Page 4 of Devious Corruption

He huffs then slams the door.

Marion mewls, rubbing her face against my chin.

“Don’t even try it.” I scratch behind her ears. “You have to stop sneaking out.”

I’m lucky she’s never left my floor of the apartment building. If she ever got downstairs and outside, it would be a miracle to find her afterward. But like me, she’s a bit of a homebody and would prefer to hang around home whenever possible.

“Let’s hope your uncle left the door unlocked.” I carry her to my apartment. My stomach growls, reminding me how late it is.

Wrapping my hand around the knob, I take a moment to put out a vibe into the universe.

It will be open.

It will be open.

The door is locked.

I lean my forehead against it, squishing Marion to me as I dig out my phone to call Joey.

“Of course.” I get sent straight to voicemail. A second call, this time to Keith, Joey’s twin, and again, voicemail.

Frustration builds in my chest while tears threaten. Iclear my throat and wipe my eyes. It’s just a locked door. I can handle this.

I’ve been locked out of places before. At least this time, I have a warm hallway to sit in instead of a standing outside a double wide in the torrential downpour of a spring rain.

Going to my next-door neighbor’s apartment, I lightly knock. Vee’s been slowly moving her things over to her fiancé’s place, but maybe she’s home.

I knock louder.

Nothing.

I send a text to both brothers urging one of them to get back here with my key.

Joey responds.

Shit, sorry about that. But we’re out of town till AM.

My jaw joins the list of things that ache as I clench, trying to keep my scream of frustration bottled up. The boys have been the cause of too many noise complaints already, if I start screaming like a nutcase in the hallway, the landlord might actually get off his ass and send me packing.

I scroll through my contacts until I find the landlord’s number and send him a text. He has to have the master key to all the apartments, he’ll be able to let me in.

He’ll give me grief for it, but at least I’ll be inside.

Can’t get there until tomorrow afternoon. Out on a job.

What the hell does that mean? This is his job. This building is his job!

No one else has the master keys?I send back. Surely, he’sgot an assistant or someone who handles stuff like this when he’s unavailable.

Just me. I have them with me. Tomorrow afternoon.

What am I supposed to do now, sleep out in the hall? Going over to the boy’s apartment won’t help me any if they’re both out of town. If I could even stomach staying at their place.

Settling myself on the floor outside my apartment, I dial up Vee.

“Hey, what’s up?” She answers on the second ring.

Loud laughter erupts in the background on her end of the line. Thick Russian accents follow the noise. Friendly banter? It’s hard to tell with the language.