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He gives me a wink and a kiss. “That stint in the hospital took care of most of the withdrawals. I’ll be fine for at least a couple of hours. Go make sure she’s not getting herself into too much trouble.”
With that piece of reassurance taking some of the load off my mind, I trot down the hotel hallway after Bunny. She breaks into a run when my footsteps echo behind her, looking back over her shoulder and giggling.
Great. She’s gonna make this a game.
I pick up the pace and catch up to her in the hotel lobby. Bunny stands there with a massive grin on her bruised face, poised to bolt if I get too close.
“C’mon, Bunny. Now’s not the time for this.”
“There’s always time for this,” she purrs. “Think you can catch me?”
“Bunny, if we’re going to search Justin’s apartment, we should do it now. Anything else can wait until we’re back.”
She pouts and crosses her arms over her chest with a huff. “You’re no fun.”
“Yep. That’s me: total buzzkill.” I take her arm and lead her out the door. “Now do you remember which apartment is Justin’s?”
Bunny rolls her eyes. “Duh. Of course I do. I can even find it from the inside if you don’t feel like climbing buildings today.”
That’s right. Bunny decided to play stuntwoman and go climbing the fire escape to get into Justin’s apartment when she went after him. If I recall, she said the fire escape didn’t lead to his actual window, and she had to skirt the ledge a bit to find him. Not something my massive frame can probably accomplish, so we’ll have to go the B&E route. Getting into the building shouldn’t be too tough, just a little lockpicking, but the key is to get in and out without being seen and reported to the police.
Speaking of the cops, the lack of police presence at Justin’s apartment building is suspicious. Has he not been reported missing yet? It’s been almost a week since Bunny kidnapped him; I’d think someone would have noticed by now.
Rather than ruminate on it too long, I follow Bunny up the apartment building stairs to the apartment door. I pick the lock, and we go inside.
At first, I think someone ransacked the place. Trash and dirty laundry are strewn about, and the faint odor of something rotten hits my nostrils. I turn to see the refrigerator door cracked open. Something in there must’ve spoiled.
“Well, at least it doesn’t look like anyone else has been here,” Bunny says with a smile. “That’s good. We should be able to find what we need.”
My jaw drops. “Are you telling me this place looked like this before?”
She nods. “Yep. Dude was a slob.”
I shudder at the thought of living like this. The Burrow might not have been the best place to live, but at least we kept it clean.
Bunny picks her way through the mess to the bedroom. I follow, wincing as my boots crunch and squish on random bits of trash and debris. I’d rather not think about what I’m stepping on—or in—so I keep my eyes trained on Bunny.
She finds the computer easily enough, but we encounter a problem: It’s a desktop.
I’d been hoping for a more portable thing to steal. This is some top-of-the-line tower, though, with twin fans running and unnecessary neon lights flashing inside. Can’t exactly just stuff that under my shirt or in a backpack to carry out of here. Anyone sees us, and they’ll know we just robbed someone.
“Does Keys even have all the wires and hookups necessary to look at this back at the hotel?” I ask. “Or should we bring the wiring too?”
Bunny shrugs. “I dunno. Not my area of expertise. I say grab everything. Monitors and all.”
I cast a sideways glance at Bunny. “He’s got five monitors here.”
“So?”
“Bunny, we didn’t come prepared to carry this much stuff. Pick one monitor and a handful of cables, and I’ll carry the tower.” I figure it’s best if I have the most expensive piece of equipment in my grubby hands if we’re caught. They’re likely to go easier on Bunny, especially if I can convince the authorities that this was all my idea.
Of course, Bunny picks the biggest, most obvious monitor to steal.
“Bunny, don’t you think you should get one of the smaller ones?”
She bats her lashes and gives me her best attempt at an innocent look. “But Neil’s glasses are still ruined. He won’t be able to see the smaller screens. He can help Keys better this way.”
I’d argue, but what’s the point? Bunny’s going to do what she wants. Unless we’re in the bedroom, I have no control over her actions. Occasionally I can get her to behave if I threaten her with a good time later, but we don’t have the luxury for that right now.
