Angels (Nevada James #3) (Nevada James Mysteries) by Matthew Storm Page A

banter. Don’t you have a sarcastic
comment to make? Nothing about my parents visiting? I don’t know…maybe you
could ask if they look like they came out of a catalog, too?”
    “I
really don’t want to play right now,” I said.
    “You
sound upset.”
    “I am upset. Can you meet me or not?”
    He
sighed. “Give me an hour. Parking lot of that Chinese place you like. Try not
to kill anyone before you get there.”
    “Don’t
try me,” I said. I hung up the phone and put the car in gear.
    I knew
exactly the place he meant. It was a Chinese restaurant in a strip mall in
Point Loma, not far from where I lived in Ocean Beach. They only had four
tables inside, but the food was good enough that there was usually a line out
the door. I went there for fried rice, mostly. Good fried rice was hard to
find. On another day I might have taken this as a good excuse to stop there to
eat, but right now food was the farthest thing from my mind.
    I
arrived early, but Abercrombie was already in the parking lot when I arrived,
leaning up against his car. He and Fitch both looked like young male models,
and if either of them had been interested in women…I honestly don’t know what I
would have done. They only had eyes for each other, though. Given that I didn’t
know either of their real names I couldn’t have said I knew them well, but they
seemed happy together.
    Normally
I never saw them apart, but Fitch wasn’t there today. “Where’s the handsome
one?” I asked Abercrombie.
    “There’s
the banter I love so much,” Abercrombie said. He tossed his head to one side
and his long hair rolled like an ocean’s wave. He looked at my face. “My god,
Nevada. What happened to you?”
    It took
me a minute to remember I still had stitches. “It’s not important,” I said.
“Completely unrelated to why I’m here.” He gave me a skeptical look. “I jumped
through a window thinking I might be chasing the Laughing Man, okay? I wasn’t.
Mistaken identity, I guess.”
    “You
jumped out a window?”
    “No. I
jumped through a window.”
    “Oh,” he
said. He appeared to think about that for a moment. “I suppose I won’t ask who
you were chasing, then. At least you know what to do when you think you
see the Laughing Man. We’ve been waiting long enough.”
    I
crossed my arms in front of me. “If you think he’s so easy to find, you’re
welcome to start looking yourself.”
    “You
think we’re not looking?” He shook his head. “I have a strong skill set,
Nevada, but it’s not much good for chasing murderers around. That’s your
department.” He sighed. “Anyway, Fitch is with my parents.”
    I
nodded. “Sounds great. So the three of them just sit there in awkward silence
until you get back?” In all the time I’d known them, I wasn’t sure Fitch had
ever spoken to me. Mostly he just stared off into the sunset, as if he were
imagining doing whatever models did. Cuddling a pile of puppies, maybe.
    “Fitch
is charming their socks off, as usual. They love him.” He looked away and for a
moment I thought he was going to blush. “I think…”
    “What?”
    He
looked back at me. “I think he’s been waiting until they were in town to
propose.”
    I
blinked. That softened my tiny black rage-filled heart just a bit. “Oh.
That’s…good, I guess. I think.” I gave him an uncertain look. “Do you want to get married?”
    He bit
his lip and hesitated for a minute, and then he nodded. “I do,” he said. “I
didn’t think I ever would, but…I really do, Nevada.”
    “I hope
it works out, then.”
    “Me too.
I’ll let you know.” The goofy look he’d had for a moment faded away. “So I’ve
got to get back. I don’t want to miss it. Where’s this phone you’ve got?”
    I took
Krystal’s burner out of my pocket and handed it to him. He looked at it like
I’d just given him a smallpox blanket. “Where did you get this pathetic
little thing?”
    “It
belonged to a confidential informant of mine.