So let me get this straight, ma’am, an escaped prisoner broke into your house and instead of calling the cops you… made him hot chocolate?The police officer inside my head raises an imaginary brow and I groan.
The last thing I want to do is call the police, but I know I have to. Before I can pick up my phone though, the doorbell rings again. One long buzz.
I clamber out of bed, snagging an old hoodie off my laundry basket and pulling it on as I hurry into the hall. “Coming!” I call as the bell rings again.
There’s a man with a clipboard on my doorstep. I blink at him.
He scratches behind his ear and checks his paperwork before glancing up at me. “Hazel Halloway?”
My shoulder blades tingle. I check the logo on the polo top stretched over his round belly.Speed Safe AS.
“That’s me,” I say, wracking my tired brain for some sort of clue.
“I’m Carl, I’m here to install your alarm system.”
My brow digs so far down I go a little cross-eyed. I shake my head. “I didn’t order a new alarm.”
Carl taps his pencil against his clipboard. “Says right here you did. 241 Pear Tree Avenue.” He lifts a page. “Order was placed by a… Mr. Dexter.”
My blood freezes. I clench my hand around the door frame and nod to the clipboard. “Can I see that?” I whisper.
Carl shrugs and passes me the form. The name is typed out in black and white.Dexter.
What’s your favorite TV show, Flynn?
It can’t be a coincidence. On the other hand, if this isn’t some mix-up, then the very first thing Flynn did after escaping prison and leaving my house last night was order me a security system. Frankly, that seems almost as crazy as a coincidence.
I wet my lips as I hand the clipboard back, my mouth dry from hanging open. “There’s been a misunderstanding. I didn’t order this. I’m sorry to waste your time.”
I go to close the door when Carl clears his throat. “Uh, it’s already paid for ma’am.” He scratches behind his ear again. “Boss won’t like it if I don’t complete the installation.”
I bite my lip. I think people-pleasing might be the death of me because I’m not sure I can let Carl, this man I havejustmet and have no emotional connection to, get in trouble. “What does it do exactly?”
Carl launches into a practiced spiel. “Speed Safe alarm systems are completely wireless, providing a single point, multiroom security measure that encompasses your whole home and allows you to sleep soundly and leave your home in the safe hands of our rapid response security team.”
I’m tempted to clap but the manners my gran drilled into me hold me back. “Um, what does that mean exactly? In normal human language.”
Carl scratches his ear and smiles. “Uh, movement sensors connected to an alarm system on every door and window.”
My interest piques. “Windows?”
“Yes, ma’am. Every single one.”
I hiss a breath out between my teeth. I know I’m being manipulated. I know Flynn is playing with me. But after last night, having movement sensors on my windows honestly sounds really fucking good. “Okay.” I nibble at my lip. “You can come in.”
I step back, holding the door open for Carl and the boxed-up alarm system.
It occurs to me I probably should have asked for an ID but then fake IDs aren’t exactly hard to get, and my skill set falls way below the bar of being able to spot one. When everyone else was sneaking out to go underage clubbing, I was staying home to look after my gran. Not that I particularly wanted to go clubbing. Anything that shares the name with an activity where you beat up baby seals is a no go for me. The only time I ever went out was when Tommy was in a sour mood and I was too scared to tell him no.
Carl takes out a screwdriver and I have momentary visions of him stabbing me in the stomach with it, but he just gets to work disabling my current alarm system. Though the word current is a bit misleading given the last time I actually set it was back when my gran was still alive.
Between Tommy and Flynn, I decide I need to have better survival instincts, so I watch Carl like a hawk, tailing him around the house in nothing but my oversized hoodie and teddy bear slippers. My bare legs goosebump as a thought occurs to me. “There’re no cameras, right?” I ask as Carl fixes a small white box to my bedroom window frame.
“No, ma’am,” he says around the screwdriver between his teeth. He takes the screwdriver out and looks back at me. “Whole system’s done on sensors, so you don’t get no creeps hacking the video feed or crazy shit like that.”
I nod my head like me and “crazy shit” aren’t practically bunk buddies at this point. I wonder whether we get a limit on how much unlikely stuff can happen to us in one week.“I’m sorry Miss Halloway, you can’t win the lottery today because a serial killer broke into your house last night.”
Carl finishes with my window but breaks into a smoker’s coughing fit as he stands up. My determination to watch his every move is fast replaced with the manners hard-wired into my brain. “Can I get you a drink? I have coffee.”
