“What?” I demand.
Something shifts in his expression.
Then, just as suddenly, it’s gone.
The sunglasses reappear.
The wall comes back up.
“I believe there has been a misunderstanding.”
I bark out a laugh.
“A misunderstanding?”
“Indeed.”
“Pretty sure strangulation is hard to misunderstand.”
His jaw tightens.
“Regardless,” he says after a moment, “I appreciate your time.”
“Wait. That’s it?”
“We will investigate the matter.”
The matter.
Not the assault.
Not the… attempted murder? Murder?
The matter.
I watch him disappear down the stairs at the end of the hallway.
The moment he’s gone, I inhale deeply, gulping in air. It’s almost like I was underwater and just now returned to the surface.
Beside me, Casey squints after him.
“Was it just me,” Casey asks, “or was that guy weird as hell?”
I look at him. Then at the stairwell. Then back.
“Seriously fucking weird,” I mutter, closing the front door. “You okay? You kind of froze up there.”
“Yeah, I think so? I don’t know. I don’t feel like myself today. I think I might go lay down for a while. Sleep the weirdness off.”
I nod.
“Good plan. I’m going to go take a shower before I have to walk the dogs today.”
Casey’s already heading toward his room. He gives me a small backwards wave and closes the door.
I stare after him, scratching at my thigh, wondering if my happy-go-lucky roomie is now broken, all because I decided to bring him to the strange pizza shop.
I shake off the twinge of guilt and go back to my room, starting the shower and undressing so I can wash off theweirdnessas Casey called it, and get a jumpstart on my day.
