Hello My Angel - Sue Brown Page 0,42

thinking time away from everyone else.

“You want to use our bedroom?” Cal suggested.

“Yeah, I just need to think.”

“You do that, but don’t go off by yourself. I don’t want anyone on their own until she’s caught.”

Josh raised one eyebrow.

Cal sighed. “You were right, I was wrong. Does that make you happy?”

“Better,” Josh agreed. “I’ll take one of the suits if I need to walk.”

In unison Rick and Dave flipped him off. Josh smirked at Cal who rolled his eyes.

“Go away before you upset the locals,” Cal said.

“Going. Going.”

Josh clutched at his notebook and returned to their bedroom to think. It was a couple of hours before dawn. He didn’t expect Brenner to turn up early.

He threw himself down on the comfortable bed. This time he did groan in pleasure at the comfortable mattress. He settled on his stomach, and opened his notebook. He gave Mullins’s murder a new case number and began to write in his code.

Mullins mutilated

Deaths tailored to victim

How long did Weatherly have? Fingers, hand, head?

Who was performing the amputations?

Anyone with medical knowledge?

Josh paused as he contemplated the last idea.

Did Chyna still have a team of goons working for her? Who? That was a grim thought. She must have a team of people helping her. How many? Were they from the agency? Who would help her? He filled his notebook with more questions.

Josh’s mind strayed to the young man in the living area with Gil. Josh was naturally suspicious and Max’s sudden appearance into their lives bothered him more than he cared to admit. Was that jealousy of Cal working with Max or Gil’s protectiveness toward him? He also knew he was overly suspicious of everyone. He’d been so shocked by Landry’s betrayal he couldn’t take anyone on trust.

Max? Stephen? Rick? Dave?

Why had Max chosen to come out to Waterslea in pouring rain to talk to them? Had he already been in the house instead of coming from the agency as he’d said? Why was Stephen still working for the agency when his life could be in danger?

Rick and Dave. Damn, he was even questioning his muscle. He couldn’t do that. He had to do that. Where did their loyalties lie? They’d left the agency, but had they really, or had it all been a cover?

Cal. Fuck, he still didn’t know what Cal’s real motives were. Hell, at this point Josh only trusted himself. And maybe Gil.

Josh rolled over onto his back and stared up at the ceiling tiles. He hated that he suspected his team, but Landry’s betrayal had cut deeply. What a mess. His brain went around and around in circles. What a mess. What a damn stupid mess.

Josh barely noticed the knock at the door. He’d unwittingly fallen asleep. The knock came again and he opened one eye.

“Josh. Are you still in there?” Dave asked.

“Yeah. Hold on. I’ll come out.”

He sat up, yawned and winced as his jaw clicked. How long had he been asleep for? It was light outside. At some point the rain had stopped and the sky was varying shades of yellow, pink, and mauve, as the sun rose. He must have been asleep for a couple of hours.

Josh shuffled to the door and flung it open. Dave took one look at him and yelled over his shoulder, “Rick, you owe Gil twenty quid.”

“Should I ask?” Josh said.

“Gil said you were asleep. Rick insisted you were working.”

“I was working. I’m just not sure how long for.” Josh yawned again. “I’m sorry, guys.”

The others waved it off as he joined them.

“It’s okay,” Cal said. He wrapped his arm around Josh and kissed his temple. “We’ve just been staring at CCTV footage of Mullins. You didn’t miss much.”

Josh’s stomach rumbled. He tried to ignore it. “You didn’t get anything?”

“He left the Royal Festival Hall and headed toward Blackfriars station.” Max looked up from the screen. He looked so pale his skin was almost translucent.

Josh felt guilty for his extra sleep. Max was the one who needed the rest.

“That would make sense. He lives in St Albans,” Cal said.

Gil nodded. “He goes into the station, but then we lose him. We haven’t seen him get on a train and we can’t find him back out of the station. He just vanishes.”

Josh’s stomach rumbled so loudly it made everyone laugh.

“I’m going to take my boy for breakfast and fresh air to wake him up,” Cal said. “We’ll go via Blackfriars to see if we can pick up a lead. Call us back if Brenner turns up.”

“What