Hello My Angel - Sue Brown Page 0,24
still on his call so Josh headed for the coffeemaker. Four fingers, jeez. His Goddess, Farrah, knew what state Weatherly was in by now.
“What did Stephen say?” Cal asked.
“They got one too. The spooks are spooked. And Stephen asked for a job.”
Cal chuckled. “I could start a London branch of CDR as I planned.”
“You have Angel Enterprises,” Josh pointed out.
“So I do.”
Josh narrowed his eyes. “What did Dominic say?”
“To you? He told you to fuck off.”
“Ha ha.”
“He says he thinks Mullins is incompetent, not corrupt, but he will investigate.”
“Why can’t I investigate?”
“Because you’re helping to find Weatherly. But—” Cal held up his hand as Josh started to protest. “Dominic will share all information with you. You’re the lead on Mullins.”
“He agreed to do that? Or you told him to?”
Cal smirked at him. “Do you really want the answer to that?”
“I suppose not. Mullins wants me to call him.”
“Do it now.”
“What if he asks if we received parts of Weatherly?”
“You’re not under oath,” Cal said impatiently. “Lie.”
Josh sat up and saluted him. “Yes sir! You can pour the coffee.”
Cal flipped him off, but he reached for two mugs.
Josh sat at the table and phoned Mullins’s ? number.
“Yes?” Even Mullins’s voice sounded weaselly.
“It’s Josh Cooper. You wanted to speak to me?”
“Finally! I need you here, Cooper. We need all the help we can get.”
“I don’t work for you,” Josh said flatly. “I work for Angel Enterprises now.”
“This is an order.”
“One, I don’t work for you. Two, only one person gives me orders and it isn’t you.”
“You’re treading on thin ice, Cooper. Her Majesty’s Government doesn’t think highly of men who refuse to do their duty.”
“Good thing I’m not a Brit, then. Did you have anything to ask?”
“Cooper, I expect—”
Josh disconnected the call on Mullins’s splutters.
“What did he want?” Cal asked.
“You know, I don’t think I ever found out. But he didn’t ask about the packages, so I didn’t have to lie. Is that coffee for me?”
Before he could take the mug out of Cal’s hands, his phone rang again. Josh frowned. “I don’t know the number.”
“Put it on speaker,” Cal said.
Josh nodded. “Hello?”
“Josh Cooper? It’s DS Fox from the Met.”
“What can I do for you, Detective?”
“It’s more what I can do for you.”
“Oh?” Josh raised an eyebrow at Cal.
“I don’t know if this helps, but after I left, I realized I recognized the jewelry box the finger was in. You’re not going to believe this, but I’ve got a friend in the Met who’s just got engaged and he showed me the ring. He bought it from an old family-run jeweler on the Isle of Wight. I called him and confirmed it’s the only jeweler who uses those boxes.”
Josh made grabby hands at his notebook which Cal pushed over. “Tell me more.”
“I’ll text you the address and phone number. They had a number of boxes stolen three weeks ago by a young woman with long dark hair.”
“Why the hell would she steal boxes from a shop on the Isle of Wight? Where the heck is the Isle of Wight?”
“It’s south of Portsmouth.”
That meant nothing to Josh but Cal said, “I’ll show you on the map. Detective Fox, thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Josh stared at Cal after they finished the call. “What the hell is she playing at?”
“I don’t know. Perhaps it was a pure coincidence?”
“Nothing is a coincidence as far as Chyna is concerned.” What little Josh knew about the woman was that she planned to the last detail.
“Let’s add it to the list of things to investigate.”
“Already done. Give me the coffee.”
As Josh slurped the coffee he received the text from the inspector. “Do you think he needs to delay the report now? We know Mullins received a finger and we have more of them.”
“No, he doesn’t.”
Josh responded to the text with Sit changed. More packages. No delay.
The reply was almost immediate. Thx.
Josh drained the rest of his mug and held it out for a refill. “I’m going to look into her connection with the jewelers while we wait for the others to return.”
“You do that. I want to talk to a couple of contacts I had in the field.”
Josh took out his iPad and brought up the browser, while Cal retreated to the empty office to talk. He looked over at Cal in the open doorway as he talked. He was finally working with Cal again, albeit in a temporary capacity. It was good.
Chapter 7
The team sat around the conference table. At one end lay the remains of another Chinese takeout. In