Inherit the Dead

thinker.” In fact, if Timmy had been standing there when the car had come lunging at Angel, Perry would have bet that instead of pushing Angel aside, Timmy would have tried to take down the license number of the car.
    But at least he made a solid-looking obstacle to anyone who just might be trying to get into the nanny’s house.
    He called Julia Drusilla and got her voice mail. He left a message saying that he had news for her and that he’d come by soon, though he was glad she was out. It gave him some time to see Nicky.
    Perry heard a faint rattle in the engine as he drove into Brooklyn Heights. I just had a complete overhaul two weeks ago, he thought. I just hope the mechanic did it before he started celebrating the Giants winning streak. I should have asked him that, he thought.
    Because he was late, there was naturally a fender bender aboutthree cars ahead of him. With a heartfelt groan he realized that two lanes would be out of service, but then reminded himself that at least he would get around them pretty fast. Pity the poor jokers who are going to start piling up behind me, he told himself.
    Getting back to the nanny. She seemed like a nice lady, but he wouldn’t have wanted to have been the one to take care of Angel for so many years. No wonder the poor soul looked so exhausted. What was it, Perry thought again, that had made me doubt Angel? Was it just the way she toggled so easily from fear to anger to seduction? His gut told him it was more than that. But what man could think straight around a girl like that?
    Perry was trying to avoid looking at the clock on the dashboard, but he couldn’t help stealing a glance at it. Oh God. He was getting even later for his lunch with Nicky. He had called to say he’d been delayed. Then he’d called to say he was still delayed. Should he call again? No, Nicky would wait for him. Maybe if I tell her about Angel, she’ll understand, he thought. I mean, she wasn’t that interested in my last case, when I traced a phony moving van to a secondhand furniture shop, but Angel is different. He even had a picture of her with him. Nicky liked to read People magazine, and Angel looked like a movie star.
    Large drops of rain were beginning to fall. Automatically, he switched on the wipers then listened to the usual screeching as they fought their way back and forth across the windshield. The mechanic supposedly changed them, he thought. Even Cyclops could see they were listed on the bill he gave me.
    He inched the car up to and around the spot where the accident had occurred. The drivers were standing around and starting to shove each other. Perry’s instinct as a former member of New York’s finest was urging him to stop before there was real trouble, but then he heard the unmistakable sound of a police car speeding toward the scene.
    They’re all yours, pal, he thought as, finally in the clear, he put his foot on the accelerator. His thoughts immediately switched back to Angel. She should be safe enough with that block-of-granite cop outside the door. As long as she didn’t go out. That possibility left Perry light-headed. She had promised that she would stay with Nanny dearest, but how many times had Angel changed location in the roughly fifty-two hours he’d been on the case?
    Should he call her cell phone and warn her again? No, if she was out, she’d probably lie to him. You didn’t have to be a detective to know that Angel was not a truth-teller. What had the nanny said about her? She’s never been just a kid. But she’s smart—smartest child I ever took care of—because she had to be.
    Yeah, Angel was smart all right, and cunning, he could see that.
    His shoulders slumping, Perry went back to worrying about how upset Nicky would be when he got there. They’d now changed their date from morning to afternoon and from meeting at the coffee shop to meeting her at home. And how upset would her mother be? Noreen was a stickler for promptness. Hadn’t one of the problems in their marriage been that the meals she’d prepared had gotten cold while he was chasing some thief who had robbed an old lady at gunpoint? Well, that hadn’t been the only problem . . .
    Maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, Perry conceded. She probably got upset that I had a few beers with the guys when we went off duty after tackling some guy.
    Fifteen minutes later he was looking for a parking spot on the street where Nicky lived with Noreen and her new boyfriend. This is a nice