Page 26 of Sweeter Than Fiction

Hal is on the other end sounding quite frantic. “Mr. McDowell, we’ve got a situation down here.”

“What kind of situation?”

“We had a break in, and some damage was done. Looks like there’s even some water damage.

“What the fuck? Where was security?”

“I don’t know, but—”

I don’t let him finish. “I’m on my way. Make sure the cops are on scene.”

I end the call while standing up.

Abby asks, “The cops? Is everything okay?”

“I’m not exactly sure. That was my foreman. There’s been some sort of break-in down at the job site.”

“Oh, shit.”

“I’m really sorry, but I have to go.” I start grabbing a few things to help clean up a little.

“Of course,” she says while grabbing my hand to stop me. “Don’t worry. I’ve got this. Go.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive. Get out of here. Go be a boss.”

“Thanks, Abby. I’ll see you later.”

By some miracle, I manage to find a cab right away. I technically have a pick-up truck, but I have to park it in a garage damn near ten blocks away. I just don’t have time to go grab it.

When I arrive on site, a couple of cop cars are parked out front. Hal meets me at the door with an officer.

“What do we know?” I ask.

The officer speaks before Hal can. “Looks like some junkies. Maybe teenagers, but I doubt it. They were after any copper they could find. Not sure exactly how, but they managed to trip the sprinkler system. Luckily, the fire department showing up on the scene managed to scare them off.”

Anger courses through me because I pay a security company damn good money to keep shit like this from happening.

And I really hate cleaning up messes that I didn’t make.

Chapter Eleven

Abby

It’s been a few days since I’ve heard from Don. I guess whatever happened at work has kept him pretty busy.

Or maybe your audiobook completely freaked him out.

I know that the phone call to Don was legit. Clearly, he wasn’t faking any of that. But I question if his silence may be due to my dirty books.

I never meant for him to hear any of it. Really, I don’t want anyone to hear it, let alone my fine-as-hell neighbor. I’m not embarrassed of my reading habits. I don’t give a shit what anybody thinks. But that doesn’t mean I want to talk about it.

And let’s face it. Some men can’t accept that women might actually enjoy sexual things as much as them.

So much for having a friend to hang out with.

My evenings have been much less eventful without Don around. I tried turning on Gilmore Girls, but I didn’t feel right watching it without him. I guess I better get used to it if he’s not going to be around.

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