security features were minimal and mostly just a showy deterrent. It hadn’t bothered Laila much when she was living here, because something was better than the nothing she’d had before.
“What if we just push them up high and crawl underneath, you know, heist-style?” Rosamie suggested
It was a good idea, but when Laila tried, neither the camera nor the arm it was perched on moved. “They must screw these things into position. I think we need a screwdriver.”
Frustrated, Laila tugged at the single exposed cable. She sighed with relief when the tiny green LED flickered and died. “Or we can just unplug it.”
“Okay, get down from there before someone sees you.”
Positioning the cable so that it barely made contact, she scrambled down. With luck, the guard would just believe that the cable slipped out on its own. “This way,” she said, ushering Rosamie past the elevator to the stairs.
They made it to the top floor without further incident, although they were both out of breath by the time they got there. Pausing in front of Joseph’s door, Laila pulled the smaller stunning device out her bag, slipping it into her more accessible front pocket. Giving her a sharp nod, Rosamie pulled out the larger one, posing with it like Charlie’s shortest Angel.
Laila grinned, but it was shaky. Sucking in a deep breath, she reached for her key. But she didn’t need it.
The door was unlocked. Holding her breath, she pushed it open.
“Are we too late?” Rosamie’s eyes widened on the disarray that used to be Joseph’s pristine apartment. “Did the police already raid the place?”
“Um…” Laila closed the door behind them. She bent to pick up an empty bottle of vodka. “Something tells me that’s not it.”
The place looked worse than the frat on a Sunday morning. There were empty bottles and dirty glasses and dishes scattered on almost every surface. The round table near the entrance was on its side, dirt from the potted plant that normally stood in the middle of it spilled on the glossy marble floor. The plant itself had been kicked into the living room, a trail of black soil flecked with white marking its path.
“Joseph must have moved the party here at some point.”
“Do you think he’s still here?” Rosamie grimaced. “Or anyone else?”
Laila shrugged helplessly. There was no one in sight. “Let’s just hurry.”
They began to go room to room, searching under and between couch cushions for the phone. Laila had to pick her way through the detritus, thinking Joe must have had a big party, but the more she went over the mess, the less convinced of that she became.
For one, the discarded pizza boxes and half-full food containers were all from different places. There was no evidence of a single bulk order, the kind shared among party guests. The only thing that could have conceivably been shared by multiple people was alcohol. The sheer number of bottles was enough for three or four people. To think Joseph may have drunk all this on his own in just a few days—big chunks of which had to have been spent at Alpha Omega.
Her stomach twisting, she caught Rosamie’s eye. Laila waved at the empty bottles. “I think he’s trying to drink himself to death.”
Rosamie’s dark eyes flashed. “Because he feels guilty—now we know for sure he’s involved. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be acting like this.”
Laila wanted to protest. A tiny voice in her head still wanted to defend Joseph, but she didn’t. She couldn’t. Rosamie was voicing the same thoughts she was having.
“Let’s check the bedroom,” she suggested.
With a terse nod, Rosamie took out the stunner. She held it up like a cop about to go into a raid.
The siren’s sounded the second she made the comparison. Jerking her head around, she rushed to the window.
“Oh-my-God.” Rosamie was right behind her. But her friend’s shoes were far more slippery. They lost traction on the slick marble floor, sending Rosamie crashing into her. Gritting her teeth, Laila checked Rose’s forward progress before she banged into the window.
“Thanks,” Rosamie murmured. “Are they getting closer?”
Laila craned her neck, but she couldn’t see any cruisers. “I don’t think so. They must have been on the other block.”
She turned around too fast, inadvertently striking a beer bottle she hadn’t seen with her foot. Horrified, she watched it fly across the floor.
Squealing in dismay, Rosamie grabbed her. They held each other’s hands, both cringing as the bottle hit the couch and rebounded with a clatter, setting it spinning in a circle.
Laila