Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 87395 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 437(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87395 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 437(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Their suite was room 321. A kitchenette was off to one side right inside the door and the front room was a spacious living room. Three bare desks lined the walls, waiting to be covered in schoolwork and books. A short hall dead-ended at the bathroom and branched off into the bedroom. Two beds were bunked against one wall and a third bed was raised chest-height against the other to fit shelving and dressers under it. There was only one closet, but hanging dividers hung off the empty pole.
It was trial and error to make everything fit. Eventually they pushed all the desks to the wall by the window, almost close enough to be touching, so Matt could put his couch against one long wall and a coffee table in the middle of the living room. He'd taken the shelves out of his entertainment center for the drive, but most of the bolts were still in place. It took only a couple minutes to put it together again, and Matt promptly filled it with a TV and game systems. Neil left him to organize his movies and went back to the bedroom.
The mattresses were bare, which meant Neil was going to have to buy sheets. He hadn't slept in a real bed since he left Seattle. He'd broken into cars to borrow backseats in California, slept on the bus to Nevada, and dozed in passenger seats while hitchhiking with truckers to Arizona. His house in Millport had been unfurnished, so he'd slept on the floor with shirts as his pillow. Wymack's couch was the nicest thing he'd had in over a year, but now he had a bed.
Sleeping alone would be disorienting. He'd gotten in the habit of sleeping in his mother's bed, as her paranoia didn't want him out of her reach. They slept back to back, guarding each other, the guns under their pillows uncomfortable but reassuring lumps.
"I'm heading out to get Dan and Renee from the airport," Matt said from the doorway. "Want to come with?"
"I've got to run by the store," Neil said. "Do you care which bed you sleep in?"
"I'm too tall to sleep up top," Matt said, "and Seth keeps weird hours, so unless you've got a thing with heights you're better off in the loft. I'll be back in an hour or so, and you can hitch a ride with us to the court when the girls are settled. Dan won't believe you're okay until she sees you with her own eyes."
"I'll be back by then," Neil said, so Matt left.
Neil waited until the door closed behind him before shrugging his bag off his shoulder. He walked laps around the dorm room again, this time with a sinking feeling in his gut. His locker was on the other side of campus, and Wymack's locked cabinet was even further away. The only quasi-secure place in the entire room was his dresser, and that was just because the drawers closed all the way. Nothing had a lock on it except the front door.
He could bring the duffel with him, seeing how it was only two miles to the store, but he needed to buy so many things he knew he couldn't carry it all back. He ran through the timing in his head instead, adding up Matt's drive to the airport, the wait for the girls' luggage to show up at the belt, and the trek back. Even if Matt was only gone an hour, he and Neil should get back to the dormitory around the same time. The suite's lock was going to have to be enough for now. Neil could look for a better solution at the store.
He dug his wallet out of the duffel's end pocket and stuffed the bag into his dresser's bottom drawer. It barely fit, but at least it closed. He pressed his fingers to the wood for a second, looking for the courage to walk away, and triple-checked the lock on his way out.
The next room down was the girls', and the cousins' room was after that. Nicky was lounging in his doorway. He smiled when he saw Neil.
"Hey, stranger," Nicky said. "What'd you think of Matt?"
"He seems fine," Neil said, not slowing on his way by.
"He is fine," Nicky called after him with a laugh.
Neil took the stairs down, checked his watch at the front door, and ran to the store. The conditioned air felt like heaven on his warm skin as he paced the aisles, taking what he needed without lingering long over the details. He stocked up on everything from bed sheets to hair dye and groceries, and then backtracked for a messenger bag. His duffel bag was the perfect size for everything he owned, which meant there was no spare room for schoolbooks and notepads. He checked the small hardware section, didn't find a lock he thought he could install on anything in his room, and went back to the office and school supplies.
At the end of the row were fireproof safes: too small to fit his bag, definitely too small to fit his clothes, but large enough for what he needed to hide most. Neil lugged one with him to checkout and piled everything onto the belt. The safe made his trip back to the dormitory more than a little awkward, since it was too heavy fit into a bag without tearing it.
He knew he made good time, but the girls' flight must have landed ahead of schedule, because Matt's truck was in the parking lot when Neil returned. Neil detoured past it and put a hand to the hood, but he couldn't tell if the heat was from the sun or the engine. He shouldered his way inside and ran upstairs with his heart hammering in his chest.
Nicky's door was closed, but now the girls' was partly open. Neil heard voices on his way past but didn't slow to say hello. He hurried to his room. Only when he tested the knob and found it still locked could he breathe a little easier.