Page 92 of Crow
“What’s all the ruckus about?” Peter stood in the doorway of his office, eyes darting to Joey.
Joey looked over at Angie, then shrugged.
She cleared her throat. “One of the tenants was murdered at Madera Crossing.”
“And she found him.” Joey smiled weakly at her.
“Shit. Are you doing okay?”
“Not really,” she said, shaking her head, “but I’ll deal with it.”
“Fuck that. Go on home. The work’s not going anywhere. Take a few days off if you need it.”
Damon mumbled something inaudible under his breath and hunched over his desk.
Peter glared at him. “You got something to say?”
“No, just trying to concentrate on my job.”
Angie opened the bottom desk drawer and pulled out her purse. “I’ll take you up on going home, but I’ll be at work tomorrow.”
“See how you feel in the morning. Were the cops still there when you left?”
“Yeah, I’m sure they’ll be there for quite a while.”
“We’ll probably get a ton of phone calls from the tenants asking me to explain what’s going on. Should I refer them to you?” Damon’s hard stare fixed on her.
“You’ll politely tell them you don’t know any more than they do,” Peter replied.
Damon pressed his lips together and nodded.
Angie pulled the purse strap over her shoulder. “Thanks for caring, Peter.”
He tipped his head. “If you need anything, call me. If you need to see someone, make an appointment with Dr. Winslow.”
“Okay,” she replied and walked toward the door.
As she waited for the elevator car, a flurry of footsteps scampered in the hallway behind her.
“Angie, I didn’t mean what I said.” Joey panted.
“Yes, you did. I expected more from you.”
“Okay … I was a jerk. What can I say? I didn’t really like the guy.”
“That’s no excuse. I anticipated insensitive bullshit from Damon but not you.”
“I know. So how long are you going to stay pissed at me?”
The elevator dinged, the doors opened, and she stepped inside.
“The way I feel right now, I’d say for a long time.”
She tapped the button for the ground floor, then stared at him as the elevator doors closed.
A cool breeze blew in from the mountains despite the warm sun, and a few leaves fell off a nearby oak tree and into Angie’s hair. She brushed them away and marched across the parking lot while trying to stifle her rage. She yanked the car fob from her purse, flicked the button to unlock the doors, and threw her bag onto the passenger seat; then slid inside, switched on the engine, and reversed out of the parking space.
Joey can be a real asshole sometimes. I can’t believe that he didn’t give a shit about Abe.Abe.Oh God, why did this happen?Snapshots of his lifeless body flashed through Angie’s mind. Then the last conversation they’d had a few days before looped through her brain. He’d been obsessed with the shadow man, and she kept trying to assure him that he was safe and all was good.But he wasn’t safe. I should’ve done something to protect him. Shit!She slammed a hand against the steering wheel.
