A Terrible Fall of Angels (Zaniel Havelock #1)(43)

“He’s persistent, but he doesn’t interfere with us doing our jobs.”

“He’s persistent with you, but he’s always worse with me.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

She shook her head hard enough to make her ponytail bounce. “It doesn’t matter right now; what does matter is you getting to see the evidence before Adam pillages it.” She crossed her arms, her face far more unhappy than I expected from dealing with any coworker. I felt like I was missing something but didn’t know what question to ask. For a second it felt like being back with Reggie, trying to figure out what women want, or what one woman in particular wants, or means. I closed my eyes and took a few deep, even breaths, trying to find my balance, trying to find me after therapy had ripped me open. Okay, after dealing with Reggie had made me deliriously happy, miserable, and confused.

“Sorry, Havoc, was therapy rough?”

I opened my eyes and shook my head. “The parking lot conversation was hard. She accused me of trying to follow her around to see if she was dating anyone else.”

Lila sighed and closed her eyes as if I’d said a lot more than that. “Annie accused me of that, too.”

“I know I haven’t done it, and I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt,” I said.

“I followed her after she accused me of doing it.”

I must have looked surprised, because she added, “I know my wife, my ex-wife, she’s crazy, but there’s a logic to it. I was pretty sure if she accused me of it, she was worried I would follow her, so I did.”

I didn’t want to ask, but I wanted to know, and she’d brought it up. “You don’t have to answer, but was she?”

“Cheating on me, oh yeah. She’d found this cute brunette working as a barista at one of the coffee shops near her work. If I’d wanted proof, I could have taken plenty of pictures, she wasn’t being careful.”

“Did she want you to find out?” I asked.

Lila shrugged. “Who knows? I don’t think she cheated while we were together, but Annie isn’t a woman who likes to be alone. Once we weren’t living together, I wasn’t surprised she went looking for someone else to sleep over with.”

“Reggie is okay alone; her independence was one of the things that I liked about her.”

“Annie is not independent; she likes someone to take care of her, but then if you take care of her too much she feels smothered.”

“Sounds like a no-win situation,” I said.

Lila just nodded.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“And I’m sorry your marriage is going to shit, too.”

I smiled before I could stop it and told her about Reggie wanting to clear the air tomorrow before our dinner date. By the time I was finished Lila was grinning at me.

“That’s awesome, Havoc, really awesome.”

“Thanks, remind me to talk to Charleston about the time off tomorrow.”

“Will do, now let’s see if we can sneak past Adam and let you see what we found.”

“Come on, Lila, give me a hint, what’s got you so excited?”

“I guess I could say standing next to a stud like you, but you wouldn’t believe me.”

I laughed. “No, I wouldn’t.”

“You’ll see it in a few minutes. Charleston told me not to tell you ahead of time in case it’s not what we think it is; he doesn’t want me to contaminate your expectations or something like that.”

“He’s the lieutenant,” I said.

She reached for the door handle, then said, “Don’t talk until we’re in the room with the stuff; if Thornton hears your voice, he won’t let us see it without him hovering.”

“Mum’s the word,” I said.

She frowned at me. “You use some of the oldest, fuddy-duddy expressions sometimes, Havoc. You’d think you were old enough to be someone’s grandpa.”

“Where I was raised that’s just the way everyone talks,” I said.

“Oh, Havoc, I’m sorry, sometimes I forget you were raised in a monastery.”

“I was raised at the College of Angels,” I said.

“From what I hear, same diff, except it’s co-ed.”

I didn’t know what to say to that, and she must have realized it, so she saved us both from an awkward moment by opening the door, peering through, and then waving me inside. Apparently, the coast was clear.





CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN




Adam Thornton appeared from around the corner near the break room. He had on latex gloves and was carrying a large, empty paper bag. His gray eyes were very serious behind the round, black frames of his glasses. He was short and slender, and politically incorrect words like effeminate came to mind every time I saw him, which was probably why he always kept his brown hair cut short and very traditionally male-presenting.

“Give it up, Havoc,” he said, his voice sharp, and if you didn’t know him, you’d think he was angry, but he always sounded like that. If he hadn’t been brilliant in the lab and at seeing things that everyone else missed, he’d have been fired, but instead he kept getting promoted. The ME just tried to keep him away from people, living people; the dead didn’t mind that he had the social skills of a cranky rhinoceros.