Hello My Angel - Sue Brown Page 0,12

wasn’t sure if he was annoyed or not at being kept in the dark, but he was too tired to grumble and instead he kissed Cal on the cheek. “You’re full of surprises.” As he pulled back, he caught Max staring at them. Was that hunger he saw in Max’s eyes?

“I know. Let’s go.” Cal nudged Josh out of the booth and the others followed suit.

As they walked out of the coffee shop, Josh waved goodbye to the baristas. He heard Gil say, “Don’t get in my way, kid.”

Josh didn’t hear Max’s response, but the boy must have been wetting himself if Gil was growling at him. Oh boy, Cal’s decision to have Gil guarding Max was a disaster waiting to happen. Josh had worked with Gil for a long time. He couldn’t wait for the explosions ahead.

Chapter 4

Cal wasn’t wrong about the location of the new office near Butler’s Wharf. It was way too close to Barton and Wharlow for Josh’s liking. Not that there was much left of the old firm. Once the death of Philip Barton, one of the founding partners, and the financial irregularities became public property, Barton and Wharlow was finished. As far as Josh knew Brad Wharlow was licking his wounds somewhere hot. His ex-employees were probably looking for other work.

The first-floor office included a large conference room decorated in subtle shades, with expansive windows running down both sides, and smaller offices either side. It was more than they needed, but Josh had a sudden vision of what Angel Enterprises could look like in the future.

They sat around the conference table and stared at each other. At some point, Rick and Dave had found time to change into jeans, Rick wearing a blue short-sleeved shirt that stretched with his bulging muscles, and Dave in a rugby shirt. Josh was damn sure the gray suits were in a dumpster somewhere, a decision he definitely approved.

Then Josh beamed at them all. “Angel Enterprises is officially open for business. Can we steal the cutie from the reception at the agency to make our coffee?”

“No. Where do we start?” Cal muttered, running a hand through his hair.

Josh resisted the urge to smooth down the wayward strands and said, “What are our resources? If we’ve got to hunt for Moles we need to know where to start.”

“I took a copy of Moles’s personnel file.” Max blushed as he confessed. “I did it last week.”

Josh saw Cal’s expression and ached for him, knowing what he must be thinking. If they’d only returned Max’s first call, yesterday could’ve been averted. What if, what if. Cal had been busy with Jesse and Dan, then Sir Gideon’s murder, and Max had been one more phone call on the list.

“Good move,” Gil said when the silence stretched out to an awkward length, and Max blushed even harder.

“DCI Walters pulled strings and got me the road camera footage of the black Golf Moles swapped to after she crashed the Fiat 500. When I heard Cal and Gil had been thrown out, I took a copy of it. I didn’t have time to check it fully. They don’t know I took it with me,” Rick added.

Max flipped open his Mac. “Give it to me and I’ll start running it.”

“Anyone else stolen any files from the agency?” Josh asked lightly and then giggled as Dave produced a flash drive from somewhere.

“These are all the notes from the investigation.”

Josh had copied them too, but he thanked Dave until the man was as red as Max and telling Josh to shut the eff up. Max held out his hand for the flash drive and Dave handed it over without a word.

“I got nothing.” Gil spread his hands. “But CDR is at your disposal.”

“Did Dominic tell you to say that?” Josh asked.

Gil shook his head. “He specifically told me not to say that.”

They all grinned except Cal, who got up and wandered over to stare despondently out of the window, his hands shoved in his pockets and his shoulders slumped. Josh shared a look with Gil who tilted his head toward Cal. He nodded and joined Cal at the window. The view couldn’t have been keeping his attention. Just more office blocks and the London traffic below.

“Hey.” Josh touched Cal on the shoulder. “How are you doing, Charlie?”

He always lapsed into calling Cal by his nickname when they were stressed—or horny. Sadly, horny was the last thing either of them felt.

“Not so good, my angel.” Cal turned and pulled Josh