“You should write horror books,” I added with a smirk.
“Says 00 fucking 7.”
“Will you two stop?” Harper cut in, chastising us. What could I say? We were as close as real brothers. Our banter and piss-taking were always done out of love and with the best intentions.
I continued down the same path, but with a seriousness, “No. He’ll either do something crazy, or he won’t approve, and he’ll try to talk me out of it, and I can’t take that chance.”
Harper grunted. “Since when did Hudson become the voice of reason?”
“Since he became wifed-up with Molly,” I explained.
She pursed her lips and leaned back. “Good point. Molly would also have his balls as earrings if he did anything her father wouldn’t approve of. He’s already in the sin bin after last night's events.”
“Why don’t we try it another way. Maybe Storm could take Jasper’s keys, and we could get one cut?”
“No. I don’t want her taking too many risks,” I explained, shifting against the leather of my seat, suddenly as uncomfortable as fuck.
“But you told her about the plan, right?”
“No. I left her a voicemail telling herpartof the plan. I added nothing about the breaking-and-entering bit.”
“You know, we could just walk in the front door?”
“Are you on crack?”
“Nope. I’d never smoke anything named after my ass,” Phoenix replied in a measured tone.
“You need to take this seriously, or we’re definitely going to spend the night inside,” I grunted, pinching the bridge of my nose.
“I am being serious. I’ve been here before, you know. As I mentioned last night, it’s my dad’s building, for Christ's sake. The other residents will recognize me. Let’s be ballsy about it, as Harper said.”
“Do you know the codes for the keypad?”
“No.”
“So, your ‘I’ve been here before’ comment is bullshit then, as we still need to break the fucking door in.”
“God, you’re a naysayer. You’ve let your dick of a brother rub off on you.”
“He’s your brother too, asswipe,” I huffed.
Suddenly, Nix’s attention was stolen as a guy crossed the street and walked towards his father’s building.
“What?” I asked, slapping him on the arm. “Do you know him?”
“No, but I’ve seen him before. I think he lives in one of the apartments next to the office block.”
“Shit, let's go then,” I belted, leaning across Nix’s legs to open the glove compartment to retrieve some gloves.
After showing Harper how to flash the lights on my car, we exchanged places and scrambled out.
We left Harper in the front seat and casually made our way across the road. As wereached the building’s entrance, the weight of uncertainty grew heavier. Phoenix tried the handle, but the door was locked.
“Shit, now what?” We had clearly missed our window of opportunity, as the man we had seen moments ago had already entered the building.
I dragged a hand across my face, wondering whether our best option would be to go around the back. We couldn’t very well break in through the front in plain sight.
The street behind us was quiet and empty, with grassed embankments and tall trees. The shops that lined the street were closed, with shutters pulled down over the windows. A dog walker was waiting for his dog to finish its shit on the opposite side of the street, and the only sounds were the faint rustle of leaves and an occasional sound of a car driving past. It was still broad daylight, and so very little could be done without attracting some attention.
