Page 75 of Dead Serious: Case 3 Mr Bruce Reyes
For several of the longest seconds of my life, I don’t know what the hell is going on. The room is filled with loud ripping and crashing noises, and the storm suddenly sounds very close.
When Danny’s grip on me loosens, we look up to find an enormous hole in the ceiling revealing the tumultuous sky above. The edge of the bedroom ceiling has crashed down on top of the chest of drawers, smashing the TV and taking out part of the interior wall that separates the bedroom from the bathroom. From here, it also looks like the bathroom ceiling has caved in.
“OH, COME ON!” I wail in despair to a universe apparently intent on never letting me get laid ever again. “Are you fucking kidding me?” I bury my face in Danny’s shoulder. “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!”
“Baby, up.” Danny gives me a not-so-gentle push. “We need to move. I don’t know how stable the rest of that ceiling is.”
Knowing he’s right, I scramble off him, the slick slide of the lube still between my cheeks serving as a reminder of my currently forced celibacy and making me feel slightly belligerent despite the urgency of the circumstances. Grabbing my shorts, I yank them on and then fumble for Danny’s, dragging them over his cast as he raises his hips to make it easier for me. I help him to his feet and hand him his crutches.
“We need to find Jacob Marley. I doubt he was in the bathroom, he never goes in there, but we need to make sure,” Danny says as I scoop both of our phones off the bedside table.
My stomach drops at his words. Yes, my cat can be a prickly little asshole, but I would be devastated if something happened to him. I rush to the door of the bedroom.
“JACOB MARLEY!” I yell, loud enough to reverberate through the small apartment. A moment later, I breathe a sigh of relief when I hear an indignant meow from the living room. Obviously, I’d disturbed his nap.
“Tristan, help me grab some clothes.”
I quickly scan the room for any piles of laundry since most of the ceiling is currently on top of the chest of drawers. I grab the t-shirt I stripped off Danny earlier from where I threw it on the floor and then find my own. A pair of his joggers and his sweatshirt hang over the back of a chair in the corner of the room, probably because he stripped them off last night and forgot to put them in the laundry basket in the bathroom.
Most of my clothes are inaccessible right now because the wardrobe also has part of the ceiling leaning against it, so I make do with grabbing my Doc Martens and shoving them onto my bare feet. I follow Danny into the living room, skirting around the various pots and buckets in there, and hope fervently that this room’s ceiling holds at least until we are able to move.
Danny drops down onto the sofa, and I help him get his feet in his joggers so he can shimmy them up and over his sleep shorts. Handing him his phone and the rest of his clothes, I pull on my t-shirt and shoot Chan a message to tell her what happened and ask how quickly we can sign one of those leases. At this point, I don’t even care where as long as we’re not in danger of the ceiling collapsing in.
My next call is to the property owner, Mr Ahmed, but his phone keeps going to voice mail. After three tries, I finally leave him an exceptionally eloquent message—and by eloquent, I mean one rather put out and highly sarcastic. Given the fact that he’s ignored every single warning I’ve given him about the roof for the last two years, I think I keep my cool rather well.
When I finally hang up, I turn back to Danny. He’s pulled on his t-shirt and sweatshirt and is lacing a running shoe onto the foot that isn’t in a cast. I’m just reaching out to give him a hand up when I hear sirens stop outside, followed by a loud banging on the front door soon after.
Hurrying over, I open it to find my landing full of sexy firefighters in full gear. “Is it my birthday?” I blink in surprise, standing aside as they muscle their way in. “Danny,” I call toward the living room, “did you call the emergency services?”
One of the firefighters, a good-looking guy in his thirties with hazel eyes and blonde hair peeking out from under his helmet, grabs my arm gently and pulls me aside so the rest of his team can enter the flat.
“Your neighbour across the road called it in. He saw the roof collapse,” he says in a kind but firm voice. “Did anyone take a hit?”
“Only my libido,” I mutter sourly.
His mouth twitches in amusement. “Was anyone hurt?”
“No, but the bathtub took a direct hit and my TV is toast.”
“Sir, we’re going to have to ask you to evacuate the premises immediately while we assess the damage. It looks pretty severe from outside, but until we can determine if the rest of the roof will fail, it’s not safe for you in here.”
“But my cat!” I say, panicked, as Danny hobbles up beside me.
“We’ll find him, sir,” the fireman says in a reassuring but firm tone, “but you can’t be in here right now.”
“Where are we going to go?” I turn to Danny. “We can’t stand around outside in the storm.”
“Perhaps try across the road at number nineteen,” the fireman offers. “The gentlemen who lives there was waiting outside when we arrived. Apparently, he was the one who called it in.”
“Thank you.” Danny nods.
The fireman eyes Danny’s leg. “Do you need assistance getting downstairs, sir?”
“Nope. I’m good, thanks,” he replies tightly, clearly not wanting the indignity of being hauled arse over shoulder down the narrow staircase.
I grab my hoodie from the coat rack and pull it on. After zipping it up, I do the same with my raincoat. I must look ridiculous in nothing but sleep shorts, my DM’s and a raincoat but it’s really the least of my problems right now. Patting down my pocket out of habit, I’m relieved to find my wallet still there. At least I don’t have to go looking for it. I slip my phone in next to it and then help Danny into his coat.
I cast a quick glance around, but I still can’t see Jacob Marley anywhere. The little git has probably either wedged himself down the back of the sofa to avoid all the commotion or he’s hiding on top of one of the bookcases, although I really don’t know how he manages to haul his tubby body up there.