first, Crow had been pissed because even though the days had warmed up since the blizzard, the night temperatures were still below freezing, but he knew Jim didn’t like being cooped up, so he understood why the guy had left. Usually, he’d see him hanging around the pool hall, but he hadn’t shown up.
And now Valerie was telling him a homeless man had been murdered. He ran his fingers through his hair.What if it’s Jim. What if—
“She’s dying to go out with you and keeps asking me to fix her up with you.” Valerie’s voice broke in on his thoughts.
“Who are you talking about?”
“You’re not even listening to me. I’m talking about Ginny. For some reason, she’s really into you.”
“I’m not interested.”
“Why not? A lot of guys would love to go out with her.”
“I’m sure a lot of guys do.”
“Oh, please… the bitches you go out with are a bunch of skanks, so don’t act so high and mighty.”
“You’re really getting on my nerves. I’m hanging up.”
“Wait! Do you want to go out with Ginny or not?”
He huffed out a breath. “No, I’m done.” He clicked off the phone and stuffed it back into his pocket, then threw back the rest of his drink. “Let’s get outta here,” he said to Eagle.
