His frustration bubbles over. “Turn right at the next light! But could you look both ways before you do.”
“Holy. Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
“I don’t even know what that means,” he grumbles.
I decide a little cooperation is in order if I’m gonna get to Toper before my competition does so I look both ways and add a shoulder check.
Then because I can’t help myself, I say, “Are you sure we’re going the right way?”
“I’m sure. I’ve GPSed it.”
“Excellent,” I say as I whip around another corner and head down Plumb Street.
“I never said to go down Plum Street!”
“You gotta navigate as fast as I drive.”
“Maybe you should slow down.”
I ease off the gas. “Happy?”
He sighs. “You gotta turn around. He lives on Harold Street.”
When we finally get to Harold Street, we trip down it slowly. “This is a shit… uh, slum… uh, underprivileged area of Reno.” I say. “Why’s rich boy Toper living here?”
Oscar shrugs at my rhetorical question. “You’ll have to ask him.” He points his finger at a run-down apartment building. “There.”
I turn down a back alley, then park near a pile of rubbish, which is next to several other piles of rubbish, which are all next to several overflowing rubbish bins. “It’s a wonderful world, isn’t it?”
Oscar doesn’t reply, but his nod speaks for him.
“Number of the apartment?” I ask.
“303. And don’t you think the other bounty hunters would think to come here too?”
“Recovery agents,” I remind him. “And maybe, but stereotypically speaking, my kind likes to sleep in.”
“But not you?”
“Never,” I say, slightly stretching the truth.
He looks at the building. “What if he’s not in?”
“We start cruising again.” I unbuckle and open the car door.
“Wait,” Oscar says.
I stop and look back. “What?”
“Are you sure you wanna do this alone? I mean, I could come with you. Have your back.”
“I don’t have a death wish, Oscar. If you got hurt or killed, your dad might get a little pissed.”
“It’ll be easy. You go in first, Brambles follows, I bring up the rear. I’m not gonna get hurt. I’m just gonna help you secure the guy.”
“That’s not how it works. Brambles goes in first. I bring up the rear and you stay in the car with the doors locked.”
He crosses his arms and thumps against the back of the seat like Henri does. “Lame,” he snipes, also sounding like Henri.
