The Neighbours

Five

I wake suddenly and sit up, alert, looking around the room. Yesterday comes back to me and I fall back onto the couch.

"Did I wake you?" I hear as he makes a coffee.

"No." Probably. Who knows. I'm a light sleeper. I'm actually shocked I slept at all. "Zack, everything you did for me-"

He turns to me, "You need to stop thanking me."

"Seriously, Zack-"

"Zeez, I did what any guy should do in that situation."

"No, Zack." I pause and look right at him, meeting his intense gaze, "I can't tell you how much it means to me. Thank you."

"You're welcome, Keys. Coffee?" I nod. "Take this one. I'm going to shower now that you're up. Five minutes. Max. If anyone knocks on that door, do not answer. Have your baton out. Anyone comes in, use it."

I drink my coffee as he showers, curled up on the couch, laptop in front of me.

He comes out in a towel and grabs clothes, heading back to the bathroom, but stops, turning back to me. "Should I change out here, it seems only fair for you to get to peek when I have."

"Go." I say, pointing at the washroom and he laughs before closing the door behind him. That's the second time I've seen him in a towel, and I'm pretty sure he only got better looking. I look like a drowned rat coming out of the shower and somehow this man oozes sex. I really should've gotten laid before being stuck in a hotel room with this man.

He comes back out and I hand him a coffee. "Thank you. Did you get any sleep on the couch?"

I nod. "I was fine. You?"

"You're so stubborn, Zeez." He sits on the end of the bed, facing me, one ankle resting on his other knee, the picture of calm and casual, and also sexy. And he smells so good. I focus myself as he says, "Tell me about the robbery."

"It wasn't a robbery."

"So they didn't take anything?"

"They may have."

"Zeez, I'm lost. If you don't know if they took anything how do you know it's not a robbery?"

"Zack I-" I pause to think how best to explain, "I'm working with this client-"

"The one you met for lunch?"

I nod, "She thought her husband was cheating on her. Long story short, he isn't. Or he's ridiculously good at covering it up, but I doubt that. Anyways, he's into bad things and I know about it. I have the proof against him."

"Why don't you give it to the cops? They'll protect you."

"I can't." They would ignore the husband and lock me up instead, or lock us both up. I can't go to jail and I no longer have my brother to ensure that doesn't happen, so I need to avoid the entire possibility.

"How long has this been going on?"

"A month and a half. Roughly."

"A month and a half?" He growls before sighing and turning back to me, "Zeez, why didn't you do something?"

"I didn't know what to do, Zack. I did what I was asked to do and now... this."

"What's this?"

"They've been following me-"

"That's why you got a new car."

I nod, "They broke into my storage locker-"

"That's why you moved everything so urgently?" Did this man not miss anything?