Hello My Angel - Sue Brown Page 0,16
thanks, but he didn’t drag his eyes away from what he was doing.
A couple of hours later, Josh heard a familiar seventies TV theme tune and Cal’s face popped up on the screen of his phone.
“Hello Charlie,” Josh drawled in his most seductive voice.
He saw Max look up and then quickly back to his screen.
“Angel. How’s it going?” Cal sounded more exhausted than when he’d left.
“Quiet. I’m making lists about toilet paper. I can’t decide whether I want the one with bears or puppies, and Max is doing a This Is Your Life on Chyna.”
“You watch way too much TV.”
Josh gave a wry chuckle because the one thing he’d not had a chance to do was watch trash TV since Cal returned from America. Of course, between the murders and the mystery, he’d spent his time in bed with Cal. It wasn’t all bad.
“Are you on your way back?”
“Yeah, Lucy’s family know nothing. They’re shell-shocked. They barely knew her goddaughter or what Lucy did for the agency.”
“Okay, strike one off the list. I’ll get Max to do more investigation into that side of the family.”
Cal grunted. “Do you want me to bring anything in?”
Josh looked at his list. “More coffee, Coke, pastries, candy, and beds.”
“Beds?” Cal sounded confused.
“We’re not gonna be sleeping here?”
“Point taken. I’ll see what I can do.”
Josh took pity on him. “I can order the beds. You focus on the good stuff. Oh, more coffee.”
“What’s your blood/caffeine level at the moment?” Cal asked.
“I have blood?”
“That’s what I thought. I’ll bring green tea.”
Josh resisted the urge to gag but only just. “Make me drink that swill and you’ll be using it as an enema.”
He saw Max’s startled glance at him before he carried on with his work.
Cal barked out a laugh. “Don’t worry, Angel, I’ll feed your caffeine habit.”
“Hurry back, Charlie. I’ve got things I want to talk about.”
Cal murmured a goodbye. Josh felt empty without him. He looked over at Max. “Ask your question. I can feel it burning over here.”
“Why do you call him Charlie and he calls you Angel?”
“Charlie’s Angels.” Max stared at him blankly and Josh sighed. He looked old; he didn’t need to have some kid barely out of high school make him feel like a leftover relic from the twentieth century. “Look it up, kid. The seventies version. Not the movie.”
“Okay.”
“I’m Jill Munroe.”
A more doubtful “Okay.”
“Have you got an issue with me and Cal being together?”
Max wrinkled his forehead. “You being gay?”
Josh nodded curtly.
“No, why would I?”
“Are you gay?” Josh queried.
“I think I’m queer. Although not much experience with guys.” Max’s blush was adorable.
Josh guessed for ‘not much’ he meant ‘none’, but Josh didn’t care. If he wasn’t aiming shit Josh and Cal’s way, Max was golden. “Gil is straight.” He thought he’d get that one out in the open.
“I…didn’t…I mean, I didn’t think he…” Max looked horrified.
“I’m telling you this because Gil has been through a shitty time lately and I’m not gonna let him be hurt by anyone.”
“You mean his brother?”
Chapter 5
Every time Josh thought about Landry, Gil’s twin, it was like the man himself shot Josh again, this time through the heart. They had been a team. He, Gil and Landry, at CDR. Until the day he discovered Landry had done nothing but lie to him. Landry was a gambling addict responsible for defrauding millions from Barton & Wharlow. And a murderer. Josh rubbed his eyes. Crap, he was never going to forget the sound of Landry’s dying breaths as they lay on the floor together, and Gil was never going to forgive Josh for making him kill his brother. Josh hadn’t pulled the trigger, but the blame was still his. It was Josh’s job to know these things.
“Josh? Are you okay?”
Josh blinked, and saw Max giving him a worried look. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just—”
“Bad memories?”
The kid was quite perceptive.
“You got it.”
“We’ve all got a few of those.”
Josh sighed. “I guess we have. How far have you got with Chyna?”
“Not a long way at the moment. She kept her head down at the agency. If you didn’t have dealings with upstairs, you wouldn’t know who she was. I never saw her.”
Josh walked over to sit beside Max. “We know what she did. We now know why she did it. We’ve got the who and the why.”
“I don’t think you’ve got the why,” Max argued. “She’s taken this to a whole new level. It’s not about Jesse. It’s never really been about Jesse. She could have killed him when he