“She is not happy with you at all.”
“Us.”
Severo glanced over with a brow raised. “Us?”
“She is glaring at you.”
The Dweller looked down to where the car seat was set on the ground between Seri’s feet.
“I guess she decided to blame me.” Severo chuckled. Her little face scrunched up into an even fiercer scowl.
“Likely.”
They didn’t get to talk more, because a white unmarked van pulled up and stopped right in front of them. A woman jumped out.
Seri stared.Well…this wasn’t questionable at all, he thought with a sigh.
“I guess this is us?” Severo whispered.
“Mr. and Mrs. Doe?” the woman asked, voice sounding as if she found the names humorous.
“That’s us,” the Dweller replied. “Why don’t you get in and I’ll get the bags packed?”
Nodding, Seri stood up. Grabbing the car seat handle, he snagged the baby bag and headed to the door the woman had left open.
Seri glanced at the driver with a weary look as he slipped into the questionable white van, setting the baby bag on the floor. He placed Skya in her car seat in the middle seat. While Seri got the car seat clipped in, he told her, “I promise we will take a nap and cuddle when we get to our new place. Okay, Skya?”
“Gah, bah ah bah,” she whined.
Seri reached down, unzipped the diaper bag, and pulled out a small plush bunny he’d found at the grocery store they’d gone to a few days ago. Straightening up, he offered it to her, smiling when she grumpily grabbed it.
Skya somewhat appeased, Seri sat back and buckled up, eyeing the rest of the van. It was set up so there were seats across from him facing away from the driver. Sitting on the seat was a black duffle bag.
Moments later, Severo got in, sitting next to Skya. The woman came in right after, taking a seat on the bench across from them.
Once the door was shut and the van set off, the mystery woman unwrapped her scarf and greeted them with a smile. She had sharp yet beautiful features, deep russet skin, and large brown eyes.
“Hello, I’m Eden. I’ll be one of your contacts here, in case of trouble. Though from what I understand, you will mostly be talking to the big boss, as you are a favorite of his. How unfortunate for you. I’m joking, of course,” she said with a giggle as she pulled the duffle bag towards her and unzipped it. Her laughter had been very chime-like.
Severo smirked. “Ender and I go way back. You and I both know, you aren’t joking.”
She giggled again. “Anyway, let me just make sure I got everything you requested. So we have two untraceable phones that are already set to open to your thumb prints.” She held up two small thin rectangles, one blue and one green, before dropping them back into the bag. “Not sure whose is whose, but give them a swipe and whatever opens is yours! Moving on, there are also two laptops, two tablets, but I’m not holding any of that up,” Eden said with another tinkling giggle. “Let’s see…” She trailed off, digging some more. “Ah, two wallets with some charge cards and cash. Though Ender did warn that you, Severo, likely wouldn’t use them, but I figured might as well give them to you just in case. Next there are two sets of keys to a Toyota 4Runner in here, with a note about where you can find your SUV. Last, but not least, the latest and newest Glock just released to the market, complete with bullets. The requested gun safe, to keep little hands away, is already set up in the first bedroom to the right in your apartment.” She hummed and then added, “Ah, right, there is also one gun safe in the back of your SUV. Glock locked up, but not loaded.”
Seri eyed Severo at the mention of a gun. It wasn’t that he was against guns… Well, he had been before all this shit…and he still didn’t like them that much. Though, the mention of a gun safe meant at least Severo had considered the danger of having one with a child being there.
The Dweller gave him a hesitant smile. “I figured there was nothing wrong with a bit of added protection, all things considered. Also, your gun was lost with the rental car.”
“Right,” he said with a sigh. “But you threw away my bullets long before that. Those weren’t cheap, you know.”
Severo winced. “Yeah…sorry…”
He needn’t have been…it hadn’t been his money anyway… Charge cards… How much was he going to owe Ender by the end of all this?
From his seat at the kitchen island, Severo glanced around as he sipped some orange juice, mapping the apartment in his head. He’d walked around the full thing after arriving early that morning. There was an immediate small nook with a rack for shoes directly across from the door. A wall to the left and an opening to the right.
The walls were white, the floor some type of gray tile. Further in around the corner, the apartment opened up into a kitchen and living room combined space. The kitchen being the first thing you saw once you turned the corner after entering, had a large hallway leading from it.
The countertops were white, the cabinets blue with hexagonal patterns formed by lines of lights. There was a stove, sink, and instant dishwasher against the left wall. Against the wall across from the entrance of the apartment was a large two-door steel and glass fridge.
