Page 117 of Nemesis

The real thing was better than waking up with a stiff dick and only my hand to take care of it.

“His car is down there still,” Tem says, exiting onto the street.

I shine my flashlight at the sidewalk. It’s not really dark enough to require one, but it’s not yet light enough to trust I won’t miss something small. Sure enough, there’s a glint of reflected light.

I pause, crouching, and touch the wet spot. My finger comes away red.

“What the fuck?” Tem breathes. She’s right over my shoulder, so close I can feel the heat of her body. “Is that blood?”

I rise and swing the light around in a wider arc. “We don’t know it’s his.”

She hisses out a breath. “And if it is?”

Then…

“I don’t know.” My voice is hoarse. “I guess we’ll need to ask for help, Artemis.”

She bristles. “No shit, Sherlock.”

I eye her. She seems genuinely worried. The cool air—and the bottle of water I guzzled while Tem got dressed—helps abate some of my drunkenness. I slept off a good portion, too. Still probably not enough to drive, but enough to think clearer.

“I shouldn’t have fallen asleep,” I tell her.

Tem sighs. “It’s not your fault.”

It is.

I meant what I said about him being on my conscience. If he’s missing—and all signs point toyes—then we have a late start because I passed out as soon as he left.

“Stop staring,” she mumbles.

The words register, and I scowl. I force my gaze away from her face and turn to the building. She picked this condo when she wanted security—when the town was literally going to shit and she was a target. Which means she chose one with locking front doors and security cameras.

“Come on.” I unlock the front door and usher her into the lobby.

It’s not just the doors that are monitored—the elevators have cameras, and above the third floor require fobs to activate the lifts. But the important part is the guy who sits behind the desk around the corner. He wears aSecurityjacket, black with silver light-reflecting patches on the arms and thick stitching.

“Hey, man.”

He whirls around, eyeing me up and down. His limbs tense, like he’s about to jump to his feet and fucking square off with me. But then recognition takes hold, and his posture eases a fraction.

“Some lady is screaming on the fifth floor. We tried calling down but it wasn’t going through. It sounded kind of… violent.”

He swears. “What unit?”

I make a face. “I don’t know. Maybe 505? Hard to say for sure.”

He jots something down, then grabs keys and leaps up. I guide Tem out of the way, keeping her behind me as the guard bolts back down the hall. The door swings shut, and I stick my foot in to keep it from fully closing.

As soon as he’s around the corner, we slip inside.

“Nicely done,” she murmurs. “But he’ll be back as soon as he realizes you made that up.”

I shrug. “He’s still probably going to check on everyone up there.”

I take a seat at the monitors. Admittedly, I’m not very high tech, but I can navigate my way around an old desktop computer. He didn’t even shut it down. I glance at Tem, who still hovers at my shoulder, and figure out how to rewind.

We watch a somewhat grainy video, starting at midnight and zooming onwards. There’s nothing for a long while, the building near silent. A couple lets themselves in through the front door, kissing in the elevator. They exit.

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