Chapter 8 - My Landlord Worked for the Cross Family
I wanted to go back to my apartment.
Stellan said no.
I told him that was adorable.
He did not think it was adorable.
“Selene, someone bought your building through an account tied to Fern’s false identity.”
“I heard you.”
“You are not walking back into it.”
“My clothes are there. Fern’s medicine is there. Her NICU records are there.”
“We can send people.”
“No.”
His eyes narrowed.
“You think I trust a squad of armed strangers to pack my underwear?”
Darius coughed into his hand.
Stellan glared at him.
I won.
We went back with six security men.
My landlord, Curtis Vale, was waiting in the hallway.
He looked at Stellan and nearly swallowed his tongue.
“Mr. Cross.”
Stellan walked toward him slowly.
“Who owns this building?”
Curtis looked at me.
That was his mistake.
Stellan noticed.
“Look at me.”
Curtis did.
“I manage it.”
“That was not my question.”
“I don’t know the owners personally.”
Darius handed Stellan a printed corporate filing.
Stellan held it up.
“Your signature is on the management contract.”
Curtis started sweating.
I stepped forward.
“You taped an eviction notice to my door yesterday.”
“Selene—”
“You told me if I didn’t pay by Friday, you’d put Fern’s crib on the sidewalk.”
“I was doing my job.”
“Who told you to do it?”
He looked at Stellan.
“No one.”
I laughed.
“Wrong answer.”
Curtis’s phone rang.
Darius took it.
Unknown number.
A text appeared instead.
GET THE WOMAN AND CHILD OUT BEFORE CROSS ARRIVES.
Stellan read it.
His face changed.
Curtis whispered, “I was trying to help.”
I stared at him.
“You threatened to evict me to help?”
“They told me danger was coming. They said if I scared you out of the building, you’d be safer.”
“Who is they?”
“I never met them.”
“Voice?”
“Woman.”
Mrs. Thornbury, standing behind us, looked suddenly tense.
I noticed.
“So you got paid to watch us and then paid to scare us away?”
Curtis nodded miserably.
“The cameras were for security.”
“Whose security?”
“Yours.”
I wanted to scream.
Every cruelty in my life apparently came with a rich person explaining it was protection.
We entered my apartment.
Nothing looked disturbed.
Then I saw Fern’s medicine bottle on the counter.
The cap was loose.
I always tightened it.
Always.
I picked it up.
Mercer smelled the liquid.
His expression changed.
“What?”
“This concentration looks wrong.”
My chest tightened.
“What does that mean?”
“I need to test it.”
Stellan went frighteningly quiet.
I remembered every night Fern had struggled to breathe.
Every emergency visit.
Every time the medicine seemed to help less than it should.
I grabbed Mercer’s arm.
“Tell me.”
“If the solution has been diluted, she may have been receiving half-strength doses.”
I nearly dropped the bottle.
Stellan said, “Who had access to the apartment?”
Curtis backed toward the door.
Darius blocked him.
Curtis shook his head wildly.
“Not me. I swear.”
Then my next-door neighbor opened her door.
Mrs. Alvarez was seventy and knew everything that happened within three floors.
She looked at Stellan, then me.
“Oh, thank God.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
She pointed at the medicine.
“I saw the woman who changed it.”
My heart slammed.
“Who?”
Mrs. Alvarez’s eyes moved past me.
To Mrs. Thornbury.
“Her.”
---
The next chapters are on the left side of your screen.
If you enjoyed the story, bookmark my site: https://metro.treeiq.biz
May you like
New stories are posted daily, so check back for updates.
