Maybe that’s why they destroyed the place, as payback for not having anything worthwhile.
Even my toothpaste had been squeezed out of the tube and into the toilet. Guess they wanted me to have bad breath.
I’d chewed down another nail until it was a bloody pulp while attempting to take a quick inventory of my stuff. I couldn’t tell what was missing, if anything. It was like a bomb had gone off.
The headache I’d woken up with had intensified. I could feel my heartbeat in my temple. I stood in front of the angel fish tank, my head spinning like I’d just stepped off a tilt-a-whirl. Nausea roiled in my belly, the breakfast Kieran had forced on me threatening to reappear.
Calling the cops wasn’t really an option. I mean, it was, but what was the point? Like I said, I had nothing of value, and whoever did this was long gone. Plus, in my neighborhood, snitches got stitches. I already had some of those, thank you very much.
The bell on the front door chimed, signaling a customer. I turned from the tanks and went up front behind the desk, telling the newcomer to let me know if he needed any help.
My limbs felt weak. My whole body had been trembling since I’d seen the state of my home. Sinking onto a stool, I sighed, trying to relax my muscles.
Just get through this shift.
It was hard to focus. My mind kept wandering off to nothing, too overloaded to really think. A car accident, head injury, hospital stay, and Kieran. And now a tossed apartment. All of it in less than twenty-four hours.
My life was normally very mundane. It consisted of working my many jobs and going home to my tiny, not-great apartment and crashing. It hadn’t been much, but it was mine, which was more than I could say for any of the other places I’d lived during my life.And it had been invaded.
I blinked back the tears welling up in my eyes, then swiped my face with the sleeve of my shirt. Thank God it hadn’t been ruined. Showing up lateandout of uniform really would have gotten me fired.
A throat cleared, and my head snapped up to the man on the other side of the counter. I leaped off the stool. “How can I help you?”
“Just this today,” he said, laying a thirty-gallon tank filter on the counter. “Do you have any driftwood?”
“Oh, yes, we have some right over there.” I pointed.
“Those might as well be twigs. I want something bigger.”
“I’m sorry. That’s the only selection we have right now,” I said, ringing up the filter. I glanced at the man. “But you could try Etsy. They might have a size you like. I would recommend boiling any driftwood you purchase for several hours just to be sure you kill any fungus and disease.”
After paying, he took his purchase and left. He didn’t even say thank you for the helpful tip.
Slumping against the counter, I heaved a sigh. It was going to be a long shift.
Trudging to the back, I rummaged around in the tiny break room until I found a bottle of pain relievers. After shaking out a few into my palm, I downed them with some water and hoped they helped ease the throbbing in my head. Gingerly, I fingeredthe beanie where it covered the bandage over my stitches and made a mental note to change it later tonight.
After work, I’d go home and try and clean up, see if whoever broke in actually took anything. Maybe I’d ask my neighbor, Rett—who was the closest thing I had to a friend but really more of an acquaintance—if he saw or heard anything last night. Based on the state of my place, whoever broke in couldn’t have been quiet.
My attention snagged on a yellow sticky note stuck to a cabinet door.Freshwater delivery two o’clockwith today’s date scrawled beneath it. Mr. Wasashi didn’t say anything about it, but I guess he was too busy lecturing me about being late.
I debated calling and asking him about it but decided against it. I’d just prepare a few tanks so they’d be ready for any newcomers who were delivered today. The fact that they were noted to be freshwater excited me a little because I’d mentioned a couple weeks ago that we hadn’t had any plecos for a while.
Plecos were my favorite, and if I had the funds, I’d have one of my own. But they required a tank larger than I could currently afford, so I was going to have to wait. Still, it would be fun to have a few here at Neon Reef. I could see them every day. The idea that we might be getting a delivery brightened my mood and helped focus my mind.
It was a welcome distraction from the chaos of the last twenty-four hours, and I would use it. At least until my shift was over and I had to go back home.
CHAPTER
TWELVE
Kieran
My phone rang several more times throughout the day and then again when I was on my way into the gym, so I turned it off.
The last job I did required travel. I’d been away from Buffalo for nearly three weeks. And that didn’t count the preliminary travel I’d done a couple weeks before the actual job.
People thought killing was simple business. I guess, for some, it was. Point and shoot. Stab and go. Shove a body off a bridge and walk home. But that was for amateurs and people practically begging to be caught.
