“Back away from her,” one officer said.
Angelica wasn’t sure which one. Her heart raced so fast that she could barely breathe. Someone snagged her hand and helped her to get upright again and then walked her away from her desk. When she looked over, she found Florence holding onto her arm with a hand against her back as she guided her away from the room.
The two security guards moved Josef away from her desk and had him sit down in one of the chairs in the corner of the room. Angelica was ushered out of her office and put at Mrs. van Driel’s desk. Her knees nearly gave out as soon as she sat down. Her fingers trembled. Her entire body felt weak and her palms clammy.
“Are you okay? Right now, are you okay to sit here and breathe?” Florence knelt down and put a hand on Angelica’s knee and looked up to meet her gaze.
Angelica nodded. What else was she supposed to do? She’d seen Josef angry before, but never quite like that.
“Stay right here.” Florence stood up and moved quickly.
Angelica had no idea where she went, but when she came back, the Los Angeles Police Department flooded the office, and she had a bottle of cold water in her hands. Florence showed them the room and pointed to Angelica, giving directions and ordering everyone around. Just like Angelica would have done if she hadn’t been the focus of Josef’s ire.
Josef’s voice rose from her office, and Angelica tensed. He was yelling at police officers. Her security guards were ushered out of the room, along with Mrs. van Driel, which left them all in the hallway to wait out whatever was going to happen next.
There was a shout. A crash. Angelica stood up as if to go see what was going on, but Florence put out a hand to keep her in place. The officers were yelling at Josef, telling him to comply. Without being able to see in the room, she had no idea what was going on.
Eventually, they pulled him out of the office, his face red, hands cuffed behind his back, and the officers didn’t look happy at all. Two of them took him down the hall and out toward the front of the building where they would have come in.
An officer stayed nearby, taking everyone’s statements. Angelica recounted everything she remembered, and he was just about to go when he stopped.
“I’m assuming you want to file charges as well.”
“As well?” Angelica asked.
“He struck one of our officers when we were attempting to talk with him.”
“Oh.” Angelica held her breath and nodded. “Yes, I do. I should have trespassed him from the property before today, I just…didn’t think about it between the time we got back and now.”
“Good idea.” The officer handed her a card with his name and the report number on it. Angelica took hold of it firmly and breathed relief. “Sorry about the mess.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Mrs. van Driel said.
Angelica kept her mouth shut, still staring down at the card. How the hell was she supposed to tell Hope about what had happened today? She’d be scared and angry and ready to take Josef down as soon as she found out. Angelica would too if it was the opposite and he’d come after Hope.
“Ange?” Florence caught her attention.
“Yes. Sorry. We…had a meeting.”
Florence snorted and shook her head. “Is there another conference room we can talk in?”
Angelica pursed her lips. “I have a better idea.”
Standing up, she walked into her office and ignored everything strewn on the floor, the broken glass from the cups that they’d knocked down when Josef had resisted. She reached for her phone and her iPad, taking them with her. The officers would get the video as soon as she emailed it to them, but she could do that later. Her lawyers would get a copy as well.
Florence waited for her at the door. Angelica nodded.
“Are you a whiskey or a bourbon woman?” Angelica asked.
“Whiskey.”
“Good.” Angelica sighed and walked toward her small apartment. Florence followed her. As soon as they were inside, Angelica shut and locked the door. “Take a seat.”
She put her things down and snagged the whiskey she kept in the kitchen and poured each of them a glass. “Ice, or no?”
“Yes.”
Angelica came back, handing the glass to Florence and sitting next to her, crossing her legs, and immediately sipping the alcohol. It wasn’t what she wanted, not really, but it’d do fornow, until she could catch up with Hope and tell her everything that had happened that day.
