Slow and Speedy Win the Fight

58. Break Out

Sheldon

It took me seventeen hours and fifty-three minutes to set up the room to my liking but I managed to get it just right.

I took in my work and smiled proudly to myself as I reached for my stash of snacks and popped a chip into my mouth.

Luckily, I had a bunch of extra material from the last time I did this so I could just break it out whenever—

"Sheldon!" Haresa yelled as they knocked my door repeatedly.

I looked towards the door and noticed it shaking from Haresa's knocks. I sighed to myself and reluctantly opened the door.

"The fuck you want?" I said between bites of chips.

They were seething. "I just came back— What the heck is that?"

They pointed to my pile of snacks and I instinctually held my chips farther away from them. "You can't have any."

"No, these snacks are from the kitchen. Why did you drag them to your room?" Haresa asked.

I gave them a glare. "I didn't 'drag' them to my room. I carried them like any normal person and put them in my room."

"Are you planning to eat all of that at once?"

"No, that's ridiculous," I huffed. "Back to the point, why the fuck are you here?"

They took a deep breath and seemed to struggle to calm down but continued interacting with me anyways. "So, did you used to live in an apartment with no bathroom and a room lined with stilyte? Single window in the living room? Directly in the middle of the bad part of the city?"

Their eyes glanced over the stilyte lining in my room and I crossed my arms defensively.

"Why?" Hostility was evident in my tone but they didn't seem to mind it.

"Someone tried to break in. Landlord wanted me to see if his last tenant was trying to get back at him since the tenant had no means of contact."

My eyebrows shot up and my mind whirred. Break in? Who would break in?

My mind flashed to Reynard and I stifled a scream. He got what he wanted, didn't he?

But what if he was after something else?

I dug my hand into the shiny plastic bag and shoveled my chips into my mouth. "What do you want me to do about it?"

"I need you to tell me a list of suspects so I can investigate it. The landlord is pretty upset and wants the damages to be paid."

"How much money?" I tossed the empty bag into a trash can and crouched down to look under the bed for my bag.

I heard a sigh. "About one thousand bucks."

"I got the cash. I'll just pay him off."

"Wait, what? You didn't do it though."

"So? I was the tenant. It was my responsibility." I took out a wad of cash from my bag and threw it towards Haresa.

They gaped at the amount of money I tossed away and I raised an eyebrow.

"What? Take it and make the old guy shut up."

"But what about justice?" They sputtered.

"Justice." I stretched the word out and gave them a dead stare. "The landlord isn't after justice, he's after money so he doesn't have to pay that hell hole himself."

"You expect me to just take this without any question?"

"You do if you want to keep the peace in this area." I cracked my neck. "I'll get my money back eventually."

"How?"

I paused and thought over my options. I would have to investigate whatever was going on by myself. Reynard was working for someone last I checked and there was no reassurance that he wouldn't announce my existence and location to the world.

"I'll figure it out."