Page 35 of Avenging Angel

Her response was a snore.

I took that as a yes.

I started up and headed out and didn’t look in the direction of the club as I rolled out of the parking lot onto Van Buren.

I headed toward the city.

I headed home.

I parked in the only spot my unit guaranteed me, which was covered, thankfully, and noted, per usual, the three visitor spots were taken.

My apartment complex didn’t offer a lot, but I loved it anyway.

Cleo and I got out and headed to the gate. I punched in the code, pulled open the gate and walked by the bank of mailboxes (to the left) and the bike rack (to the right) to the inner courtyard common space.

The pool for our complex was there, because this was Phoenix. If you didn’t have a pool, you wanted one, and if you did, and you had to maintain it yourself, you wished you didn’t have it.

Since I didn’t have to maintain it myself, I loved our pool.

It wasn’t big, but it was always cool, because that square set of apartments with its inner courtyard had been there since the seventies. So the trees around it had plenty of time to grow high and shade the space. It was a bitch for Mark, our pool cleaner, because of the leaves, but it was heaven on a summer day in the Valley.

It could be a hundred and ten outside that space, but it was ninety in the courtyard and it was eighty in the pool.

Perfect.

I couldn’t say our landlord gave much of a shit about the place, but he wasn’t a total loser. He kept it clean and safe.

No, it was the tenants who gave it its personality.

Inner walkways led to the doors of the units on two levels, and most of us had decided to use these walkways as our own personal patios. So they were all adorned with an eclectic mix of planters, lawn chairs, lights and outside décor.

The pool furniture was relatively nice, but it was Patsy, the resident green thumb, who kept the planters peppering the courtyard bursting with color and greenery. And it was Bill and Zach, one of our gay couples, who’d strung the lights that went from the railing of the upper balcony down to ornamental poles they’d planted in the grass that surrounded the pool deck.

All of this, with the trees and the aqua waters of the pool, now illuminated with a light that was timed to turn off at ten, gave that space a cheerful, tranquil feel that smacked a heartyWelcome Homeevery time I hit it.

There were renters that came and went, of course, but such was the awesomeness of Oasis Square, most were long-timers, like me, who’d been there five years. In fact, I knew the waiting list to get a unit was a mile long, and I knew this because Luna, Jessie and Harlow were all on it.

We held complex-wide parties in the courtyard, and we definitely had extended family, like Luna, Jessie, Harlow, Otis, Lucia and Hunter (I’d asked Tito, he’d come twice, spoke minimally, and even if it was a nighttime event, never took off his sunglasses), who would come to our get-togethers, as would friends and family of others.

My apartment might be small, but the rent didn’t break my back, and I’d had plenty of time to establish my Urban Outfitters with shades of Anthropologie, large doses of Target and hints of Z Gallerie boho-girlie-glam-multiple-personality décor.

In other words, I loved my apartment too.

And as Cleo and I made our way up the switchback stairs to the upper level, I was looking forward to pouring a glass of wine, putting my feet up, and firing up my Kindle to maybe start reading that book about Kai Mason and Stella Gunn.

My steps slowed as I got close to my unit, however.

This was because light was coming through my shades, which, on the inside, were covered in pretty, rose-colored chiffon window panels.

I was relatively sure I didn’t leave my light on when I left.

It wasn’t late, just before eight, and considering it was September, I’d left when it was dark.

But still, not only did I care about climate change, I cared even more about my electrical bill, and I hadn’t left the light on.

Was Cap done with his business that took him away from our date that night?

And if he was, would he break into my house again in order to spend time with me?