Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 77344 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77344 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
“I need to hire a housekeeper or something,” Zeno said, wincing. “All that hard work you did, gone.”
“Well, I got more work for you,” Miko said, exhaling hard. “So I can clean up again while you get started on that.”
“I’m Chuck,” Chuck interjected, making Zeno notice him for the first time.
“That your security blanket?” Zeno asked, nodding toward where Chuck was clutching his gaming console to his chest. “Word to the wise, it might just scare the chicks away.”
“We brought it in case it might help you track down someone.”
“O…kay,” Zeno said, brows pinching.
“On my last job, I hired two guys to help me. Chuck, here. And this guy Henry. Who we just found killed.”
“Oh, shit. Sucks, man.” But there was a detachment in Zeno’s voice that likely came from growing up around crime.
“He tried to kill me too,” Chuck said, tone indignant as he puffed his chest a bit.
“Hence why he’s here,” Miko said with a wide-eyed look at Zeno. “The thing is, Henry seemed to have a roommate.”
“A suspect?”
“Yeah,” Miko agreed. “We searched all through the apartment. We couldn’t find anything that gave away his identity. Chuck here played games with him sometimes, though. So I was wondering if you could check their conversations. Or if you could use Henry’s screen name to see who else he possibly played with. Or, you know, any trace of who that fuck is.”
“Well, it’s not much to go on,” Zeno said, walking over in his bare feet to the freezer, pulling out a pint of ice cream that already had a spoon sticking out of it, and making his way back to his desk. “But if you give me the screen names, address, phone numbers, socials, all that shit, I’m sure I can dig up something. Any physical descriptions I should be looking out for?”
Miko turned to me. “Dirty blond. Tall, but a little shorter than Miko. Thinner, but strong. Blue eyes. The bright kind of blue. There’s really nothing else. He was… average.”
“Alright. Well, blond is better than brunette, I guess. Accent?”
“No.”
“Okay,” Zeno said, reaching for Chuck’s console, actually having to tear it out of his hands. “Well, give me the list and get comfortable. It’s probably going to be a while.”
With that, Zeno got to work with Chuck sitting next to him as Miko started to straighten up. Knowing I would pass out if I sat still for too long, I got up and got to cleaning as well.
“This place was spotless when I left a few days ago,” Miko said as I piled more coffee cups into the sink already full of them that he was washing. “I’m concerned that he will just start going around naked when he runs out of ridiculous shit to wear.”
“There’s a laundromat right around the corner. I can go get some loads going. Sounds like he’s going to be a while.”
“I don’t want you going anywhere alone,” Miko said with a head shake.
“What? We’re back in the city, Miko. I’m going to be going a lot of places alone.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Dude, you’re not my boss,” I reminded him, even if some part of me I barely wanted to acknowledge—let alone cop to—felt all warm and fuzzy at the idea of him being so protective.
“Shit is different now,” Miko insisted, shutting off the water to give me his full attention. “If you hadn’t gone with me upstate, maybe it wouldn’t be a big deal. But you were there. In that house. He saw you. He already knows where you live. It’s not safe for you to go anywhere alone.”
“If it’s not safe for me, then it’s not safe for my roommates either,” I said, stomach twisting. Sure, Tyler was a guy. But he wasn’t any sort of alpha guy. I doubted he’d ever hit someone in his life. And I didn’t even know how long he was going to be in town for.
“Been thinking about that. How do you think your roommates would feel about a little… trip?”
“A trip where?”
“I dunno. Anywhere. Just to get them out of the city for a while. There’s gotta be somewhere they’d like to go.”
They were always talking about trips but never took them. If I did it as an early anniversary present for Megs and Nicole, I really didn’t think they could object to it. And they were both able to work remotely, so that wasn’t an issue.
“Megs always said she wanted to see Vermont in the snow.”
“Vermont it is, then,” Miko said. “I will get it all set up.”
“It needs to be set up like an anniversary gift.”
“That’s not a problem. I just need to know how soon they can leave.”
“I’ll ask Tyler,” I said, reaching for my phone for the first time in what felt like ages.
“That was quick,” Miko said when my phone dinged almost immediately.