Page 136 of Crow
“We better get to church. Steel goes apeshit if anyone’s late.”
Eagle chuckled, and the two men walked back into the clubhouse and headed to the meeting room.
Sangre slid into the seat next to Crow. “Does your woman want the alarm installed on the new glass door?”
“Yeah.”
“Is she back home?”
“No, we’re still at the hotel.”
“Do you have a key to her place?”
Crow fished it out of his pocket and gave it to him.
“I’ll have a couple of guys install it tomorrow. When’s she planning to move back?”
“I’d rather she didn’t.”
A slow smile spread across his face. “Sounds like this is getting serious. Are you moving in together?”
Avoiding the question, he said, “I’ll let Angie know about the installation.”
“Yeah, you’re serious about her.” Sangre laughed.
He was, but it wasn’t his style to shout it from the rooftops and let the brothers have their heyday with it. When Eagle had called him that night, it took all Crow’s strength and discipline not to rush away and be by her side. Angie was the only woman who satisfied him in a way no other woman ever had or ever could. After his divorce, Crow never thought he’d fall in love again, but Angie entered his life, and now he wanted their lives to stretch into forever.
Steel slammed the gavel on the block, cutting in on Crow’s reflections. Muerto stood up and read off the minutes from last week’s church, then put forth the motion to accept them, and Paco seconded it. Sangre went over the club’s earnings and expenses from all their businesses and stated each members’ share of the proceeds for the following month.
Crow did a quick calculation in his head and decided it was time to look into buying a house. In that instant, he decided to ask Angie to be his old lady. The only thing that would be a pain in the ass was her brothers. He should tell them to fuck off just like he did with his ex’s stepfather, but this time it was different. Angie was close to her family, and it was important to her that they all got along, so he’d try his damnedest to have a good rapport with them without using his fists.
“You want to bring something to the table?” Steel’s voice echoed in Crow’s ears.
He tipped the chair back down on all four legs. “Uh, yeah, I do.”
“You got the floor,” Steel said.
Clearing his throat, Crow rose to his feet. “A lot of you know Jim. We’ve all helped him out as much as he’d let us.” Chuckles circulated around the room. “I’m not sure how many of you noticed that he hasn’t been around for a while now. He’d show up behind the pool hall two or three times a week like clockwork, but he hasn’t done that.”
“Maybe he moved on. With all the shit that’s been going down with this fuckin’ killer, Jim probably went to Tula or Silverado,” Goldie said. A few members murmured in agreement.
“No, I don’t think that’s the case. Jim would’ve told me he was leaving town.” Crow rubbed the back of his neck. “My gut’s telling me something bad has happened to him.”
“Like this ‘shadow man’ killer the news has been talkin’ about?” Jigger asked.
The residents at Madera Crossing had spoken to the press after Abe’s death and told them about the shadow man stalking the building’shallways. The next day in theAlina Post, the headline read “Shadow Man Hacks Disabled Man To Death In His Apartment.” A week later, Sheriff Wexler received a letter boasting about the homeless men’s murders. According to one of the women Brutus was banging, the letter revealed details of the murders that no one but the killer would know. The chick, who worked at the sheriff’s department, said it was signed “Shadow Man.”
Crow wondered if Brutus could get a copy of the letter from her so Angie could see if the handwriting looked familiar. Crow was convinced the fucker stalking his woman was the same one responsible for the other murders, including Abe’s.
“Whoa, man, are you still with us?”
Crow massaged his temples, scattering his thoughts, then turned back to the group. “I got a lot of shit going on.” He looked at Jigger. “Yeah, I think this fuckin’ shadow man snuffed out Jim’s life.”
Anger-filled expletives echoed around the room. Scorpio flung one of the metal chairs against the back wall with enough force to blister its paint.
The president banged the gavel a few times before everyone fell silent.
“Jim’s a good guy in a shitty life. Breanna regularly makes box lunches for him and mentioned not seeing him around for a while. She’s scared something has happened to him too. I’m sure we’re all thinking the same thing.”
